ottahand7

Happy Saturday! Thank you for the Daily Reports. A quick check io in this morning as wifi wasn't working in the truck this morning at my usual time. A day of smoking brisket, watching The Open and the Irish Oaks. Glad our TV is better than the wifi. Prayers for all on the list and those that need them. We caught a lot of walleye yesterday so we had my sister over for a fish fry.

Happy Friday! We are having a small group of neighbors over for brisket tomorrow so I will clean pollen off the screen porch. It is neverending. I got a lot done yesterday digging up volunteer plants and trees that are being overwhelmed by their neighbors. I pot them, bring them back down state and overwinter for my garden club plant sale. Prayers for all needing them. 🙏 Thank you for the Daily Reports! @summer slopethanks for the second Bahama Mama recipe. No banana.

Good morning. @StLouisCruisers deepest sympathy to you and your family in the loss of Buddy. @dfishsmooth travels and I hope you have a great cruise! 48 degrees here right now. If it weren't for the bugs it would be a perfect summer. Cool nights and warm days. Some heat headed our way for the weekend. Thank you for the Daily Reports! Prayers for those on our Care list and the people of Ukraine. 🙏 Shark awareness today is appropriate. Morning news full of shark attack stories.

Thanks for the Daily Reports! It is always great to see where BHBs are each day and the food, drinks and port photos. I look forward to being able to read everyone's daily activities when I am back home and have internet at my desk not in the truck. Today is housekeeping and laundry. It is a gorgeous day with 56 degrees now and up to around 72 for today. Have a wonderful day. Prayers for those on the care list and for the people of Ukraine. 🙏

Thank you for the Daily Reports. The cocktail looks like a great one on HMC. The wine looks good too, pasta dish pretty but not what I would pick. Cows were an important part of my family history from family dairy in Bismarck ND in the 20s to family farm with dairy during my early life. A gray day here so we are heading to town. Our Walleye fry last night was great. We got our hot water heater installed yesterday so that was wonderful. Sick of using hot hose water for bathing. Prayers for all needing them. 🙏

We had a perfect morning for fishing, cloudy and light chop. John got 2 walleye so fish fry for dinner tonight. Thank you for the daily reports! @kazuthanks for the info on the Baladi dogs. Prayers for those needing them and those on the care report. Prayers for the people of Ukraine. 🙏🇺🇦 About 4 years ago I spread milkweed seeds around the yard and it took 2 years for them to germinate. Now I have three small stands of them and I was thrilled to see a Monarch has found them. The caterpillar is about an inch long. Have a great day!

A hazy day here in upper Michigan. A day of gardening ahead which is a relaxing day for me. Both cocktails today are favorites of mine but the sugar content makes them a rare treat. @kazuif you can get the rescue dog settled before your cruise it may be a good change of pace and bring you back to the happier Marley days. My husband passed away in April 2015 and as I spent that summer at the cabin by myself I decided my happiness would come from being in Michigan full time. When I drove back to Maryland I broke down in tears at the state line returning to a state that wasn't my own. I made the decision to go home to Michigan in August and put my plan in place to prepare the home for sale and list it March 1. If sold in 5 days. The work of cleaning it out became my mission plus cleaning and staining exterior places that needed it. In less than one year from my husband's passing I was back home in the embrace of my three siblings nearby. Instead of a 2 day road trip to the cabin it is now one. The one year guide all depends on careful reflection. Prayers for those on our Care list and for the people of Ukraine. Thank you for the daily reports.

I am happy you had a great cruise and your luggage made it. I follow HA Mariners on FB. Someone was asking for a place to buy reasonably priced clothing in Oslo. They had no luggage for an 18 day voyage.

Thank you for the Daily Reports. The pizzas and cocktail look tasty. We have had the Geisen SB a few times and I agree with Wine Enthusiast it had some vegetal notes. Better for us is the HA mainstay Nobilo or Kirkland NZ SB. Fireworks show and dinner was great. So much food and great company. It was great to spend time with neighbors from across the lake. Fishing is on the docket for today after defrosting the propane refrigerator. Prayers for all on Roy's care list and special prayers for the people of Ukraine. 🙏 Lake views from our neighbors deck. They have a grand view and an arrangement I made for a hostess gift. Have a great weekend!

Following. We booked Grand South America 2023 onboard NS in February. We got the last portside Vista Suite so I think that would be a pretty full cruise already. We need to get away from winter will be really sad if cancelled.

I have a story about ATM for European currency. We arrived in Amsterdam and my friend who was a travel agent pulled out her Amex Gold card to get cash. At that time AMEX was not supported well in Europe. This problem carried through for most of our trip thankfully we were on a cruise. The pork shoulders turned out great although I ran out of charcoal in the grill so the largest one went into the oven for another 90 minutes. They pulled apart easily but it was a long day starting the grill at 5am and last pork butt pulled at 7. I had a nip of bourbon and crashed at 8. Party with fireworks tonight. Thanks for the Daily Reports. Prayers for the people of Ukraine, those who are battling illness and their families supporting them. I found my Loon pics when working with other photos. I am glad they were found. He only visits and puts on a show about once a summer.

Hello and happy Thursday. I missed yesterday because my hotspot "truck" went to town. I stayed home in case we found a plumber to put in a new HWH. John made a lot of calls and texts and one is due tomorrow. I was able to have a warmer bath by toting buckets of warm hose water and heated water into my tub. Today I am smoking pork shoulders at 5:30 for our pulled pork for tomorrow's delayed 4th celebration. Plus waiting patiently in the truck for a chat to begin with Direct TV to get a new remote sent to our PO Box. Nothing goes easy here but it is worth it. I tried to email in photos for the botanical photo contest but my computer ran out of juice before the photo sent. 😿 @dfishthe salad recipes and pics look great. @kazu the photo of your Goatsbeard is lovely - they look like fireworks Have a great day and thanks for the Daily Reports. Prayers for all who need them. 🙏 Pork pre and post seasoning. A cool toad that sits patiently near an ants' nest. Variegated Japanese Iris.

Good morning. Another sad day after the shootings in Highland Park. We are still waiting to hear from the plumber for the HWH replacement. I expect to hear from him soon since it was a holiday weekend and he has many kids so probably was doing fun things. Our gas stove heats water quickly but my lukewarm bath yesterday wasn't the usual luxurious experience. Another cloudy day and with not much wind. I am going to work on an article for the garden council newsletter because this is the weather mosquitoes love. We have been blessed with near perfect weather this summer and the worst mosquitoes in years. 😡 Prayers for the people in Highland Park, the people of Ukraine and those on the care list. 🙏. Thanks for the Daily Reports!

Happy 4th of July to all celebrating in the US and abroad! We have a rainy day with a break right now. Perfect light to take flower photos. Fishing was ok yesterday with our usual supervisor, the Bald Eagle. I got some good photos of him as he was attacked by Kingbirds. I woke up thinking about using the rainy day to make Swabian Rye bread like we had on the Nieuw Statendam but I don't have bread pans here so I will hit the Dollar Store for some when we head to town on Wednesday. I brought all the needed ingredients just no pans. Thanks for the Daily Reports. Today's drink looks great as does the wine. We used to be on Rochioli's mailing list and visited several times but it was one of the wineries we gave up on when I retired. Prayers for all on Roy's care list and for people who need them. Have a wonderful day! 🎆🧨🎇🍾🍷🥃

Happy Sunday. Our day started with the hot water heater giving up the ghost. It was installed in 2008 when the previous one had popped after not being drained properly for the winter. Of course it is a holiday weekend and our last plumber has moved to Alaska. I will call our builder for a recommendation. I will probably go down to DS cabin and get the kettles she uses for heating water in her rough cabin. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for the Daily Reports. Prayers for all needed them and for the people of Ukraine. 🙏

A beautiful day here in Michigan's UP. It will be a quiet 4th here because our neighbors have refugees from Ukraine visiting so fireworks are delayed to respect their need for quiet. It will be a day of gardening for me. The fish must have read the calendar as they started biting on July 1. No snapping turtle in the yard this year. I think the found out neighbor's newer excavation easier to get to. Have a great Saturday and safe travels to all. Thanks for the Daily Reports! I have been to Honolulu once on a forced delay on our way to Kona. Never got far. Prayers for all who need them and for the people of Ukraine. I caught a feisty Bass and a decent Bluegill all go back unless they are keeper Walleye. None yet this year - subsisting on grocery Walleye for now. A deer in front of my sister's cabin and another near shore.

@rafinmdBreakfast looks tasty and I love the view of Times Square from that restaurant. @HeartgroveI am so sorry to hear about your DB not really having a lot of improvement. It worked yesterday moving the Big Green Egg to the new cart. The old one will be my new potting bench and fish cleaning table, now we need to catch some fish. A huge front moved through last evening going from high 70s to 50s in minutes. The wave action on the lake was really something to see but we avoided the major storm just more rain. Thank you for the Daily Reports. The drink looks like a good happy hour drink on a BHB and I love Crios Malbec but last vintage I had caused migraines. Prayers for those needing them, those on our Care list and for the people of Ukraine. 🙏

I found CC in 2016 when planning our Alaska cruise. I have followed ever since although I took a long hiatus during COVID because it reminded me of fun we couldn't have. I found the Daily last fall when planning our New Statendam trip in February. I have cruised other lines in the past but since our first in 2016 we have not used any other lines. I love to be on the water and I hate crowds plus HA has great ports to visit. This is a wonderful group!

@rafinmdBon voyage! 🍾 Looking forward to updates on your trip. We ran the sprinklers yesterday - we pump water out of the lake. As usual running the sprinklers breaks our dry spell. We had a night of small thunderstorms times three and it is rainy most of today. DF wants to conjure a lift from the garage rafters to put our Big Green Egg grill on a new rolling base. The original wooden cart is feeling its' age at 16 years. We will see how this goes. 🙄 Prayers for all who need them, the people of Ukraine and those suffering. Thanks for the Daily Reports. I love Tikka but DF doesn't like curry smell so I haven't had it in years.

This isn't from a cruise but our cabin in Amasa Michigan from a week ago. Taken at 4:50 am. I love everyone's photos.

@kazuI am sorry you are going to be delayed once again. 😥 Every news story about the airline woes makes it easier for me to convince John to drive to Fort Lauderdale for our 2023 cruise near New Year's. A day gardening and house work. It will be beautiful here today. I use my camera a lot and have an easy to use large lens Panasonic I use most of the time. Thanks @dfishfor the recipes Lumpia look great just sound unappetizing. Thanks for the Daily Reports! Prayers for all on Roy's care list and the 51 lost souls in San Antonio and for those recuperating in hospital. Have a great day!

A quiet day here today. Badly needed rain from thunderstorms are due midday. Prayers for the 46 souls found in San Antonio and for the three that perished on the Amtrak derailment. Prayers for those lost in the Ukraine mall rocket attack and all involved in the war in Europe. Thank you for the Daily Reports. The Chateau St. Michelle Mimi chardonnay is offered on BHBs. It is a good value wine.

Looking forward to your pictures and reports. We were to be on the Zaandam for second leg of yours in 2020. It was cancelled.

Happy Monday. I will be mincing onions and red peppers for sloppy joes for our dinner tonight. The drink looks very good but I am afraid it would taste so good it would be gone in 10 minutes. Cool 51degrees, breeze and cloudy I will be slow getting started in the garden. Have a great day! Prayers for the people in Ukraine things appear to be turning for the worse. Prayers for all needing them. Thanks for the Daily Reports.

Happy birthday @mamaofami! 🎂🍾 We have a beautiful sunny but windy day coming. As I sit in the truck using WiFi I watch giant dragonflies scooping up mosquitoes. Hopefully they get a bunch before being grounded by the wind. Lots of gardening since too windy to fish. Thanks for the Daily Reports, I look forward to the cocktails, wines and recipes. Prayers for all needing them. Prayers for the people of Ukraine and those supporting them. 🇺🇦🙏