I'm not complaining

This is my planter out front.  It's Dec. 2 and the geraniums are still blooming and the spike and dusty miller are still growing!  Unbelievable for this time of the year.  It's 48 degrees out right now and sunny.  Usually we're below freezing.  This has kinda put the kybosh and finishing up my outdoor decorating.  I bought bunches of pine boughs to stick in the planters.  I don't have the heart to rip the plants out of the planters while they're still growing!  Last year I left the boughs too late and I couldn't get them into the planter dirt because it was frozen.  I guess that I'll wait until we have the first hard frost and the plants show signs of distress.

We went for our H1N1 shots on Mon.  We had to make an appointment which is a good way to do it.  No standing in a line.  My arm hurts like heck.  The nurse had warned us that our arms were going to be sore.  I always get my shots in my right arm because I sleep on my left side.  I remember getting a shot in my left arm and it was soooo sore that I couldn't sleep for many nights.  Oh....I also asked the nurse when it would be safe to have the regular flu shot.  She told us that the clinics for those ones started on Tues. and that we could have had them at the same time.  Geesh.  There was so much confusion this year about all of these shots that no one knew what was going on.  I'll have to check to see when the clinics end.  I don't want anyone putting another needle in that sore arm.  Who knows...we might not even get the second shot.  We're not in the high risk group.

Gail

Cruise Photos - The Bahamas

This was the one island that I was really looking forward to.  I love the Bahamas.  We were to spend the whole day there.  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  As you can see in the photos, the skies are very dark.  We managed to go on a glass bottom boat tour and then have lunch at a fabulous bbq put on by Holland America.  We went in the water for a bit and then when we had just got settled in our clamshell the skies opened up.  I stayed in the clamshell for a bit hoping that the weather would clear up.  It didn't.  I, along with everyone else who had stayed, arrived back at the ship sopping wet.  Note to self:  next cruise take a small unbrella, $ store raincoats and waterproof shoes!

In the photos from left to right:
The square in the reception area on the island.
The beach with the clamshells.
Our ship taken from the beach.
An unhappy me standing in front of a fountain.

More Cruise Photos

I thought that these photos were fitting for posting today since everyone in the States will have food on their minds and in their tummies!  Three of the photos show the evening dessert buffet.  Everything tasted as good as it looked!  The last photo is the only one that I have of the open seating daily buffet.  It was open all day long but the items served changed.  The photo shows one of the buffet stations.  There were 5 on each side of the ship.  Both sides were almost the same.  One side had an international buffet and the other had an Italian buffet.  In between the sections were 'halls' (for lack of a better word) which had beverages and (depending on the time of day) snacks, continental breakfast items, fruits, breads and a ton of other things.  There was also a dessert station.  We certainly didn't go hungry and everything was really, really delicious!

I'll get more photos of the buffet on our next cruise.  Yup....booked another one for next year on the same ship only this time I'm going with Ken and another couple that we hang around with.  Should be tons of fun!

PS-Look at the last photo.  That's me in the white top and black tights loading up!  lol

For all of my American friends

Enjoy your day with your loved ones!

Finally!

Around the MS Eurodam

I had to make all of my photos smaller in order to get them on a web page. I shoot large so that I can crop for my Etsy shop. My photos don't do this ship justice. If you want to have a boo at much better shots, go here: http://www.cruiseweb.com/HAL-EURODAM-PHOTO-GALLERY.HTM There are tons of them.



The photos from left to right:
Computer room (yup....adjoining a library complete with a coffee shop).
Atrium glass staircase.
Atrium chandelier.
One of the halls in front of the elevators.



Photos from left to right:
Spa lounge. A huge spa with tons of services.
Promenade deck.
One of the swimming pools complete with hot tub, bar and pizza counter.
Myself and a friend relaxing after dinner on one of the comfy deck chairs. I wanted to bring one home with me!!

Gail

It's amazing...

how a large spool of red velvet ribbon and a paddle of florist's wire can keep me busy for a long time! I did all the outside Christmas decorations yesterday. Glad that I did because it's drizzling wet and it's cold today. I changed my color scheme from white, green and gold to red and green. I didn't want to but Ken brought home some lightbulbs for the outside lanterns and they're red. Gonna look like the red light district here if ya know what I mean!

The garland went on the porch railing. I wrapped a set of red led lights around it. I had to go and buy the red lights but that was ok because I was out getting the garland anyways. I decided to make bows to put in the garland. I dug in my craft stash and came up with a 50' spool of outdoor red velvet ribbon. I ended up making 25 bows. They're everywhere! I put some on the garland, one on the fresh pine door wreath and some in the large planters out front. The rest went on and in planters and birdhouses out back. Sure looks festive around here! The only thing that needs doing is hooking up the garland lights. I'm gonna let Ken finish that up since he's always complaining about the way that I do them. Says it's a safety hazard. Gees.

Feels good to get all that done!

Gail