Dining on Board our Cruise Ship

Here we are at dinner in the Michelangelo dining hall on the Liberty of the Seas. We dressed up twice for dinner--otherwise, it was casual dining in capris or whatever. The food was delicious: I especially enjoyed the chilled fruit soups. We tried Pear, Apple, Peach, Mango/Banana, and Berry with Buttermilk. The entrees were wonderful and the desserts divine! This is Jeff, Gwen, Kathy and Randy from left to right.

Our main waiter was named Jitendra and was from India. He was quite stiff and formal until Randy had rearranged his silverware, pretended he had no chair, and a host of other "tricks." By the end, "J" was joking with us. He also presented us with a nightly puzzle using toothpicks or other tableware as the playing pieces.

Our assistant waiter was Ashvin, from the Philippines. He kept us in bread (usually sourdough) and repeatedly filled our glasses like it was, well, WATER. He quickly learned to remove the wine glasses and not to bother offering coffee after dinner.

During dinner we were treated to wonderful music played by this trio of women. They did not speak English (we were on Royal Caribbean INTERNATIONAL, after all), but they warmly recognized applause at the end of each piece.

Some nights we listened to guitar music rather than the strings/piano. This young man could really play. Malaguena, show tunes, classics. You name it, we heard it.

One night our waiters gathered on the stairs and sang to us--a rousing song of how they would miss us when the cruise ended.

Another night we were serenaded by the entire staff of chefs. We toured the Galley on Friday and enjoyed meeting the chief baker--we applauded loudly, since we enjoyed his fare tremendously.

Here's the chandelier that hangs over the main dining rooms, which spread over three stories of the ship. We have very fond memories of our dining experiences on board the Liberty of the Seas.

Welcome to the Mid West!

Joanne remarked about the beautiful corn field in the background of this photo. Well, that field of dry corn emits horrible particles--100% allergens!--into the air we breathe. If that's not bad enough, the farmers then have the nerve to HARVEST these fields and the air pollution takes on grand proportions.
The harvester drives across the field, and somehow the corn is extracted from the dry stalks.

The corn shoots through a tube (arm) and fills the truck.

Here's a second truck full of corn ready to take to market (probably to be loaded on a huge barge which takes the harvest down the Mississippi by way of the locks at Keokuk).

And what's left in the field is acres and acres of stubble. These photos were all taken from the road leading from our street back into town.

The Perils of Planting Lawn!

Jeff has been working like a demon for weeks to prepare our yard to plant the lawn--front and back yards. The biggest problem is the soil: CLAY! We had topsoil brought in, then raked for days and leveled out the "pools" that naturally occurred. Finally we can see enough green poking through to make it look rather like it has taken hold.


Here's the front of our home, taken from the north. You see the essence of grass along with the sprigs of "OLD" grass that refused to vacate the premises!

The view of our front from the driveway on the east of our house. You see the duplex-type condos that are the trademark look of our street--the far left of the 4 garage doors belongs to Susan Easton Black when she comes to town. Our homeowners insurance should be reduced because we are so close to the fire hydrant, don't you agree?

A second BIG problem has developed. This is the side of our back yard--you notice that the vacant field next door has a higher elevation than our yard (thus we can have a walk out basement). BUT, when the rains hit, which they have done frequently since we planted, the deluge must run somewhere, and strangely enough, it usually chooses DOWN. Here's the drain system Jeff put in, trying to save our newly planted lawn (actually done beforehand).

When that failed, we added a 2 x 4 and some gravel to form a dam. Lastly, Jeff resorted to digging a trench which diverts the water off through our garden area to the field behind our house. We are watching today to see if the grass planted yesterday can stay in place long enough to germinate and hold the soil down.

You can't look too closely--this is how the grass is growing when you look in more detail. I prefer to see it from a distance, where it looks like we have developed into successful grass farmers!

Tranquility & Tragedy

This past weekend I had a blast with hundreds of new friends, dozens from my ward, and four spectacular friends who shared my ride and my hotel room. We listened to Michael McLean, Kim Nelson, Hilary Weeks, Cherie Call, Michael Wilcox, Jason Wright, Jane Clayson Johnson, and Pam Hansen. Time Out For Women is just that: a time for women to breathe in and out (quickly--since the time flies by!) at an R&R from reality. I promise some shots from the Missouri Botanical Garden, where Irene, Vicki, Betty and I spent some hours, checking out the native plants for our landscaping projects.

I came home with renewed energy, a darling tote bag, Hilary Weeks' new CD, several resolves (like to write a few "personal" letters--thanks, Jason), a few momentos and some wonderful memories.

However, there was a tragedy involved. On the ride home we had some water damage from a cooler with an open spout (hidden, so we couldn't figure out the source very quickly). My bag got wet--I hung clothes all over the place and finally resorted to throwing a big batch into the dryer. The greatest damage was sustained to my small "travel" scriptures. The quilted cover was pretty well soaked, and I spent 5 or 6 hours Sunday with my hair dryer, turning each page and blowing the moisture into oblivion. This "fluffy" set of scriptures was the result!

This morning I have found cardboard and my quilting C-clamps to try to "condense" the pages a bit so I can snap the leather cover shut. Does anyone have a better idea? I'm sad to lose these scriptures: they have a lot of Women's Study Group notes, CES Conference highlights, and thoughts inserted in margins and between the lines.

Chicago with the Frerichs

After a few false starts and a day's delay, Janyse, Jackson and Taryn met up with us in Chicago, where Dennis had a conference to attend. Janyse and Taryn pose for us.

Gwen, Taryn, Jackson and Jeff, along with the critters from the Rainforest Cafe that the children now treasure!

We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, complete with animals that moved, snorted, and generally kept Jackson and Taryn entertained.

The Rainforest mascot is a frog named Cha Cha. A large Cha Cha came around to visit folks at their tables.
Our visit with the kids was much too short. Let's do it again another time!

Salsa, Beans & Pickles

I suppose when canning season is over, I'll use the same hours to do my Math 110 course--and I'll be able to finish it in less than a month! That is to say, I am spending many hours a day picking, washing and processing the produce from our garden.

I've made about 30 or 35 batches of fresh salsa, and there for a while I was bringing in a huge Tupperware bowl (That's-A-Bowl!) of tomatoes each day, and had a previous one completing the ripening process. We had a couple of days of rain and cooler weather, so it has slowed for the moment.

Each day we pick a couple of jars worth of green beans, and I wait until I have a complete batch to put them through the pressure canner.

And finally, a friend gave me lots of pickling cucumbers that were allowed to grow to a HUGE size. So for this year, I'm trying them already cut. We'll see how that works.

Good healthy food--but exhausting!

Nauvoo Pageant

Here are some Not So Good pictures, rather grainy, taken in the dark, from too great a distance. But I wanted to give some kind of idea what the Nauvoo Pageant is all about. The shots are rather random, since I kept seeing more I wanted to share.

The pageant begins with the Bagpipers escorting the colors onto the stage. Then the audience joins the Nauvoo Brass Band in singing the National Anthem.
Deep into the storyline, there is a time of peace and quiet, in which Brother Joseph invites Sister Emma to dance (just the beginning of a really fun dance sequence, but my camera is JUST TOO SLOW to capture the Scottish Highland as performed by Robert & Becky Laird!)

Of course, Nauvoo started as a swampland. Here King Follett and Charles Makepeace have been working on the drainage ditches--and I managed to capture a stage hand about to close the canal so that folks in the next scene won't fall into the hole.

When Joseph is in peril, Robert Laird and King Follett offer to take turns guarding the Prophet's home. But when they overhear the prayer of young George Fordham, son of Elijah Fordham, Joseph sends the pair home, telling them that "God has heard the prayer of this boy."

After telling Hyrum that Nauvoo is the loveliest place and the best people under the heaven, Joseph and his brother walk from the stage, in the direction of Carthage.

Really out of Sequence, Robert Laird asks Parley P. Pratt for just ONE MOMENT of his time. Parley offers him, TWO, and Robert confesses that he is a "wee bit interested" in what his wife believes, but doesn't want to tell her--that would open the "floodgates" that could never be closed again.

This is the Temple after the Saints finish it--at least as the prop department constructs it. It is wonderful to watch the fabric panels rise, and the cupola lifts from behind it. However, we all know, it will be only a short time before it is demolished and the site plowed under and made into a pasture.

Oh, how many more things I'd love to share. But perhaps this is enough to make you want to come and see the Pageant yourself.

One of Marci's roommates, Jenny, is serving as a YPM (Young Performing Missionary) for the summer. She plays instruments in the Nauvoo Brass Band. Yea Jenny! And what tremendous music they play as the crowd waits for the Pageant to start.

Finally, after the performance is over, the cast mingles with the audience. I was able to catch Robert Laird and Joseph Smith together and get a closeup of them. Both the actors who play these parts are single young men--and they are surrounded by young ladies everywhere they go!