A cruise. Part one

 

In the past I have always chosen to go on warm sunny Caribbean cruises when the weather at home is cold and the skies are gray.

This time I chose a cruise north to New England and Canada, where it's a few degrees cooler, during hot summer weather at home.  

I sailed on this ship " Vision of the Seas".

But first, I have to back up a bit and tell about the day before the cruise. 

I was nearly fully packed and was giving the house a good cleaning (I like to do this each time I leave on vacation).

About 3:00 in the afternoon there was a call from the water company. They had an alert that I was using way more water than usual and they wondered if I was filling a pool.

To make a long story short...an underground leak was discovered between the meter and the house...so it was my responsibility to repair. I was able to arrange for a repairman to come out the next day. (The Sasquatch came over while they worked)

Meanwhile, the water had to be turned off at the meter. I hurried up and showered and filled buckets and clean containers with water to be able to get ready the next morning.

I'm so glad the water company got hold of me that day, or it would have been leaking the 9 days that I was away.

But now...back to the cruise. The ship is the smallest ship in the Royal Caribbbean fleet.

Still pretty big though. This is looking one direction down the hall from my cabin.

I didn't get a balcony this time. They were double the price of this "ocean view" room.

It was nice because if I had a short nap in the afternoon, I could lay sideways on the bed and look out at the ocean.

I was on deck two. Here's the rest of the room. You can see it's older, but clean and well maintained.

I'll admit, I was a little disappointed at first but after a short time I really liked the ship for it's smaller size and convenient design. It reminded me of the first cruises that Lonnie and I took back in the 1990's.

This is the main pool area.

A good spot for a bon voyage drink!

The ship sailed from Baltimore harbor.  There's the harbor pilot boat ready to guide us out.

See you later, Baltimore!  Great weather, too.

As we sailed out we came to the remains of the Key Bridge that collapsed last year when a cargo ship ran into it. 

Here it is a bit closer.

It was slow sailing all evening. We actually had to first head south...leaving Baltimore and heading down through the Chesapeake Bay...all the way  past the coast of Virginia to reach open water and begin the journey north.

I unpacked my suitcase then had an early bedtime since I'd gotten up at 3:00 am for my 5:30 am flight. I slept like a log. The ship sounds never seem to bother me.

Lovely weather again the next day which was a day at sea. I just relaxed near the pool area but in the shade. I read a while, worked on stitching a while, and did some people watching.

I had pre-paid for a meal in the onboard steak restaurant.  I had a filet that was really good.

Lots of older people on this cruise. It was a slower more laid back feeling.

So many friendly people ready to start up a conversation.

 

It seems like so many of the conversations start with " Where are you from?".  Then we talk about cruising and our favorite places to cruise. 

 Fun just to sit in the lounge areas in the evening and listen to live music and talk a bit.

This is the "Centrum"...the main lobby of the ship with the glass elevators. Different performers during each evening.

These were my favorites...a Caribbean/Reggae sound. 

 This is getting sort of long already. I'll go ahead and stop here then I'll work on part two.

Late August

 

We're still getting a few veggies from the garden beds.  Yellow tomatoes that are favorites. They are fairly big, nicely shaped and good tasting...no acidic taste...and skins aren't tough. 

Then we have some small red tomatoes, also from seeds the Sasquatch started. The seed packet was labeled "Beef Steak"...and these definitely aren't those...so that's a bit disappointing.

The small yellow peppers are "Hot Lemon Peppers", which are just lately getting big and mature enough to eat. They have a good flavor and aren't super hot.

The giant green veggies are Armenian cucumbers. Big and crunchy!

There has been more activity in the field next door.

.

Including this giant piece of equipment they started using to knock down a few trees.

It must have broken down while they were using it one day and it sat idle for about a week, then they were back at it again.

This is a photo from last year after they came in and cleared the front field ( photo from the man who does paragliding in our area sometimes).

You can see the woods they are starting to clear.

I'm still hoping it's not a major change. Judging by the house sizes across the street, quite a few could be built here.

August is my birthday month and the Sasquatch brought me a nice treat.

It was just right! A buttery crispy crust (he made), fresh strawberries, and sweetened whipped cream.

I wish I had put it on a pretty plate for the photo. He had brought it over in a closed container and I just didn't think about a plate.

So this birthday is a milestone...It's my Medicare eligible birthday. 

What's left to look forward to now? LOL.

A snake and a finished quilt

We stopped using the gas fireplace years ago and I had covered the opening with a square of fabric covered plywood.

Well, a few nights ago, Puss the cat became very interested in the fireplace area...watching and waiting and even scratching at the panel.

Sometimes birds accidentally come down the chimney so I moved the panel aside to take a look but nope, no bird.

The next morning Puss was more persistent in wanting to check out that fireplace so I moved the panel aside again. 

She stuck her head back in the corner and began swatting  with her paw but then drawing back, repeatedly.

I started removing the decorative fake logs to see what she was trying to catch...then I stopped. Something told me there was a snake back there.

It wasn't a big one, but still...a snake!  Hard to see because it's dusty and dirty in there.

I wanted to share the excitement so I messaged the Sasquatch. He came over with a "grabber" (the kind you can use to reach something high).

He was able to get it pretty quick and toss it into this deep box from a suitcase I'd ordered.

Whew! It was an angry snake! Striking and also shaking it's tail.

I was ready for him to get it out of the house, pronto! He took it to the back of the property and released it

Puss had to go back and double check the area.  She must be part mongoose!

I suppose the snake must have dropped from a nearby tree - right down the chimey pipe.

Waiting to see if more snakes will appear.

I tied the damper closed for now. My plan is to just get someone out here to seal both chimneys permanently. I'm tired of birds coming in too.

I quilted and finished the little tractor quilt. I was planning to donate it but I think it's pretty cute so I might hang on to it awhile in case I can use it as a gift.

Here is the back.  It measures about 41" x 53", so it's a good size for a toddler.

 

The artwork is off scale with the tractors appearing enormous compared to the cows in the foreground.

But it would be a fun quilt for a little boy who likes tractors.

County extension class, donation quilt, ragweed

 

I hadn't been to any of the County extension classes in a while. My friend, Izzy, said she was signing up for this cut flower gardening class so I signed up too.

It was a fun class, geared mostly for those who like to raise flowers to cut and arrange in bouquets. That's something I don't do very often (I don't seem to have flower arranging skills).

First we had handout information and a lesson about types of flowers to grow and also a talk by a lady who has a green house and sells flowers at the farmers  market.

Later we could all choose cut flowers from a long row of vases and make an arrangement to take home. 

I just put together an all yellow bouquet. We also all got to choose a few seed packets.

An enjoyable way to learn a bit and socialize too.

Members of my quilting group finished sewing our donation quilt top together. Then we layered it with batting and backing and pin basted it.

I brought it home to do the quilting.

I finished that...so went ahead and attached the binding and sewed it down.

Ta Da!

Once it is together and finished it looks better than I expected.

Puss wasn't so bent on wanting to lay on this one as I quilted so things went much more smoothly than the last quilt I worked on.

Here's the back. The quilt is long and narrow so that it can be used with a wheelchair, since our plan is to donate it to a nursing home resident.

Our group is now making plans for what quilt design to make for donation in 2026.

I haven't made any soup lately but I did make a big pan of green beans and onions with bratwurst.

For some reason I thought the plant pictured below was a passion flower. It had come up on it's own between those stepping stones.

It grew fast !

I mentioned to the Sasquatch that it seemed slow to put out any blooms.

He looked it up on his phone real quick and told me I'm growing a big ragweed!

Oh for Pete's sakes! I sure had it confused.

It's not a bad looking plant but I asked the Sasquatch to go ahead and pull it

up.

Wildlife, quilting, planting, soup

  June has been a quiet month here. Turkeys have been around a few times.

There were 3 males hanging out together (they all had beards), then later a female with 5 newly hatched babies. 

This day there was just one male by himself.

This little chipmunk ran out of his hiding place when I was working in the flower bed.

He ran right up the screen of the screen porch...because Puss was immediately chasing after him. (That's a cicada clinging to the screen too.)

Puss can't climb screens but she tried to figure out how to capture little Chippy.

She waited and waited. The chipmunk finally dropped down but then ran up that little tree nearby. It got away this time!

Here is a deer close to the house early one morning.

I don't mind them coming up to graze on the lawn but those dirty rascals chomped a bunch of the stems of our tomato plants.

Sheesh! Usually nothing eats tomato plants!

And a coyote came around two evenings in a row. Me and Puss were inside because of the heat dome weather.

This picture is sort of lousy because I used the digital zoom. He is there to the left of the tree. A fairly big coyote.

I keep trying to simplify and scale back my flower beds and planted areas...but then I have a moment of weakness and buy something new.

I bought 3 small elderberry plants at Walmart. 

Three different kinds...Adams, John's, and York. So far, the deer haven't tried to eat them.

I am not making very quick progress getting my big project flower bed the way I want it.

The Stella D Oro Day Lillies bloomed very nicely. My favorite color of yellow.

Because of a few days of high temps locked in by a pressure system, I had extra sewing time to do the quilting on this quilt for our book club leader.

Puss likes this quilt too and she thought she would just settle down and relax on it as I quilted. Not a great plan, Puss.

I did finish the quilting. I was a bit nervous because this has turned out to be such a cute quilt. Four of us, who are in the Crazy Quilters and also the book club have worked on it.

We all made blocks. Jan chose and bought and coordinated the fabrics, and also wrote titles on a few of the books.

 Izzy appliqued the cats and Susan embroidered on the eyes and whiskers, and made a name label.

It's perfect for our book club leader because she loves and collects books and she has four cats!  She has been leading the group for many years so the quilt is to show appreciation and thanks.

I sewed the binding on and came up a few inches short. Lucky, the next day was quilt group day and Jan brought in more of the fabric. Izzy took it home to finish binding so I didn't get a photo of the finished quilt.

I'll try to get one when we give it to Diane.

Oh yes, and there was a pot of soup made in spite of the heat. Ham and veggies.

Ham was from the freezer...from Christmas!