The Daily for Sunday Apr 11, 2021

[richwmn]

 

Today is Barbershop Quartet Day, Eight Track Tape Day, and National Pet Day

When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always. - Rita Rudner

Meal suggestion for today - Weeknight Ravioli Lasagna

Drink of the Day - Greyhound

Wine of the day - Matchbook 2017 The Arsonist Red (California) California Other

Port of the Day - Xingang (Beijing) China

At Sea Ionian Sea
Zaandam Destination Cyprus

At Sea Pacific
Nieuw Amsterdam Destination Los Angeles eta 4/15

Corfu GR
Volendam

Great Stirrup Cay
Nieuw Statendam Anchorage

La Paz MX
Koningsdam Anchorage
Westerdam Anchorage
Zuiderdam Anchorage

Long Beach
Noordam Anchorage

Torquay UK
Eurodam Anchorage
Oosterdam

 

 

[portofrome]

Thank you for the Daily Report.

[puppycanducruise]

Good morning.  Thanks for the Daily Report.

It's a rainy Sunday morning here, but it's better than snow.

It's always Pet Day around here.  Haven't seen an Eight Track Tape or player in years.  I'll pass on the Barbershop Quartet.

The meal suggestion sounds good, thanks.

Not sure about a drink named after a dog.  Hope the wine is good.

Looking forward to seeing pictures of China, another place I've never been to.

Sending prayers for us all.

Stay safe.

[rafinmd]

Thank you for the Sunday Daily, Rich.  Lots of pet lovers here.  I love Barbership Quartets and used Eight tracks for many years.  I think Rudner was on to something.  Never heard of Xingang as a port for Beijing (looks like it may be another name for Tianjin).  The meal sounds interesting.  My alternative is Chilled Strawberry Bisque, Grilled Molasses Lamb Chops, and Banana Ice Cream as served on MS Zaandam April 11, 2017.

 

https://aroundamericabitbybit.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dishes11.jpg

 

Today's care list:

Kakalina

St. Vincent

myself facing cardiac surgery

NextOne DH facing chemo

HorizonChaser1957'BIL

RIP Prince Phillip

 

Today's Celebrations and Shoutouts:

 

Welcome aboard LAFNVEGAS

Teachers, school workers and at home surrogates

Front Line Health Care Workers

Expedited Mose for mamaofami

Deeniencinitas in Maui

Final jabs for kirknc and Liv4cruises

An upbeat brunch  between Kakalina and lazey1

and Sabine, HAL’s likely first female Captain(I know this is a repeat but she’s worth it)

 

Roy

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by rafinmd

[dfish]

Good morning, everyone.   

 

Yes, I do remember 8 track tapes.  They kind of took over all the space you had.  We've come a long way.  I now use a flash drive to listen to the music I want in the car.  I can get all my music through the TV or my Kindle.  

 

The only pets I've had have been the occasional mouse that got in the house.  Before retirement I was never home enough to be fair to an animal.  Since retirement I wanted to be free to travel and pick up at a moment's notice.   I always thought I'd get a dog in my later years.  

 

No pool today.  It is a day of rest.  It has cooled down and is supposed to be rainy.  Maybe a good day to find a movie on Netflix.  

 

Today's meal is a very easy one to make and perfect for a weekday night.   Lots of ideas in the comments to tweak it to your personal taste.  I am sure most of us could come up with more.

 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/weeknight-ravioli-lasagna/

 

1 cup: 344 calories, 10g fat (5g saturated fat), 26mg cholesterol, 850mg sodium, 45g carbohydrate (10g sugars, 5g fiber), 17g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 starch, 2 medium-fat meat.

 

 

[cat shepard]

Thank you for today’s Daily, Rich! A wonderful combination of days! Bindi is happy that the focus is on her for two days in a row!

 

Thank you for keeping our lists, Roy! Morning Dailyites & my Sisters. A thundery morning here. Always a challenge finding that break in the rain to get Bindi out, since she hates getting wet. Though she loves getting towel dried.  No hiking for us today. Lol on the quote. Debbie the meal sounds interesting. Looking forward to Summer’s description of the drink!

 

Yesterday was a perfect gardening day. My honeysuckle no longer has a “flop over”. And my bird of paradise got a much needed dead heading. I may do some reorganizing today. I need to take down my patio heater and store it until the cooler weather returns in December. 
 

Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone!
 

*******

The 2017 vintage of today’s red blend is rated slightly higher than other years, though all released vintages are rated very good - excellent. I found it online for as low as $15.95, so you might be able to find it for less locally. And who can resist an “old fashioned cigar box” finish?
Winemaker Notes

#71 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 of 2020

The 2017 Arsonist Red Blend is Matchbook's left of center take on the classic Bordeaux blend. Anchored by Petit Verdot this robust red has loads of earthy leather and brambly fruit in the bouquet. The blend of three powerhouse reds delivers broad flavors of plum, blackberry, mocha and vanilla; barrel aging adds a nice dose of oak and a grip of tannin. The finish lingers with boysenberry and old-fashioned cigar box. This full-flavored red calls for a thick steak or a big prime rib. Blend: 53% Petit Verdot, 24% Malbec, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon

WW93 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com: The 2017 Matchbook Arsonist Red Table Wine offers excellent density and persistence. TASTING NOTES: This wine explodes with lush, ripe fruit aromas and flavors. Enjoy its layered palate with a juicy, grilled ribeye. (Tasted: June 4, 2020, San Francisco, CA)

WE92 Wine Enthusiast: This wine is superconcentrated and complex in its array of red and black fruit flavors, with subtle oak spices and a rich texture. A blend of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, it has a mouth coating effect and a lingering gorgeous finish.

[cat shepard]

[KirkNC]

Happy Sunday to all.  Eight track tapes, they almost made me quit listening to music.  My car ate at least one a day.

 

As expect our second shot made for a blah day yesterday, achy, tired and I was slightly feverish.  Today should be better. Thank God for Advil .

[kazu]

Thanks for the Daily, Rich and our morning smile 🙂 

 

Really enjoyed barbershop quartets back in the day.  They don’t seem to be so prevalent now.  OMG on 8 track day.  Back in the Day, we thought they were great.  So many better ways to hear music now!

 

Lots of us will be celebrating National Pet Day.  

 

 

I suspect many pet parents celebrate National Pet Day every day!

 

 

LOL on the quote by Rudner.  Another port we haven’t been to so looking forward to pics and comments from those who have.

 

The meal of the day looks good and easy.  Thanks @dfishfor the recipe.

 

@puppycanducruise the Greyhound drink is not named for the dog (it would be a great match for National Pet Day if it were) but for the Greyhound bus stations where it was supposed to be so popular 😉 

 

@sailingdutchythank you for bringing spring to us early with those gorgeous tulip pictures 👍 I was sorry to hear that we will arrive too late next year to see the blooms. 😔 

 

A tad “crunchy” and achy today after working outside most of the day.  Compost bin is packed as are 4 compost bags.  I am definitely out of shape 😱 but I wanted to take advantage of the good weather before the temps dropped back down.  Still lots to do - isn’t there always 😉  The dogs had lots of fun supervising 😄 

 

Prayers for everyone on Roy’s Care list & for those that need them and 🥂 to those on the Celebratory / Shout Out list.

 

Have a great Sunday, everyone!

 

 

Stay safe and please don’t forget your masks 😷 

 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2014 3-ship Crystal/HAL combination (Symphony-Serenity-Amsterdam) combination Bali-Singapore-Cape Town-Ft. Lauderdale.  On April 11 MS Amsterdam crossed the Equator after passing Ascension Island:

 

 

Roy

[puppycanducruise]

20 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

@puppycanducruise the Greyhound drink is not named for the dog (it would be a great match for National Pet Day if it were) but for the Greyhound bus stations where it was supposed to be so popular 😉

 

 

Thanks for the info.  It's good as long as the drivers didn't drink it.😉

[St. Louis Sal]

Good morning all!

 

Looks like a beautiful day in store here, the sun is just peaking over the roof of my neighbor’s house. I will be off in a little while to attend church in person! My church has been open since early summer with limited attendance and safety protocols, but I continued to watch our livestream. Now that I’m vaccinated (and I’m preaching today 🥰) I will be checking it out. Our church is celebrating United Methodist Women’s Sunday and since my pastor is on vacation, I will be in the pulpit. I am a certified lay speaker and frequently do the worship service at the retirement center down the road, but with the pandemic, they have been shut down to outsiders. 
 

Fritz says thank you for his day. I still have 8 tracks in a box downstairs, as well as a player 😂. I love barbershop quartets. One of my favorites is a local group, the Rivertown Sounds,  (they have occasionally performed on some of the riverboat cruises). I should reach out to them to see how they are doing.

 

Loved the wine today; a red with a lovely steak is always a favorite. I noticed that a lot of the wines I drink now are blends. And the descriptions?? Love them. 
 

Time to get ready, I will check back with you all later.

 

St Louis Sal

[superoma]

Good morning all. Cloudy and rainy here along the Detroit river and cooler than yesterday.

 

i wanted to comment on the tulip pictures yesterday but time got away from me. They are absolutely gorgeous. While Holland Michigan cannot compare to those displays they do a lovely job with millions of bulbs. This year’s tulip festival runs from may 1 to 9 with Covid protocols in place. See tuliptime.com for info. We enjoyed our trip there a number of years ago. Also, our capital Ottawa has a tulip festival each spring, this year from may 14 to 24 I think. Not sure how that will be impacted by Covid but we will be past our stay at home order by then. We have also been there at tulip time. 
 

got my appointment date for my second jab - July 19. Hoping it will move up as more people get their first jab. have a great day everyone.

Edited April 11, 2021 by superoma
Corrected dates

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[richwmn]

8 track tapes were a source of income for me in high school. Very early I bought a recorder capable of recording 8 track tapes as well as reel-to-reel. My friends would hand me their albums along with a list of which songs they wanted and I would make up what is now called a mix tape. Everyone got to listen to their favorite songs without the additional album cuts.

[StLouisCruisers]

Good morning and thank you for the Daily, Rich, and everyone's comments and contributions.  I love the photo of the dogs lined up to use the tree @kazu.  My only question is how did they get all the dogs to sit there in a row like that to take the photo? 😂

 

Great news about all who are getting their Covid vaccine shots finalized.  Anything that can help us get this world back to normal.  

 

If we can't get to The Netherlands to see Keukenhof Gardens we could try going to Holland, Michigan to see their displays as @superomamentioned.  I saw the Michigan tulips on a TV show once.  

 

Today's port is similar to the March 28 port of the day.  We had Tianjin for Beijing then and today is Xingang for Beijing, and I recall there was a discussion about where exactly they were located.  So since I posted my Beijing photos then I will pass today.  

 

Well the threat of severe thunderstorms at our house yesterday fizzled out with grey, overcast skies and drizzles here and there until about 3:30 in the afternoon when the sun came out.  Perhaps others around us had the severe weather but we did not.  And because of that we did not venture out to pick up our new car from a dealer 60 miles north of us on the other side of Atlanta.  The thought of the heavy traffic, severe thunderstorms, and one of us driving a car unfamiliar to us during all that kept us home.  By the time the weather cleared the area it was too late to drive up there and sign all the paperwork before their closing time.  DH and the dealer salesman came to an agreement Friday after we visited them last Wednesday and the car has been ready for us since Friday night.  Looks like Monday morning will have to do.  My "new' neighbors have been asking us to sell them my older SUV for about 2 months now.  We said we'd put them at the top of the list when the time came. 😁  They are patiently waiting for Monday now.  They have a 90 year old parent living with them and he was having a hard time getting up into their pick up truck, as well as getting up out of their too low Buick.  They just got rid of their Buick and will be happy to have the right height car for Dad.  And yes, we let them "test drive" the seat height for Dad.  He gave it a thumbs up.

 

 

[1ANGELCAT]

Good morning and thanks for the update.

Its a rainy morning and possible thunderstorms this afternoon.

     My fur babies are not pets just additional members of the family 😀

       Yesterday my favorite roadside ice cream stand opened for the season, they were lined up even before they opened at 11am. I can’t wait for some chocolate butter fudge .🍦

        Tomorrow I get my 2nd Pfizer and my brother gets his on Tuesday.

Blessings and prayers to all on our lists.

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning Everyone, thanks for the daily report.  Yesterday was so nice, upper 70's, and today is cloudy and much cooler.  It will be a good day to stay in and appreciate the furry kids.  I'm planning on going to a pop up sale held by a local rescue.  They will be selling catnip toys and blankets.  The kids will enjoy the fresh catnip.  @dfishI viewed that green stuff with suspicion and read the menu, I would leave the spinach out.  Otherwise it sounds yummy.  Hope that everyone has a great day.

This is Tucker & Jasper the two oldest of the herd.

 

[ger_77]

Good morning, thanks for the Daily!  Eight track tapes were versatile things - my friend's car wouldn't run in the winter unless you kept pressure on the gas pedal, so she used a Jethro Tull 8 track wedged between the pedal and the floor to keep it going.  LOL 

 

DH has never liked the sound of Barbershop Quartets - in his opinion, the music is too cloying.  Sooo, for a number of years on Valentine's Day, I'd send a local group over to his lecture hall at the university to serenade him while he was teaching.  Yep, I'm evil like that.  LOL  

 

Every day is National Pet Day at our house, like many others on this board, I'm sure.  Yesterday was a prime example - Sochi kept meowing, which I thought meant she wanted yet more food (she's getting a little fluffy, if you catch my drift), and kept running out onto the deck.  I finally followed her, and saw her jump up on the perch DH made for her to look outside, only to realize she wanted the window open so she could stick her nose out . . .   Yes, I opened the darn window.

 

I'm not a fan of ravioli - it just seems to me that there's so much dough, and little filling, but that's just me.  I think today will be a delayed pizza night because we had our anniversary dinner on Friday, so will enjoy an all dressed pizza tonight.  And wine.

 

Tonight we'll be zooming with our DS and his family in Calgary, as it's our DGS's 6th birthday, the second one we've had to miss because of this darn pandemic.  Hopefully it will be the last one we'll have to celebrate from afar!

 

Prayers for everyone who needs them and even for those who don't think they do.  Raising the wine glasses to toast all on the celebration list.  Be safe, stay well, wash your hands, wear your mask(s) and get your jabs!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[cunnorl]

Good Morning Everyone from an overcast day at the beach.

      We are under a severe thunderstorm watch with high winds. We badly need the rain so hopefully it will just pan out to be a good rainmaker. DH just moved some of my plants that could get blown over ( or away).  We were going to barbecue today but I guess I will have to come up with something else.

      8 track tapes! Have not heard that in a long time. Had quite a few back in the day. Probably still have some somewhere.

      Love all the pictures. Would love to get to Keukenoff someday. We were scheduled to go there in 2020 but we all know what happened to  that.

 

 Stay safe and enjoy today.

 

Charlene

 

    

  

[smitty34877]

Good  morning everyone. We had  a  foggy  early  morning  here  and  they  day  looks  to  be  a  grey and rainy  one. Fred, our  fearless  cockapoo, feels  that  everyday  is National  Pet  day. Of  course, he  is  right.

@ger_77, since  reading  of  your  friends' 8  track  use  I  have  had  "Aqualung" in  my  head as  a  mighty  ear  worm.  Poor  Jethro  Tull!

I  have  not  been  to  China  but  will  certainly  enjoy  the  pictures.

It  is  always  such  a  pleasure to  check  in  with  this  fine  group  of  folks and  see what  is  new  each  day. Thanks  to  all.         Terry

[mamaofami]

Good morning everyone. It’s a dreary day here and I think we’re getting rain.

 

Those tulip pictures yesterday were gorgeous. I meant to comment on them yesterday but got distracted.

 

Lisa, nice to see you posting here.

 

Not much happening today.Stay safe everyone.

 

Carol

[VintageGeo]

3 hours ago, richwmn said:

When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always. - Rita Rudner

Funny, Lori says she knew I was Mr. Right when she discovered my middle name was Never....🤔

 

George

 

[Overhead Fred]

It looks like another dreary day, but probably not so much rain today. Maybe I can haul away some leaves and branches as I "spring clean" the last corner of our backyard. 

 

The ravioli lasagna sounds good and I will have to give it a try soon. Costco has a version (without spinach) that is actually pretty good. But tonight it will be split pea soup using up (I hope!) the last of the Easter ham. 

 

We were in Rome (Civitavecchia) today in 2018. It was turnaround day for us; the end of our TA and the start of a 10 day Western Mediterranean. We took a tour to Tarquinia and saw the necropolis and the museum in the Palazzo Vitelleschi. Both were fascinating. We then went to a family run farm for "tapas" and pretty much all the local wine you cared to drink - 

 

[Mary229]

Good morning and thanks for the updates.  DH was in a barbershop quartet for years. They were quite popular and were invited to ballparks, shopping malls, churches and other corporate headquarters.  We still enjoy listening to barbershop, its mid-century version - doo wop and just about anything alcapella.   

 

So the cat, Snowflake gets a day and DH gets honored, I guess I will have to eat lasagna. The diet calls for whole grain pasta.

 

Prayers for St. Vincent, I hope everyone has evacuated safely.  Hope and comfort to those in need.  Congratulations to those who are celebrating.  And a very big thank you to the vaccine developers.