Vacay Part 3, cool ports and interesting people!

7/26/15

This trip had a fantastic itinerary, one of the main reasons why I chose it! We did Spain, Morocco, Canary Islands and Portugal. The two stops in Spain were along the coast. The Canary Islands are also part of Spain and we did three of them. In order to get an overview of them, I chose a different excursion for each-volcano, country, and city. Hit up the enrichment lectures on board the ship and learned lots of little tidbits about the islands. The biggest one being that contrary to public belief, the islands are named after dogs not birds! 

Follow this link for a great map

 

Vigo, Spain was our first stop. Loved the architecture here and the coastline! Joe walked to the top of the fort and took a hundred plus pictures. We also visited the town of Bayona and saw a castle. Had to keep pinching myself that we were really travelling in Europe! Just as beautiful as I imagined it would be. Just to make things a bit more magical, we had this adorable escort as we departed!

The next place we stopped was in Agadir, Morocco. Couple of interesting tidbits. Very, very dirty! Was amazed, not what I expected at all. That being said, I'm very glad that we came here. Decided not to make the trek to Marrakesh, very long bus ride and heard that it was pretty rough. Instead, did a double tour day. Morning we did souk and Taroudant. There are goats everywhere, even in the trees! The souk is the marketplace, huge, loud, dirty, and crowded. Our visit is during the month of Ramadan which involves fasting all day. Several places are closed and it makes things a bit awkward. Our tour includes a stop at a hotel for Moroccan tea and pastries but our tour guides are observing Ramadan.

The second half of our day we travel all around Agadir and visit another souk, a temple, and the Kasbah. This tour also goes to some old walls (ramparts) that have been around since the 1500's. Very, very cool to see! There are holes all through the walls and was interesting to find out that the holes are for ventilation and they are filled with birds as well. Let Joe do some of the climbing and picture taking for this one, way too many steps for me! I did get accosted by some guys, ended up with some pics with a goat but didn't get to do the camel. Joe was a bit concerned as to their hygiene and chased them away! My way of thinking was once in a lifetime photo op, his way of thinking, pestilence!

The souk requires you to barter, they throw out ridiculously high prices and expect to haggle! Ended up with a rug which I think looks pretty good in front of my kitchen sink. I wasn't buying that it was a handmade silk rug worth 150 bucks, more like machine made cotton poly blend worth 10 bucks. We settled on 20 and I get to say I have a rug in my house from Agadir, Morocco!!

Ship doesn't pull out until 9:30 pm, just as it was turning dark. (In this part of the world, sunset is very late! Actually, it took us a few days to get used to it)! Got these shots as we were pulling out. The words that are lit up mean, God, Nation, King. It is called Agadir ofla. Not sure if that is the name of the monument or the mountain it is on. In Arabic the words are:  Allah, Alwatan, Almalik. As we were driving around we saw the words on the side of the mountain but no matter how I tried I couldn't get a clear picture of them. I am glad that we spotted them lit up as we pulled out.

 

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Now, we are headed to the Canary Islands! Stay tuned for the next installment!

And then there was one.

7/21/15

As many of you know, we have a couple of fur babies that I fondly refer to as the kids. They are a huge part of our lives and we were very fortunate to have found them. Thanks to my sister, we rescued them as kittens and for the last nine years they have ruled the house. I am not ashamed to admit that we have adapted to their needs as opposed to forcing them to adapt to ours! 

Sadly, Sam became ill and for the last year or so he has been, as the vet said, "living on borrowed time". That time ended yesterday afternoon. 

Hopefully, he is curled up on a sofa with his best bud Truly, pain free and purring.

Isobel and Sampson

Typical Sam, what do you mean you want to put fruit in this bowl?

Best buds

 

He loved his sister, they often curled up together.

He loved Truly. Always made me think of the song from the Fox and the Hound, they were the best of friends...

He loved B. He would always lay on the floor next to him and when B moved, Sam followed!

Puppy love

As he got older, the splayed out position became his favorite.

Waiting for his turn to watch cat tv

Comfy

 

One of his best faces

Handsome boy!

Vacay part 2

7/21/15

National Express Bus from Victoria Station to Southampton. A few hours of driving and another 100 pictures or so later we arrive and find a taxi to take us to the pier. Great scenery along the way and we did get to drive through the University. Very cool looking! We arrived in plenty of time to board, drop our stuff off in our room, find a drink and start taking pictures of the dock from the ship!

Leaving London we drove through this town on our way to the M4. All the towns were just this gorgeous!

What a cool looking school!

Please note that there are 2 drinks, one for me and one for Joe! 

This is the area where we entered to board the ship, probably one of the easiest times we've ever had.

Must say, boarding in Southampton was beyond easy! These guys really know how to expedite! From the time the taxi pulled up to the time we were on ship, maybe 20 minutes! I was very impressed with how quickly things went. If I was able to walk faster on the uphill ramps, it would of been even less! Right off the bat, this ship impressed us. Very clean, great staff and our room steward already had the water and power cord for my machine in the room. We dropped our carry on items and headed up on deck to check things out. Muster drill was well organized, staff was great. Wish that some of our fellow passengers were as pleasant. To my way of thinking it is the final hurdle and once we complete it, the cruise portion of vacay is officially underway!

  

Amazing views as we are pulling out of the dock. The coast is gorgeous and we pass by a bit of every type of scenery imaginable. Joe loved all the abandoned boats we saw. I'm not sure why but I think my favorite was the field of cows! 

Now that the cruise portion of the vacation has begun we finish our drinks then head off to explore the ship. Good size, but not overwhelmingly so. Everyone we see, both staff and fellow passengers are friendly. Evidently, the trauma of the muster drill has worn off (or the naysayers have taken to their cabins)! Walk around a bit then head to cabin to unpack and get ready for dinner. One suitcase is already waiting for us. Get it unpacked as the second one arrives. Great room with plenty of space for all of our junk and the cases fit under the bed. OCD issues tended to, we are off to find food.

Signed up for the Anytime Dining which means that we show up and they find us a table. Get the option of dining alone or with others but for this first night they seated us up front with all the wheel chair bound folks! Okay for one night but we changed that seating arrangement for the rest of the cruise! Put me in the back by the windows. POC has wheels for a reason. We also tried to be seated at larger tables so we would have the opportunity to meet some folks. Being on a ship from the UK is very different than the cruises that we have taken in the past. Joe and I are just loving all of the different folks we are meeting!  

Next installment, cool ports and interesting people!

Happy Anniversary to my thoughts and working on my tact...

7/16/15

According to my Facebook "you have memories to look back on today" notification, I am pleased to say that one year ago today I officially launched and posted my first blog announcement! 

I am amazed at how many posts I have actually made over the last year. So many changes, mostly good, so I'm not complaining at all. Vacations have been taken, babies have been born, moves have been made and new friends have been found. Thanks to each and every one of you for whatever contribution you have made!

One of the things that I promised myself was that I would try to post fairly and honestly. I have had to take a good look at my audience and realized that I did need to filter myself a smidge. I tend to lack in the tact department and I knew that some people would have their feelings hurt if I wasn't careful. Of course, I have been called out on a few things but for the most part, I've made more friends than enemies.

I'm working on the tact part and occasionally, I am successful. I have come to realize that no matter what you say, how you phrase it, or how much you believe in something, there is always going to be someone who will find the negative. Being a bright and sunshiny kind of girl, those folks will just have to deal. If you don't like what I have to say or how I say it, go read someone else's blog!

That being said, I still hate Sam's Club and I still love cruises. My life still revolves around my 4 (soon to be 5) grand-babies and I still cook like crazy. Rachael Ray purple still dominates my kitchen and one of the best parts of our new house is the abundance of huge cupboards! The kids are still hanging around and are determined to find new hidey holes in the new house (stuff in the way? knock it down). Or, just hide under the blanket, no one will know you are there. And best of all, I finally have a Crepe Myrtle tree!

I didn't forget about the next installment of vacay, this was just a slight intermission!!

Vacay, part one!

7/14/15

Wow, seems like forever and a day since I posted. Joe and I have been very busy kids! We'll make this post (and maybe a few more) about vacay and put the house hunting and moving into a separate entry.

Decided to extend our trip with an early visit to see family, then a few days in London, and then onto the cruise ship. Went to see some amazing relatives (and I don't use that term lightly)! My first time meeting them and I'm certain that we'll be planning some future meets. What a great way to start off a trip!! And a very special thanks to them for introducing us to the Fractured Prune Donut Shoppe, yum! Best of all, 2 new nieces and a nephew to spoil. Fun!!

Next stop, British Airways. Our first double decker plane and I must say, they certainly do like to feed their passengers! We had a drink, then dinner, then another drink with biscuits, then a snack pack (sandwich and fruit).

Nothing like a bottle of wine served with dinner...

We knew that there was a time change but what we didn't take into account was that upon arrival in London we would have to kill several hours prior to checking in to our hotel. At this point, we have been awake for about 24 hours. It was kind of gray and drizzly out so we bought our hop on/hop off bus tickets and with luggage in tow set off to find our hotel!

Several hours (and about a hundred pictures) later, we found it! Luckily, the manager had our studio ready and let us in. We dragged our soggy selves in, changed into dry, warm clothes and promptly fell asleep for four hours!! We woke up famished and decided to explore the neighborhood. Found a cute little pub on the corner and off to dinner we went. 

I think my favorite thing about the pubs was the open feel. Doors are open, tables both inside and outside. The servers were very friendly and determined to have us try every type of beer and ale that they had. We ended up here a few times during our stay and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Please note that there are 2 beers on the table, I actually drank during this trip! First wine on the plane and now beer. Joe was amazed. What a great way to start off our adventures. Loved that we stepped outside of our comfort zone right off the bat.

The next few days were a whirlwind of hop on/hop off fun. We hit tons of tourist spots and a few off the beaten path spots. We rode, walked, and even hit a few cabs. Due to the stairs, we did avoid the underground and due to Mrs. Obama we had to miss the changing of the guards as well. We did get to do a drive by of the palace on our way to the bus.

Every morning we started off here, Joe liked the full English, I liked the Sherlock. We weren't quite sure why people kept coming in to take pictures of the walls but on our last morning we found out that it is related to a tv program called Sherlock. Seems they film scenes from it here... for us, it was a few doors down from the apartment and delicious! 

A few of our trip highlights were:

The Tower of London and we did go see the Crown Jewels. Surprisingly it is much more than jewels 

Parliament and the clock tower featuring Big Ben

St. Pauls and you are not allowed to feed the birds!

Butlers Wharf, think Oliver Twist...

Saw this on the Thames River Cruise

I could post pics all day but I think I'll stop here. Next stop was the National Express Victoria Bus Station. Found a great deal on bus fare to Southampton. One final breakfast at Speedy's and we loaded up our bags, grabbed a cab, shot a few more pics on the way, picked up our tickets at the window and settled in to wait!

My BFF's birthday, snarky people, cruises and dreary Sundays!

4/26/15

The first thing I have to say is Happy Birthday Mary! It is very rare to find a friend that you can talk to (even if it's in your own head sometimes) and never be afraid to say anything that you are thinking. Over the past 30 years we have been across the street, in the same town, in the same state and separated by several states but in the words of Meredith Grey, "you are my one"! I hope you have the best day ever!!

That being said, onward we go.

Ever notice how on gray and dreary days you end up sitting around with nothing to do and find yourself staring into space? That day is today. Decided I would shake off the boredom and do some time on Facebook. I'm not talking playing Candy Crush but actually scrolling through my wall and reading something other than the yard sale ads and cruise group comments. 

I'm happy to report that I really haven't been missing too much with my Candy Crush addiction. Quite a few of the posts are just people re-posting stuff they saw. My main observation about this behavior is that most of the stuff they post is several years old. Have you seen this... and the post is from 2009 and this was found 2 days after the original post. Or the post is totally bogus (I love www.snopes.com) and whatever it is about never existed anywhere except on the internet for the last ten years!

The other thing I discovered is that there sure are a lot of snarky people on the internet. Guess that parents stopped teaching the "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all" rule! Wow. Post of sick kid, bash the mom for posting it. Ask a question, bash the asker for not knowing and asking. Post an interesting article, bash the article photo, the author of the article, the way the article is written, the font used to write the article but never mention anything about the actual article...

Like randomly inserting a picture of the kids taking a nap and having someone comment on the fact that the bed isn't made! By the way, don't you just love my gorgeous summer comforter?

My favorite though has to be the cruise line groups that I joined. The premise is that you join the group so you can do a few things. One, share your excitement and enthusiasm for your upcoming trips. True fact, your friends and family don't want to hear about where you are going, how long you are staying and what excursions you are thinking about taking. All they hear is that you are going and they aren't. Second, find out info from other people about specific destinations, cruise ports, airports and hotels for before and after cruise stays. The knowledge from others who have gone before you should help with making informed decisions easier. Sadly, the snarky folks are too often on these sites as well. I am thankful for the majority of my fellow cruisers who simply answer the question but sure does take up some time wading through the remarks from the haters! 

Turtle in the Cayman Islands!

The folks on the cruise groups want to see your vacation pics and even have contests where they urge you to submit your favorite pictures! I have taken to making Shutterfly books and magnet boards to memorialize our journeys! Joe and I enjoy looking at them even if no one else does, LOL!

Truthfully, probably a better way to have spent my gray and dreary Sunday would of been to do a ton of housecleaning. B is coming to hang out with me tomorrow so I know I won't get anything productive accomplished. Too hard to concentrate on work when he is busy doing and saying cute and adorable things! I did break down and make a Loaded Potato, Egg, Sausage and Cheese Scramble for Joe and I to have for brunch. Sadly, that and this blog post were my main efforts for the day! Happy Sunday everyone.

For Recipe click here

House hunting, a new doc, tendons, rain and Instagram

4-16-15

Where to begin, so much going on! Seeing as how I'm not supposed to be typing guess I should start with the new doctor and my tendons! Wanted to get a spot on my arm checked and found out I had to get a referral. Problem is, I didn't like my primary care doctor so since I see one or the other of my two favorite docs every four months figured I just wouldn't see her. Sadly, her office had to be the one to provide the referral. Made that dreaded call only to find out that she had left and I was being assigned to a new resident. This could of been a disaster but luckily turns out the new doc is on top of her game and pretty alert. Showed her my spot and also mentioned that I had hit my left hand on the kitchen island three weeks ago and it was still swollen and achy. Turns out I have a pretty fancy inflammation:

De Quervain Tenosynovitis

Basically, I type and cook so much that I have hurt the tendons by my thumb. I am not alone in this, seems like tons of folks out there do this and it is pretty common. My darling daughter told me she has it as well! Tylenol, some ice packs and using my left hand a bit less will help. Hitting it on the island evidently made the pain more noticeable. They'll check it again in six months and unless the pain becomes unbearable I don't have to do anything else. As for my spots, have to wait on dermatology to call and set the appointment. Did make me feel better by letting me know that they don't look like any of the bad guys. Will keep everyone posted, figuring I should see dermatology by the end of the year...

Spring is here! The rains have started turning the grass green, made our first run to Lowe's for flowers and most importantly, the hummingbirds are back! The first two have arrived and already gone through half the juice in a week. Joe is planning to do the first mow of the season on Saturday! We've had a few meals outside in the last couple of weeks, so nice to be outside. Of course, the trade off is the sneezies and a sinus headache, gotta love that pollen!
Meanwhile, since spring is in the air, real estate has started to become a bit more active. Starting the looking progress has been very interesting! We have seen a few and the one thing that I have come to realize is that we are much pickier than we used to be. Used to be that all we saw was potential, now, all we see is work that needs to be done! Older and wiser I guess. Definitely going to keep looking, time to move out of the boonies and closer to the action but not wanting to move enough to settle. Joe and I are in complete agreement that we would like to find a place that we both are happy with and can easily see ourselves living in for quite awhile. 

Trying to be more tech savvy so decided I should try and use my Instagram account for some of my blogging and Smiley360 activities. Imagine my surprise to find out that I was following 136 people I don't know. Took some research but seems that somewhere along the line I did something that gave somebody called Vesta access to my account and that gave them the right to follow people for me... Uh, not. Consider that right revoked and 136 people blocked and deleted. During the course of my research found that this is a pretty common occurrence and it can take up to a month for folks to figure out that they've agreed to this. Instagram users, check your authorized apps! You don't even want to know who you will be authorized to follow. You can't unsee some of those pictures  :)