Day 2…Henderson, Nevada…Posting photos from Norway starts today….Comfortably situated in the fabulous Green Valley Ranch Resort…

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Tom’s Rueben sandwich and chips, a favorite dinner, last night at Lucky Penny in Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada.

No words can express how relaxed and at ease we are now that we’ve arrived at the beautiful Green Valley Ranch Spa, Resort and Casino in Henderson, Nevada. Last night, I slept for about 11 hours. I fell asleep at about 7:00 pm and awoke a few times during the night but for short times only. Gosh, that feels good today!

Tom is doing great, and he, too, is happy to be at this beautiful resort with fun get-togethers planned over the next nine days until we depart on Saturday, September 9, to fly to Minnesota for one month. The time is flying by quickly, but we are savoring every moment in front of us.

Delicious Cobb salad is one of my favorite dinners.

Last night and again this morning, we ate at the Lucky Penny Restaurant located in the resort. We love their food, and as Expedia VIP members, we get 20% off on food in the resort’s restaurants. Plus, we are entitled to early check-in and late check-out.

I managed to get the resort to reduce their nightly resort fee of $50 to $25 a night, which puts a dent in the cost of meals we eat in their restaurants. We’ll have breakfast here each morning but most likely dine out several nights with Richard and our friends in Henderson. It will all be quite enjoyable.

Sample of colorful cakes the resort will make for special occasions.

It’s great to catch up after all the late nights out on a month of cruises. We often didn’t get to bed until 1:00 or 2:00 am, getting up early for coffee and breakfast. I only ate lunch and dinner since the breakfast options on the cruises were limited for my way of eating. Lunch had many excellent options I enjoyed, but I often ate a little too much and wasn’t hungry for dinner.

Fortunately, neither of us ever gained an ounce on the cruises, which we strive to accomplish each time we cruise. It would feel awful to gain ten pounds cruising and then trying to fit into our clothes. For us, with our limited wardrobes, that could be a serious problem.

Fresh bakery items are offered in the restaurant each day.

In a few days, after Labor Day weekend ends, we’ll head to a local laundromat to wash our clothes. We won’t do it again until we get to Minnesota, where we’ll have access to coin-operated laundry facilities at the Hyatt Hotel in Eden Prairie, where we’ll stay once again.

Today, when the housekeeper comes to clean our room, we’ll head out to our bank to get cash and change and then make our way to a pharmacy for a few items we need before we head to Minnesota. We won’t buy much since our luggage is already overweight and we don’t want to add to the weight. We’ll reduce our load by taking some items to Goodwill while we’re here.

More pricey but delicious-looking baked goods, averaging about $5.50 each.

In reviewing the photos we hadn’t been able to post, it appears it will be very time-consuming and complicated to return to each post and add the photos we couldn’t post. As a result, we are posting some of the photos under the heading of each town over a period of days, which can be found after each new day, listed as Part 1, Part 2 Norway, for example.

The new post with the photos is located here:

Part 1…Unpublished photos from the Azamara cruise to Alesund, Norway…

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 1, 2013:

The dissipating smoke from the fireworks set off for a wedding. Both sets of bells in the bell tower rang simultaneously. Tom timed the bell ringing at 20 minutes! We giggled when saying that the bells were ringing as a goodbye to us! For more photos, please click here.

Day 4…Greenland Cruise…Sea day…Unusual events on the ship…Cruise food photos

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My dish from two nights ago consisted of various seafood on a bed of steamed cabbage.

This morning, the ship’s captain announced that an ill passenger was being airlifted off the ship by a helicopter. Since the helipad was located at the bow of the ship but from our cabin’s location, we couldn’t see it and take a photo. Sadly, a passenger would have to go through such a frightening ordeal.

It’s a terrifying thought to be lifted from a basket (Tom heard the basket was used in this case) onto the helicopter to be airlifted to a hospital somewhere in Iceland. Hopefully, such patients will have suitable travel insurance. Otherwise, the cost can be prohibitive, often hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Next story…a man aboard the ship stole another passenger’s “sea pass” card, which is linked to a credit card in every case. The thief used the woman’s card to make massive purchases in the jewelry shop aboard the ship. When the woman encountered the man she was told was the perpetrator, a fight ensued, and she slapped him.

Cobb salad was made for me on the Azamara cruise only days ago.

The thief and the woman who hit him were removed from the ship. We don’t know what happened after that. But what an odd thing to transpire on a cruise. It’s been interesting to hear the varying opinions on how this occurred and the subsequent results.

Last night, again, we dined at a “sharing” table by heading into the main dining room by 6:00 pm. That’s a bit early for us to eat, but we love sitting at a shared table with other passengers, some we may have met and others new to us. Invariably, In most cases, the conversation is entertaining and lively.

The food on this ship isn’t as spectacular as it was on Azamara, but it’s been fine, and we have no complaints. The menu is less comprehensive than Azamara, but the taste and presentation are good, and the restaurant manager pays special attention to ensure my food is prepared correctly.

The issues I often experience are too much butter on everything and not enough seasoning. For some odd reason, the cooks think seasoning is out of the question for my way of eating, which is hardly the case. Last night, I stressed the importance of reducing the amount of butter I don’t need or want and the addition of seasonings, as long as they don’t contain starch, fillers, or wheat. That simply means spices are in their natural state, not highly processed.

Tom’s chicken rigatoni pasta was reminiscent of his lockdown dinners in India of chicken penne pasta in 2020. He said this version wasn’t as creamy and good as he’d had then.

Today is a sea day. Seating around the ship is limited right now, but we got a good seat at Cafe al Bacio and enjoyed a few cups of their fantastic coffee drinks, sugar-free for me and regular for Tom. It’s a pleasure to sit there when passengers often join us at our table for four minutes to engage in lively chatter. It’s pretty enjoyable.

We are having a great time. We are undoubtedly enjoying this cruise as much as the Azamara. I asked Tom which one he preferred, and he said they are equal in the amount of fun we’re having and the amenities we’re experiencing. I agree. Life is good.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, August 21, 2013:

Three-legged lizard in the house. For more photos, please click here.

Five days and counting…A food favorite once again…What?…Ironing clothes?…

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Making the layers of the bread-free subway sandwich while in Italy in 2013. More details are below in other photos

Note: Today’s photos are from a post on this date in 2013. Please click here.

Yes, I know. We’ve written about these bread-free sandwiches, over and over again, which we call an “unwhich,” as they do at Jimmy John’s restaurants in the US. But here we are, bringing it up again today with preparation instructions in photos with captions. We frequently have new readers and thought they might enjoy seeing the photos. Sorry about that to our long-term readers.

Slice fresh tomatoes, purple (or yellow) onions, and washed and dried romaine lettuce as you prepare the sandwich.

It came up again when I researched the “ten-year-ago photo” at the end of today’s post. Lacking any new photos, I decided to post the details of how to make these bread-free sandwiches based on our positive feedback over the years. Most countries have bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, mayo, and deli meat of one sort or another.

This sliced Emmental cheese or sliced Provolone cheese seems to add more flavor to the sandwich. Try to avoid using overly processed American or cheddar cheese. Italy has no orange-colored cheddar cheese due to the dyes used to color it. That’s impressive!

However, during our most recent 2½ years in South Africa, we never found full-leaf romaine lettuce, only small pieces of the lettuce in ready-to-use bags. Instead, we used head lettuce, carefully removing, washing, and drying the large exterior leaves to make the sandwiches. That worked ok for us.

Place the meats on a plate in preparation for assembling the sandwich. This mayonnaise is the best mayo we’ve ever used, with no chemicals and few ingredients.

As for deli meats which may not be available in some countries, we used thinly sliced, cooked chicken breasts and sliced cooked roast beef without a bone. In some countries, the ingredients in deli meat may be less than desirable for the health conscience, so it was essential for us to read all the ingredients when buying deli meats, even in the US.

Italy has the best bacon we’ve had anywhere in the world.

Although there isn’t a nearby Costco store with excellent quality deli meat without fillers, wheat, or gluten, we could purchase quality deli meats from Kroger delivery. As a result, when we made these “unwiches” last week, we were pleased with the quality of the ingredients. But, we do not buy highly processed meats such as Oscar Meyer, etc., often sold at low prices with dozens of ingredients on the label.

Place the turkey or chicken slices atop the lettuce, and cover with tomatoes, onion, bacon, and mayo. Then add other preferred meats and cheeses.

It has been a busy day so far today. As I write here, it’s almost 2:00 pm, and I’ve been running around the house doing more laundry and ironing some of Tom’s shirts. Most of his short sleeve button-up shirts are wash and wear, but he has three Tommy Hilfiger shirts that require ironing, regardless of how I washed and dried them.

Tom set up the iron and ironing board from the laundry room, and I proceeded to iron and attempt to neatly fold the three shirts, placing each shirt in a large Ziplock bag. Hopefully, they’ll stay wrinkle-free after being packed for the cruises. As for the remainder of his shirts, which are pretty much wrinkle-free, I will neatly fold them without too much fuss, and then he’ll do the rest of his packing.

Place the cheese atop the tomatoes, adding the mayonnaise using a spatula or wide knife.

I hadn’t ironed anything in years and wasn’t as good at it as I once was. While I was at it, I ironed one of my shirts which I set aside for when we’re at the upcoming hotel in Edinburgh or on the cruise, and hopefully, they’ll have one of those little sewing kits.

One of my favorites; it has a hole in the side seam. I had one of those little sewing kits, but it didn’t have the right thread color to make the repair. I am not much of a seamstress and never have been. Occasionally, I’ve repaired a few of our clothing items. Last month, Tom lost a button on his favorite shorts. After finding it, he asked if I could sew it back on. I did, and it’s holding so far.

Ham slices in Italy are different than deli ham slices in other countries, fattier, have no nitrates, and are less flavorful than ham slices in the US. In our sandwiches, we don’t use Italian salami. It was too fatty for our taste buds and greasy on the tongue. One can add or delete any items in this sandwich. But the most important for maximum flavor is bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise. Sliced roast beef also works well when available. We would have purchased it yesterday, but it was US $42 a pound, so we were content with the ham and sliced chicken.

It sounds as if we have very distinct gender roles in our lives. But, we both decided long ago we’ll each perform tasks we find we have the most ability and experience. I cook. Tom does the dishes. Tom does all the heavy lifting, and I do the laundry. Neither of us feels the tasks aren’t divided equitably, nor do we hesitate to ask if we need help with one of our regular tasks.

Also, today, I cooked and diced a huge bag of frozen chicken breasts and diced onions and celery for tomorrow’s dinner of chicken salad, to which we’ll add a big mixed greens salad on the side. Soon the boiled eggs will be cooled enough, and Tom will peel all the eggs, which he always does to help. Tomorrow, I’ll make the dressings for both salads, tossing them right before dinner, and we’ll be good to go for the next few nights.

Cover everything with large romaine lettuce leaves and wrap tightly with parchment paper. We have been wrapping the sandwiches in heavy-duty tin foil, which seems easier to handle and stay together while eating.

Tomorrow, the packing begins, so we can ship the extra bag to Minnesota. We’ll have plenty of clothes and supplies for when we leave Minnesota and head to South America in October. All is good.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 23, 2013:

The final product is tightly wrapped, ready to chill and enjoy with a side salad and steamed vegetables. For more, please click here.

Six days and counting…Ordering food delivered by Grubhub…

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Difficult to distinguish in this distant photo…two male lions were sleeping.

Note: Today’s photos are from Marloth Park on this date in 2018. Please see the link here.

Last night, after a pleasant dinner at Cody’s, we headed back home and discussed that it was our last night dining out in The Villages. Instead, we’d order takeaway Chinese food for tonight and tomorrow and then cook our remaining food in the freezer Monday through Thursday.

This morning, I perused Grubhub for options that work for us. As most of us know, delivery food can be sketchy at best, especially when ordering from restaurants we don’t know. In The Villages, our best bet has been ordering Asian food, but we’ve been frustrated with the prices through Grubhub.

When we ordered Asian food through Grubhub for two nights, the cost was around $100. Considering it’s less than what we’d pay to dine out for two nights, we went ahead and placed our orders on three or four occasions, never disappointed with the food, only the cost, which seemed high to us.

This morning, I decided to compare costs if we ordered from the  China Gourmet Asian Restaurant in Colony Plaza, which supposedly has equally good food as Sunrise Asian, which we can’t get to by golf cart. But it’s about 10 minutes to Colony Plaza by golf cart.

Tom spotted this lion napping across the Crocodile River as we peered through the fence between Marloth Park and Kruger National Park.

We placed our usual order for enough food for both nights, and the total bill was $55 (after a $5 coupon offered by the restaurant) instead of the usual $100 we’ve paid in the past. Grubhub charges a service fee as shown below:

Grubhub Order Sunrise Asian (no delivery fee due to a one-year coupon we received).

Delivery fee $0.00
Service fee $8.95
Tax $6.27
Driver tip $10.00
Total $114.74
China Gourmet pickup order 
Same items ordered as Grubhub order
TOTAL $55.00

Good grief. We should have checked this out earlier and saved over $200 based on several prior delivery orders through Grubhub. The ordering process wasn’t quite as easy at China Gourmet, and Tom will go pick up the food soon, but it’s certainly worth saving $59.74 to drive the cart for about 20 minutes round trip. It will make us think twice about placing online orders through Grubhub and other such services, especially when we are in the US, where prices are higher.

When we were stuck in two hotels for two weeks, one in Southampton and another in Gatwick, England when we had Covid-19 in 2022, we had no choice but to order through Grubhub and Ubereats. The prices were high there, but the food was good, considering what we could eat while sick.

Today, I am washing all of Tom’s shirts since many have been sitting in a closet for a long time, even as far back as when we were in South Africa. He wears a favorite few repeatedly, leaving the others gathering dust in the closet. Hopefully, they’ll come out of the dryer without wrinkles, but I’ll use the wrinkle-free setting and see how that goes. I’ll only dry three shirts at a time to see how it goes, folding them neatly when done so they’ll be ready for his suitcase.

A female bushbuck was preparing to take a drink from the cement pond.

That’s it for today, dear readers. Thank you for your continued support and readership!

Be well

Photo from ten years ago today, July 22, 2013:

There was no photo posted on this date in 2013. For the story about getting stung by a potentially dangerous flying insect, please click here.

Using perks and points from Expedia…Interesting photos from a very old house in 2013…Head banging?…

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In Tuscany, this yet-to-be-baked homemade low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free pizza was made with “real” mozzarella (often referred to as buffalo mozzarella in the US) and locally grown ingredients. The stringiness factor was tripled from the pizza we’d made in the past using “manufactured” bagged shredded mozzarella, which we hope never to use again. It was our best pizza ever! I’d cut double the ingredients to make another freshly made pizza for tonight with no microwave for reheating. Nothing like two nights of freshly made pizza!

Today’s photos are from the date in 2013, in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, which we posted here.   

How quickly we forgot the nuances of the 300-year-old stone house in Italy. From today’s re-shared photos, you can easily see how much we had to adapt to living in this very old house. It was sometimes challenging, especially when the WiFi signal was so poor.

The electrical wiring throughout the house is exposed, using cloth instead of the conduit most of us are familiar with as a code requirement in the US and other countries. We doubt that building/code compliance inspectors travel around inspecting these centuries-old properties. As shown above, the primary lighting source in the kitchen is these two fixtures over the kitchen table, encased in glass globes. Energy-efficient as the “curly” energy-efficient bulbs we’d used in the US, this particular style takes approximately five minutes to light up the area, which can be a little tricky at night.

Ten years ago, we rented a device from a company in the US called MiFi. This company still exists but can’t do much business these days when good WiFi signals are available worldwide, even in some remote locations. Even in the bush in South Africa, we had no problem getting a good signal.

Sure, some parts of the world are so remote that a signal isn’t possible, but over the years, we haven’t continued to experience issues being online. When renting a hotel or holiday home, we always check to ensure they have free unlimited internet access.

Cloth-covered wiring over the sink in the kitchen.

Today, we rented a car for one day from the Expedia link on our site, found here. When our ship arrives in Boston on August 30, we needed a means of transportation from our hotel to Stoughton, where my cousin Phyllis lives, so we could all go out to dinner near her home.

Again, cloth-covered wiring near the shower in the main bathroom.

When researching transportation from our hotel to Stoughton, a 40-minute drive, we found the cost of taxis, Uber, or transportation companies to be as much as $400 for the round trip plus tips. Instead, with points we’ve accumulated and hadn’t used lately at Expedia, we could rent a car for a good price and drive ourselves to meet with Phyllis.

We both had to duck to go down the long hallway to the bedroom. We got used to saying, “Don’t bang your head.”

As it turned out, we had enough points left to use on Expedia to offset the cost of a car. This morning we booked the car, and all we had to pay after using our points was $9.88 for the one-day car rental. We couldn’t get this done quickly enough! once the details were paid and booked, we added the information to our free Cozi Calendar, as we do with all of our bookings.

Tom also had to duck his head when heading out to the tiny veranda from the guest bedroom.

We now have peace of mind knowing we completed one of the few remaining tasks necessary for our upcoming trip, as listed in a post two days ago here.

Also, we’d like to ask our readers to kindly consider using the links on our page to compare travel costs and perks. We make a small commission that helps cover a portion of the expenses for the maintenance of our site, and you’ll pay no more using the links than if you went to them on your own. Also, you may find you can save a lot of money using these links and accumulating perks and points.

This doorway to the main bathroom was cut to fit the low frame, requiring that we also duck when entering or leaving.

We figured out an easy plan to get the rental car when we’ll be coming from the port on August 30, not the airport, where we’ll have to go to pick up the car. We’ll get an Uber or taxi from the port to drive us to the airport.

Tom will jump out and leave me with the driver, who will drive me to the hotel with our bags. That way, we won’t have to take the bags to the airport. Then, Tom will pick up the car and drive to the hotel. Later in the day, we’ll make the drive to Stoughton to meet my cousin Phyllis for dinner.

This hole was cut on the outside of the house to allow for the water meter.

I asked Phyllis if she’d like us to pick her up. She’s about ten years older than me and may prefer to have us pick her up so she won’t have to drive home in the dark. If so, we won’t mind at all. It will be wonderful to see her. It’s been several years since we’ve seen Phyllis, and she and her two daughters are my only living relatives on the father’s side. As it turns out, I am the oldest living relative on my mother’s side of the family. How did that ever happen? Where did the time go?

Tonight, we’re heading to Brownwood Paddock Square for the evening. It’s been raining off and on all morning, but it looks like it will be clearing by the time we leave at 5:00 pm.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 7, 2013:

The heating elements in the 300-year-old stone house in Tuscany. The radiators are behind these hanging curtains in the long hallway. Hmmm…For more, please click here.

Fabulous night out…Finally found an excellent restaurant with good food…

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This was my delicious salad with eight grilled scallops grilled to perfection, without oil, and with sour cream for dressing on the side. I only used half of one of the little containers of sour cream.

With all the company and get-togethers we’ve had since we arrived in The Villages two months ago, we hadn’t gotten into a routine of our nights out with just the two of us. In Marloth Park, we went to Jabula on both Friday and Saturday nights and loved the routine of it. We always had a great evening, with good food and socializing with owners Dawn and Leon and the many patrons that arrived during the evening.

That scenario is challenging to duplicate. Instead, we’re now enjoying somewhat of a routine of going to Brownwood Paddock Square, the closest and most accessible town square for us in The Villages. The other squares are much further, and riding in the golf cart for the over 90 minutes round trip hasn’t appealed to us.

The atmosphere in Cody’s Original Roadhouse is cluttered but fun and festive.

In essence, the squares are very similar in their design. We’ve carefully perused the menus of all the restaurants in the three main village squares and concluded that Cody’s Original Roadhouse is the best restaurant for our tastes and my dietary restrictions.

Not only is the festive environment appealing to both of us, but the vast selection of menu options is particularly appealing. However, I am so enjoying their entree salads; it will be hard for me to select other options, especially after last night’s salad, as shown here, with eight decent-sized grilled scallops, were delicious.

Customers seemed to enjoy their food, as we did.

We started the evening at the bar at City Fire American Oven and Bar. We’ve dined there about three times and weren’t impressed with the options for my way of eating and Tom’s tastes. We decided we won’t eat there again, although the atmosphere indoors, seated at a booth in air-conditioned comfort with excellent service, is quite good.

This coming Wednesday, we’ll try again to go to bingo at City Fire at 3:00 pm. We wanted to go the past few weeks, but when it rained heavily each Wednesday, we decided not to chance it and drive the golf cart in the wind, rain, and lightning.

We lucked out and got a booth. We had a great time chatting, as always.

Last evening, while seated at the bar at City Fire, we met a lovely real estate agent, Poppy. We talked at length, and I explained that we’d like to do a story about real estate for sale in The Villages. We asked Poppy if she’d show us some houses enabling us to take photos and write about our observations in a post.

Tom couldn’t resist eating these warm squishy buns but wasn’t keen on the cinnamon-flavored and sweetened butter. A bottomless salad accompanies most entrees, but he only ate this portion of salad with his entree.

We also explained we were not interested in buying a house and our motives for looking at a few homes, and she was totally fine with this concept. After the Fourth of July holiday, next Tuesday, we’ll hopefully hear from her and set up a time to visit a few homes. Hopefully, she’ll contact me soon to set up an appointment.

We also chatted with a man whose wife passed away over a year ago and was going on his first date next Friday. We encouraged him to have a great time as he asked for a few pointers. I suggested he take off his wedding ring, but some may disagree with this idea. We hope to see John again before we leave and hear how his date went.

Tom ordered this chopped sirloin steak in a mushroom gravy with mashed potatoes. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

By 7:00 pm, we headed to dinner at Cody’s, and as mentioned above and shown in today’s photos, we had an excellent time, and by 9:00 pm, we were back at the house. They roll up the sidewalks by 10:00 pm in The Villages, with most bars and restaurants closing between 9 and 10 pm, even on the weekends.

We’re off again tonight for another evening out. We’ll see what Saturday night brings in The Villages.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 1, 2013:

Today, on an exploring and invigorating walk, we found ourselves closer to the larger two clock towers for a better view of the cemetery on the church grounds. For more photos, please click here.

We have our passport renewals in hand!…Summer solstice today…

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Photo from one year ago today from this post. When Bad Ear walked along the dirt road, as soon as I call him, he makes a sharp turn and came to visit. It only took him a few days to learn the sound of my voice and his name.

Our passports arrived last week, but preoccupied with topics on past posts; we hadn’t mentioned we had received both passports by FedEx. What a relief! It’s good that we came to the US to accomplish this task, and now we’re good for another ten years. We’d considered ordering second passports while here; however, the amount of paperwork left us anxious for a break.

Sometime in the future, when we return to the US for an extended period, we’ll tackle that job. Next, we will renew our driver’s licenses in Nevada in September, as mentioned in past posts, and we’ll have these two big tasks out of the way.

Today, again, we’ll review all the countries we’ll be visiting beginning in August to ensure we don’t need to apply for any visas while we’re still in the US. Once that’s out of the way, we can sigh with relief and know that almost everything is in order. The only additional task is to sign up for travel insurance a week before we depart since the cruise line requires it, and we feel more at ease having emergency insurance while sailing and visiting other countries.

We’ll only sign up for the insurance a week before departure. I have our Cozi Calendar marked to remind me. Also, since we’ll only be outside the US from July 29 to September 1, we’ll only order the insurance for that period since the insurance doesn’t cover our time in the US, and we’ll be visiting family for about a month.

Then, when we head to South America around October 1, we’ll order the insurance again in three-month increments while we’re there. At this point, our goal is to return to South Africa on June 15, 2024, but we may decide to return sooner, depending on how much we’re enjoying the time in South America.

Big Daddy kudus and impalas in the garden, one year ago today.

As always, when possible, our plans are fluid. We love having the option to make changes if we desire when a location isn’t fulfilling our goals and objectives. We can do so now that airlines are more flexible about allowing flight changes. When it comes to booked holiday homes, there are penalties for cancellations in most cases.

As a result, we plan only to book a few months at a time while we’re in South America and remain able to book the unique locations that appeal to us the most in between holiday home rentals. This way, we don’t have to pay for a holiday home while on other adventures.

Again today, we planned to drive the golf cart to Brownwood to play bingo at City Fire American Oven and Bar at 3:00 pm. With stormy weather predicted all day, we don’t feel it makes sense to drive with the prospect of rain and winds, especially when the golf cart doesn’t have windshield wipers. It’s been raining in the past 24 hours, pretty hard at times.

Instead, we’ll stay in and order Chinese food for tonight and tomorrow. I love the steamed dishes and egg foo young, while Tom is a big fan of sweet and sour dishes and fried rice. Today, we ordered off the lunch menu and reheat the food at dinner time. Doing so saved almost $30 when ordering enough for two nights.

Chinese food is such a treat for us when it hasn’t been available to us for the past several years, except for the few times we’ve been in the US. We also like Mexican food, but it doesn’t seem easy to order it appropriately for my way of eating unless we dine in a Mexican restaurant. I can easily explain how it should be prepared for me, which we’ve only done once since we arrived here.

We’re fine staying in again today during the inclement weather. We’re as content as we could be. Today is the summer solstice as described here: “The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere.”

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 21, 2013:

There were no photos posted ten years ago, but there is a post about an earthquake we experienced in Italy ten years ago on this date. Please click here.

More fun times with friends in The Villages…

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We’ve had a great time with friends Lea Ann and Chuck.

Lea Ann and Chuck arrived at the house exactly at 3:00 pm as planned. It was wonderful to see them. Although we’ve talked and stayed in touch via social media over the years, we haven’t seen them in six years. How time has flown! As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we met them on a cruise in 2017 on a cruise from Sydney to Seattle.

We’d only spent a few hours with them since the cruise was about to end, but the four of us hit it off and stayed in touch. When they arrived yesterday, we picked up right where we left off, and the conversation flowed easily and enthusiastically.

Us, last night at the Blue Fin while waiting for an indoor table with Lea Ann and Chuck.

As frequent world travelers, they both had similar stories to ours, although they have a home in Florida. They thanked us for encouraging them to embark on their travel journey and have spent a lot of time in places we’ve visited in the past. They even stayed in the house next door to the holiday home we rented in a remote area of Bali in 2016, loving the experience we had as well.

We’ll be anxious to hear about their nine-month world cruise beginning in December, which we discussed in yesterday’s post. They are very excited about this unique opportunity.

We get a kick out of customized golf carts.

We sat in the living room and chatted for an hour or so and then headed to Brownwood, where we once again went to the Blue Fin for dinner, a repeat after Friday night when Karen and Rich were here. Since it was Father’s Day and the restaurant was packed, we had a long wait to get a table but sat outdoors on their veranda, having a great time, and each had a drink while we waited for a table indoors.

We were finally seated indoors. It was hot and humid outdoors after the previous day’s rainstorm, and we all agreed that dining indoors would be more comfortable, and it certainly was.

My dinner was a shrimp salad. It was ok. I don’t like curly lettuce like this.

Back at the house by 8:30 pm, we served dessert, and again, the four of us lounged in the living room, telling endless stories of our travels, including some outrageous experiences that are unavoidable during long travels. It was interesting to hear their similar ups and downs, knowing we weren’t alone in the challenges one meets traveling long term.

By 11:30, I started fading and headed to bed, and Tom joined me about an hour later while the three of them continued the lively conversation. I wished I could have stayed up longer. As I write here at almost 10:00 am, Lea Ann and Chuck are still sleeping. As soon as they awaken, we’ll make breakfast.

Lea Ann and Chuck both had the grouper topped with crab and a white sauce.

This afternoon, they’ll be back on the road to return to their home in Dunedin, which is a two-hour drive from here. Once again, we’ve had a fantastic time with friends. In the past 24 hours, I heard from my dear friend Lisa whom we haven’t seen since 2017. On Friday, she and her friend Vicki are heading here for a visit.

Lisa and I have been friends for about 35 years, meeting in the late 1980s. Over the years, we, too, have stayed in touch, and it will be wonderful to see her again and meet her friend Vicki.

We haven’t had much of an opportunity to get together with all of the readers who contacted us. We apologize for this. We assumed we’d have plenty of time to do so, but time has slipped away as it often does. In only 39 days, we’ll be on our way to Scotland. How wonderful that we’re so enjoying our time here and yet, have so much awaiting us in the future.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 19, 2013:

My bathroom in the 300-year-old stone house in Boveglio, Italy, where we stayed for three months. Tom took the smaller bathroom in our bedroom. There’s no tub, and the shower is small, but it serves its purpose. For more photos, please click here.

Rained out…Photos of Istanbul…Ten years ago…

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Note: Due to some unknown WiFi issue today, I cannot properly format captions and spacing in the text. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Last night, we’d planned to go to dinner at Havana Country Club, but when it was raining with lightning and high winds, we realized it wouldn’t be safe to make the 15-minute golf cart ride in such awful conditions. Instead, we decided to order takeaway from the Chinese restaurant we love, Sunrise Asian.

Yesterday, I received a  coupon as an Amazon Prime member for free delivery from Grubhub for the next 12 months. What a deal! I’d signed up for the coupon but didn’t realize we’d be using it so soon. After placing the order, as shown below:

Roast Pork Fried Rice Quart $8.70+

Sweet and Sour Pork Quart $10.85+

Shrimp Egg Foo Young Omelet with shellfish. $13.95+

Steamed Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables $16.95

Total cost: $64.03

This seemed expensive for getting takeaway, but we’d ordered enough to last two nights. My steamed dish was small, so I ate all the prawns and left half of the vegetables. This morning I cooked eight jumbo prawns that I had in the freezer and added them to the leftover vegetables to have plenty of that dish with the other half of the egg foo young (I don’t use the sauce). Tom eats pork fried rice and sweet and sour pork.
 Today is easy when I only have to wash and dry the bedding. Tom always helps re-making the bed. We didn’t walk this morning since Tom likes to watch CBS “Sunday Morning,” it was sweltering outside after the show ended. The temperature is only about 88F, but the dew point is 80, higher than we’d experienced in South Africa, and the pollen count is high today.
Yes, the Covid headache returned after I stopped taking that drug that caused me to have Afib, only days before we left South Africa and ended up in hospital. After another incident on the plane, lasting six hours of sheer terror on the 17-hour flight, I went on a rampage trying to figure out what caused the Afib.
What a view of Istanbul! For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…What fun at Brownwood Paddock Square with friends!…

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Last night it was fun going out to dinner with Carol and Mark at the Blue Fin Bar & Grill in Brownwood Paddock Square in The Villages.

When it was raining hard mid-afternoon, we were concerned our plans for the evening would be dashed since we’d planned to be outdoors for part of the time. Much to our delight, the sun returned shortly before we were ready to leave, and we were off for our plans.

Arriving at Brownwood Paddock Square with the sun shining, we found a good spot in the parking lot and walked several blocks through the square to easily find the restaurant and four open barstools at the outdoor bar. We plopped down comfortably, ordered drinks, and enjoyed lively conversation and people-watching.

Our friends from Boca Raton, Mark, and Carol. They are visiting us for three nights. We’re having an excellent time with them.

For the first time in four weeks, I had white wine, a crisp Pinot Grigio, always one of my favorite white wines. I always prefer red but had decided to start cautiously, not knowing if I’d react and my heart would race. Nothing happened. Checking my pulse on my Fitbit every so often, I noticed that my pulse stayed in the 60s. Slowly I sipped the wine and ended up having a second glass with dinner.

The outdoor bar at the Blue Fin Bar &. Grill. We had a great time enjoying our drinks.

The only problem I ran into drinking the wine was that it caused me to have a fitful night’s sleep. Maybe I should take that as a warning that wine is no longer for me. I can have a fitful night’s sleep without wine. We shall see how it goes in the future.

A couple sitting beside us at the bar ordered this sushi and the other appetizers below.

The dinner was delicious but not perfect, but the service and ambiance were excellent. Indeed, in the next few months, we’ll return for dinner or drinks at the bar. The atmosphere outdoors was lively and friendly. Tom suggested we try new further locations in The Villages while we have a car (until May 30). I agreed that was a good idea. Even after dark, we can always use the golf cart to get to and from Brownwood Paddock Square.

Their bowl of clam chowder.

There were tons of golf carts everywhere in the square, many of which would return to their houses in the dark. It feels incredibly safe here, and we’re not worried at all.

A small rib appetizer was ordered by the people next to us.

With Carol and Mark still here this morning, I made another breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs, onion and bacon bits, and a big side of bacon. I assumed they ate somewhat like we do for some goofy reason, so I failed to buy bread, jelly, pancake ingredients, syrup, and orange juice. When I’d asked if they ate bread or potatoes with dinner and they said they did not, it was the basis from which I assumed they were keto or low carb.

Tom’s dinner of fish and chips. He said it was good, but the chips were a little overdone. I had grilled ahi tuna atop a Caesar salad without dressing or croutons (no photo shown).

Next time we have houseguests, I will be more specific about the foods they prefer with meals. We haven’t had a lot of overnight guests in the past several years, so I’m a little rusty at this. We always want our guests to have access to the foods they enjoy.

Carol and Mark left an hour ago to go to a car museum about a 30-minute drive from here. I was busy doing the post and preparing all the toppings and ingredients for tonight’s pizza and salad dinner. Thus, I was unable to go with them. Tom decided to stay with me offering help with the time-consuming process of preparing this big meal. We had to change our bedding and go to the local post office.

Carol’s dinner of grilled ahi tuna and bacon-roasted Brussels sprouts.

Snail mail from the United States Postal Service doesn’t necessarily come to the house here. There are some items that we need that I am ordering from Amazon. If the Amazon truck typically delivers packages, no problem. They will deliver to us. But, some products at Amazon are sent via other sellers by USPS, which are delivered to the local postal service centers. This was a problem for us since we couldn’t access the mailbox at the service center.

A few days ago,  I contacted the owner, and she agreed to let us use the mailbox as needed for any packages sent by USPS. After Carol and Mark left for the museum this morning, we went to the postal center to inform them that it was okay to receive mail for us. Then, if a package comes, we can pick it up, or they will deliver it to the house between 12:00 and 2:00 pm.

Mark’s ahi tuna, rice, and bacon-roasted Brussels sprouts, with sauce, on the side.

It’s required that patrons speak to the postal people through the mailbox opening. Quite peculiar. I’d found the key where the owner said she left it and talked to the person through the hole, explaining we’ll receive a few packages while we’re here until the end of July. Now I can rest easy and place my waiting Amazon order. Ah, the little things…

More photos will follow tomorrow from our outing last night.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 22, 2013:

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