Monday September 30, 2024

Good evening. Watching the 6:30 news and more pictures from the Southern States and North Carolina devastated from last week’s hurricane. It’s going to be months before things are anywhere near normal. 

Normal. A rather boring word. But oh do we wish for normal when things spin out of our control.  We’ve experienced days with power and terrible cleanup after storms, but nothing like this! 

Mark’s sister texted him that she was heading to family or friends in Greenville. We’re concerned about her being stranded on the single lane of traffic out of Western N.C.  The line for gas was a mile long. Then of course you’re leaving house and contents to looting. Sad time for thousands. We offered she fly here and stay awhile. 

Then there’s Jeremy & Abby’s wedding in mid October. We’re flying to Asheville for the wedding, whether it be the formal affair that’s planned or a Courthouse marriage. We want to see everyone. The hotel’s in the Biltmore area … maybe we be in boots rather than dress shoes? Today, it was still raining in North Carolina from remnants of Helene. Terrible situation. Equipment from other States is being delivered on air transports. 

In good news, the K’s arrived home safely today. It was a wet and windy trip from Canada. 🇨🇦 Welcome home. 

Sunday September 29, 2024

Good evening y’all. It’s been a sleepy day for me … however, not for Mark. 

Firstly, all was good at Sue & Wayne’s house on Friday. The Villages had a few areas of leaf debris along the streets, otherwise nothing. Diane & Kris have a big, well treed lot and they had enough to pick up. 😂

Kris had some dental work done and was sore. We recommended “thoup” … guess it wasn’t that funny to anyone with a sore mouth. 😂

Randy checked in on us yesterday. He has another procedure for kidney stones in his near future. When it rains it pours.  Dawn has her sister arriving and they’re going to Disney with “all the kids.” Mark thinks Randy said there’s 15 in all … and he’s happy to stay home alone. 😂  (This seems to be an annual tradition with Dawn’s family.) Have a blast kids!

Yesterday, Mark discovered a wet corner in the garage! He took the baseboard off and discovered water had wicked it’s way up the wall. So, first thing was to get a fan on it. This morning he was on the roof … caulked a seam where the house and garage roofs meet. No evidence of a leak there but … maybe. This afternoon he’d thought more about it and pulled the kitchen fridge out. There was the culprit … a fitting on the waterline had a tiny drip. It’s been dripping back there since we ran the generator for a power outage in July! 

So … tomorrow a new .50 cent part and $100 worth of fix-its. 🙄 We should have bought shares in Home Depot 30 years ago. 😂 You see, when the power was out in July Mark pulled the fridge out to plug it into an extension cord which ran through the house and out the back window to our portable generator. (Yeah, it’s not an easy flip of a switch here!) Anyway, so happy it wasn’t a roof issue. 😅

It was a couple days worry about our North Carolina family as Hurricane Helene hit their area. We knew cell phone towers were down and power off from the news. Later in the day Jeremy posted on Instagram that he and Abby were safe in their home but roads flooded. It was hours of texting family til Paula made it down from her mountain home and discovered cell service at an old Sears parking lot. We were able to tell her Jeremy & Abby were okay at their house. Of course they didn’t have power either. Paula made it to Jon’s house … no Jon, no electricity and no water service. Rumor has it the reservoir for Asheville’s water source was breached. It wasn’t til hours later that Jon made it home from the Grove Park Inn. That place closed indefinitely so guessing flooding and damage there. Olivia & Brian eventually found Paula at Jon’s and were able to confirm Marshall & Savannah were okay. What a mess that area’s in. Who would have thought it could hit this beautiful mountain area so badly. If you haven’t been there, every mountain town has a stream, river or creek. When it rains … well it has to go downhill. 🤷‍♀️ I’ll post a few pictures. 

Mark and I RV’d to these beautiful spots over the years. We could not have imagined such destruction could take place. Hurricane Helene was a massive storm, 450 miles wide. It was a category four when it hit the big bend area of Florida. Devastation there was expected, even annihilation. But, to have gone so far north and caused this type of destruction is mind blowing. 

All is well here, and we are happy to be in central Florida  Could we get this here? Well, we could certainly have rising water, but we don’t have the mountains to filter it all down into the rivers and streams. But yes, some areas of Florida are more prone to flooding than others.  

That’s it for today. We’re thinking of Bonnie and Roger who have been recovering from the tornado last May. They have left on their Mediterranean adventure today and we wish them a wonderful trip.  

Ta ta. 

Friday September 27, 2024

Good afternoon all y’all. Wyatt and I poked our noses outside at 5 o’clock when it was still dark outside. Our property was in good shape and the air was still. Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 monster, 400 miles across! I couldn’t believe Mark, the Scotties and I slept through the night. 🌀💨🌧️ 😴 

Since we had electricity still (!!!) I sorted the ton of vacation laundry and started a load. Most of it had to be hung to dry so it looked like (as mom always said) “the Chinese laundry.” 😉 

I felt pretty good when I woke up having emptied the 4 suitcases yesterday afternoon. There was a muddle to put away but not too bad. Mark slept til 7:30 when I sent the kids in to wake him. 🐾 There’s nothing like the pitter-patter of 60 Scottie toenails on the wood floor. 🤣

Nancy was without power for about 12 hours … we offered to help her with the generator if needed. (We’re taking our meds for the dreaded Covid plus trying to relax. The tough part is realizing nobody wants to see us. 😜 Hopefully we’ll be back in the groove soon. 

Sue & Wayne are concerned about their Villages home so we’ll drive there tonight and check it out. Mark’s starting a big batch of chicken for the kids. (There’s still food in the freezer for them … but we gotta fill those empty freezer dishes.) 

The sun is shining! It’s going on 4 o’clock … and that’s it for today’s R & R. We’re off to The Villages. There’ll be some tidy up outside no doubt, spray the weeds and do our regular housesitting chores. 

Ta ta! 

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Good evening. We are here safely at home but watching the hurricane coverage with this category 4 storm going into the big bend area of Florida. We are going to have some wind tonight, somewhere around 40 to 50 mile an hour.

Our flight home yesterday was about half an hour late leaving, but somehow we made it up and got in on time. 

It was a fairly smooth ride considering we were going into the storm area near Florida. 

I could keep an eye on the pilots from my seat! 😂Excellent service on British Airways … champagne was flowing freely … then a choice of 3 course lunches. Mark and I had the Chicken Curry. 

Mark was enjoying the flight until we started descending from 38,000 feet. Then his head felt full and stuffy. By the time we landed his eyes were red and he couldn’t hear anything. 😳

This hurricane is 400 miles wide, so it was difficult to avoid it. Nonetheless, we got into the Orlando Airport fine, going through customs was easy, especially having that known traveler information added to our flights. We had a little trouble finding our hired ride home. The woman was on the wrong level waiting for us. Then, she told us to go down to the first level and she would pick us up. But that didn’t work either so we had to haul our 4 bags back up where we originally were. In future, I think we would just call Uber once we got our bags. 

The ride home was hair-raising too!  She’s quite a talker and likes to talk with her hands … off the steering wheel. If she wasn’t talking with her hands, she was patting her dog Georgie who was sitting in the front seat. We tore up her business card when we got home and won’t be using her service again.🙄 

Nancy had the house nice and tidy for us and all the bedding had been washed. We had a drink with her last night and did a few chores, then went to bed about 10 o’clock. It was so nice to sleep in our own comfy bed.

This morning, Mark wasn’t feeling well and found out he has Covid. There were a lot of people on the tour bus coughing a few days ago, so I guess that’s probably the source. Anyway, he got a telephone visit with the nurse practitioner and I picked up medication for both of us at Walgreens. The nurse practitioner felt that if Mark had it it’s inevitable that I will eventually have it. So … we’re treating it even though I’m testing negative. (I do have a raspy voice, but have a attributed it to my Gerd.)

The kids were excited to see us, but obviously had been having a lot of fun with Nancy. There were toys scattered about and they were happy. We think maybe BeeZee had put on a little bit of weight as she was walking like a walrus. 😂 We intended to weigh them this morning, but forgot. Maybe tomorrow.

Randy and Dawn called this evening and we had a good chat. Randy has been having some health problems … it’s been just one thing after the other. Hopefully he’s on the mend.  ❤️‍🩹 

It’s now just after 10 o’clock and we’re getting some winds around 40 to 50 mile an hour. It’ll be a windy night, but hopefully nothing more than that in our area. We feel for the people in the path of this monster storm. I hope they have heeded the warning and evacuated as necessary. The area where it’s coming in to Florida floods easily with a high tide. They’re talking a big storm surge with hurricane Helene. 

That’s it for tonight. Stay safe wherever you are.  

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Good morning from B.A.’s lounge at Gatwick where we’re still being treated extremely well. 🇬🇧 But as Sue texted me, “Welcome back to reality!” Darn. Is the party over? (Not according to Mark!” 🥳❤️

There’s a full self-serve bar in the lounge. (Someone’s going to sleep on the flight! 😉)

Yup! That’s a party waiting to happen! 🥳

We don’t know our flight gate yet as our plane has yet to arrive. No worries. 

Monday, September 23, 2024

Good morning from Portland Port, Southern Coast of the United Kingdom. 

I love it here and I’m not off the ship yet! 😂

It’s 60ishF with low clouds … room service has delivered our breakfast and we’re docking now. 

Now THAT’S a fender! 

Repurposed war ship … Mark thinks it’s being used to dredge the port. (We stirred up some sand coming in.)

It’s 10:30 local time and we’re an hour into our drive to Stonehenge.  The countryside is beautiful and we passed through the picturesque towns of Portland, Weymouth and others. Here are a few pics Mark took from our bus. Maid Marion & driver Josh were informative and a bit of fun. 

Drydocked for repainting

Weymouth, a nice beach area where King George the III bathef naked with his bathing carriage. 

That’s the bathing carriage. 

Weymouth … a favorite of Royalty. Plenty of hotels in the area. 

Pretty harbor for pleasure boats

So, we made it to the Stones in England’s finest weather, pouring rain. ☔️ (Yes, I did pack at umbrella but … starting packing up the things we weren’t needing. Yup, the umbrella. 😂

That’s the closest we could get today after some kooks threw yellow cornstarch on them two weeks ago. Our friend Dennis W. informed us that if we were 10’ from the stones we’d have seen WWI soldiers names carved in the stones. 

The buses rolling in to the parking lot (1 mile walk or another bus to the henge) were by the dozens. We stood half an hour in the rain.

After the magical mystery tour of Stonehenge we were taken to Salisbury Cathedral. 

Built 1220-1258. It houses one of the 4 existing originals of the Magna Carta!

Obviously this isn’t the original … but we saw it in the darkened tent! Spectacular!

A few pics of the interior!

The black water baptismal pool

One of the pipe organs

The grounds within the walled/gated are beautiful. Some homes are privately owned!

Just another porch tacked on the side. 

Beautiful gates to one of the private homes on the property. 

Now we’re on the bus back to Caribbean Princess for dinner and a show. 

Tomorrow we’re off to Gatwick for a night before flying home Wednesday! It’s been a great trip! 

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Good morning!A pleasant sea day begins! Our coffee and my croissant arrived at 8 o’clock on the dot. (How does room service operate with such precision, day after day?)

Coffee on the balcony, gently waves rolling by, and no horizon in sight … let me hold this memory forever. 🥰

Mark’s back from his buffet breakfast of salmon and eggs. He says that it’s a rough lifestyle but somebody has to live it. 😂 

So conversation at our lively dinner party last night was a blast. The beautiful couple from California spoke English very well. They live in Los Angeles and love it. The other couple, from Winnipeg Canada thought of themselves as “not exotic” but nothing could be further from the truth. They’re well traveled and spend 5 1/2 months in Tucson annually. They live on Cambie in Transcona! Their grandson lives with them and works as a train mechanic at C.N. That led to reminiscing and who do you know. What fun! 

It’s another formal evening on the ship with a musical show in the Princess Theater 🎭 … what to do? So many choices. I reflected on value for the dollar on this cruise as I relaxed on the balcony. (We’ve been on roughly a dozen cruises in our 30 years together.) At $333 per day, per person (not counting our airfare of course) we’re housed in a top-end balcony Stateroom on the Aloha Deck (12), room refreshed twice daily with towels, bed making etc.) Then there’s the meals … either fully served in one of the 6 dining rooms or buffet-style on Deck 15. Our drinks are included … fancy coffees, Chivas, Dewars, Champagne etc., and the entertainment! Princess excels at attention to detail on the entertainment! I truly believe there’s something for everyone, everyday. Bottom-line … it’s a “bargain” to cruise. 

Our “compartment” hotel in London was $1,000 for 3 nights. No housekeeping, no food, no entertainment. Hey, we loved every minute of our London/family visit but dollar to dollar, no comparison. 

By the way, 2 people, asian-sounding names, missed getting back on the ship last night! We wonder what may have happened to them? 

An oil rig … unusual as we’ve been seeing thousands of windmills!

Current location … the North Sea is calm and a glorious navy blue! Delicious lunch of Caesar salad with shrimp for me … roasted chicken and corned beef for Mark. Now it’s balcony time with coffee. 

Escort 

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Good morning from Hamburg, Germany … a mega-Northern European port on the Elbe River and North sea. It’s 70F at noon. 

We walked the Promenade Deck after brunch and took a few pics … 

We’re being refueled on Port side and restocked on the Starboard side. 

Dozens of tour-boats plying the harbor on the 1st day of the Bavarian holiday Oktoberfest! 🍺 Today’s specialties will, no doubt, be German foods. 

About 60% of the harbor was reduced to rubble by the end of WWII. 

I can well imagine Hamburg in the old days with wooden tall ships.

Our tour (bus) group was pretty good today. Much of Hamburg is a mix of 12th Century and 1960’s construction. WWII reduced Germany to rubble in several cities but none worse than the Port of Hamburg.

A few random photos …

The uptown shopping district was pricey … we only had 30 minutes!

This 12th Century building survived the bombing whereas the buildings either side were reduced to rubble. Most of the dock workers were killed, their homes destroyed and never rebuilt. In the years following, the widows of the dock workers were left penniless and eventually the government was forced to help them. So the widows were allowed to live out their lives in that very building.

This alleyway was their “garden” area. 😳 Our guide said Germany was destroyed until the 1960’s when immigrants from Turkey and Italy poured in to work. 

St. Michael’s church, is one of Hamburg‘s five Lutheran churches, and one of the most famous known for its Baroque Hanseatic features.

It was quite beautiful, but we didn’t have much time to visit. 

From a river to 2 lakes, this area shaped the face of central Hamburg. It’s called the outer Alstet and the inner Alster. This area was dugout and a lake created in the 12th century. Originally one lake, it was divided into two by the addition of a bridge. There were many sailboats and paddle boards out on this sunny Saturday. 

Oktoberfest began today! Our guide explained that Oktoberfest is really a Bavarian traditional holiday. The Germans only adopted it after the Americans began to celebrate it, and it was featured in so many films.  

The Philharmonic opera house is built on top of an old canal-front warehouse. The raised walkway that you see in the photo is common along waterfront areas as the river Elbe backs up and floods the harbour area during times of a north wind at high tide. All the store fronts and the harbor area have waterproof front doors! Hamburgers 80 km down the river from the north Sea, and yet the water backs up with a north wind.  

This 12th Century relic was not repaired and left to remind the people of the devastation of war. Oddly enough, the front of the building is intact, but the back of it was blown off. 

The port area has its seedy parts as most do. The wealthy citizens prefer to live in the older traditional neighborhoods. Those that moved into Germany in the 1960’s tended to settle in the newer areas. This is where the quality ethnic restaurants are located.

With the miles of canals and reasonably mild climate, you’d think the waterfront areas would look like Ft. Lauderdale or Venice. 🤷‍♀️ 

Ta ta Hamburg … we’re glad to have visited.