A grey rainy day!

 I had forgotten to mention that, not only were we gardening on Sunday but we also cleaned the hot tub! Part of my job was to clean the lid of mould and spiders! I did need help to get it back on the hot tub!

I think I've shrunk!

Yesterday, Monday, dawned grey, cold and rainy so we headed off to Upton House  (National Trust) near Banbury Oxfordshire. The house was built in 1695. It's last owner was Viscount Bearsted who inherited a large fortune from his father, the founder of the Shell oil company.

The Viscount was a major collector of art, mainly English and Continental old masters. The house is more like an art gallery than house. The unusual part about this house is that you can view the old masters at close quarters and not behind a barricade!

We then wandered around the gardens - the autumn colours were gorgeous,

These Cedar trees are 350 years old!

Not sure that my aching muscles from my gardening stint were helped by all the walking!

Doesn't matter how much exercise I'm doing it isn't helping my jet lag!

 

Off to England.

*Joy of Sydney to Singapore!

Luck was on my side - no one in the seat beside me! Definitely not a full flight!

Don't you hate watching a few movies, thinking hours have passed, only to look on the flight map to see that you hadn't even left Australia!

An announcement told us all that a couple, who met on this flight 5 years earlier had got engaged during lunch - round of applause from us all.

Just as you start to nod off imminent landing is announce!

All the talk about how wonderful Changi airport is doesn't come to fruition as Qantas are 'parked' in the 'rough end of town'!

*Joys of Singapore to London!

Not one, not two but three empty seats beside me! I managed to sleep across three seats after wrestling the seatbelt around myself  - didn't want to be a projectile if we hit turbulence!!

Somehow time passed and then the landing announcement was made. I put on the 'tail camera' to watch our decent. The wheels were down, we were lined up with the runway lights, just getting ready for touch down when straight  back into the air we went!! I think all our stomachs churned! The pilot gave his apology for the scare but said  the plane, which landed before us hadn't got off the runway quickly enough! It was pretty impressive at the way the A380 got back in the air - good pilot and air traffic control!

Finally on land I caught the train to Paddington and then onto Worcester. Luckily my taxi - Jake and John - were waiting for me!  I  needed a walk and, as luck would have it, Marks and Sparks was near.  A few items ended up in my basket!

I managed to stay awake until 8:30 pm! 4 hours later I was wide awake again - much like now! I was able to make a cuppa with the travel kettle etc. placed beside my bed. Eventually I fell asleep again!

Following breakfast I was set to work - prepping oranges for marmalade, filling bird feeders , down in the dirt setting onions and garlic - the slave driver did give me something to kneel on! I then went on to helping with clearing out dead plants!

The autumn colours are lovely but the garden was looking rather bedraggled so a clean up was necessary. It was a mild 13C - although I was wearing my puffer jacket. Morning coffee outside in the garden - most sane people would be inside! - was very pleasant. I always enjoy listening to the song birds here as a change from the  raucous Aussie birds.

 Checking the garden produce!

USA update.

 Time goes so quickly! My days are spent in various ways although a lot of it is in the water! The temperatures have been mid 30s and higher! Even the pool water, heated by the sun is 30C, but feels cool when you jump in! I'm usually in the pool 3- 4 times each day! I don't know how many times I've just changed back into dry clothes and they return from horse riding or soccer and there is a pleading,  "Please  nanna Lesley!" - not sure if bringing 3 swimsuits was enough!

I did show Ivy and Benny some of the exercises I had been doing at Aquarobics. One of them was 'cycling' on a noodle. It started well with us having races then Ivy and Benny adapted it to two on a noodle - more difficult. That wasn't enough for them it had to be 3 on a noodle with Ivy at the front, nanna Lesley in the middle and Benny at the back. We'd go we'll for a couple of metres until Benny decided to wrestle nanna Lesley off - needless to say I spend lots of my time underwater! Another one of their tricks is to grab my ankles and drag me under!

I have been to see Ivy at her horse riding lessons. She is so happy around huge horses but a little bug in the pool and she goes crazy! I'm brave around the horses when I'm with her! She is very impressive going over jumps.

 

We did head out to a different stable one Saturday and watched Cross Country USA Olympic trials. It was impressive to see them going over the jumps. 

I have spent a number of evening watching Benny training. He's greatly improved but I don't know how he trains in the heat. Lucky all the soccer training means he's not playing it at home and I'm no longer expected to be in goals. My shins are feeling pretty good this year!!! Benny does make me laugh although he tells me that I am the funniest person in the house! He says I make him laugh and that's good! 

Lauren and Justin are good, although Justin says he's not a farmer! He only has to check on the  chickens now and then! We saw a snake at Lauren's parents house - a red and yellow ringed young one, poisonous - Justin, Benny and I kept well away! Then Justin told me that he'd seen a black snake here but found out that it was a non- poisonous rat catcher! Unfortunately I now do not like turning on the hose as it's coiled and black!!!!

The Euro24 & Copa24 are on the TV at reasonable times so we have been watching that. The last England game was a nail biter. When extra time came on I had no faith so jumped in and straight out of the pool and in that time they scored!

Hope everyone is keeping well!

Now in the USA

 Good flight across to Dallas. Arrival into the USA is always interesting! The first people you meet are Border Control (BC) and my entry went like this:

BC (unsmiling, aggressive voice) Stand on the blue spot and look at the camera!"

BC: "Put the fingers of you right hand on the pad."

BC: (tone has risen) "Don't press so hard!" OMG I'm thinking!

BC : "Why are you here?"

LW: "Visiting family."

BC: "Where are you going."

LW: "Aiken."

BC: "Aiken, South Carolina."

BC: "Where?!"

LW: "South Carolina."  (I don't know who is more exasperated! Probably me on a 15 hour flight with only 4 hours sleep!)

BC: "What have you bought your family?"

LW: "Nothing!" 

BC: " Go!"  No welcome to USA!

Unfortunately I had close to 5 hours to wait before flying to Atlanta! All I really wanted was a cup of tea (never drink tea on a plane!) There were plenty of bars but I couldn't face them. Finally found my cuppa and eventually boarded the flight to Atlanta. I kept looking at my watch and when the pilot said we'd arrive at 11:55 pm my watch read 10:30 - the thought of flying for another hour and a half was not a joy. About 5 minutes later the pilot told the flight attendants to prepare for landing. My very tired mind suddenly realise that heading east we lost an hour! I finally got to my hotel about 1am - so glad to be able to get into bed!

Friday morning another airport! Luckily this flight was only an hour and it was to my final destination - Augusta! Justin met me there and we made the 40 minute drive to Aikin (Where?). It was about 34C, very hot. Rooster the dog was very antsy when I arrived and it took some time for him to 'recognise' me and stop the growling. He is such a big dog - very intimidating!

 

I quickly took over pool duty from their grandfather, who was now a wrinkled prune from being in so long worth Benny! I was happy to dive in and get some exercise after all the flights! Ivy was out at the stables helping out after her horse riding lessons.

They are both taller and have changed somewhat in appearance. It was like I'd seen them last weekend and not a year ago! They often say " Do you remember when we did ..... together" - remembering things from last year. 

There have been some new additions to the family in the form of 8 chickens. Ivy is mad on animals and is happy to have them around her! It appears that these chooks can fly further than expected as one flew up into a tree when Ivy took it out of the the house! She was distraught until Lauren managed to coax it down - disaster averted!

Saturday saw us heading to Benny's 5 aside tournament! Why they play football (Soccer) at this time of the year I have no idea! The sun was blazing and the temperature was 34C plus. It was so hot as to be unbearable or was it because I'd come from a cold Sydney? Justin is the coach. The games were staggered but they still played in the hottest part of the day. The opposing teams were all a year or two above them - there were no other teams competing in the under 8s! The team did a stirling job and even beat the last team. Benny has improved so much since I last saw him play. He was very good as goalie - one of his favourite positions. 

I have at least two or three sessions in the pool a day but with the temps in the 30s it's the only thing to do! 

Have to go as I feel enough swim coming on!

We did get to Manila!

 We arrived in Manila in the early evening. Not too pretty a spot a place I wouldn't fancy venturing into in the evening! 

My excursion started very early the next morning, 7am, as it was a 3-hour drive out into the countryside! There were only 13 of us on the bus, which was in so much better condition that the 'bashed up' windscreen smashed ones of PNG! The air-condition

ing was so cold, which didn't help me as I felt I was coming down with a cold, or was it Covid?!

Villa Escudero was a seriously strange place! There was a museum containing items the family had collected in their travels. The first section housed animals in various forms - stuffed, heads only, or seriously sad  two elephants feet!!

There were collections of religious items, different clothing, 

etc. It was the weirdest thing I'd seen! Not surprisingly, we were not allowed to take  photos!

The next surprise was lunch! This property has its own hydroelectric plant, and there was a cascading waterfall. Imagine our surprise to see tables and benches sitting in the 'river', luckily only a few inches deep. Shoes off, we waded to get our food and sat with cooling toes. It was a little slippery, but no one slipped over! Such a strange experience!

Back at the ship, another dinner under the stars awaited us! Unfortunately, the Captain warned us that it was going to be a very rough 24 hours! He wasn't wrong. I took a couple of seasickness pills as a precaution and didn't get sick, but it was crazy!! It was a wild night!

No shower for me the next morning!! I couldn't handle it. Breakfast was interesting, with passengers running from side to side trying to get to a table, items  falling, but the crew managed to get our tea/coffee to us.

It seemed a little more stable lower down, but during one of the lectures, the swell caused a massive lurch, and you could hear glasses crashing to the ground! Most of us took to our cabins and tried to ride out the'bucking bronco'!! Packing our cases under these conditions was not pleasant!

Luckily, the sea calmed down down by early evening. The Captain was determined to get us to Hong Kong in time for people to get flights, so we powered on and started into the harbour about 6:30am. It was a rather misty start but turned into a nice day. It was sad to leave as I had such a good time.

I have had a couple of days wandering around HK - it must be 10+ years since I was last here! There is so much development going on!

I have caught up with Yvette, Kitty's daughter, which has been really nice. Leave for home tonight! 

Unfortunately I can't seem to add pictures!

Please get us to Manila!

 Another day at sea entailed my 13 laps before breakfast, listening to a couple of lectures  and a generally lazy day. I also keep fit by walking up the stairs all the time!

Sometimes, it's too hot to sit out on the pool deck, and the small pool becomes very crowded. 

Another surprise evening event - dinner under the stars. All the chairs had blue covers and it was aset menu. Delicious food as usual. 

Monday morning, I woke around 6 am. to find that we had docked in Cebu - not the exotic stop we had expected! We were moored next to a ship unloading sand! There were numerous port officials on-board,  customs, etc. We were all very hopeful. of seeing some buses to take us into the centre of Cebu, but they never eventuated!

Even though the Filipino authorities had given permission for us to dock and leave the ship, the port was privately owned, and the owner wanted a rather large amount of cash.Our Captain was seriously  fed up - you could tell by his tone as he relayed messages to us! 

The ship beside us was unloading fine sand - consequently the starboard side of our ship was covered in it!

We were probably in port for nearly 11 hours, and everyone was very happy when we finally pulled away from the port. I was watching from my balcony as the pilot 'jumped' from the ship - he wasn't a slim little man either -  both ships were moving at speed.

Unfortunately, one of my shipboard  friends has got covid, and she and her travelling friend have been confined to their cabin!

Tuesday - we are now 'steaming' towards Manila and expect to be there at 7 pm.  My poor steward now has to stay on until Hong Kong because his flight should have been yesterday. We are sailing between small islands. There are birds (Boobies) swooping to catch the flying fish. The sea is a beautiful blue.

We are now hanging around, just outside Manila Port. We have to wait for the pilot to bring out a ship that is in our berth, and he has to 'hop' from that ship to ours. The Filipino staff are so excited about seeing their families. There're about 400 Filipino crew, so I'm not sure how their few hours (?) of leave will work!

We have been sailing past lovely scenery. The most impressive was a 100m high statue of the Virgin Mary! 

The talks today were about the Ring of Fire - the Philippines gets about 200 quakes a day. There was a 2.5 yesterday - that wouldn't be noticeable! We also heard about the history of Manila. I have a full day excursion tomorrow and have to be ready to leave by 06:45.!

Wednesday -- We finally made it to Manila!

Sailing onward!

 We had two days at sea between PNG and Palau. It was a pretty rocky ride - seeing 'sick bags' on the stairs will give you an idea of what I mean!!!

Getting food at the buffet was interesting 🤣

There have been interesting lectures each day about the area and animals we are visiting.

Yesterday, I had a massage - I  wanted to use the $150 voucher I'd won. It was a very nice hot stone massage. Luckily, even with all the rocking and rolling, I managed to stay on the massage bed. 

Each night at 6 p.m., I catch up with 4 other ladies to have a drink - we like to be on the deck in the fresh air. We all have a good laugh!

At 8:15:each evening, we head to the Cabaret lounge to enjoy the entertainment.Last night, we listened to an amazing violinist from the Philippines!

Before the show I went to the Ladies and as I was coming out the ship lurched and I shot out of the door and across the gangway - visualise a body being shot out of a cannon - that was me!Two women walking along got a real shock and said it was a good thing there was a wall to stop me - if it had been an open door to the deck I  would have probably disappeared over the side!

We are now anchored off Palau - we have to tender off the ship. I have had to cancel the Jellyfish  Lake trip as with climate change, there are very few of them - I am going on a different snorkelling trip!

There has been an outbreak of covid amongst some of the crew. We have to wear masks to leave the ship - Palau's rule!

It is so beautiful here. Good thing I changed the trip as people only saw 2 Jellyfish! Instead, I saw loads of fish and swam with white nose sharks!!! Amazing!!! Thank goodness I was with the ships excursion because we were late back -

 they had to pull alongside the ship to enable us to embark!

During the cruise from Cairns, we have encountered gale force winds, strong currents, and ocean swells, and, according to the powers that be, more fuel than calculated has been used! We are now making an unscheduled stop in Cebu, Philippines! We are now trying to work out the credits they are giving us for this change in plans - good thing I go with the flow!! 

Last night, we had a surprise dinner out on the deck. The food was amazing - I  just can't describe it - consequently I  will be on a lettuce leaf and water diet when I get home!

Using ship wifi - can't upload photos!!