Yarnjeannie's Crochet Cache

Well, it was back to work this week. A lot of e-mails to catch up on. I think that our trip was truly the best vacation we've had. I would book that trip again in a heartbeat! Time to start saving my pennies again! I did pick up a hook and some yarn and I'm making another half-granny shawl in autumn colors. I'll post photos as I go along. Little Justin stopped by in his "mall" Halloween costume last night. He was a tiger, and cute as a button. Here is a video of Justin dancing to the music of a toy I brought home for him:

Day 10 was a lovely port in Aruba - Orangestad. What a colorful and peaceful looking harbor. There are lots of shops visible from the ship. Wayne went scuba diving on this island, but wasn't at all happy with his excursion. He went with a shop called Mermaid Diving. They did everything that he was taught not to do! They were very careless with their divers' safety (one of the divemasters would not do a safety stop on the way to the surface). Wayne did a safety stop in spite of the divemaster. The excursion leaders also touched and broke off pieces of coral! You never touch living coral in the sea - a touch can kill it! One of the divemasters also reached into a hole in the coral and pulled an octopus from its lair. You should never bother the animals you find either, especially not for the entertainment of your tour group! Wayne was so angry when he returned. Day 11 was another quiet day at sea - sobering to think it was our last full day on the cruise. We sunned, ...

Day 8 is a quiet day at sea. Time to rest and relax after visiting 6 islands. I’ll take a few minutes to tell you about our dinner companions. We were fortunate with our seating assignment this time. We have 2 ladies traveling independently – Susan from Alabama and Mel from Alberta, Canada. Mel has been having fun participating in a lot of the ship activities, especially scrapbooking. Susan takes the adventurous excursions, like zip-lining. Chris and Peter are a married couple from the UK, together for 46 years. They are a delightful pair and have been trading grandchildren stories with Wayne and me. The food on the cruise has been great. I think Wayne has had escargots for appetizers every night. The few times we’ve eaten at the buffet for lunch or breakfast has been fine as well. Day 9 Curacao is just beautiful! Bright colored houses everywhere. Wayne had a diving excursion planned here with the Dive Bus. I went along for the ride, and intended to hang out on the publi...

Day 5 St. Lucia is a lovely island. We did the beach excursion here. I was a little disappointed. I thought we should have gotten more beach time here. I did a little snorkeling here and saw a few fish and some spiny urchins. The water was calm and clear. Lots of residents wandering the beach trying to sell jewelry and fresh fruit to the tourists. Wayne had to ask one man to move on when he sat down on my beach chair! All told, I think we were less than 2 hours on the beach. There were a few complaints from some of the group of passengers on this trip. The water was very refreshing and I’m glad we got to see the beach. Day 6 Our day at Barbados was good and bad. They have a real set up here. The cruise ship passengers don’t get to the tour buses until they pass entirely through the terminal with all their shops. On the way back after your tour – same thing. They have doors blocked off so that you have to walk all the way through the shopping area, past every single stor...

Day 2 - St. Croix DH has gone scuba diving this morning, leaving me to get into trouble on my own! I attended the Cruise Critic meet and greet at 10:00 am and I was impressed that the ship’s officers went out of their way to attend. There was coffee, tea, orange juice and pastries set out for the meeting and the officers took the time to speak to us about their duties. One of the gentlemen was in charge of food services, and I was impressed. Over half of the ship’s crew was under his direction. There are about 500 employees working in the food sector. Each of the officers then spent time talking to all of us individually or in groups, answering any questions we might have had. After the get-together I headed for the Aqua Spa for a facial and massage. Heaven! When Wayne returned from his excursion, we took a walk around the small vendor tents along the end of the pier and found a T-shirt for Justin. Not much else going on there, so we returned to the ship. I wish I was braver and felt c...

Hi from the ocean blue! The first and second day of vacation are over – but there’s still plenty to look forward to! We decided to fly to San Juan a day early, so that there would be a mad rush to the cruise ship pier on Monday afternoon. At the airport we were able to upgrade to first class seats for DH and I – what luxury! I was always one of those folks who said “First class – what’s the point? Economy class gets there at the same time.” Well, let me tell you that there is quite a difference. You aren’t squashed next to your neighbors like sardines, no one climbing over you every time they need to use the restroom, no one jostling you on their travels up and down the aisle. The seats reclined until you could lie flat and sleep as though you were home in your own bed! Well, you probably have a much better mattress, but you get the idea. Flight attendants really do bring you hot towels in first class – I thought that was a movie thing! Snacks and meals you don’t see in econo...

On Sunday morning, we head for the airport. I've been looking forward to this cruise. I don't know if I'll want to come home. 11 nights - 8 ports. We will be visiting Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, St. Croix, St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Tomorrow will be a "last minute, running around, repacking" kind of day. I have finished a shawl in autumn colors. I am making shawls - one for a SIL fighting Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and I will make one for my son's fiancee's aunt, valiantly fighting breast cancer. The shawl I finished is a half-granny shawl. I've only ever made these in solid colors, but I alternated rows of light tan, light sage green, carrot and a lighter shade of green (I don't remember what it's called). I do like the way it turned out - what do you think?

We're already packing for our trip! Are we anxious and excited? YES! Gathering items as we think of them and adding them to a single bag. Watch us forget and leave the whole bag at home! LOL! I still need to pick up some yarn. I intend to work on a shawl for my sister-in-law. I thought the half-granny shawl is a nice warm one. I made one for myself and one for a friend already.