Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 1 October 2017

Hi all. Not been on for a while.  Just seen Lindy's post with pics of P&O Ventura.  One of the cruises I've highlighted is on the Ventura. What was it like Lindybird and what sort of cabin did you have. We would prefer and outside or possible  one with a balcony if we decide on the cruise - this is for next year for our GW.

OG - you have been busy, making own birthday cards and Christmas cards. Glad you managed to harvest the last few veg from your patch.

Dibnlib - its always reassuring to know that your mum is being well looked after as indeed it was with my mum when we had to put her in a home.

AQ - see you had another few days away exploring. Thanks for your report and pics.

Not a lot happening down here although autumn weather is showing its mettle.

Have never heard of Tom Petty so not familiar with his music.

Wendyb - I know what you mean.Self catering and in the wiles of nowhere.  We thought it would be something totally different to do, going on a cruise.  We've never been on one so don't really know what to expect. Having seen Lindy's post that she was on Ventura that is one of the ships that we are thinking of going on.  Who knows. We've not booked anything yet, just in the planning stages.

Nice to see you back, Lindy, and your daily pics.

Oh dear, Lindybird, A.cousin sounds a right one. At least she is on her way home and you can all sigh with relief. Love your blog about the cruise, more to come I hope.

ForestBoar - glad things are tied up now with your brother's estate but a new problem has arisen.  Do hope that lumps are benign and no further treatment is nescessary. Even if it is, results can be very encouraging.

Will try to look in a bit more frequently but always thinking of you all.

LINDY  Didn't realise nightmare cousin visited yearly. Oh well at least she has gone for another 12 months.

My neck/shoulder pain is muscular rather than skeletal so my GP has given me exercises to do. She thinks it may have been bought on by tension prior to visiting Mum and sitting in an awkward position in the car for 5-6 hours. Let's hope she is right. 

That sounds like a real possibility, Dibnlib. Hope that it's just a muscular thing and you can get relief by exercise and by being aware of tension. I get aching shoulders from tensing them when I'm upset or tense, which is a physical thing as well as a mental one.

Awful Cousin has been visiting for several years. She never came when she had a husband (who divorced her and then had the nerve to die, leaving her no one to fuss over - she still speaks of him as if they were Two Young True Lovers, and he only died last week, even though he's been gone for ten years). She had no contact at all with her family here in the UK until she became lonely, and decided that all of them were Important Members of her clan. She talks of important family ties, yet knows none of our children's names nor where they live, even if you tell her every year, because she never listens.....

Lynette -  We had what' s called an Outside Cabin with picture window. If you have one, make sure it says "unobstructed view" as from some windows, there is mostly a view of part of a lifeboat. Next door to us was a Balcony Cabin, which we had a peek at when it was vacated at the end of the voyage. These have a couple more feet of room inside, plus a Balcony which has room for a table and two chairs. So it's more roomy, but with much the same bathroom (small) and wardrobe arrangement - on this ship they seem to all have a sort of walk in wardrobe with a nice big rail and a big mirror to observe yourself full length. It's much more expensive to have a Balcony, and we bore in mind that friends of ours have had a Balcony twice and then found that the weather was not good enough to sit out on it! -  and of course, according to the angle of the sun, you might not be on the right side of the ship to sunbathe! We were comfortable enough in our cabin, and happy with it, but of course it's a personal thing. I couldn't have an Inside Cabin without a window as I'd get claustrophobic.

A spectacular moon this evening. Thanks for the info Diane. Unusually, the sky here is cloudless, so a good view.

I am enjoying you holiday descriptions and pics, Lindy.

Thanks to everyone else for news. I hope those with health problems have a good outcome.

I hope I am right, and it's not too late to wish dibnlib a happy birthday!

Is it today?  I hadn't realised!   Happy Birthday, Dibnlib!  Hope you've enjoyed your day.

Thanks Rosy, glad you're enjoying reliving my journey with me. The moon is hiding tonight behind the clouds, it was very bright last night.

My OH has gone out, and I've just spent ages on the phone with sis in law, talking about the A. Cousins visit.

Before I go to bed, here are a couple more of my pics:  there are still lots to come! The day after we saw the whale, I was getting ready for the evening when my OH said come and look at this sunset, its a good one......

This was what we saw from our cabin window:

Magical.....

Lindybird - thanks for the latest instalment, love the pictures of the ship.  Yes, I would want an outside cabin as would be the same and feel claustrophobic in an inside one. Interesting thought about balcony one , must take that into consideration. How fantastic that you saw a whale breaching. Fab pics of the sunset.

Dibnlib - glad to hear that it is muscular and not related to your other condition. Hopefully with the exercises given it will ease somewhat.