Well, campers, as you are probably aware, we had a little bit of technical difficulties publishing last week's post.
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| Sunset in Tasman Sea off Shore New Zealand |
In any case, we are back in the Good Ole U.S of A and the internet is functioning normally. I think. I mean I haven't hit the publish button on this post yet, so who knows.
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| If you don't recognize this, well??? |
ANY how, the cruise was a lot of fun and having the Kids and Grandkids all together was fabulous!
Sydney is a great port and, Oh, My Lord! New Zealand is unbelievably beautiful even when viewed by a cruise ship drive by.
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| And had a bit of US History attached to it, Rest in peace, Marines! Job well done! |
Yeah, we were supposed to have 5 days at sea, two days each way to and from Australia and 1 day around the southern tip of the North Island. Unfortunately, Poseidon decided that he would add to the excitement by adding a bit of roller coaster activity. I'm not a Sea Captain, nor have I played one on TV, but when the actual Captain said putting into port because of the swells might not be a wise move, I was willing to trust his judgement. So we had a total of 7 days at Sea and only 3 ports of call. Fortunately, the stock of Single Malt Scotch was sufficient to need!
Interestingly, as heavy as the seas were, the ship rode pretty well and none of my crew seemed to be adversely affected medically. Which is a good thing.
However....(You knew this was coming dincha?)
On arrival back at Rancho Juvat, Mrs J and I both developed a rather severe problem which required extended time in the bathroom. Not going into gory details, but it was a bit of an unpleasant way to lose those excess calories that we had consumed.
We're both still a bit queasy at meals.
Ok, juvat, enough gory details. You've been back for a week. What have you accomplished productively?
Well, Sarge, Mrs J, like most wives, is quick to notice when I am not being overly productive, so she has outlined two projects for us (AKA me) to work on. As I think I've mentioned, we are looking at selling the property and moving to College Station. A lot of different reasons, among which are age, health and Grand Kids.
So, we've been prepping the property. Our two guest houses are in great shape, so no biggie there. Our current house needs a bit of tidying up. 4 dogs chewing on things like windowsills which now require a bit of rehab, a couple of door latches need work and then, of course, a bit (OK quite a bit) of cleaning out the Texas Sand from the nooks and crannies is required.
No big deal there.
The major deal is our old house where we lived for the first 20 years out here. It's not in bad shape, but does need some touching up as well as off loading quite a few "things" that we acquired in that time but are no longer needed. Our plan is to market that as a 4 bedroom B and B for larger groups of guests. Seems that "Hen Party's" are a big deal on weekends around here. 8-10 paying guests/night should be an attractive factor in selling the property.
So, my major project now is the refurbishing of the front deck. Made a bit of progress last week, but Texas Spring Winds (AKA Gales) shut me down for a bit. Mrs J, want's the deck to be pet friendly/escape proof, so cattle panels and 1 x 6's are coming into play. Once the wind stops.
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| Trial run of one panel, just to discover any unplanned hiccups! |
But since it hasn't, I've also been assigned the refurbishing of some dining room chairs. Nice leather seated chairs, but a bit wobbly, so a lot of glue inserted into joints and a lot of clamping while glue drying is taking place. I've got one ready to be refinished, only 5 more to go.
So, as I mentioned, I'm pretty busy and certainly not bored while kinda enjoying the challenges
Hope y'all are doing well and staying out of trouble (Beans!).
Peace out y'all!
juvat
P.S. Glad you had a well deserved break, Sarge. Excellent pics and descriptions of Gettysburg!
I had no problems reading this, so it's not the internet that's out to get you this week!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that last week it might have been "the airplane in the middle of the Pacific ocean meeting the internet" type of problem rather than a "the internet was out to get you problem". :-)
I'm glad things worked out!
Rob,
DeleteI’m pretty sure it was as it came back on pretty much as soon as we got feet dry. However, that was pretty much after ~20 hours flying/travel time. Brain wasn’t very responsive at that point.
juvat
Extra time at sea......extra time in the "reading room"........NOT the kind of trade off wanted when undertaking the cruise. Cattle panels look good juvat, should do the trick save for those pups that have learned to climb (there are videos of such).
ReplyDeleteNylon, Fortunately/ unfortunately, that problem occurred on arrival at home.
DeleteAs to the dogs, the yard is also fenced in, so we’ve done the best we can. Up to the owners at that point.
juvat
Glad you had a good time Juvat! Love the family picture.
ReplyDeleteThe Ravishing Mrs. TB has New Zealand high on her "Places She Would Like To Go" list. Having come off a series of long flights for Cambodia and Vietnam, I am a bit flight time shy at the moment. But probably, yes, it will happen (it always seems to).
Good luck on the continued renovations/sale. I am following this with interest as it may have some applicability to our own lives.
THBB,
DeleteNew Zealand is absolutely gorgeous! A must visit. I would however advise a day or two layover in Hawaii. Get halfway acclimatized timewise.
As to the sale, we shall see what we shall see!
juvat
We are glad that you’re back safely! The family picture was a lot of fun for us to look at trying to guess who is who and so forth. It looks like you have more than a few weeks of work, when are you planning the great migration to college station? And have you bought any boots yet?
ReplyDeleteD4,
DeleteMoving depends on sale, but the realtor is saying that the market is picking up, so…
As to boots…not an Aggie Corps of Cadets alum, so not authorized Corps boots. However, I do have several pair of boots for daily and dress up purposes. I’ll fit in. (Enough of my money went there to allow me access)
juvat
Nice pics!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it's back to work time.
Yeah, it is!, but it is pretty fun! So....
Deletejuvat
I know about the wind. Had a few years on a carrier flight deck. I'm in Western Pennsylvania and today you could fly a sheet metal kite.
ReplyDeleteJim,
DeleteYeah, we had 40 and 50 K gust's last week. Not quite carrier flight deck, but pretty close.
juvat
That is a wonderful picture of all of you!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are all back safe and sound on terra firma...and sorry that it sounds like you might have acquired the GI/Norwalk virus that is making it's way around the country. Dad and my kid sister caught that one, and didn't go any place as nice as New Zealand!! Both are now doing better.
Enjoy your adventures in furniture refinishing. I have a set of Gramma's dining set chairs upstairs currently in my "lumber" room, AKA as attic. But it has been too cold and windy here to be hanging out in the garage doing any refinishing work. I did think of you all when I saw the storms rolling across TX, OK and AR over the last couple of weeks. Glad to know you were just blown around a bit, but no damage.
Hopefully March will get this roaring like a lion bit out of it's system and quit raining and blowing as I am itching to get my hands into some dirt and get a garden going. We shall see.
Suz
Suz,
ReplyDeleteThanks, probably be our Christmas Card this year. It was a fun trip, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. New Zealand is awesomely beautiful! The ship circling the islands showed a lot of gorgeous scenery, but my recommendation would be 3 days before boarding and 3 after. Just unbelievable!.
juvat