The Daily for Saturday 04/09/2022

[Sea Viewer]

Oh my goodness, I am amazed at reading all the posts about wives driving husbands to hospital!! Where would they be without us!

I wanted to call 911 but DH was concerned they wouldn't bring him to the hospital where he has been receiving his cardiac care. It's not the closest hospital but is in the same county as we live. I then said I'm going to drive you there, he actually got much worse during the drive and it wasn't just because of my driving🤣.

He is very stubborn but admitted yesterday that I was right.

[Cat in my lap]

Happy Saturday!  Cheers to all recent birthdays and anniversaries!  Lots in April!

 

we have been to Falklands twice - last time in 2020 on  volendam.  In 2020 we took Patrick Watts tour to Volunteer Point.  It was spectacular!

[kazu]

Well DAM I knew I would forget something this morning 😠 

 

@luvteachinga very happy anniversary to you two 🥂 

 

 

@ger_77a very happy 45 anniversary celebration to you both,.  Love your picture 🙂. 

 

[HAL Sailer]

Name Yourself Day (or Why I Kept My Name):

 

I used to hate that my parents misspelled my name Melisa giving me only one 's'. 

 

(Back then that WAS a 'misspelling' not ''non-traditional'' as it might be called now.)

 

I was named Melisa because I fooled my parents. In the days long before gender reveals, I was SURPRISE!!! not the boy they were certain my DM was carrying. 

 

(Not a boy? How? After all, my DM's baby bump looked exactly like it had with my two brothers prior…)

 

So, the much anticipated boy who was to be named Myron Joseph after my DF's youngest brother became misspelled Melisa Jane honoring my favorite uncle by my initials.

 

I used to hate that my parents misspelled Melisa. The missing 's' was and is a pain on official documents as well-intentioned workers often 'corrrect' what they assume to be an error. And, autocorrect is always sure I meant to type 'Malaysia'.

 

So, I often thought about changing my name. Then, someone said, "Your parents could've named you Myronetta Josephine" and, at that moment, misspelled Melisa Jane was suddenly okay. In fact, maybe perfect...

 

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

We certainly have a lot of celebrations today!  

@luvteachingKaren a very Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary!

@erewhonbelated happy anniversary wishes!

@ger_77Gerry Happy Anniversary to you and your DH.  I absolutely love your photo. 🙂  

 

Interesting collection of days today. When I was a child I wanted my name to be Carrie (instead of Carolyn) but I got over that.  I still like that name though.   I'll pass on the wine and meal (not a fan or coconut or curry) but the drink sounds good.  Have never been to the Falklands, thank you @kb4683and Sandi @StLouisCruisersfor the great photos.

 

Prayers for your DH's health Mary @Seaviewer. It sounds like he's getting good care.

 

On the agenda today we'll be going down to DD's to wish her, DSIL and the DGSs farewell as they leave for a week in Hawaii.  Funny how we can be gone for months at a time and I don't worry about them, but if they're gone for only a week I worry and miss them!  😉  Maybe we'll make a stop at Costco while we're out.  I'm hoping we don't get the snow here that is predicted tonight.  After the winds and rain this week all the blossoms on the trees are now on the ground and the tulips are just opening up....

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! Winston Churchill’s funeral is my earliest memory of an important event on TV. The quote is sweet. We have anchored off the Stanley in the Falkland Islands on the Amsterdam, but the weather would not let us go ashore. They launched one tender with the shore crew, in the hopes it would calm enough to send passengers. They came back and said the waves were washing right over wharf we were to land on.
 

The patrol boat beyond the tender was making sure no passengers were sent. 

 

 

Our view of Stanley from the promenade railing.

These three pics are of sunset from our cabin window.

 

 

 

@ger_77 H A P P Y   A N N I V E R S A R Y ! 🎉🥂🎉

@Sea Viewer how fortunate that you were able to get DH to the hospital! What a scare for you both!

@marshhawk I just love your theory that the unicorns became narwhals! That is perfect, and such a perfect ending to their story. I wonder if they helped guide the arc to land?

 

Happy Saturday, everyone! Less than three weeks now until I’m back aboard a BHB! 🎉

[dfish]

We visited the Falklands in January of 2011 on the Veendam.  I went out to Gypsy Cove with a couple from the ship.  We didn't take the taxis that were lined up at the pier.  We walked.  And walked.  And walked.  One brochure said it was 4 miles, one said 5 miles and one said 6 miles.  I'm leaning towards the 6 miles.  It took us two hours to walk out there and it took me 2 hours to walk back.  The other couple was lucky enough to get a ride back.

 

I love the welcome.

 

This is the beginning of our walk.

 

We did have some nice scenery part of the way.

 

And then we didn't.

 

About half way there.

 

 

We cut across a field.  One of the taxi drivers told us we could cut about 20 minutes off the walk if we did.  He assured us there were no mines in the field.  

 

Back on the road.

 

This is what we came for.  This guy didn't seem to be upset with us walking right next to him. 

 

But this one didn't like it.  

 

This made the long walk worth it.  I'm glad I was able to do this before all the back, knee, and hip issues set in.  Next time I'll have to take the taxi.

 

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Whew, Debbie that is a loooonnnggg walk.  Just think of all the calories you burned off though.  Always a good thing on a cruise!

[Mtn2Sea]

We visited the Falkland’s in 2018 while aboard the Zaandam and luckily were able to get ashore.  We took a ship’s excursion to Bluff Cove Lagoon where we were able to see both Gentoo and King penguins.  Prior to boarding a van for the excursion, we had a few minutes to wander around the town.  The van took us about half way to our destination and then we switched to a Range Rover.  We soon learned why we switched vehicles.  The last half of the ride was a bit rough and not suitable for anyone with back issues.  Our driver took it slow, but you still had to hold on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Oh good I see @kb4683made it into Stanley too!  The more the merrier!

 

You can see a wide variety of buildings there.  We walked up a street going uphill, that you see as soon as you get off the tender.  On that road was this bar and amusing sign out front.

 

A good spot to leave your husband if he's getting on your nerves and under your feet, so you can get some shopping done.  Love it!

 

Right across from the visitor center are these attached homes reminiscent of England.  

 

The hill we walked up and saw the tavern.

 

The police headquarters

 

We saw a lot of British flags and reminders of who they were.

 

 

A war memorial

 

 

Restricted entrance to the Government House

 

Some horses and a pony living inside those fences.

 

 

 

And from 2020 Coral Princess, on our walk at Gypsy Cove the penguins were building little nest right along the pathway tourists traveled on.  They had stationed someone there to make sure no one attempted to interfere with or touch the penguins in the nest.  

 

 

And a penguin on the beach doing his happy dance.

 

 

Lots of fun for penguin lovers!

 

I see I didn't succeed in posting the photo of Lady Elizabeth in the first post.  Here she is from 2012.

Great photos Sandi.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Graham.

 

[HAL Sailer]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

You women certainly know best.

 

 @grapau27 Graham, may all of us wives quote you? And, frequently?

 

-Melisa

[grapau27]

10 minutes ago, HAL Sailer said:

 

 @grapau27 Graham, may all of us wives quote you? And, frequently?

 

-Melisa

Absolutely Yes.

Some of us men are still here because we listened to our wives advice.

Graham

[Suslor]

Count us in as reaching the Falkland Islands. @Mtn2Sea We were on the same cruise on the Zaandam in 2018. The road to the penguins was the hardest part of the trip. So glad we were fortunate enough to have good seas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to all celebrating today. 
Susan

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

Name yourself day - I like my name.  A salute to Churchill and Unicorns.

A sentimental quote.

The meal sounds good if someone else makes it. I'll pass on the drink. I like the wine.

I have been to the Falklands on my SA/Antarctica cruise on the Zaandam in 2019.

 

Not a nice day here. Rain with graupel; I hear it pinging off the windows. My little town cancelled the Easter Egg hunt in the park and rescheduled for tomorrow. I'm going to try to work on my commode as yesterday I had to shut off the water to it, to stop if from running. Today I found the chain was under the flapper, so I'll try to straighten that out and see if it fixes it.

 

@kazu Prayers for Jose and you. 

@erewhon Belated Happy Anniversary!

@luvteaching Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary!

@ger_77 Happy Anniversary! Great picture!

@Sea Viewer Continued prayers for DH's recovery.

@JAM37 Good to hear that DH is on the mend and tested negative still. I hope you're ok too.

@mamaofami Just wow. And glad that former aide is gone!

 

Prayers for the Care List and Ukraine. Cheers to all the celebrations.

Stay safe everyone.

 

 

[JazzyV]

Approaching the Falkland Islands

 

Tenders getting ready

 

Arriving at Stanley

 

 

On the slopes on the far side of Stanley Harbour is a monument to the Royal Navy vessels which have served in the Antarctic Ice Patrol or to protect the Falklands: HMS Beagle, HMS Endurance spelled out in stones, among others. 

 

 

Local tavern and British phone booth

 

Christ Church, most southern Anglican church in the world

 

 

Unique kneelers made by the church women

 

Whale bone arch outside the church, built 1933

 

Bluff cove penguin rookery

Gentoo penguins

 

 

King penguins

 

 

My Avatar

[ottahand7]

@luvteachingHappy Birthday and Happy Anniversary!!   🍾🎂

 

@ger_77Happy Anniversary!!   

 

Thanks to everyone sharing their photos of the Falklands and @dfishthanks for the heads up not to walk to Gypsy Cove.  We are hoping to make it to Stanley on our Volendam 2023 cruise.   

 

My sis is the one that wishes she could rename herself - my folks named her Dana pronounced Donna🙄.  I am a great fan of Winston Churchill.  Zelensky is trying to what WC did at the beginning of WWII trying to get the world to support the invasion and savaging of his country.   I love horses so therefore love unicorns too.   Pooh's quote is beautiful.    I will pass on the dish today but the drink looks like a tasty treat as does the wine.   I am trying to work on a wine tour when we are in Santiago.  The Maipo Valley is rather close for a good day trip.   

 

Today is non-stop sports.   Today was the Grand National at Aintree with an Irish bred winning the big race.  I understand that Irish bred steeplechase horses are doing very well.  Then it is 3 KY Derby preps in KY, CA and NY.   All the while the Masters is playing on the big screen.  Perfect for another cold say in SW Michigan.  My brother is doing very well in the rehab and probably will be discharged Monday.   I called and he had plenty of visitors today so I promised pastry and coffee tomorrow morning.  I always bring coffee to people in hospitals or nursing homes as the house coffee is usually poor.   

 

Prayers for all on Roy's care list and for people of Ukraine.  🙏 Shout out to all with celebrations and enjoying time at sea!  

 

[grapau27]

42 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

Approaching the Falkland Islands

 

Tenders getting ready

 

Arriving at Stanley

 

 

On the slopes on the far side of Stanley Harbour is a monument to the Royal Navy vessels which have served in the Antarctic Ice Patrol or to protect the Falklands: HMS Beagle, HMS Endurance spelled out in stones, among others. 

 

 

Local tavern and British phone booth

 

Christ Church, most southern Anglican church in the world

 

 

Unique kneelers made by the church women

 

Whale bone arch outside the church, built 1933

 

Bluff cove penguin rookery

Gentoo penguins

 

 

King penguins

 

 

My Avatar

Thank you for your wonderful photos Vanessa.

Graham.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, dfish said:

We visited the Falklands in January of 2011 on the Veendam.  I went out to Gypsy Cove with a couple from the ship.  We didn't take the taxis that were lined up at the pier.  We walked.  And walked.  And walked.  One brochure said it was 4 miles, one said 5 miles and one said 6 miles.  I'm leaning towards the 6 miles.  It took us two hours to walk out there and it took me 2 hours to walk back.  The other couple was lucky enough to get a ride back.

 

I love the welcome.

 

This is the beginning of our walk.

 

We did have some nice scenery part of the way.

 

And then we didn't.

 

About half way there.

 

 

We cut across a field.  One of the taxi drivers told us we could cut about 20 minutes off the walk if we did.  He assured us there were no mines in the field.  

 

Back on the road.

 

This is what we came for.  This guy didn't seem to be upset with us walking right next to him. 

 

But this one didn't like it.  

 

This made the long walk worth it.  I'm glad I was able to do this before all the back, knee, and hip issues set in.  Next time I'll have to take the taxi.

 

 

Lovely photos Debbie.

Thank you for posting them.

Graham.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Mtn2Sea said:

We visited the Falkland’s in 2018 while aboard the Zaandam and luckily were able to get ashore.  We took a ship’s excursion to Bluff Cove Lagoon where we were able to see both Gentoo and King penguins.  Prior to boarding a van for the excursion, we had a few minutes to wander around the town.  The van took us about half way to our destination and then we switched to a Range Rover.  We soon learned why we switched vehicles.  The last half of the ride was a bit rough and not suitable for anyone with back issues.  Our driver took it slow, but you still had to hold on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome photos thank you for posting them.

[Sharon in AZ]

Good morning everyone and Happy Saturday!  I missed reading yesterday’s Daily and see that a lot happened. I’ll have to read it later to catch up with everything. Yesterday’s TSA pre-check appointments went smoothly and we were both done before our first scheduled appointment time. Hopefully we will be approved prior to our upcoming cruise. 
 

I started this earlier and had to stop. The yard guys came early today. And now I can’t remember what I was going to say. Oh well. Have a great day everyone!

 

 

[sailingdutchy]

 

Welcome Home Ann and Pat @VictOriann , we hope you had another wonderful cruise

 

I wonder if there was a big celebration in Victoria when the Koningsdam arrived there today it being the first cruise ship allowed to arrive into a Canadian Port after a couple of years . 

 

Did they lay out the big red welcome mat for you true Victorians ? 

 

Will chat with you soon , we are working hard on our next cruise in a week  and time seems to be flying.

 

Tony and Martha 😍😍

[bennybear]

6 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Good morning, thanks for the Daily!  I named myself when I turned 18; I hated my first name, so had it legally changed from Geraldine to Gerry (with my parents blessing).  Winston Churchill was a  great leader and an interesting man.  

 

Well I'm happy to report that yesterday's recording session went well.  I did the narration for the historical documentary DH was producing, and although I was ensconced in this teeny tiny recording booth, my claustrophobia didn't kick in.  I only had to do two takes on a couple of sections, so we got through it quite quickly.  

 

First of all, let me wish @luvteaching a very Happy Birthday with many more returns of the day.  Then, I wish @luvteachingand her DH a Happy 45th Anniversary; I hope you and your DH are able to spend some quality time together as he recovers from his stroke.

 

@erewhonI'm not sure how I missed it, but please accept my belated wishes for a Happy Anniversary to the two of you!

 

Today is our special day; 45 years ago this morning I married the man of my dreams.  We're continuing our tradition of going to a restaurant in one of the large hotels for an anniversary brunch.  When we both worked, we always took the day off and sat at a table by the window, watching as others scurried off to get to their daily jobs, knowing we had the day to ourselves.   With the exception of the 2 anniversaries we were in Tokyo and the past 2 "C" years, we've gone to the same place every morning on April 9th.  After that, the day is ours to enjoy without any commitments.  Here's what we looked like on our wedding day.

 

Because it's our anniversary, I'm not cooking, so I have no idea what will be served to me for dinner tonight, but I'm sure it will be good.   And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone who needs them and even for those who don't think they do.  Extra prayers for the people of Ukraine and for all who are providing aid.  Extra for our Daily family who are having health and family struggles.  We'll raise our glasses high tonight to celebrate our good fortune, and all who are on the happy list.    Stay safe, get your boosters, wash your hands, wear your masks when you need to and be well.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

Happy anniversary!   Love the car,  and duly noted who is in the drivers seat, lol!,

 

happy anniversary and birthday @luvteaching

Edited April 9, 2022 by bennybear

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all! Enjoying the photos!  We had a beautiful plus twenty day yesterday,  today maybe snow again!   Arghh! 
 

DS is still testing positive ten days later, and he thinks the dog may have it, poor thing.  I wasn’t aware that animals could catch it, but they have inoculated the big animals at our zoo.  

We did spot a bluebird couple.  I don’t think Mr was impressed! 

[rafinmd]

I have also been lucky enough to tender successfully to Stanley 3 of 3 times.  On the Crystal Symphony in 2016 I did a walking tour of the town.  In 2019 on MS Prinsendam I visited the penguin colony at Bluff Cove.  Both of these places have been covered quite extensively in photos.  In 2017 on the Zaandam I took a tour “74 days to Victory”, focusing on the 1982 war.   First, though, another aspect of what's in Stanley.  It's the headquarters for Britain's operations in Antarctica and on the tender ride in I spied an old friend, the RSS Shackleton:

 

 

Now retired, it was the primary resupply ship for British Antarctic stations, but during the Antarctic winter it had served as the support ship for my 2016 Crystal Serenity Northwest Passage cruise, and the sight of her was like a reunion with an old friend.

 

On the tour we ended up spending most of out time on the bus traveling to the far end if the island to the hamlet of Fitzroy.  The island is quite boggy and we made a stop at one point for one of the local sights.  I think Boot Hill has evolved a bit but our guide explained that many of the positions on the island (like doctors) are filled by people assigned on a "contract" and most of the current supply of boots are from contractors ending their contracts as a kind of declaration that they do not intend to return;

 

 

The hamlet of Fitzroy is where British troop ships landed their troops to begin their assault to retake the Falklands.

 

Two of the ships, RFA Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad were attacked by the Argentine Air Force with the loss of 56 lives and 150 wounded.  There are several memorials at Fitzroy to the lost ships and lost souls:

 

 

Sir Tristram was loaded on a heavy lift ship and returned to the UK where it was rebuilt.  Sir Gallahad was towed out to sea and sunk.  The landing was just a bit out of the hamlet.  As we left we had a refreshment stop at the Fitzroy Social Hall.  The walls were completely covered with photos and other mementos of the war including a couple of haunting poems including this memorial to Paul Green:

Another was accompanied by a message for those who glorify war.  It noted that the effects of war lingered and that while 258 Brits died in the war they were outnumbered by the 308 who committed suicide from the PTSD sustained during the fighting:

 

Roy

[irishjim]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

@luvteaching

Happy birthday.

Best wishes also for your 45th wedding anniversary and good health for your DH 

+1