Three days and counting…Getting things done…

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Locals were walking on the steep roads during the procession last night. The woman on the far left in navy blue is our own, Santina, our precious cleaning lady.

Note: Today’s photos are from this date in 2013 while living in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. For more details, please click here.

It is so busy around here. This morning we finished your order to have the suitcase shipped to the hotel in Minnesota, waiting for us when we arrive on September 9. I contacted the hotel’s general manager that the briefcase will arrive in a few days, asking him to store it for us until we arrive. I also included a photo of the bag with the message.

As we stood on the road outside our house, the procession stopped for a few minutes for prayer. There’s Santina again in navy blue. Notice the heels on her shoes!

Then, we headed to the postal station, but three items I ordered from Amazon weren’t in the mailbox, nor was anyone at the postal station, so I could inquire if they had the packages. Now, we’ll have to return later on Wednesday or Thursday. There’s a huge rainstorm occurring right now with lots of wind, thunder, and lightning. We’re not going out in the golf cart in this weather.

Tomorrow is my much-needed pedicure appointment at 11 00 am. While I’m busy with that, Tom will fill up the tank on the golf cart at Walmart and buy a dozen eggs to get us through the remainder of the week.

This patio is where we suntan a few times a week. These impatiens attract the bees, as do most flowering plants requiring us to pay special attention during our hour in the sun, quite close to the planters.

Once back at the house, I’ll finish the post, upload it, and then return to packing. We already arranged transportation through Groome from The Villages to the Orlando International Airport, which picks up for the international flight at 5:50 pm for our 10:30 pm international flight. It’s over an hour-long drive, especially with rush hour traffic at that time of day.

We’ve gone through all our remaining food, and we need one more dinner to wipe out everything we have. Thus, after my pedicure tomorrow, we’ll stop at the Mexican restaurant in Colony Plaza and order food for tomorrow night’s dinner.

The second of the two planters. As you can see, the giant leaves belong to the zucchini. We’ll see more zucchini over the remaining summer as well as the abundant herbs we’ve been using.

For Thursday evening, we have frozen burger patties for Tom with bacon, cheese, onion, and canned tuna for me, which I’ll make into tuna salad using the remaining eggs, onions, and celery, using sour cream for the salad dressing. This will be the best we’ve ever used up our remaining food. In the past, we were happy to leave food for the household staff but with no household staff here, there was no one to leave it with.

Speaking of household staff, yesterday I got a wonderful message from one of our housemen in Marloth Park, Vusi. When we left, I had reformatted my old laptop, which worked well except for one key on the keyboard. I cleaned the exterior, screen, and keyboard so it looked brand new. Vusi was thrilled, hugging me several times, saying, “Oh, thank you, Madam.”

A zucchini that grew in the garden box on the patio.

Thus, yesterday when checking my email, there was a sweet message from Vusi that warmed my heart. He wrote:

“Morning, madam, hope everything is good there, I just wanted to say we (the animal, us) miss you, have a great day🍹🙏may God bless you

And thanks for the laptop. It’s still working good. I really appreciate 🙏Vusi.”
Immediately, I wrote back to Vusi, thanking him for his thoughtful message and how much we’re looking forward to seeing him in less than 11 months from now. We have so much to look forward to.
That’s it for today, folks. We have lots to do and look forward to being on our way soon.
Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 25, 2013:

Here’s a Ziplock bag half-filled with water and a few Euros to ward off house flies. See the story for the results of using these well-placed bags over the past 48 hours. (BTW, it didn’t work). 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.

Questions from a long time reader…

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Old-fashioned community washing pool, where locals gathered to do their laundry in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. The larger pool is for washing. The smaller sink is for rinsing. Of course, they’d bring their laundry home to dry outside their windows. For more photos, please click here.

Today’s photo is from our three-month stay in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. See the post here.

Yesterday, I received the following message from a long-time reader, Pam,  as follows:

“Dear Jess & Tom,

My husband and I are 70, and I’m beginning to think that cruising may be our best travel option as our mobility is becoming more limited. The research and planning are also mostly done by me, which can be a bit exhausting. We flew to Vegas in April and rented a car for an 8-day road trip to Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley, and Grand Canyon. We saw some amazingly beautiful sights, but walking even short distances was very difficult for me, especially in the higher altitudes. We spent much time just touring from the car and the tour buses. So I think that cruising may be easier for us. We have only cruised twice. The first time was 1999 (eek!!! Really that long ago?) Western Caribbean, which we aren’t interested in doing again. The second was in 2012 (wow, time flies!) to Alaska, which was wonderful. Both on NCL. We aren’t fancy and kind of like their freestyle cruising.

I know that you have recommended Vacations To Go in the past, so just wondering if you still do. Also would welcome your thoughts on Costco Travel, United Cruises, or just booking directly with the cruise line. I also recall that Tom has a website that alerts him when prices go down, but I can’t remember which one. Could you kindly remind me? We would love to cruise the Med, but I read a comment on a YouTube video that said if you have any mobility issues, it may be difficult.

Just wondered if you would be willing to share your thoughts. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Happy sailing!

Pam”

Thank you, Pam, for writing! It’s lovely to hear from you, and we’re thrilled to hear you are considering cruising again. I am relisting your questions below (for ease of reading), and we will answer them individually.

  1. I know that you have recommended Vacations To Go in the past, so just wondering if you still do. Also would welcome your thoughts on Costco Travel, United Cruises, or just booking directly with the cruise line.

Answer: We prefer using Costco to book cruises and car rentals. (Annual membership is required). Their prices and perks for cruises are the same as most other cruise booking agencies. However, through Costco, you will receive gift cards (shop cards) each time you book a cruise, which motivated us to use them. Unfortunately, reaching them by phone to book a cruise or ask questions subsequently is awful. You can wait on the phone for an hour or more; contacting them by email is sketchy at best. This fact alone prompted us to return to Vacations to Go, which we’ve used for years. Our rep is Heather. She can be reached here:

“Heather Thompson
Master Cruise Counselor, Luxury and Multi-Cabin Specialist
Vacations To Go (16 Years)
hthompson@vacationstogo.com
My office hours: Mon-Fri: 11 am-8 pm (US Central Time)
US and Canada: 1-800-338-4962 ext. 7317
For toll-free numbers from other countries, click here.”

With us booking cruises while out of the country with huge time zone differences at times, having easy access to our booking company is important to us. Heather is very responsive and quickly responds to emails and phone calls. Please tell her we sent you. We don’t receive any remuneration for referring you to her, but we love sharing good service with our readers.

We’ve never used United Cruises and rarely have booked directly through a cruise line. They are also hard to reach and don’t have better pricing or service.

2. I also recall that Tom has a website that alerts him when prices go down, but I can’t remember which one. Could you kindly remind me?

Answer: Mainly, Tom has used Cruisecritic.com at this link that takes you directly to their cruise roll call, where you can enter the cruise you’ll be taking and see if there have been price drops. If there is a price drop (only applicable to passengers from the US and Canada), only prior to the final payment, you can find the information there and then contact your cruise booking company and ask them to lower your price. This has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. But you must carefully analyze if the price drop is beneficial for you since you may lose some perks if you take the price drop. Your booking agent will provide you with this information

(You must sign up for a free account at Cruise Critic here to see the roll call for each cruise. It’s straightforward to do so).

3. .We would love to cruise the Med, but I read a comment on a YouTube video that said if you have any mobility issues, it may be difficult.

Answer: We sailed in the Mediterranean on three occasions. At many ports of call, walking can be long and up and down hills at times. However, many easy-access “Hop On Hop Off” buses are available at the various ports, taxis, and vans you can arrange to take you to see the highlights. It’s essential to negotiate a price for taxis before you embark on such private means of transportation. “Hop On, Hop Off” buses have a fixed price for passengers, which is usually reasonable. In these cases, you can decide if you want to get off the bus or taxi and walk around or not. You will still see plenty.

We hope these answers help you decide what may work for you. Please feel free to contact us at any time with more questions. We’re always happy to help!

Be well.

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

The flowers of Tuscany never ceased to amaze us. The colors, the smells, and the varied designs make them appear more artistically rendered than real life itself. For more photos, please click here.

It’s all good…

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When I walked to the produce truck in Boveglio, it was surrounded by no less than ten local residents, anxious to buy their weekly supply of fruits and veggies. How convenient!

Today’s photos are from this date in 2013 while living in Boveglio Tuscany, Italy, for three months. Please see this link for details.

Just think. In 11 days from now, we’ll arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland, and be able to start posting new photos. Most likely, after getting some sleep after the red-eye flight, we’ll have recovered sufficiently to do some sightseeing. We are checking out some options now since we’ll have a few days until boarding the ship.

It’s exciting to finally be traveling again. We spent so much time in Africa after we left India from being in lockdown for ten months in a hotel in Mumbai we hadn’t traveled much. During those 2½ years, while we based ourselves in South Africa, we traveled once to Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, and five times to the US (six times for Tom for his brother Jerome’s funeral).

We had several other trips booked that were canceled due to Covid-19, including 12 cruises in total that were also canceled due to Covid-19. It’s not that we didn’t try to travel; we continually ran into cancellations preventing us from moving on with our plans.

As a result of the frustrations over all the cancellations, we didn’t keep booking many future travels until the past year when Covid-19 became less of an issue. We had a fantastic time in Marloth Park and were grateful we spent our less active period in such a wonderful place.

It felt awkward taking photos, so I did so descretely. Unquestionably, I was the only tourist in the bunch as I heard the locals chatting endlessly in Italian. I did my usual head nodding, hiding my camera under my shirt.

Not surprisingly, we look forward to what’s ahead next year, including our eventual return to Marloth Park next June and any new plans we’ll make after another shorter stay in Marloth Park. At this point, if all goes well on our upcoming cruises, we’re thinking we’ll book more cruises in the future. It’s a wonderful way to see many parts of the world we may never get to since not every country is suitable for a two or three-month stay.

We’ve had a good time in The Villages and may return for a short stay in the distant future, especially since we enjoyed seeing many of our friends and making new friends. We’d hoped to see more of our readers who wrote to us, but time got away with us.

Plus, as I continued to suffer from the head and facial pain, there were times I was grateful we didn’t have more social plans. However, there was never an occasion that we canceled any plans with friends, readers, or family, nor did we stay in on Friday and Saturday nights due to my discomfort. I’d decided to continue with my life, accepting this pain as a reality until somehow it would resolve.

Today, I am pain-free, but yesterday wasn’t so good. At least now, with the acupressure self-treatment I started on July 5, many days are pain-free as opposed to none before beginning these procedures. Perhaps in time, I will be pain-free. Any drugs I had taken or could take for this only mask the symptoms.

With more fruit than vegetables, I could not restock our usual supply of cauliflower.

What I am doing now can possibly eliminate the source of the issue by releasing the painful nerve. I am hopeful as I continually do the “exercises” several times a day or at least, each morning and evening. If I have trouble during the day, I perform the process again. It was terrible last night after dinner, but I added a few more pressure point procedures and got some relief, enough to ensure a good night’s sleep. Today is a new day!

Soon, our final Kroger grocery order will be delivered as we continue to use the food we have on hand and our newly delivered items. We needed some meat and salad ingredients to get through the next several days until we departed.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for hanging in there with us during this quiet time.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 18, 2013:

Here’s what I purchased today from the vegetable truck that stopped in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, for a total of Euro $4.09, US $5.33. Prices were lower at the grocery store, but the freshness and convenience made it worth paying more. For more photos, please click here.

Winding down…Two fun videos…

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This video was posted at this post on this date in 2018. It was such a joy to see this again! Also, see the video below from ten years ago today, in 2013.

In speaking with friends Linda and Ken yesterday (it was Linda’s birthday), she explained they are also going to be in Marloth Park in a few months; around the same time, Rita and Gerhard will also be visiting, who will be staying in our old house  It’s too bad we won’t be there to be with our friends  If it were one year later, we’d also be there.

Instead, we’ll enjoy the photos and experiences they will share with us during their time in Marloth Park. During that period, we’ll be in South America, having experiences of our own that we’ll share here in photos and posts with them and all of our worldwide readers.

With “White Night’ upcoming on the Azamara cruise beginning on August 1, I ordered a few items, including a pair of white jeans and a white top that fit without trying them on. I ordered the jeans directly from Levi’s since I have two pairs of Levi blue jeans, figuring if I purchased the same size, the white jeans would work, and they did, much to my relief. The shirt also worked, and I am ready for that special event.

Tom is all set, too. While in the US a few years ago, when we knew we’d be going on Azamara cruises, he also purchased a pair of white jeans.

Speaking of clothes, I went through the closet yesterday to see what items I could donate to the Salvation Army. Since I take good care of my stuff, I feel comfortable donating some of my used items. Going online to the Salvation Army’s local site, I was able to schedule a pick-up for this coming Friday. I am hoping to lighten my baggage weight substantially.

No longer, in this life, do I ever get attached to clothing items since most can be replaced. Although, in many foreign countries, I can’t find anything to fit me based on my height, I am much taller than most women. Here’s a small sampling of the average heights of women in various countries from this site.

“Country Average Height for Women

The Netherlands 5 ft  5.5 in. (168.7 cm)

Barbados 5 ft  4.2 in (165.5 cm)

United States 5 ft  3 in. (161.5 cm)

China 5 ft  2.4 in. (159.8 cm)

Iran 5 ft  2.3 in. (159.7 cm)

Nigeria 5 ft  1.3 in. (156.4 cm)

Guatemala 4 ft. 8.8 in. (149 cm).”

As a result, it’s difficult for me to find pants and tops that work for my frame. Most of the items I can fit into are from stores in the US that offer tall sizes. These items can often only be purchased online when most shops don’t carry tall sizes due to lack of need. Thus, I rarely have an opportunity to try something on, so I must buy the same brands over and over again to ensure they’ll fit.

Usually, while in the US making some purchases, I have no interest in buying things to try on and potentially return. Paying extra for return postage is foolish, so I am cautious about what I buy. For Tom, it’s a lot easier, as it often is for men.

In any case, I’m thinking about packing, although I am not putting anything into suitcases yet. That process will begin next week as we prepare the suitcase we plan to send to Minnesota to avoid taking everything with us and incurring added baggage fees, far exceeding the cost of shipping the bag.

This morning was stormy again. We haven’t walked in days due to inclement weather. Once we leave, we’ll get plenty of walking in, even when walking back and forth on the ship each day and going on excursions. I am considering working out in the fitness centers on the two upcoming cruises and again in the hotels in Nevada and Minnesota. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked out in a health club, and I will do so carefully.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 17, 2013:

A video (not ours) of a motorbike ride through Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, on this date ten years ago. For the text, please click here.

Fantastic evening with friends…Tonight, back on the town…

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This photo, from five years ago today, at a fair in Marloth Park, is of Barend Bloem, nicknamed Slangman (snake man in Afrikaans). We’d have loved to be able to “wear” this Yellow Burmese Python for a photo, but it wasn’t possible when children were waiting for a chance to touch it. See the post here.

Gosh, we’ve had a good time while here in The Villages. As the days wind down, we’re reminded of how many friends have come to visit and how much fun we’ve had on each occasion. Now, we look forward to a few more nights “out on the town,” and then off we go to our next adventure.

We’re excited about the future and can’t believe we’ll be cruising again in a few weeks. From past calculations, this upcoming journey will be our 30th cruise since we began traveling almost 11 years ago. Of course, we have bad memories of our last cruise in April 2022, when we both got Omicron and suffered dearly for months.

Plus, getting Covid-19 on that first of two cruises in 2022 necessitated canceling the next cruise when we were too sick to travel and still tested positive. We’d looked forward to sailing on the Queen Mary 2, when we’d purchased dressy clothes of no value to us now, for the upscale transatlantic cruise. Also, we lost the cruise fare when they only gave us a short period to rebook it using the credit they gave us.

We had other plans we couldn’t change and would have incurred additional costs to take advantage of the nine months they allowed us to use the cruise credit. We were disappointed but had no other options. Life went on…recovery was more important.

But, like so many of us, we all incurred losses and frustrations over the pandemic impacting income, canceled plans, medical expenses, and the emotional stress of the awful scenario that lasted so long. Like many of you, the pandemic cost us months of good health and lots of money.

Now, we continue with our dreams of ongoing world travel. No, it won’t always be easy. It never was, but we are grateful when we think about how fortunate we are to live this life, the freedom we enjoy, and an endless stream of unique experiences.

And we’re grateful for all of our readers, who follow along with us, providing support and appreciation for our travels and our continuing posts, day after day. No doubt, some days when it’s quiet and nothing special is happening; we wonder how our readers are interested in what we’re doing and have to say about those mundane days and nights.

But our worldwide readers continue to hang in there with us during these quiet times. We are very grateful for this, especially now, as our activity level is more geared toward getting ready to leave than initiating new experiences.

Also, I’ve focused a lot of time on healing this pain in my face and head and continue to diligently do the exercises and acupressure that will aid in my full recovery. It’s not over yet, but with these new improvements, I am more hopeful than ever, although several times a day, I am reminded that it is still there when the pain comes and goes.

Today, we’ll hang around the house until around 5:00 pm, when we’ll head out in the golf cart and make the pleasant drive to Brownwood Paddock Square for socializing and dinner.

Thank you, dear readers…be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 15, 2013:

No photo was posted on this date ten years ago. For the story, please click here.

Two weeks and counting…We’ll be on the move!…Company coming for dinner tonight…

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Interesting insect.

Note: Today’s photos were taken and provided by a professional photographer, Chris Kelly, whom we met in Tuscany during our three-month stay. We were impressed by his skills and excited to share his photos. See the post from ten years ago for more details.

This morning, as I began to prepare this post, when I looked at the date on my laptop, I realized that we are leaving two weeks from today. We’ll be back in the US in about seven weeks from now and will be staying to see family for about six weeks, and then we’ll be on our way to South America for an extended stay. How long that will be is yet to be determined.

A bee collecting nectar from purple flowers.

We decided to make our stay in South America for only as long as it appeals to us. It will be for at least three months, maybe six or more months, depending on what we plan after the Galapagos cruise. While in the US, we’ll book a holiday home in Ecuador to round out the 90 days we’re allowed to stay, visa-wise. From there, we shall see.

All we know for sure after the South America stay is that we’ll be returning to Marloth Park, South Africa, on June 15, 2024—eleven months from now. We’re unsure at this point how long we’ll stay there either. The visa situation is always an issue we must address within 90 days in most countries.

Chris said he shot all these photos in one day during the prior week.

This morning, I got busy preparing the dish below for tonight’s dinner for our guests, Karen and Rich. It’s our favorite dish that we haven’t made in over a year. So, I made a triple batch using two large baking pans, having plenty for tonight with leftovers for Sunday. I’ll freeze the second pan for some time in the next two weeks, enough to get us through another three nights. We don’t mind delicious leftovers several nights in a row.

This is some moth.

When I mention a delicious dish in a post, I often get countless requests for the recipe. To be proactive, I posted it below. Today, so we’d have plenty of leftovers. This recipe is sufficient for four people, and depending on portion size may have some left for the next dinner or lunch.

Jess’s Low Carb Sausage, Mushroom, and Chicken Casserole

Servings: 8

This hearty and delicious dish tastes similar to chicken and dressing. I am sure that this would be terrific with turkey, also.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 -4 cups diced cooked chicken
  • 1 lb cheesy sausages
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped fine
  • 1 tablespoon onion, chopped
  • 1/2 lb mushroom, sliced
  • 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
  • 16 ounces frozen cauliflower, cooked well and drained
  • 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
  • salt (for the top)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • paprika (optional)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Brown the sausage with the celery, onion, and mushrooms.
  2. Stir the softened cream cheese into the sausage mixture until well blended.
  3. Coarsely chop the cooked frozen cauliflower.
  4. Mix all ingredients and spread in a greased 9″x13″ baking dish.
  5. Cover with Parmesan cheese
  6. If desired, dust the top with paprika.
  7. Bake, covered with foil, at 350º for about 30 minutes.
  8. Uncover and bake until hot and bubbly, and the top is lightly browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Also, this morning I also made a huge salad with colorful baby bell peppers, red onion, celery, tomato, carrots, and romaine lettuce in bite-sized pieces. Ever go to a restaurant and are served a salad with huge pieces, hard to handle? This frustrates me since cutting the lettuce isn’t always easy if the salad is on a small plate or in a bowl.

Amazing capture.

I didn’t make a dessert this time since our guests have to leave right after dinner to return to their home, two hours from here. No doubt, as always, we’ll have a great evening, although it will be short. This will be the last time we see them until the next time we return to Florida or, if down the road, they’ll visit us in South Africa. In the interim, surely we’ll stay in touch, as we always do.

That’s it for today, folks. Our guests will be here in about three hours, and we’re all looking forward to being together once again.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 14, 2013:

On his recent visit to Tuscany, Chris Kelly, a professional photographer, provided these “bug/flying insect” photos. He, too, observed the vast number of flying insects inspiring him to take these excellent photos. Thanks, Chris! Great photos! For more, please click here.

Getting more done..

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Photo from the post from five years ago today on this date. Although we aren’t big fans of baboons, we got a kick out of this photo of mom and baby walking down the road in Kruger National Park. See the link here.

This morning, I booked transportation with Groome Transport from our holiday home to Orlando International Airport, which is over a one-hour drive (during rush hour). Our flight on July 28 isn’t until 10:30 pm, but they suggest they pick us up around 5:30 pm. We’ll most likely arrive at the airport at 7:00 pm, giving us more time than we’ll need to be processed for our international flight. We’re flying to Edinburgh, Scotland, on Virgin Atlantic.

The cost for the transportation, including a 15% tip, was $92. We used this same company when we arrived here at the end of April and were happy with the ride and the service. Thus, we saw no reason to shop around for this for a slightly better price. It may have been a little less with Uber, but the large van and the friendly local driver worked out well when we arrived.

Unfortunately, it’s often another red eye when we fly long distances, but no other options worked time-wise. The flight arrives at 11:30 am Scotland time. When we get from the airport to our hotel, we likely won’t check in until around 1:00 or 1:30 pm. As VIP members of Expedia, we are provided with early check-in and late check-out.

We’ll have breakfast on the flight and won’t eat again until that evening. We try not to sleep other than a short 20-minute nap after being awake all night. Otherwise, we could be subject to jet lag. Immediately upon arrival in different time zones, we adapt to the new time zone, including sleeping and eating. This has worked well for us.

The time difference between Florida and Scotland is five hours later, so this will be relatively easy. Due to being tired, we’ll most likely dine at the restaurant at The Bay Hotel. There’s a restaurant in the hotel, and after checking out their menu, we won’t have trouble finding something for each of us.

I noticed they have Chicken Penne Pasta on the dinner menu. Tom hasn’t had this since we spent ten months in lockdown in the hotel in Mumbai. He ate it for dinner every night except for the last two months when he’d gained 22 pounds and was sick of it. We shall see if he’s ready to give it another try. I noticed several grilled items that will work for me.

Of course, curries are very popular in the UK, as we’ve observed with our British friends worldwide. Often, when we were invited to the homes of British friends in Marloth Park, they’d make curry. I love the taste, but often, it is made with flour to thicken the sauce. If flour is used, I can’t eat it. Plus, I don’t eat rice, and curry is often served over a bed of rice.

While dining at friends’ homes, I didn’t say anything and picked out a few pieces of chicken and vegetables, discreetly scraping off as much of the sauce as possible. No one ever noticed. On the other hand, Tom despises the taste of curry but somehow manages to get through it without comment.

Britain colonized India from 1858 to 1947. As a result of the Indian influence, curries became popular with the British, but even earlier than those dates. See below from this site:

“The British Curry
by Debabrata Mukherjee
The UK now celebrates National Curry Week every October. Although curry is an Indian dish modified for British tastes, it’s so popular that it contributes more than £5bn to the British economy. Hence it was hardly surprising when in 2001, Britain’s foreign secretary Robin Cook referred to Chicken Tikka Masala as a “true British national dish.”

If Britain taught India how to play cricket, India perhaps returned the favour by teaching the British how to enjoy a hot Indian curry. By the 18th century, East India Company men (popularly called ‘nabobs’, an English corruption of the Indian word ‘nawab’ meaning governors or viceroys) returning home wanted to recreate a slice of their time spent in India.

Those who couldn’t afford to bring back their Indian cooks satisfied their appetite at coffee houses. As early as 1733, curry was served in the Norris Street Coffee House in Haymarket. By 1784, curry and rice had become specialties in some popular restaurants in the area around London’s Piccadilly.

The first British cookery book containing an Indian recipe was ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy’ by Hannah Glasse. The first edition, published in 1747, had three recipes of Indian pilau. Later editions included recipes for fowl or rabbit curry and Indian pickles.”

If you are a fan of curry, you may enjoy reading the balance of this site.

We had a glitch on this site this morning, and I lost everything I wrote. But my web guy, Mitali, in India, stepped in and resolved the issue. As a result, I am a little behind in getting today’s post uploaded since I had to do it all over again. I couldn’t remember everything I wrote, but I did my best.

Have a great day, and be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 12, 2013:

Tom was getting his haircut in Tuscany on this date ten years ago. For more photos, please click here.

Change in weekend plans…Getting things done…

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A waterbuck on the riverbank with her calf.

Today’s photos are from five years ago today from this post…

Our plans for this upcoming weekend have changed. Originally, we’d planned to have Karen pick us up on Friday for a weekend at their new home two hours from here and then drive us back to The Villages on Monday. The more we thought about this, the more it bothered us that with Karen still working, this was ridiculous to have her drive all this way and back.

We considered renting a car to drive ourselves to their home, but at the cost of about $100 per day, plus transportation costs to the Orlando Airport to get and return the car (one hour each way), plus dining out while we’re there, the cost was prohibitive for us right now. We are on a tight budget with all of the travel we have coming up and hadn’t planned on these additional expenses.

We have to maintain our budgetary goals as much as possible. We’ve allowed dining out twice a week and a generous amount for groceries and miscellaneous items, but we try very hard not to deviate from our plan.

We’ve rarely observed this many waterbucks lying down.

As it turns out, Karen and Rich had planned to visit her mother, Donna, who lives about 20 minutes from here, so instead of us going there, they will visit Donna and then come here Friday afternoon and stay for dinner. This works for us. I will make a gluten-free, low-carb chicken, mushroom, cauliflower, and sausage dish with a salad for an easy dinner.

Thus, we may go out on Thursday night and then again on Saturday as we wind down our time in The Villages. However, if it doesn’t storm on Wednesday, we’ll go out on Wednesday night to play bingo at 3:00 pm at City Fire. We’ve been trying to do this for weeks, but there have been wild storms every Wednesday for the past several weeks.

This morning, I sent everything off to the accountant for our taxes. We’d had him prepare an extension for us when we were getting ready to leave South Africa, which gave us until October 15 this year to get it done. Getting everything ready has been hanging over my head. Finally, after a few finishing touches, after working on it yesterday, this morning I emailed our accountant the tax prep spreadsheet and requested the tax documents be sent to him from our mailing service in Nevada.

What a relief to have this off my mind! I was anticipating doing it while we were in Nevada or Minnesota in September, and that would have created stress during this time when we want to spend time with family and friends.

From this site: “The waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus Kobus of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. The thirteen subspecies are grouped under two varieties: the common or Ellisprymnus waterbuck and the Defassa waterbuck. The head-and-body length is typically between 177–235 cm (70–93 in), and the average height is between 120 and 136 cm (47 and 54 in). A sexually dimorphic antelope, males are taller as well as heavier than females. Males reach approximately 127 cm (50 in) at the shoulder, while females reach 119 cm (47 in). Males typically weigh 198–262 kg (437–578 lb), and females 161–214 kg (355–472 lb). The coat color varies from brown to grey. The long, spiral horns, present only on males, curve backward, then forward and are 55–99 cm (22–39 in) long.”

Now, I’m thinking in terms of what toiletries we’ll need to get us through the few months until we get to Minnesota on September 9, when we will have a car and can easily go to the store whenever we need something for the upcoming extended period we’ll spend in Ecuador.

When I go for my pedicure appointment on July 26, we’ll head to Walmart to fill up the fuel tank on the golf cart and go into the store to get the remaining items we’ll need, enough to last until September 9 when we arrive in Minnesota.

Today will be another quiet day for us. We’re making a great dinner and don’t have any household tasks we haven’t yet accomplished. The laundry is done, the floors are clean, and this morning, I cleaned the bathrooms. Before Karen and Rich arrive on Friday, we’ll do a thorough cleaning, but at the moment, everything is clean.

Yesterday, we put some slivered almonds on the lawn outside the lanai. There’s been a mating pair of cardinals hanging around the garden the past week, and this morning, we saw the female pecking on the nuts. That was our wildlife fix of the week. Hopefully, soon, we’ll see the more colorful male doing the same.

Elephants on the Crocodile River.

The sky looks ominous right now. It’s uncanny how hard it will rain, and then moments later, the clouds have moved on, and the sky is clear, very typical weather for Florida this time of year.

That’s it for today, folks. We hope you have a great week, and we’ll be back with you soon.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, July 10, 2013:

Never much of a gardener, I think these flowers in Tuscany were hydrangeas. For more photos, please click here.