Author Archives: Holly

About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!

The morning after the night before

which in my case has absolutely nothing to do with alcohol and much to do with not sleeping through followed by a too early BART, bus and going to the SFVA. After getting through all the preliminaries (lab work, provider … Continue reading

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Almost caught up

on sleep and laundry at least but certainly not on everything else.  I ran a few errands, played taxi, put away clean laundry.  I even managed to purchase my missing four floss colors for the clock fractal aka Fractured Time. … Continue reading

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slept through

Managed to accomplish a few things this morning, like enjoying breakfast with the Eldest at Sunny Side Cafe on Solano Ave in Albany (California, not New York) and unpacked suitcases. The still clean laundry went directly in the drawers; the … Continue reading

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Safe in California

It has been a long day. A really long day.  I had forgotten what a PITA the Barcelona Cruise terminal can be. Then I thought about it. When I disembarked last fall off the Rhapsody, the ships personnel had sorted … Continue reading

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Finishing up

Since I have spent more than a few days on cruise ships which translates to having to disembark at the end, I have always appreciated having the final day of the cruise be a sea day. It makes for leisurely … Continue reading

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HoHo in Malta

We arrived in Malta just before sunrise with early morning light gleaming off buildings strongly reminiscent of the rest of the Mediterranean. High city walls, fortresses and towers abound on both sides of the harbor. The NCL Spirit pulled in … Continue reading

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Handover Started

Last night in the Centrum the hand over to Thompson/Tui was started. Lots of people, cake, balloons, music and a few speeches. Since I was standing as part of the group on the stairs I will completely spare you pictures. … Continue reading

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Sailing into Piraeus

No, it is not Athens. But in today’s geography it is about as close as you can get. I got as close as the terminal and decided that I had been here before. In fact several times and had no … Continue reading

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A bit of sweet

We all know that there is nothing to eat on ships, right? And nothing to appeal to those with a sweet tooth. Now I have to admit that I am a sucker for berries and dark chocolate which leaves me … Continue reading

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Oh, dinner!

My habit pattern this cruise has been relatively stable. Up early and out of the cabin, not returning till supper. It has been more than comfortable to hangout in the Viking Crown Lounge. It still has been surprisingly empty so … Continue reading

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and through the Suez Canal

We may have picked up the pilot around 2300 last night but I certainly didn’t stay awake to find out. This morning was another matter. That is, if you define morning as anytime after midnight. We pulled anchor about 0345 … Continue reading

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Toward the Suez

You should have heard the complaints all morning when there wasn’t any internet. I mean, seriously? Is it really a crisis if you can’t read a newspaper on a Sunday or play on line poker? Jill and I just shook … Continue reading

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Sandstorm

About 2000 the Middle East decided to assert its authority. The winds came up and along with it came lower temperatures and sand. Sand on balconies and the outer deck, and, as it turns out, sand in the communications apparatus. … Continue reading

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HOA & Djibouti

Watching the map this morning as we w\sailed through the narrowest part of the straights (which I am sure was planned for daylight) I was reminded of how little I miss the Arab Middle East. Or HOA (Horn of Africa) … Continue reading

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Cruising, deployment, Military | 2 Comments

Sailing the Gulf of Aden

Last night started the overnight blackout period with Decks 4 & 10 off limits. Deck 9 remains open but the lighting is limited. Same with any of the lounges with windows that can’t be completely covered. It is not that … Continue reading

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Down memory lane

last night I finally downloaded the 2007-2015 content from proseknitic.de in preparation for cancelling the site.  Should I bother to tell you how many spam comments I had to kill. I found them, of course after I had done the … Continue reading

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Formal Night

Bitter Chocolate soufflé (which my spellchecker doesn’t recognize)- what can I say? It was wonderful and lasted all of a few minutes. One of those food items which falls into the category of “only the temperature impedes devouring it in 10 seconds … Continue reading

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Legend – her last cruise

      When we arrive in Barcelona, the Legend will be leaving RCCL and going to Thompson/Tui.  We will be setting sail in the evening. I am hoping for the Suez during the day since one can never have … Continue reading

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Joys of food

Since it had been a number of years since I have been on the Legend, ok – two and a half – Fall TA in 2014, it seemed like a good idea to do another galley tour. Plus with the … Continue reading

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Creepy Critters

Imagine my shock when coming back from upstairs. I had headed up to a reception which I found was called on account of wind. Not unexpected, I have no clue why the ship’s crew thought that a reception on a … Continue reading

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