The Daily for Sunday Feb 21, 2021

[durangoscots]

Good morning everyone. I just finished reading all yesterday's entries..... just never got back on the boards after my morning coffee. I have to say I found the snake stories entertaining. I was married to a herpetologist so I am fairly used to proximity to reptiles .... not too fond of snakes, but generally live and let live. One of my neighbors used to have cats that brought live snakes home and I used to go over and fish them out from under her stove or wherever kitties left them. I always made sure they were harmless little guys. I have had had run ins with rattlers over the years but we managed to avoid each other.

 

That said, I do have two wildlife adventures from yesterday and today. Yesterday a post was made to a local Facebook page showing a good size mountain lion dragging a dead deer across someones front yard. Not too far from me as the lion wanders..... I will be extra careful at night. And this morning on my early morning walk with the dogs we encountered a sure sign that spring is around the corner. Actually around the corner was a SKUNK!!!.... marching down the sidewalk toward me. Skunk stopped, dogs stopped and I stopped and then I made a quick U turn and headed home dragging barking dogs behind me. Have no idea where skunkie went. They usually stay closer to the hill and there was a faint aroma when I went out about 20 minutes later... will have to keep an eye out. Don't want a closer encounter.

 

Otherwise things here are quiet. Snow is melting. My outer door faces south so that area is pretty clear. The forecast has eliminated our next snow late in the week, so I should be able to head out with no problems for all necessary errands and be able to extend the dog walks further afield.

 

Take care everyone.

[NextOne]

This certainly is a "wild" Daily today -- snakes, wolves, mountain lions, and skunks, oh my! Everyone take care and wear your mask (or two)!

 

The Blue Hawaii reminds me of my first trip to Hawaii - I was with my 85 year old Mom, and we went to a rooftop revolving restaurant in Waikiki. Being adventurous girls, we told the waiter to bring us something blue, and it was Blue Hawaiis all around. Yummy!

Edited February 21, 2021 by NextOne

[Sharon in AZ]

34 minutes ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

Your pizza looks good! 

 

On a side note, your plate looks like Pfaltzgraff "Aura". We had an extensive set that we used everyday for 30+ years. They got donated to charity when we sold the house last year. With the hand-me-downs that we got from my parents and Mitzi's mom, we had way too many sets of dishes!

Yes it is!!  I believe I started buying it in 1988 or 1989.   They stopped making it years ago. I have a number of accessory pieces too. My mother also has the same pattern and she gave me a lot of it when she moved. 

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

Interesting days. It's hard for me to be grain free. Love sticky buns; they are on my radar to bake.

Mmmm A Blue Hawaii is tasty!

3°F here this morning, but going up. 47 on Wednesday!

 

Prayers for the care list and cheers for the celebration list.

Stay safe, social distance and wear your mask(s).

 

[summer slope]

We eat our big meal for lunch. Today I made the chicken and dumplings that was posted earlier this week. It was so good. Will freeze for future meals. 

[garlictown]

☕ Good Morning and Thank You for the Daily! 🙂

I saw a joke about having Buns of Steel (miss the gym terribly plus water aerobics, too!) and more jokes about cinnamon buns---the cousin famous cousin to sticky bun!! 🤓 ( a little teacher joke included )

🙏Prayers for all in need and now to church online.🙏

[65 Gator]

Great to be able to follow along today in real time.  Thanks, as usual, to Rich and Roy and the rest of the regular Dailyites...  Enjoying sunshine for a change but would be happy to send the cold weather back north.

 

We are at about 12,000 vaccine doses today which is reassuring since our county is about 70,000 total.  Another clinic at Carteret Health Care tomorrow.  After Saturday week, all clinics are moved to the old K-Mart where there is a lot of parking and all equipment can  be left setup for the next clinic.

 

Happy to hear Rich is doing the BIG cruise in just over a year.  Looking forward to his postings so I can be really jealous.  Wish I could talk my roommate into retiring so we could join him.

 

Cheers to all...  Wear your mask...

[CrabbyPatti]

      All these snake and skunk stories are sure making me laugh!  I have experienced "near encounters" with both over the years.  A couple of years before I retired from the hospital, one evening as we were leaving out the ambulance bay, my co worker almost stepped on a snake!  Well her and I were "farm" girls so we were not scared, but went back in to warn the others.........next thing we know we have two doctors out "hunting" for the snake. It was a riot watching them they were reverted back to their boyhood on the farm days!   The snake was not found, but the ambulance bay was "safe"! (note the ER was not unmanned, as we had just had shift change and we were leaving!).

       I may just have to make some sticky buns today!

Take Care

Denise

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all who make this such a pleasant spot!  Love the occasional chat on dishes, I cleaned out my old Wedgwood and Mikasa.   Ordered new Villeroy and Boch like they have at the Pinnacle grill.  Now when we go out to dinner in the dining room I have new dishes and Crystal.   My new recommendation for wine is the Planeta Rose from Sicily.  Lovely dry rose,  looking forward to some warmer weather to enjoy it. Even DH who is a red wine drinker enjoyed it! 

[VintageGeo]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily! As always, thanks for all of the information and humor. 

Happily, Lori has finally gotten an appointment for her first vaccine shot next week. My day is coming....

We are patiently?? awaiting the 60 degree temps that are coming this week. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

A year ago the sun peeked through on the last full day of our cruise. 

 

Please stay safe and healthy and continue to do the little things that will get us through this and back aboard.

 

Lori & George

 

[Sharon in AZ]

Here is a blast from the past.  She sure does look small, but still a lovely ship.  Sorry for the quality of the pictures but, hey, this is 1987 after all!  I believe this is Nassau which was actually our last port of call but I liked the pictures of the ship here the best of the lot.

 

 

 

 

We had an inside stateroom.  I wish I knew the cabin number, I remember that it was in the bow and we pitched a lot.  Look at the location and size of that TV!  And the pattern on the fabric!

 

 

 

DH liked to get up early and roam the ship.  He took a series of sunrise pictures that were beautiful, I'll just show these 3:

 

 

 

 

Happy Sailing!

[Vict0riann]

Just substitute "sticky bun" for "doughnut"

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Vict0riann

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning, at least for another few minutes.  Have never had my cards read.  The other two days are really incompatible.  DH would gladly celebrate sticky bun day, but I prefer cinnamon rolls.  We were not grain free today as I made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.

 

@Sharon in AZ  Really enjoyed the pictures of the old Noordam.  We first sailed on her in 1999 and did not plan to sail on her again.  However, in 2002 and 2004, we booked several b2b2b2... and wound up really liking her.  I always thought she looked like a ship instead of what Captain Albert calls "floating apartments".  We have seen her several times over the years in her new incarnation.  The last time was in St. Lucia in 2015.

 

@rafinmd Glad you were sparred a sore arm.  Hope that you have no other side effects.

 

I am enjoying the animal stories.  Some of them bring back fond memories of some of our pets from the past.

 

I was not going yo post this picture, but after reading about the snake in the ambulance bay, I decided to.  This is the rattler from yesterday's story.  He was about 3-4 feet long, and was trying to make his get-away.  Note the rock rake in the lower right.

 

I found this on FB last night, and thought the timing was good.

 

One of our neighbors posted this picture earlier today.  He was just outside our neighborhood.

 

And finally thought this probably summed up roadwork anywhere.

 

We headed into town for our daily drive.  We need to be back in about 30 minutes to watch what DH calls the wreck show -- NASCAR at Daytona.

 

Lenda

[superoma]

I couldn’t resist

[rafinmd]

Three years ago today, February 22, 2018 (Yes, it is February 22 in New Zealand) the Crystal Serenity visited Stewart Island, New Zealand,  Still a long way from Antarctica it is still very far south, about 4 degrees latitude further north than Ushuaia.  It's extremely small with a permanent population of about 400.

 

I had booked a walk in a habitat restoration area as the island tries to keep invasive species at bay.  On the walk I passed at least 30 traps for rats

possum

and I think other species.  Our guide pointed out a gum tree

 

He said it was considered a waste tree but was tolerated because it produced good fire wood.

 

From an overlook we could see the "mainland", actually the South Island, 19 miles away.

 

There was a small town center including a grocery store:

The library had pretty good wifi and I updated the antivirus on one of my laptops:

Pr

Prices are high in Oban and the people often take the ferry to the South Island to resupply:

 

Roy

 

[65 Gator]

49 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Here is a blast from the past.  She sure does look small, but still a lovely ship.

This sure brought back some memories.  Our first cruise was on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 1990.  Sorry for the crappy photos as I haven't retouched them yet.

 

[XBGuy]

7 hours ago, richwmn said:

Wine of the day - Ramey 2017 Rochioli Vineyard Chardonnay (Russian River Valley) Sonoma

 

 

6 hours ago, cat shepard said:

*********

This wine’s lowest rating - all vintages is 93! I might have to break my budget to try this Chardonnay. This might be only the second time I have seen a rating of 99. There are several online distributors with prices starting at $54.99.  And if this price is too rich for you, Ramey’s

“non-Rochioli” Chardonnay has excellent ratings with prices in the mid-$30s.

Winemaker Notes

After aging 20 months in 20% new François Frères and Taransaud Beaune French oak barrels, this Chardonnay was fined and settled in tank following the next harvest. It was then bottled without filtration.

WE99 Wine Enthusiast: Only the third vintage by this producer from a spectacular site, this elegant wine is brimming in tension and length. Delicate layers of Meyer lemon, Gravenstein apple and pear show an abundance on the palate, seasoned in salty oak, nutmeg and a hint of cardamom.Editors' Choice.

 

As usual. @cat shepardhas provided an outstanding report on @richwmn's wine of the day, but I just wanted to add my $.02 worth.  Ramey is an outstanding maker.  I would not hesitate to recommend any Ramey wine.  David Ramey was the winemaker at Dominus in Napa Valley and in the 1990s received permission from his employer to "make a little Chardonnay on the side."  He and his wife founded Ramey Wine Cellars and released their first Chardonnay bottling in 1996.  Ramey kept his day job at Dominus and, subsequently, as winemaker at Rudd Estate until 2001, when Ramey Wine Cellars became his full-time job.

 

As @cat shepardhas indicated the Ramey  Single Vineyard Designated bottlings are somewhat spendy.  I have to say, though, that the Rochioli Vineyard is very highly regarded as a source of high quality grapes.  I, personally,  really enjoy the Hyde Vineyard bottling.  However, again in agreement with @cat shepard, the geographic designated bottlings in which grapes can me sourced from multiple vineyards are excellent wines at a much more attractive price.  I see that Total Wine offers both the Ramey Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay bottlings for around $31.

[Sharon in AZ]

3 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

This sure brought back some memories.  Our first cruise was on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 1990.  Sorry for the crappy photos as I haven't retouched them yet.

Great pictures!  Isn't it fun to remember our past cruises?

[Sharon in AZ]

1 hour ago, Sharon in AZ said:

We had an inside stateroom.  I wish I knew the cabin number, I remember that it was in the bow and we pitched a lot.  Look at the location and size of that TV!  And the pattern on the fabric!

DH swears we were in 802, however he also swears it was starboard which is totally disparate.  Aren't even numbers port and odd numbers starboard?  I found the deck plan on Cruisemapper under the Marella Celebration Scrapped Cruise Ships.  Then I found an old thread that I had commented on:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/989909-old-noordam/

 

Hope that link works.  Thanks for letting me reminisce today!

Edited February 21, 2021 by Sharon in AZ

[lazey1]

1 hour ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Here is a blast from the past.  She sure does look small, but still a lovely ship.  Sorry for the quality of the pictures but, hey, this is 1987 after all!  I believe this is Nassau which was actually our last port of call but I liked the pictures of the ship here the best of the lot.

 

 

 

 

We had an inside stateroom.  I wish I knew the cabin number, I remember that it was in the bow and we pitched a lot.  Look at the location and size of that TV!  And the pattern on the fabric!

 

 

 

DH liked to get up early and roam the ship.  He took a series of sunrise pictures that were beautiful, I'll just show these 3:

 

 

 

 

Happy Sailing!

 

[USN59-79]

I enjoyed the pictures of the old Noordam.  In 2004 we took her from Dover to Copenhagen.  Then we took the brand new Westerdam from Copenhagen to Harwich.  We were surprised at the differences between the old and new ship.  In almost every way we preferred the Noordam.  Of course those days are gone forever and next year we are booked for 42 days on the present Noordam.  (Can't call her new.)  Here is another skunk story:  I grew up on a farm and we had a lot of animals.  My older brother somehow got ahold of a baby skunk to keep as a pet.  My father had veterinary training and some of it rubbed of on my brother as he decided that he could de-scent it.  He performed the operation and the skunk was doing well until a couple of months later our dog attacked it and the skunk turned and sprayed the dog.  There was a lot of confusion until my father examined the skunk.  Turned out that my brother had neutered the skunk.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Last night, there was nothing on tv I really wanted to watch, so I wound up watching four old episodes of Living Alaska.  Two were set in Ketchikan and two in Juneau, which was why I decided to watch them. 

The first two which aired several years ago, showed a lot of downtown Ketchikan.  In a couple of pictures, I could see the Nieuw Amsterdam.  Although, we have not sailed on her, it was nice to see a blue hulled beauty. 

 

The show set in Juneau had some scenes downtown, but most were on  Douglas Island and north of town.  These shows brought back a lot of good memories of past cruises and cruise ports.

 

Lenda

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

@USN59-79  Your skunk story remined me of my one close encounter with four baby skunks.  A good friend of my father's lived on one of the lakes near where we lived.  He invited my father to bring me and a couple of other kids of employees of the company they worked for.  A week or two earlier, the friend had killed a skunk only to discover she had four babies.  He could not bring himself to kill the babies, so he took them home to raise, after he had them de-scented.  We had a lot of fun playing with the babies.  It was interesting, they would walk in a single-file line.  If you took one out of the middle of the line, it would wait until the last one passed and then rejoin the line.  I remember their fur was soft and silky.  🦨🦨🦨🦨

 

Lenda

[Seahorse99]

I too enjoyed the photos of the 1990 Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam. My first cruise was on that NA, also in 1990, and it was so special that a second cruise was booked on the Noordam. The older ships were so spacious and the service was so gracious. Then cruising  HAL became a habit. 

[DFD1]

Thanks for the Noordam pictures. She was our first HAL cruise. Lots of good memories....and lots of HAL cruises since then.