Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[navybankerteacher]

Looks like things are picking up -- in CT everyone 45 and older will become eligible on March 22 -- and everyone from 16 on May 3.  All health care, emergency workers and educators regardless of age have been included for a couple of weeks.

 

AND ... after Tuesday's overcast start of 15(F) with 45mph wind gusts, I'm just back from a sun-filled walk enjoying a light breeze and 50(F).

[Bigmike911]

It is a sunny day 73f (23c) The lawn is beginning to green again after having been straw yellow. A walk through the garden found big buds on the mulberry tree, and enough leaves budding on the two plum trees and the sugar maple to make a fine green haze. There are still dozens of other plants, trees and shrubs with crispy leaves falling with the wind. Many of these are usually evergreen in this climate, but not at the moment,  I think most will come back .

 

Orders have been placed for specimens for the fernery. I have no doubt the Boston ferns which make up most of the fernery will come back thicker than ever. A mega caramel Heuchera which is quite large, and the Gunnera Manicata will punctuate the back of the fernery with a mix of hostas and cyclamens to high light the front. A replacement Australian Tree fern has been shipped and is due tomorrow.

 

I got 20, five lb. bags of potting mix and a new hanging Boston Fern for my screen porch today at the Home Depot, which was very busy with shoppers. Landscaper trucks filled the parking lot so they are having good business. Mother nature has not forsaken us after all. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Bigmike911

[navybankerteacher]

Another cold start - followed by a warmer afternoon. This will be a great sugaring season in CT - the many sub-freezing nights followed by warmer days makes the maples pump out more sap to be evaporated to syrup.

[navybankerteacher]

This morning I saw the first sign of Spring - the snowdrops - who quickly replace the last melting mounds.  Of course, the robins don’t show up for a few more weeks.

[Kynance]

St Piran’s Day greetings to everyone! 
 

Although we are far from Cornwall and unable to travel at the moment, my other half & I marked the day with a cream team, featuring Rodda’s famous clotted cream - on top of the jam, of course!  We also have some pasties laid in to enjoy over the weekend. I shall hopefully finish the 11th Poldark novel tonight - just one more to go after that and I will have completed the objective I set myself at the start of the first lockdown last March to finish reading the books which continue the story from the end of series 4. (Series 5 imagined what happened in the interim between the 7th novel which ends around 1800 and the 8th which jumps to 1810). 
 

Here’s a photo of our delicious cream team - well half of it, as there is another plate of scones, since we decided one each wasn’t nearly enough! 
 

 

 

[Lanky Lad]

Looks good.  I hope they were home made Cunard recipe scones 🤣.  I see you have gone for jam first. 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Lanky Lad said:

...

 🤣.  I see you have gone for jam first. 

Isn’t that the way it is meant to be?

[bluemarble]

23 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Isn’t that the way it is meant to be?

 

Oh my! I fear we are heading into an issue almost as contentious as the dress code and tipping / auto gratuities policies. As a neutral observer, I shall simply point out this previous thread (one of several I've read here over the years) which discusses various thorny scone issues including whether it should be jam or cream first. 😉

 

 

[alc13]

5 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

This morning I saw the first sign of Spring - the snowdrops - who quickly replace the last melting mounds.  Of course, the robins don’t show up for a few more weeks.

 

I am SO jealous....

[LewiLewi]

22 hours ago, Kynance said:

St Piran’s Day greetings to everyone! 
 

Although we are far from Cornwall and unable to travel at the moment, my other half & I marked the day with a cream team, featuring Rodda’s famous clotted cream - on top of the jam, of course!  We also have some pasties laid in to enjoy over the weekend. I shall hopefully finish the 11th Poldark novel tonight - just one more to go after that and I will have completed the objective I set myself at the start of the first lockdown last March to finish reading the books which continue the story from the end of series 4. (Series 5 imagined what happened in the interim between the 7th novel which ends around 1800 and the 8th which jumps to 1810). 
 

Here’s a photo of our delicious cream team - well half of it, as there is another plate of scones, since we decided one each wasn’t nearly enough! 
 

 

 

Isn’t it always jam first?

[turnip eater]

Not in Devon. In Devon, cream first then jam😄

[Kynance]

23 hours ago, Lanky Lad said:

Looks good.  I hope they were home made Cunard recipe scones 🤣.  I see you have gone for jam first. 

I made scones about 15 years and they turned out like pieces of Cornish granite! (Or Lizard serpentine.). My other half has never let me forget it, so on the  rare occasions we have scones at home they are shop bought. These particular ones were from Waitrose - all butter with sultanas. They had a nice colour to the tops. 
 

Yes, we always put the jam on first - a Cornish tradition, but as Turnip Eater points out it is the other way around across the Tamar. I’m not doctrinal about it but I think I prefer the taste of the cream to the jam.  Either way though, I would be really happy to enjoy a scone with cream & jam on a Cunard ship right now!! ☺️

[majortom10]

I am a cream first and jam on top kind of guy but just to be awkward as traditional with afternoon tea the jam is strawberry I do not like strawberry. When I ask for raspberry or blackcurrant jam in Queens Room I get strange looks from the waiters, so if we know we are having afternoon tea in the morning I "nick" a jar of jam from the buffet at breakfast time. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by majortom10

[BklynBoy8]

20 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I am a cream first and jam on top kind of guy but just to be awkward as traditional with afternoon tea the jam is strawberry I do not like strawberry. When I ask for raspberry or blackcurrant jam in Queens Room I get strange looks from the waiters, so if we know we are having afternoon tea in the morning I "nick" a jar of jam from the buffet at breakfast time. 

Great Idea!

[Bigmike911]

I suspect I would put the clotted cream on first, then the jam. When I have toast, I butter it first, then put the jam on. Trying to butter a piece of toast that already has jam sounds like a tough go. 

 

I have some scones in the freezer and Cornish cream and jam in the Fridge, I will give it a go both ways tomorrow and see which works better. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Bigmike911

[majortom10]

It is easier to spread jam on scone with a knife and then spoon cream on top. 

[LewiLewi]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

It is easier to spread jam on scone with a knife and then spoon cream on top. 

I think that we are all homesick for tea in the Queen's Room.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

It is easier to spread jam on scone with a knife and then spoon cream on top. 

It is simply more rational to spread the more viscous substance (jam) first and then apply the more deliquescent substance (cream) on top.  The other way is somewhat comparable to building a pyramid with its broad base up and the point down.

 

This is unarguably a matter of essential physics;   the choice of raspberry jam over strawberry, however,  is simply a matter of  exhibiting possession of a finer sense of taste, but still one of two rational options.

Edited March 6, 2021 by navybankerteacher

[alc13]

This is a tough one.  Is the cream equivalent to butter, and goes under the jam; or is it a garnish, like ice cream on pie?  

 

As a former scientist, I would suggest an objective approach.  First one; then the other; then repeat until you have acquired enough data to reach a conclusion.  Preferably with friends and family to expand the dataset.  Publish, if you are so inclined.

[majortom10]

8 minutes ago, alc13 said:

This is a tough one.  Is the cream equivalent to butter, and goes under the jam; or is it a garnish, like ice cream on pie?  

 

As a former scientist, I would suggest an objective approach.  First one; then the other; then repeat until you have acquired enough data to reach a conclusion.  Preferably with friends and family to expand the dataset.  Publish, if you are so inclined.

It is more a garnish like ice cream on pie but in 2 areas of England i.e. Cornwall or Devon it has long been an difference of which goes first jam or cream. There is no right or wrong way at the end of the day it is just personal preference. For me it is easier to put jam on scone first and then cream on top i.e. the Cornwall way.

[Camgirl]

I consider myself to be a bit of an Afternoon Tea expert, having "collected" 218 so far!! I always follow the Cornish method of jam first. It just looks messy the other way round. However, I'm with Major Tom in preferring raspberry and blackcurrant jam to strawberry. I never thought of acquiring one st breakfast for Tea later. Brilliant! Definately something I will adopt in future.

 

We have just transferred our October cruise to the equivalent in September next year. It really hurt, as it may well go, but we were getting worried about being on, possibly, one of the first boats out (assuming Cunard follow P and O with cancellations). Also, if it were to be cancelled late, we would suddenly have 2 1/2 weeks holiday to use at the end of the year. Sadly we lost a massive obc doing the transfer too. However, at least we know where we are holiday wise now. Still have a short cruise in December booked.

[Bigmike911]

22 hours ago, Bigmike911 said:

I suspect I would put the clotted cream on first, then the jam. When I have toast, I butter it first, then put the jam on. Trying to butter a piece of toast that already has jam sounds like a tough go. 

 

I have some scones in the freezer and Cornish cream and jam in the Fridge, I will give it a go both ways tomorrow and see which works better. 

In the end it made no difference. Putting the cream on first was nice on a warm scone, but putting it on as decoration is much like serving Apple pie with ice cream, or pecan pie with whipped cream. Both are fine. 

 

By the way, my travel agent forwarded me a copy of my confirmation for 22 July this year showing the final payment date of 22 June. How long have we known about this, three months? Well better late than never. 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Bigmike911

[sfred]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:34 AM, LewiLewi said:

I think that we are all homesick for tea in the Queen's Room.

 

8 hours ago, alc13 said:

As a former scientist, I would suggest an objective approach.  First one; then the other; then repeat until you have acquired enough data to reach a conclusion.  Preferably with friends and family to expand the dataset.  Publish, if you are so inclined.

 

Definitely!  And keep repeating the experiment over consecutive days just in case anything changes in the testing environment.

[bluemarble]

I finally have an appointment to get my first vaccine jab tomorrow. I think we are a bit behind the curve with how the vaccination process has been going so far in Iowa. I'm at the lower end of the over-65 demographic which is one of the groups they have been vaccinating in Iowa. Earlier today I got a text message from my clinic that I could finally apply for a vaccination appointment. They have been allocating appointments starting with their oldest patients first and apparently have now reached my age. Tomorrow morning I will be going to what they call a POD (Point of Distribution) site set up in a large vacant store at our local shopping mall. Should be an experience.

[navybankerteacher]

26 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

I finally have an appointment to get my first vaccine jab tomorrow. I think we are a bit behind the curve with how the vaccination process has been going so far in Iowa. I'm at the lower end of the over-65 demographic which is one of the groups they have been vaccinating in Iowa. Earlier today I got a text message from my clinic that I could finally apply for a vaccination appointment. They have been allocating appointments starting with their oldest patients first and apparently have now reached my age. Tomorrow morning I will be going to what they call a POD (Point of Distribution) site set up in a large vacant store at our local shopping mall. Should be an experience.

Enjoy -- but do not expect a lollipop.