Sharon in AZ

Graham, condolences to Sarah and her friend and the family. Sarah is just too young to have friends pass away. Debbie, I think about River often and have been wondering about the situation she is in. I will never forget sitting on those steps at the Hotel Frontenac last October talking about her while we waited for our transfer to the ship. I’m sure being a strong presence in her life will help tremendously. Sandi @StLouisCruisers, I searched for the second link for Sitka and couldn’t find it. If you read this could you post it for me?

We were in Sitka June 9, 2019 on the Oosterdam. It was the second time but the first time (August 2012) was a dreary rainy day and I had caught a bad cold that ended up a sinus infection so stayed on board that day. I had wanted to do a tour through the National Park and we went to a bird sanctuary first. I’ll have to check on the hard drive for pictures. I have the park pictures on my phone. Our guide was great and lived on the island. After the tour we went to the gift shop and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of these tiny flowers in the grass. We then walked around and ate lunch. It was a wonderful day.

Good morning and Happy Labor Day Monday. Thank you all for the nice Birthday wishes for my Mother. She is 94 today. We are going over to her place for lunch in the dining room, it’s a BBQ buffet with ribs and salmon. It sounded better than taking her out or having a large get together. I have a bottle of Kim Crawford chilling to take which she loves and a box of Bailey’s chocolates I picked up in the Vancouver airport this past May. I got two boxes and gave her the first one for Mother’s Day and she loved them so I saved the second box for today. She’s hard to buy for, she’s always just bought everything she wants and needs. I had some kind of bug these past few days but started to feel better yesterday. I missed telling @Quartzsite Cruiser Happy Anniversary and @RMLincoln Happy Birthday, so wish you both belated celebrations. Jake @Crazy For Cats, I’m sorry to hear about your DM’s fall and send prayers and good thoughts for her speedy recovery. @RMLincoln, I’m sorry about your friend’s passing. Condolences to you and the family. Congratulations on the new Great Grandbaby @Lady Hudson. I have been to Sitka three times and I’ll have to look for pictures later. I’m late getting ready to go to DM’s. Have a great day everyone!

Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit Happy Birthday Terri @Cruzin Terri! I like tofu. Last night I watched an Andrew Zimmern show about Kyoto where the tofu is extra special because soy beans are grown close by. It showed how tofu is made, watching it hand cut in water looks dangerous though. Best tofu I had was on a British Air flight, Venice to London. I wish I made it more often but need some recipes. Mapo tofu with pork looks good but too many ingredients. Have a great day everyone!

Then we will be having the same meal tomorrow. Craig made the mashed potatoes on Sunday for our company and the meatloaf is from TJ’s. I have a late hair appointment tomorrow so needed something easy to make. Crazy about your water. I wonder if any businesses had problems. Glad it’s back on for you.

Our anniversary is the 14th. Why we ever decided to get married right before Christmas is crazy, mostly we didn’t want to wait until the spring after Craig graduated from college. Stupid youth decisions. I’d love to do the 21 day B2B but not sure if I can convince Craig to be away over Christmas again. This is the sailing. I’m sure you would be a good baker. I only started baking about 3 years ago. Some things come out good, some don’t. I think the pita are easier than cinnamon rolls. I usually don’t measure either but you get used to it when you work with baked goods. The Great British Baking Show is an inspiration for sure. Molly Yeh is another. King Arthur too. Yum! That’s just chopped up finer and probably easier to eat with chips. I just made mine as a salad.

Good morning and Happy Thursday. We had two waves of storms last night with lots of wind which made a mess of the backyard. Craig said the trash bin fell on the basil. Right now he’s cleaning it up and vacuuming the pool even though the pool guy is coming today. Thank you all for your prayers and condolences for my Aunt Betty. It really means a lot. Joy @Seasick Sailor, do you have plans for December 2024 on the Rotterdam? I found a great itinerary that I’m interested in for our 50th. I will probably book it while on our Hawaii cruise. I know you love the Rotterdam and usually sail in December. The recipes look great today. I just made a type of corn salad for our company over the weekend that is yummy with black beans, corn, and avocado. Jack, DBIL, couldn’t stop eating it. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/black-bean-avocado-salsa-with-corn-recipe-2041614 My pita came out amazing Wednesday and it’s really satisfying making them. Debbie @dfish, I loved the recommendations for fish tacos yesterday, thank you. I have made them various ways but the easiest is to just sprinkle the fish with chili powder and bake them in the oven then flake as much as you want and add whatever toppings you like. Have a great day everyone!

Thank you all for your kind comments. I think the family is relieved that Betty is no longer suffering. I think my DM might have delayed grief since she was so close to Betty and also since there are only two siblings left out of 13. We actually moved to Tucson from Colorado so she could be closer to her sister and lived with her until we found an apartment. That was in 1971.

Good evening from a a windy and stormy Tucson. I haven’t read the entire Daily yet but will later. My Aunt passed away this morning and like my cousin said it is a blessing. Now I just hope my Uncle can take care of himself and de-stress. It’s been really hard on him these past two years taking care of her. Thank you all for your prayers and thank you Vanessa for having her on the Care List. Have a good evening.

I did this once making ice cream and couldn’t figure out why it looked like scrambled eggs when making the custard. I reread the recipe and realized what I had done. Had to go to the store for more eggs and start over, 18 eggs later I finally finished the ice cream. Will you be posting during your cruise?

BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask, well actually just comment — have you all noticed recently how many threads get moved to other boards/topics? It seems to be much more than usual. I know some are generic but a lot of posters don’t visit those other topics, like me. Almost makes one hesitate to ask a question.

Good morning and Happy Tuesday. I’m awake early and will try to go back to sleep soon. Seems to be my routine several times a week. I texted with my cousin last night and my aunt probably only has a day or so before she passes. They have been giving her pain meds every two hours and said she was comfortable. My DM can’t believe it. It will be a blessing when she passes. My uncle looked so worn out. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. Craig’s sister and DH left yesterday morning. We had such fun together. Sandra, his sister, always wants to know what I’ve been cooking lately and asks for lots of recipes. I showed her how I make my bread too. I’m quite the cookbook collector and I sent 8 home with her to borrow. She was trilled. The smoked whole chicken was a hit. The cherry wood chips were good but not strong enough so I ordered chunks for next time. The flavor was much better than the mesquite. DD’s SO likes mesquite so I think I’ll give my supply to him. He uses pellets. I like today’s meal suggestion and can’t wait to see what recipes Debbie posts. Today I’m making homemade pita and tzatziki sauce to have with meatballs and some other toppings like olives and grape tomatoes. I have been to San Pedro but just to board a Carnival ship. Robin @Live4cruises, how is Nicholas doing? I have been thinking about him and praying for a quick recovery. Special prayers for Baby Murphy. Thinking about Lou, Tana, Terry, Terri, Chuck, Annie, and everyone on the Care List. Have a great day everyone!

Good morning and Happy Sunday from Tucson. It’s currently 90F and going to 104 later. Craig’s DS and her DH arrived yesterday and we had a good visit and meal last night. I had a huge tritrip in the freezer that I had purchased last winter from the mobile bbq truck that frequents our nearby grocery store. So we had that, ranch beans, a yummy corn avocado salad, and bread. Tonight is smoked whole chicken using cherry wood chips thanks to Lenda and Bruce. Craig is making his famous yummy mashed potatoes. Joy @Seasick Sailor, I was sick to hear about a fire so close to Denise and David. Prayers and thoughts to them. Also I hope everything works out with your flights. Have a great day everyone!

Bon Voyage!

Thank you Joy. The Oosterdam might be a rust bucket but the service and food are great. We were on her last year in the Med. They took wonderful care of DH during his covid quarantine and me when I was by myself. Many times the MDR managers would check on me especially if I wasn’t eating much (I’m a light eater). The food was fantastic and the staff was great. Just remember it isn’t a Pinnacle class ship and it’s older. Enjoy it for what it is. BTW, the style and design of the Ocean Bar is my favorite. Thank you Maxine. I’m hoping we can see her one more time but with our company coming it might be tight. Not sure how long someone can survive without water or food.

Thank you Lenda. No, Craig’s sister and husband bought this in Show Low as their retirement home and their brother lives there also. I think it’ll do her good to just get away to a lower altitude. Thank you Jacqui. Thank you Debbie.

Good early afternoon from a hot Tucson at 96F and the humidity is 27%. It really isn’t that bad but if you are out and about it feels worse. We got some news yesterday, good and bad. Good is that Craig’s DS & DBIL are coming for the weekend from Show Low. She is his sister who had covid early on and almost died and then got it again. Her lungs haven’t been good since. They need a change of scenery so are coming to Tucson. Bad news is that my DM’s sister, who is 3 years younger than she is, is not doing good. She had several falls this past year and after the last one when she broke her leg refused PT and hasn’t walked since, so about 6 months, and she was released from rehab center in early June. I knew she was having a hard time with eating but now it’s become nonexistent. Hospice says she has days. My cousin said yesterday she was unresponsive. I took DM to see her this morning and oh my she perked up. My cousin and uncle said that she hadn’t acted like that in days. She was kissing and touching and opening her eyes and smiling. Cousin and uncle said it was a miracle. However, of course, it won’t last. My DM is heartbroken. But it was the best thing to do. I think both sisters feel better just being together. There are only 3 siblings left out of 13 and all 3 are in their 90’s. Have a great day everyone!

I did a bit of research looking at maps and Halibut Cove and Halibut Point are different places. Halibut Cove is near Homer and Halibut Point is the Sitka cruise dock in Sitka Sound. The road into Sitka is called Halibut Point Road. So I guess today’s port is just another way of saying Sitka cruise port. The first time we went to Sitka we anchored and tendered and it was right at the town in the bay. I believe some ships still do that if the cruise port is full. We saw a cruise ship anchored when we were there September 2021.

Happy Anniversary @grapau27Graham and Pauline! You two were as cute and photogenic then as you are today.

Bruce, I am so sorry for your family’s loss.

Good evening. We are currently having a thunderstorm but doesn’t sound like a lot of rain yet. Spent all morning and the early afternoon with DM at a retina appointment and then lunch. The appointment took over two hours. I love making sheet pan nachos. It’s great for using up leftovers. I might save some carnitas for some soon. I retrieved my only picture from Avalon. I have been to Avalon, Catalina twice. Most recently this past October on the Koningsdam, Jane @lazey1, Maxine & DH @AncientWanderer, Linda @lindalerwere also on that cruise. Linda arranged for Seth Wayne to join our M&G, he was very entertaining and has quite a history with cruising. (Sad he’s no longer with HAL.). Wejust walked around the waterfront area and had lunch. Itwas a very enjoyable day. I went to look at the pictures Itook and Craig must have taken them because I only have our food. Calamari and Sand Dabs. Have a great evening!

I actually had just checked the weather and we are forecasted for rain about 10 tonight and all night. It wasn’t like that earlier. Maybe it’s the tail end of the storm. So sad about the saguaros falling! I hope your yard is okay. I’ve seen pictures of huge saguaros falling on houses and causing damage. We’ve been concerned about our fruitless Olive tree in our front yard. It has split near the base and one side was really loose. We had the yard guy trim it back and he thinks it’s stable but Craig doesn’t. He keeps talking about taking it out. I hate to start over with a new Olive tree. We also have one in the backyard but it’s fine and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.

Good morning and Happy Sunday. We have a wind advisory starting about now from the storm. I can hear it getting stronger. Supposed to last until 10pm. I don’t think we will get rain though. @cruising sister, be prepared for a bumpy landing at the airport. The meal suggestion today looks good. I love sun dried tomatoes. I made a pork shoulder overnight in the crockpot for carnitas today. We will have carnitas burrito bowls for lunch and I’ll freeze most of the leftovers. It’s good for all kinds of meals. I haven’t been to Bonaire but have been to Aruba and Curaçao. Someday I’ll get the ABC islands checked off my list. Have a great day everyone.

Good morning and Happy Saturday. It’s only supposed to be 96F today but the humidity is high. I’m not sure how the hurricane will affect us if at all. Be safe @Nickelpenny when you drive to CA. I hope So Cal doesn’t have too much damage. I like all the days and the meal sounds good too. Best I ever had was made by my BFF’s mother, very authentic, and her family owned several Chinese restaurants. One was in SF’s Chinatown but isn’t there any longer. Bruce @aliaschief and Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser , thank you both so much for your wood chip recommendations. I have so many mesquite chunks left but will now only use them on beef to use them up. I have some chips and I think one is cherry so I’ll try that next. Lenda, we don’t have a smoker we just use the Weber and I put the chips on top of the briquettes after Craig starts them. Sometimes I put them in foil and sometimes I’m lazy and just put them directly on the coals. That’s one reason why I really like the chunks now because they last longer. Have a great day everyone!

We were on the Volendam in May and Tracy Arm was canceled due to lack of participation. We still arrived in Juneau at the scheduled time. I always love the “Express Lunch” that day in the MDR because it’s fish and chips.