Where's the cookies?

Yesterday we crossed the equator and that was cause for celebration.  King Neptune showed up, along with his wife and some of his cronies, and punished a handful of the passengers for crimes of gluttony, sloth, and others that can only be imagined.  This involved dumping speghetti and various other food items on their heads and throwing them into the pool.  One was even required to kiss a dead fish. I guess it falls under the category of "nautical lore."  Pity the poor pool guys who had to clean up the mess.

Today is Halloween and the ship is all decked out with spooky decor.  There must have been a special at the party store on that white cobweb stuff because it's everywhere--complete with spiders.  In the atrium there is a table display of whimsical carved jack-o-lanterns.  Tonight, during the cocktail and dinner hours, there's sure to be a fun and photogenic costume parade.  I'll be wearing an orange shirt, a black net shawl, and a big glittery spider.  Mr. Gadget will wear his standard costume--a headband with devil horns.

Now we're on the 4th of 4 more sea days and we'll arrive in Apia, Western Samoa tomorrow morning.  The next day we'll be in Pago Pago, American Samoa.  We have short excursions planned for each--just a bus ride around the areas for a look-see.

Big City Girl was the one who mentioned that Samoa reminded her of the Girl Scout cookies of the same name.  Since she once sold them, I'm assuming she is remembering correctly.  In any event, Mr. Gadget and I are looking forward to our visit to "The Cookies."

Samoa...it's not just a cookie

I just typed a long post and lost it.  I hate when that happens!

So we're now underway to the Samoas...Western (Apia) and American (Pago Pago).  This is the first of 4 sea days.  Our time in Hawaii was wonderful, but very warm....about 90 degrees.  I didn't do any shopping, but opted for lots of sweating instead.  Yesterday I made a stop at my favorite shop in Maui--Maui Hands in Lahaina--just to browse.  There's always a big display of whimsical clay pieces by a local artist I admire.  I will send a picture and more details when I return home.  My favorite this time was a large ostrich in high heels. I'm always inspired by his work.

Today the knitting group meet-ups resumed.  These are held on sea days.  This time I didn't do much knitting, but did some teaching instead.  The lady on my right was in need of help learning to crochet, and the one on my left asked me to show her how to add a second yarn to her project--a doll sweater.  This is one of many good things about knitting groups.  There is always someone who knows more than you do and can share.  One of the ladies mentioned that she'd seen a needle-felting kit in Maui and thought about buying it, but then thought better of it because she figured she'd get addicted.  Don't I know.

The weather has been wonderful....except for all that sweating....and the seas have been calm.  There's still lots of good entertainment onboard.  People-watching is the best.  No good stories to pass along, at least nothing to top the false-teeth one, but there's still lots of cruise left.  Halloween will be here in a few days and that should bring out the best. Many passengers have already decorated their doors.

We've been told that the internet connection isn't always the best in the south Pacific, but I'll hope for the best.  I will try to post a picture next time.  Mr. Gadget assures me he has the necessary gadgets to do it.  I'd ask him to do it now, but he's at the gym....making me look bad.  I'll show him.  I'm going to wrap this up right now and head up to the buffet for a fruit tart.

Hi ho Hilo

It's day #4 of our cruise and we'll be arriving in Hilo tomorrow morning.  Until today the sky has been mostly overcast, but now the sun is out and it's 86 degrees.  Lots of people are out on the decks in their bathing suits--which we always find to be some of the best entertainment.  Speedos and bikinis aren't for everyone.

One of my regular activites has been the knitting group.  Each sea day about 20 women get together to do a variety of handwork.  My needle-felting has been a big hit.  I'm the only one doing it and the others seem to think it's some sort of magic trick.  Our group has knitters, crocheters, embroiderers, quilters, and a woman who's teaching herself to tat.  Some have been so inspired by others' projects that there's been discussion of how to find the Walmart in Hilo to buy yarn.  Someone suggested they might take the free shuttle to Hilo Hattie's and walk over to Walmart which is just across the street. I just hope they don't tell Hattie.

There are many countries represented on this cruise and quite a few languages being spoken.  It's always interesting to observe different cultures. Last night during dinner, Mr. Gadget got up to use the men's room and when he returned he looked a little green.  He said that as he was washing his hands a man at the next sink was washing his dentures.

We've been to Hilo on past cruises and have done most of the excursions offered by the ship.  This time we have something different planned.  A friend and former workmate of Mr. Gadget, who has recently moved from California to Hawaii, will meet us at the pier and take us on a short sightseeing tour that he has planned with a lunch stop. I wonder if he'd mind a quick stop at Walmart?

Setting sail soon

Our cruising foursome is now at the Calcondo and doing a little last minute packing before leaving for the ship in a few hours.  I'm trying to decide on the best way to do my blog posts....so this is a little experiment.  Since internet minutes on the ship are not free, it makes good sense to write offline and then copy and paste.  I've been told that MS Word (my original plan) doesn't work well on Blogger so I'm using Notepad.  Though it's probably not the best solution (no option to change font size, etc.) it's better than emailing my posts to a big black hole.

The four of us have many suitcases.  One lady actually laughed when she saw us at the airport baggage claim.  But we found a nice van taxi driver who agreed to take us to the Calcondo, and he didn't seem put off when we asked if he could come back for us today and take us to the ship.  It remains to be seen if he'll actually show up.

So I'm going to wrap this up now....since Mr. Gadget seems intent on packing the computer NOW.  When he gets on a roll it's in my best interest to find a place to hide.....or shop.

Grazing at the all-you-can-eat buffet

I had planned to start my cruise packing yesterday, but was interrupted by a call from the craft-show lady at the old hotel.  "Your stuff is flying out the door," she said.  "Could you bring us more?"

So, not being one to brush off a nice compliment like that, I told her I'd look through my craft closet and see what I could scrape up, I mean resusitate.

Mr. Gadget and I took a ride up there this morning and arrived just after the show opened. It's a 3-day affair.

The first thing we noticed were a couple of interesting sculptures on the hotel's front lawn.

People are so very creative--especially those able to rescue stuff from the back corner of their garage and make art out of it.

Inside were some interesting wine bottles that were decorated and filled with lights.

As I made my way around the rooms, looking to see which of my creations had taken flight, I was pleased...not to mention surprised....to notice the yes-no-yes-no-maybe witch had disappeared.  

Also, this cat and witch were gone.

 

On several occasions I've given serious thought to giving up this whole crafty business--especially around this time of year when I'm completely satiated with it all.

But a funny thing happens when my ego is well-fed.  I find myself going back for a second helping.

Traveling pants

I closed up the Witchworks for the season and, without even taking one day off, I opened up The Pants Factory.

These aren't plain ol' pants I'm talking about. These are festive pants.  These are traveling pants.  More specifically, these are cruise pants.

Yep, Mr. Gadget and I are about to set off on another voyage.  Why stay home and worry about our money, we wondered, when we can spend it to float away from this whole ridiculous government mess and just let the chips fall where they may. So we're going to Tahiti.  We're taking our friends with us, because they are just as fed up as we are.  We'll fly out next week to the Calcondo for a couple of nights, then board the ship for 28 days of floating.

Mr. Gadget, who is a proud supporter of this blog, has suggested that while onboard I try signing on to the blog website and posting as I normally do rather than trying to email my posts--which, for whatever reason, never works.  And he's graciously offered to foot the bill for any extra internet minutes I might need.  Oh, I know it sounds generous, but really...it will never measure up to his wine bill.

So back to the pants.  I had a great pattern for capri pants, but I must have filed it away in a secret drawer somewhere.  I knew this called for some creative problem-solving because I had no interest in buying a new pattern that probably wouldn't fit me anyway.  So I made a cup of coffee and did a little knitting.  Before long I had the answer.  I would take apart a pair of capris I had sewn a few years ago that I've never worn because the fabric print was a little too weird.  I like looking festive, but I refuse to be a spectacle.

This was a good solution.  I'm amassing a collection of capris that will serve me well for the cruise.  Their best feature is the elastic waistband.  These will allow for maximum enjoyment of the buffet.  In fact, I believe I sufficiently overlapped the elastic so that, if need be, I can do a little emergency surgery on them....like if the cruise line ever decides to reinstate the midnight chocolate extravaganza.

Sneezy

So on Wednesday...even though I had a cough, the sniffles, and watering bloodshot eyes....

.......my doctor pronounced me fit as a fiddle.  She was nice enough to raise the back of the examining table so I could recline slightly rather than having to sit with my legs dangling over while she asked me her usual 201 questions.

I told her about my nasty encounter with the calcium pills and she suggested I get the chewables.  That would be the perfect solution if only I didn't already have a gigantic Costco supply.  So the ever-helpful Mr. Gadget went to his closet-o-gadgets and brought out his razor cutters.  Who knew there were such things?  He cut the pills in half....but refused to go so far as to sand the rough edges. I'm sure I'll manage.

At some point the doc suggested that I might consider getting myself a sinus irrigation thingie.  She uses one herself she told me, and it's effective in preventing sinus infections. It's called a neti pot. Truth be told, I already had one stashed away in the back of a cupboard.  

A friend told me about them years ago and said she was getting fewer colds since using one.  Even though I had good intentions, I found the whole idea rather repugnant.  One must lean over the sink and pour water into a nostril and let it drain out the other.  Then the process is reversed.  

So I got up my nerve and tried it yesterday.....and it wasn't too bad.  In fact, it wasn't bad at all.  My nose felt amazingly refreshed....like it wanted to go out on the town.

And then the doc gave me the best news ever.  She said I was too sick to get my flu shot and that I'd have to wait till I was feeling better.

Yes no yes no maybe

I finished the witch with driftwood arms...except for a bit of a fringe trim....and I'm still undecided about putting her in the craft show.  I have no idea whether she would appeal to anyone.  It's times like this where I hang a tag on, try to come up with a price that's not totally laughable, and label it folk art...you know, that category that falls somewhere between first-class workmanship and garbage.

So yesterday, late morning, I started coming down with cold symptoms.  I can't believe how fast it snuck up on me.  Isn't there usually a little warning?  This was like an ambush. It happened right after I took my daily calcium pill.  I used to take 2 calcium pills....just like my doc instructed.....until several years later when she told me I needed to back off because too much isn't good for my heart.  Which makes me wonder what else I'm taking in excess that might not be good for some other body part. 

But those calcium pills have to be swallowed just so or they stick in the pipe going down and cause all sorts of discomfort and there's nothing you can do except just wait it out.  And while I was waiting out yesterday's pill I started coughing and my nose started running and soon I had a cold.

And tomorrow I have my annual physical with this same wishy-washy doctor.  I might suggest that she wear a mask and gloves when she examines me....so she won't get my cold...the cold that I might not have gotten if she hadn't been so worried about my bones.