Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[jpalbny]

Ha Jeff, I'd had a few cups of coffee myself, before the hike. So I feel your pain.

 

The winery owner where we stopped after dinner told us that the German restaurant was on its third generation of owners. Their grandparents were German immigrants who opened the place in the 1950s. The food tasted quite traditional to us. :)

 

Mysty, Upstate New York is truly lovely at times. We do have a lot of nice places in our back yard. I understand why my Dad has missed it while he's been living in Florida this past 15 years or so. Even the snow can be pretty, though we do tend to get sick of it after a while.

[specialcruisegirl]

Hi All.....

 

Happy Belated Birthday Mysty....you're really a spring chicken....it was my 64th this time so we're not too far apart...maybe my feathers are just a tad longer!! [emoji6]

 

JP.....what a lovely day out you and Chris had.....photos a delight.

 

Good for Terry keeping us up to date with Spins adventures......Malaga is a lovely city to explore and often bypassed by those who just 'fly in and out ' .....many many years ago the Costa Del Sol was a favourite haunt for us but it's now so developed and not the same in the coastal resorts.

 

Gardener didn't show up this morning so l now have the task of tidying all the leaves up...hoping the forecast winds will do the job for me! [emoji6]

 

Sophia [emoji4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[mysty]

Thanks for your birthday wishes Sophia! I have to say that "spring chicken" doesn't quite fit me. I think it's more like a "late summer chicken" :)

 

Nasty that the gardener did not show up! Raking leaves is absolutely no fun at all! Take care with that chore!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolers .....:)

 

JP, you have a great life there and I guess when you get too much snow it is too much but I really am desperate for some. Fireworks and snow are my two most wonderful things. I must try combining them.

 

Soapy Gal ..... you missed out how good The Costa Blanca use to be before all the high rise and everything! I was ripped off by my very first Spaniard in the '70's in what was then a small under developed town of Benidorm. I didn't know the prawns were priced per 100gms on the menu did I? So our first decent meal was our last. And I bought wifey her very first really yearned for leather bag and as a result of the prawns and leather bag didn't have enough cash left for the rest of the week to feed ourselves. Happy days. :D

 

Birthday M, so how did you celebrate. You Soapy and me are ll the same age ... all feeling decrepid but holding on.

 

Today was pork belly and other things. I ended up drinking the gravy until I only had just enough left for the meal.

 

Jeff

 

 

Edited November 12, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[mysty]

This was a quiet birthday J. Trying to save our moolah for the really important and fun things upcoming. :) Family called with birthday wishes. And we dropped off our visa applications for India. Then we wrapped the shrubs for winter and covered the deck furniture. Not exciting but necessary. Regarding the reason for the saving of moolah, our home insurance policy requires that even if the water is shut off, we need to have someone come to check the house every day while we are away. Since we have no one we know to do that onerous task for us we are hiring a "house sitting" company. They have an excellent rating on the Better Business Bureau website so we are comfortable with our choice. However, this will cost us about $22 CDN per day for about 117 days. Ouch! Thus the money saving elsewhere! :)

 

And your meal looks amazing! Drinking gravy???? :)

[spinnaker2]

Happy belated birthday.

I notice no help wanted for house sitting posted on the cooler. One of us might have taken you up on the job offer, especially those of us who are retired, or who miss shoveling snow a great deal.

Seems like a nice wage, especially when starting from zero.

 

:-)

[mysty]

Thanks Spinnaker2! For the birthday wishes and the offer to housesit! Ha Ha! I really don't think anyone of the coolers would like to be in this part of the country in the winter. Not even Jeff in his search for snow and fireworks. :) Photo evidence will follow.

 

Hope you are enjoying your trip!

[UKCruiseJeff]

M,

 

You sound like you are a prisoner to your loyalty. You can go on extended holidays without daily visits so the demand is excessive.

 

Try talking to a more sensible insurer.

 

:)

 

Jeff

 

....the gravy was a dark veal and vegetable jus with Rosso and cranberry .... and once I started progressing from merely tasting it to drinking it ...all was lost.

Edited November 12, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

Yummy gravy! And the meal looks great too. I have veal in the fridge, and prosciutto, so it's going to be veal saltimbocca for dinner tonight. Thinking it needs some sautéed mushrooms to finish. We shall see!

[mysty]

That gravy would entice me to drink it too! The description is making my taste buds tingle.

 

We have been with this home insurance company since 1974 when I was single and renting my first apartment. So you are right J that I am a prisoner to my loyalty. However, the upside is that we would have no deductible on our first claim as in all those years we have never made a claim. Not a wonderful trade-off though, I agree!

[mysty]

May I present as evidence of the masses of snow we get around here, a photo taken from our driveway in March of 2008. Not for the faint of heart!

 

 

[Mark_K]

mysty,

 

Looks familiar. February, 2014, it got worse before it got better.

 

Edited November 12, 2015 by Mark_K

[UKCruiseJeff]

That gravy would entice me to drink it too! The description is making my taste buds tingle.

 

We have been with this home insurance company since 1974 when I was single and renting my first apartment. So you are right J that I am a prisoner to my loyalty. However, the upside is that we would have no deductible on our first claim as in all those years we have never made a claim. Not a wonderful trade-off though, I agree!

 

M,

 

You may consider an alternative approach. A few years ago I changed to the most expensive and well respected house insurers in the UK to insure both our houses. I discussed with them our extended absences and we agreed cover. I also added CCTV so we can "visit" both houses as often as we want and we also get alets.

 

But what I also did with this insurance, and our car insurance and private house insurance is large excesses. I did this because I don't bother with small claims and I want cover for big things. As a side benefit it means I build up claim free histry and enjoy no claim discounts. I think wifey and my cars stand at 80% discount. The high excess reduces the premium and I'm not going to make small claims anyway as it pumps insurance up for all future years. I got renewals for both houses a couple of weeks ago called them and asked them to lower the premiums. The basically agreed to make both homes from limited declared cover to unlimited cover and reduced premiums by 15%. I'm happy.

 

Our health insurance is far too expensive but I am supersticious of not having it. The cost would make it unaffordable if I didn't take a large excess. I only want it for really serious stuff that worries me anyway so the excess is of little consequence. That is my philosphy anyway.

 

Presumably you can go on holiday for three weeks without someone visiting every day to ensure insurance cover. This renders daily visits for your trip an excessive demand .

 

Jeff

[mysty]

Looks very familiar Mark! I gave up taking pictures of the nasty stuff after 2010. It is just too depressing to record! It's nice to know that I'm not alone though! :)

[mysty]

J.... the insurance policy requires that if leaving the house for more than 5 consecutive days we need to have it checked daily. Of course with most of our holidays thus far we did not do that. We haven't been away for longer than about 2 weeks before this. We gave a neighbour the key and asked that they pick up our mail and left it at that. We have the house and contents insured for replacement value since we could not afford to rebuild or replace the contents otherwise. We raised our deductible this year as well. The other concern relates to winter weather here. Heavy snow can do extensive damage to a house and we really don't want to come home to any surprises like that.

[Mark_K]

mysty,

 

If things go according to plan, our view this upcoming winter will look more like this ...

 

 

Jeff,

 

I thought you guys in the UK got free health care from the government.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Mark_K

[mysty]

Mark, here's hoping your plan comes to fruition! That looks so very appealing! Now that is my kind of winter habitat! And I love golf carts! I don't drive cars anymore because I am definitely a hazard on the road. I think I could handle the cart though. :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

I'd forgotten about your temperatures M.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Mark, a lot of people buy insurance to complement the nhs.

 

Jeff

[specialcruisegirl]

Blimey Mysty, your insurers sound pretty harsh with that one....ironically l renewed my home insurance just this morning and they allow me 60 away days a year. I am lucky though as the kids live close so are down every day when I'm away plus Dad lives behind me in his own apartment.

 

Mark, we do get health cover under our National Health Service but a lot of people take out private insurance which enables us to see consultants very quickly and allows private hospitals if we need to be admitted. Our NHS is currently in a bit of a mess!!

 

Jeffers.....l should have said that the northern Costa Blanca is actually quite beautiful...we used to stay up in the Jalon Valley and loved it. Last time l was in Benidorm was thirty three years ago and it was just awful!!

Holidays in the 60's were mainly taken in Majorca when it was a lot quieter....a week those days half board was about £20 with half board being a no choice three course dinner....fun days!!

 

S[emoji4]

 

 

 

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[TLCOhio]

We do get health cover under our National Health Service but a lot of people take out private insurance which enables us to see consultants very quickly and allows private hospitals if we need to be admitted. Our NHS is currently in a bit of a mess!!

 

Interesting comments and situation in the UK with health care coverage.

 

Just so everyone knows that Candy, etc., are doing well with the there Silver Spirit sailing, here are a few visuals from their visit to the Malaga Market. Yes, there is more chorizo, etc., available there. Málaga is in the Andalusia part of Spain. Having a population of 568,479 in 2013, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. It is the southernmost large city of Europe. Look interesting!! Always like exploring markets in large cities.

 

More pictures posted on the full thread covering that trans-Atlantic sailing!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 188,864 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

In this market grouping, here are some chorizo, anchovies, tomatoes, seafood, etc. Per Candy, the grapes from this area are supposed to be very sweet! Does all of these items look good and colorful?:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mysty]

Thanks spinnaker2 and Terry!

[mysty]

I know that our fellow coolers from across the pond are way too young to have lived through WWII, however, I am wondering if they recognize something called Woolton Pie.

 

"Woolton Pie, is a wartime vegetable dish named after Lord Woolton, England’s Minister of Food during World War II. Due to the war, strict rations were placed on the public with meat being one of the scarcest of ingredients. With hopes of making the pie seem more appealing to the war-weary public, the chef at London’s Savoy Hotel was employed to create the dish. Woolton pie was promoted as a way for housewives to feed their families by using leftover vegetables.

 

The pie consists of four main ingredients, most importantly carrots (as they were plentiful, especially to those who lived on farms who often grew them for animal feed), potatoes, cauliflower and rutabaga (also known as swede)."

 

Ring any bells? The above description came from a website I look in on periodically called everythingzommer.com A link to the recipe appears below.

 

http://www.everythingzoomer.com/wartime-recipe-woolton-pie/

[Mark_K]

Lake Michigan near where we live yesterday. The waves are supposed to be bigger this morning before lessening later today.

 

[spinnaker2]

Beautiful.

Now those are waves.