The Fleet Report and Daily for Monday September 19th, 2022

[travelingbums]

Thank you everyone for sharing and caring.

 

Our hearts go out to all for Queen Elizabeth and her family. Rest in Peace.

[JazzyV]

Good morning. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily.

I don't talk like a pirate, or like butterscotch pudding or to dance (although I like watching dance).

Appropriate quote.

I like the meal, drink and wine.

I haven't been to Isafjordur, Iceland. Thanks for the photos.

 

It's rainy here. I've been up since 5AM watching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The piper at Westminster Abbey got me 😢. Very sad and moving. A tremendous task carried out very well by all involved. I liked seeing the Mounties leading the procession.

 

@grapau27 Thinking of you and Pauline, and all of the UK today. Many in the world are grieving along with you.

@dfish Sorry to hear the seller of the Michigan house is being difficult. 

@StLouisCruisers Wonderful photos!

@kazu I hope you get the SUV back today.

@mamaofami Happy Anniversary!

@Quartzsite Cruiser Great photos.

@Cruzin Terri Praying for strength as you go through this crisis with your home.

 

Prayers for the Care List and a Toast to the Celebration List.

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

We returned home last night after a fun-filled, full and tiring weekend with the grandsons.  DD said it was just what they needed (Nana loving on them) because sadly their kitty Nimbus has been missing for 5 days. 😞  Their other cat passed away just a few months ago, so this is especially hard for them.  Since this cat never wanders, it's a real mystery what has happened to him.  Signs have been posted, searches, checking with the microchip company, everything they could possibly do but no sign of him.  We're glad we were able to give the boys a distraction, they're taking it very hard.

 

We had to take I-90 because of the closure on Highway 9, but had stops along the way to break up the drive.  Fun stops like a state park with a playground and beach, and a petting farm.  It was so nice just being with them, as now DH and I will go into self-quarantine before our cruise and not see the boys for over 6 weeks.

 

After dropping the boys at home last night we went to see DS and DDIL.  They showed us the latest progress on their house (wow!).  All but one room have been painted, new doors, cabinets, tiles etc. ordered and delivered.  The changes to the house are amazing.  Then DDIL made us a delicious salmon dinner, nice evening!

 

I'll pass on the pirate talk and butterscotch, but will celebrate dance day.  Also will pass on the drink, wine and meal.  

 

RIP Queen Elizabeth

Happy 63rd Anniversary Carol and Sam @mamaofami!  So many of us have September anniversaries. 🙂  

Debbie @dfishugh about the difficult seller.  Too bad someone else couldn't be handling it, as it sounds like he has too much emotional attachment.

 

We were in this port on the 2018 VOV.  We took a tour to the Westfjords and went to the old Viking village Thingeyri.  We went to an interactive museum where we had Icelandic Viking beer, wore authentic Viking clothing, and made bread.

 

Lovely drive to the Westfjords

 

Some furs in the interactive museum

 

 

The museum was operated by a husband/wife team.  She sewed all the clothing, he made all the furniture and light fixtures.

 

Icelandic Viking beer.  It was quite good!

 

We had some fun with the costumes.  

 

And I helped bake bread over a fire.

 

 

[highscar]

@kazuthank you,well said.  My scrapbooks are full of my memories of the Royal family.  

[grapau27]

Later tonight Prince Philips coffin will be brought out and a few main Royals will have a private ceremony and then the Queen and Prince Philips coffins will be pushed into a private vault side by side for ever.

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from a 2003 land trip to Australia and New Zealand.  On September 19 we were in the vicinity of Ayres Rock:

 

 

Roy

[Overhead Fred]

Shiver me timbers!

 

Yesterday's diner was a hit. The Mexican street corn salad was delicious and I highly recommend trying it. I used a chimichurri-style wet rub on the grilled sirloin and served it with freshly made chimichurri sauce - another winner that will be repeated! It works well for a larger group since it doesn't take too long on the grill. Mitzi's potato salad was up to her usual high standards. I also tried Ree Drummond's green beans and tomatoes. Since they have bacon in them it was bound to be good and it did not disappoint. Ree has a few versions of this recipe but I used the one from Parade Magazine ( https://parade.com/224585/reedrummond/green-beans-and-tomatoes/). It is a very forgiving recipe since it can cook for a long time and can be held at serving temperature for fairly long. It might take the place of the ubiquitous mushroom soup-based green bean casserole this Thanksgiving. We made a rustic blueberry tart topped with vanilla crème fraiche and lemon zest for dessert. 

 

So, we tried three new-to-us recipes and they all were good and we will make them all again. The only down-side was that everyone dug into the food before I could get pictures to share here!

[Crazy For Cats]

Hi Again, I got a call from Walgreens a short bit ago.  The pharmacist had an emergency and the pharmacy is closed.  We rescheduled my flu shot for Sunday.  Interestingly the other location in town had their pharmacy closed three days last week.  It delayed my picking up River’s seizure medication.  Still keeping the afternoon off since it’s use it or lose it.

[aliaschief]

We got an early start and had an uneventful and safe drive home. 
 

Just catching up and watching highlights from Her Majesty’s Funeral. A beautiful and fitting farewell for an extraordinary Monarch. 
Time with family was precious and we are now at home until our Scenic River cruise in France next month.

Will have to find some time to read today’s postings.

 

Dinner tonight will be the salad bar at our local Ruby Tuesday’s.

 

Thanks for the Reports and postings.

Bruce

[kochleffel]

The Junior Cat woke me at 5:00 a.m. and for a moment I thought that she wanted to watch the Queen's funeral, but I remembered that she has no interest in television except when there are small, squeaky animals or birds. She purred next to my ear for about 15 minutes, then hopped off the bed and visited the litterbox. She returned to hiding, but not very well, since I could see her. I pulled her out at 10:00 and she ate some solid food on her own.

 

For the Britannic participants, a butterscotch pudding in the U.S. is what you would probably call a blancmange: milk boiled with sugar and starch, plus flavoring.

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by kochleffel

[XBGuy]

Good defensive measure to keep in mind if your city is ever attacked by a prehistoric or radiation-mutated monster.

 

 

 

 

Not clear how effective this might be if your city is attacked by Mothra.

 

[summer slope]

16 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

We got an early start and had an uneventful and safe drive home. 
 

Just catching up and watching highlights from Her Majesty’s Funeral. A beautiful and fitting farewell for an extraordinary Monarch. 
Time with family was precious and we are now at home until our Scenic River cruise in France next month.

Will have to find some time to read today’s postings.

 

Dinner tonight will be the salad bar at our local Ruby Tuesday’s.

 

Thanks for the Reports and postings.

Bruce

Jealous you still have a ruby Tuesday. They closed ours 2 years ago. 

[USN59-79]

@dfish I would suggest, if the seller is being so hard to deal with, that you have your realtor show you similar houses in that area that are for sale.  It is possible that there are better houses at a similar price with more willing or reasonable sellers available.  In our area, the hot real estate market is not so hot as it was a few months ago and many sellers have had to reduce their asking price.  As mortgage rates have gone from 4% to 6%, there are not as many qualified buyers either.  In other words, it has gone from a seller's market to a buyer's market.

Ray

[1ANGELCAT]

@Crazy For Cats, Just curious what pet medication you can get at a regular pharmacy. Ninja and Houdini’s thyroid medication comes from a compounding pharmacy. In fact, vet just called to increase  Ninja’s dosage and do a blood retest in 3 weeks. The medication is working as he has gained weight.🤞

[durangoscots]

6 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Good morning and thanks for the update. I have been up since 5am watching the funeral 💔. RIP your Majesty.

I watched Ken Burn's Holocaust last night, so I was a bit depressed to start the day and then

I am on Mountain time so it was up at 3am for me to watch the funeral. Watched the whole through both services except for on brief period to rush the dogs out and in. It was was very moving. I don't see how the family is still on their feet.... they must all be exhausted both physically and mentally. I hope there can be some well deserved rest.

 

Susan

[puppycanducruise]

@mamaofami    Happy Anniversary! 🥂

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

It is now quiet again.  The two guys finished replacing all the screws on the house side of the metal roof about two hours ago.  They found at least two, maybe more, bad screws.   Hopefully, this will fix the leaky roof problem.  Of course, now there is no rain in the forecast, and our rainy season isn't until next spring.  Maybe, we'll get a couple of good rains sooner, so we can determine if the work today solved the problem.

 

DH and I are working on cleaning up my computer and removing outdated programs and files.  He just finished with the big stuff, and now I'm going through files to see what I can get rid of, too.

 

@Cruising-along  Welcome back home, and I'm glad everyone had a good time.  I hope your DGS's cat is found soon.  It sounds like your DS and DDIL's new house is coming along.

 

@aliaschief Welcome home, Bruce.  Good to know you had a great time with the grand kids.

 

@durangoscots  Susan, we also watched the Ken Burn's Holocaust special last night.  It was disturbing in many ways.

 

Lenda

 

[Crazy For Cats]

58 minutes ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

@Crazy For Cats, Just curious what pet medication you can get at a regular pharmacy. Ninja and Houdini’s thyroid medication comes from a compounding pharmacy. In fact, vet just called to increase  Ninja’s dosage and do a blood retest in 3 weeks. The medication is working as he has gained weight.🤞

River is on phenobarbital and Amelia is on lactulose.  Thank goodness for pill pockets, River would bite me if I gave her a pill by hand.  Recently I found catnip flavored ones at Walmart and they are a hit with her.

[Vict0riann]

Ahoy, mateys!  Just popping in from Sitka to say hi.    We tried to watch the funeral last night (2 am), but I’m afraid we dozed.  It looked beautiful.  I think they will be repeating it through the day on board, though. Condolences to Graham and Pauline.  We are all going to miss her, though.  Have to wonder how the Commonwealth will fare without her. 
 

the cruise is going well.  Pat found his favourite underwear in Anchorage, makes it all worthwhile!   Lots of rain until today, Sitka is beautiful and sunny.  

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, durangoscots said:

I watched Ken Burn's Holocaust last night, so I was a bit depressed to start the day and then

I am on Mountain time so it was up at 3am for me to watch the funeral. Watched the whole through both services except for on brief period to rush the dogs out and in. It was was very moving. I don't see how the family is still on their feet.... they must all be exhausted both physically and mentally. I hope there can be some well deserved rest.

 

Susan

I have not seen the Ken Burns program. I suspect I will also find it disturbing. The history that I grew up with is very good a painting the US to be the hero that can do no wrong. 
 

The movie at Pearl Harbor before going over to the Arizona Memorial was so disturbing. I had been raised to believe the attack was unprovoked. 
 

 

[highscar]

@grapau27thank you for your input on todays funeral.   I was there at king George 6 laying in state and had the privilege watching the coronation of Elizabeth to become our queen. The next day I started a journey to Canada.  My scrap books that I started as a youngster are still a part of my life.  

 

[dfish]

I am just sick.   We had a hard rain last night.  It was hard enough that there was still water pooled in the back yard.  It eventually soaks in, but it takes a while.  I went down to check the basement and discovered that there was water over near the sump pump.   My neighbor, a plumber, came over and checked the sump pump and it is working.  We did notice that the wall was wet up near the top, not so much near the bottom.  The water is not coming from the floor of the basement.   So, next stop was outside.   There is a pool of water near the sump pump outside.  Soil has been eroded away and it is lower, allowing water to pool up there.  Also, the drain from the sump does not drain into the drainage pipe.  It misses it by a small bit and just empties into the pool of water.  Trevor felt that if we built up the soil in that corner and if he realigns the drains to match that should take care of the problem.  I sure hope he is right.  The realtor asked me to ask Trevor to write up what he had done to fix the problem.  

 

2 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

@dfish I would suggest, if the seller is being so hard to deal with, that you have your realtor show you similar houses in that area that are for sale.  It is possible that there are better houses at a similar price with more willing or reasonable sellers available.  In our area, the hot real estate market is not so hot as it was a few months ago and many sellers have had to reduce their asking price.  As mortgage rates have gone from 4% to 6%, there are not as many qualified buyers either.  In other words, it has gone from a seller's market to a buyer's market.

Ray

We've been looking and right now there isn't anything comparable.  We'll persevere.  

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

33 minutes ago, dfish said:

I am just sick.   We had a hard rain last night.  It was hard enough that there was still water pooled in the back yard.  It eventually soaks in, but it takes a while.  I went down to check the basement and discovered that there was water over near the sump pump.   My neighbor, a plumber, came over and checked the sump pump and it is working.  We did notice that the wall was wet up near the top, not so much near the bottom.  The water is not coming from the floor of the basement.   So, next stop was outside.   There is a pool of water near the sump pump outside.  Soil has been eroded away and it is lower, allowing water to pool up there.  Also, the drain from the sump does not drain into the drainage pipe.  It misses it by a small bit and just empties into the pool of water.  Trevor felt that if we built up the soil in that corner and if he realigns the drains to match that should take care of the problem.  I sure hope he is right.  The realtor asked me to ask Trevor to write up what he had done to fix the problem.  

 

We've been looking and right now there isn't anything comparable.  We'll persevere.  

 

Oh, Debbie, just what you didn't need.  The good news is your neighbor will be able to fix it for your and at least, the rain let you discover it in time to remedy the situation.  Than goodness for good neighbors.  Fingers crossed 🤞  that this is the last surprise.

 

Lenda

Edited September 19, 2022 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[cat shepard]

Ann’s Adventure - Part 3

 

September 4th dawned clear and cold. We were up at 5:30, so we could get ready and get our luggage out by 6. We headed over to Karstens to get breakfast to go. A venti NF latte and two berry scones for me. Up Heart Attack hill for the last time. We found seats in the main lodge building and enjoyed our breakfast. I saved my second scone for later, since they were bigger than they appeared in the display case.
 

The buses started to arrive and as I mentioned earlier the bus used for this 15 minute ride were luxurious compared to the one used for the 4+ hour ride from Anchorage. Charging ports, cup holders & great leg room, as well as comfy seats. 
 

We were guided on to our double decker train car with the huge vista dome upstairs and the dining area downstairs.  It was a spectacular day for a train ride!

 

 

Our car’s guides let us know that at Anchorage, two port agents would board our car and get us cleared in advance of arriving at Whittier. That way, we could walk off the train and walk on the ship. They also said we should arrive around 3:30 p.m., not 6 - as stated in our itinerary! 
 

When we left the last tunnel we were greeted by the sight of the Niew Amsterdam waiting patiently for our arrival.

 

 

It literally took us 10 minutes to walk from the train to the ship, through security into an elevator to deck 5. Our key cards were waiting for us and so was our luggage! What did HAL do, beam it from Denali? 
 

We had time to unpack, watch our safety film and visit our Muster Station before heading to Tamarind for our reservation. In my excitement I got us turned around, and Rini, who ended up taking care of us in Tamarind, guided us there. Dinner was everything I hoped for and more. I confess to totally forgetting to take pics until dessert - which was that amazing Yuzu cheesecake. 😎

 

 

Back to the cabin. And I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Not just because I was up so early, but also from the excitement of finally getting onboard!

 

September 5th

Up early to hit the gym. 😎

I meet Jezelle in Explorations for my morning coffee. Kris in the Lido who took great care of us and loved to practice his English with us.  Then Erlene who fed me wonderful Greek yogurt & berries every morning. And finally, Ronahlyn, my egg white omelet flipping guru.  I also discovered that the dark rye bread that 8 loved on my cruise to Hawaii, was dry. So after two days, I switched to a toasted slice of wheat bread from the omelet station.

 

Today we were cruising Hubbard Glacier, so we wanted to test out our aft balcony to see if it would work for us. Not just to see the vistas, but also to block the wind.  And it did!

 

 

 

Up to the Crow’s Nest to have our Mariner Cocktail, which was quite tasty. Sadly I did not keep the card with its name or description. 
 

 

Sunset was breathtaking!

 

 

Dinner in the MDR was good. We chose Anytime Dining, since we had no clue when we would be ready to eat each night.  Then off to bed. We got the call from Guest Services at 2 a.m. that the Aurora was visible.  I think I was too near ship lights, because my picture looks bizarre.

 

 

September 6th

Glacier Bay

Gym, coffee, breakfast - now you know my routine. This morning Panca, a Lido manager, refilled our coffee. I put in a comment in the Let Us Know about what a great role model leader he was. He could have simply called someone over to do what he did. 
 

Showered and ready to meet our Park Rangers and enjoy the majesty of Glacier Bay. 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was in the Pinnacle Grill that night - one of our Have it All specials. They were have system problems which resulted in our waiter, Wahan, running ragged. Finally, it started working. I had an amazing Halibut filet. And in the middle of enjoying it, Daniel, the manager of the Dining Room, introduced himself to me and thanked me for submitting my comment about Panca’s leadership skills. I do not know the hierarchy, but it appeared that Daniel was somehow in Panca’s chain of command.

 

We returned to our cabin and started our towel animal reading group…

 

 

Another wonderful day. 
 

To be continued… Bind8 wants to go find her favorite person in the universe - our mail carrier, who gives her treats. 

 

 

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

I am just sick.   We had a hard rain last night.  It was hard enough that there was still water pooled in the back yard.  It eventually soaks in, but it takes a while.  I went down to check the basement and discovered that there was water over near the sump pump.   My neighbor, a plumber, came over and checked the sump pump and it is working.  We did notice that the wall was wet up near the top, not so much near the bottom.  The water is not coming from the floor of the basement.   So, next stop was outside.   There is a pool of water near the sump pump outside.  Soil has been eroded away and it is lower, allowing water to pool up there.  Also, the drain from the sump does not drain into the drainage pipe.  It misses it by a small bit and just empties into the pool of water.  Trevor felt that if we built up the soil in that corner and if he realigns the drains to match that should take care of the problem.  I sure hope he is right.  The realtor asked me to ask Trevor to write up what he had done to fix the problem.  

 

We've been looking and right now there isn't anything comparable.  We'll persevere.  

 

Go Trevor! Wishing & hoping that this is it, Debbie!