Sewfrench

Color Blocked

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Sewfrench

WOW!

I have been overwhelmed with sweet comments on my entry in the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival. Thank you all so very much.

It is so special to have other quilters recognize your work. Family always does, that’s what they do. But strangers? It is very sweet. I was even pinned, over at Pinterest, by none other than the fabric designer, Robert Kaufman himself! He wrote such a nice comment. I feel filled with love and gratitude.

I am just #69 of 631 favorite quilts. All are very special to their friends and families, I am sure. Nominations started last night and will continue through Friday for 16 different categories. I am having a really hard time remembering which quilt I wanted to nominate for which category. I should have been taking notes from the beginning. I am glad I have through Friday to get them picked!

Voting started this morning, for Viewers Favorite, and will continue for one week. I am not self promoting, okay, maybe just a little, even though doing so is encouraged as is creating alliances. I like a little competition but I don’t do well with being judged…. But I have had several people ask so I’m just putting the information out there. Clicking on the vote button, above the quilt you are choosing, is how you vote. No log in or information needed to vote. One vote per ISP address or cell phone, ir would appear. Do with it what you want.

For me, I’ve still got another couple hundred quilts to look at before I have all my favorites picked!

So what have I worked on this week?

I put together a quickie quilt to try my hand at machine quilting. I’ll give you more details on this when I get it finished. Can you tell I love Robert Kaufmans Kona cotton solids? I have done so little quilting by machine, but just a quick look through the Festival quilts, you can see it is all the rage…

It was fun.

And fast! Holy Cow! I got this 44″ quilt top sandwiched, basted, quilting lines marked and machine quilted in about two hours. Can that even be right?? Now I understand how people are putting out multiple quilts per week! Machine quilting may help me get some of my quilt tops quilted faster, but I think I’ll stick with hand quilting for the majority of them…

For now I need to take a peek at all the WIP Wednesday projects!

Have a Wildly Wonderful Wednesday!

Posted in fabric, festival, Quilting, Sewing, WIP | Tagged color blocked, fabric designer, hand quilting, kona cotton, machine quilting, quilting, sewing | 20 Comments

Happy hour: Rhubarbarita

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Sewfrench

Does anything shout spring louder than rhubarb?

You know, that perennial vegetable, that we think of as a fruit to use in pies, cakes, jellies and jams? It is such an easy crop to grow. Plop it down in a sunny location and let it do its thing. Like a lot of plants you won’t want to cut it the first year but wait and you’ll reap more benefits for years and years to come. Just don’t eat the leaf, it contains oxalic acid, which can be poisonous. You’d need to eat about eleven pounds of rhubarb leaves at one sitting for a lethal dose, but just to be safe, no leaf nibbling.

We planted a rhubarb plant way back when. Maybe 8 years ago? It produces like crazy. You have to climb through the weeds to get to it, at the time, I thought that was a good thing. It would prevent random walkers from stepping up and helping themselves. Come to find out someone has cut it, besides me. I suspect it is the neighbor lady, who we once mentioned than we have more rhubarb than we can eat, help yourself. Guess those two words gets her out of the whole Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s stuff….

Anyway.

It’s early I just realized. We were expecting more rhubarb because the weather has been so nice, but in reality its way too early to be getting the amount of rhubarb as I was hoping for.

But there was enough to make this. Not much but enough to test out a new recipe.

That is about 10 precious ounces of Rhubeena. Basically it’s rhubarb seeped simple syrup.

Rhubeena
my version adapted from hungrytigress
who adapted it from the river cottage preserves handbook

Printer friendly version

1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar, more or less
jelly bag and strainer, or tight-weaved cheesecloth and strainer

Put chopped rhubarb & a cup of water to a non-reactive pan. Heat on medium, partly covered, and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until all the rhubarb has softened – about 45 minutes. Don’t let it go dry. Add more water if needed.

While rhubarb is cooking place jelly bag or cheesecloth in a small pan of water and bring to the boil, let boil for 10 minutes to sterilize.

Once sterilized, squeeze excess water from jelly bag, and place on stand over a large bowl. If using cheese cloth place over a strainer propped over a bowl. Pour in the cooked rhubarb and let drip overnight.

The next morning measure the rhubarb liquid. Into a saucepan add the liquid and 1/2 cup of sugar per cup of liquid. Warm the juice & sugar mixture on low heat until the sugar has melted, turn the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Boil for one minute.

Pour into a jar, cool and refrigerate.

Now you have to decide what to do with it.

Perhaps you’re feeling to need for a fresh and fruity soda?

Rhubarb Italian Soda

Over a glass of ice, pour 1/4 cup rhubeena and top it off with sparkling water and a squeeze of lime. Garnish with a slice of lime. Add more or less syrup depending on the amount of sweetness you prefer. Very refreshing.

Not exactly what I had in mind?

Maybe you’d rather concoct one of these veggie laden cocktails instead??

After a hard day of gardening a Rhubarbarita was calling my name. And I’m not deaf, I heard it loud and clear.

Rhubarbarita

1 shot Rhubeena

1 shot of your favorite Tequila

1 shot of fresh squeezed lime juice

Shake it up, pour it in, top it off with some of the ice and a rhubarb stir stick.

Kick back and relax.

If you got as much done yard work done today, as I did, you deserve one, too!

Cheers!

Posted in Cocktails, Recipes | Tagged cocktail, italian soda, libations, rhubarb, rhubarbarita | Leave a comment

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival Spring 2012

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Sewfrench

It all started with a past year’s Quilt Festival. You look at hundreds and hundreds of quilts, finding so many ‘new to you’ blogs to follow. Some you find an attachment to and add to your Google Reader. It’s so exciting to link up with others who have similar ideas and creative outlets.

This year’s quilt stated with following a new blog.

Farbstoff.

One of her regular columns is one of pattern choices for the modern quilter. When she threw this pattern idea out there, I knew I needed to figure out how to do it.

I knew I could do this, because I had a secret weapon. My helper. My youngest daughter. She was finishing up her senior year of college, majoring art with an emphasis in graphic design and had a much better understanding of how computer drawing works. She took Brigitte’s idea and turned it into a pattern. Since she could make it any size we decided on, I opted for 44″ square. Frugally speaking, one single width of a piece of backing fabric would make the perfect size for a wall hanging. And everyone needs a fresh wall hanging.

And a rough layout of our color palette…

We weren’t sure if all the fabrics were exactly what we had in mind, based off the Kona swatch card, but we would try and try again. We had lots of options and playing to do.

Can’t you just visualize it based on the way the fabrics are layed out??? You have to dive in and start somewhere.
I printed two copies of my pattern and taped them together. Using one copy, that Amanda colored, as pattern pieces, mentally adding my 1/4″ seam allowances. Then used the other, as a whole, to keep track of where each color went.

Where the colors overlap I was aiming to create the appearance of transparency. When some colors didn’t work, as I had originally hoped, I changed colors. If you were to want to attempt to copy mine, do not use the colors labelled in my pictures. Well, you could, it just won’t turn out the same. While I did exclusively use Robert Kauffman Kona cottons, some of the colors I went after weren’t available and others, when I saw in person, up against their neighbors, didn’t look like I thought they should. That was another pattern confusion, all its own.

Finally, I got it put together, which was not easy, but easier than I dreaded. I did not want it to be an appliqued quilt, but inset circles. This is how I did it. My most anxious piecing was putting the chartreuse, a nearly full circle, into the larger red bubble piece. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I had envisioned it to be. Isn’t that usually the case with the unknown?

Then I used my trusty, handmade templates, used on so many other quilts, like this one and this one to mark concentric circles at 1″ intervals to hand quilt, usually while as a passenger in the car, one of my most productive places to quilt.

Yes, I could have machine quilted it and been done that much faster. But what’s the hurry? Life is all about the journey, isn’t it?

Bubbles, wall hanging, 44″ square

The back really shows off the quilting. I duplicated the arc, opposing it, from the front to use as a label.

So check it out, if you haven’t already. My entry is #69.
So much to see, sew and sigh over….

If you like what you see here, leave me a comment. It’s so exciting to hear what people think and have to say. Share the love! I would be thrilled if you would Subscribe in the sidebar, too. Thanks for stopping by ♥

Posted in 2012 completes, Bloggers' Quilt Festival, Quilting | Tagged bubbles, festival, hand quilting, kona cotton, most popular post, quilting, robert kauffman, wall hanging | 144 Comments

Spring cleanup all around

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Sewfrench

We’ve had such a beautiful run of spring days that I’m not getting much quilting/sewing done, because, as usual, yard work is so much fun in the spring. Hard, but fun. Considering there was a freeze last night, today has turned out gorgeous. 58° never felt so warm.

We pondered, last summer, about putting in more space to grown vegetables. Planters are great, but they weren’t deep enough for some things or sturdy enough for others.

Summer 2011

We even considered yanking out some of our 10-year-old landscape. It has gotten overgrown, grass was creeping in, cedar tree debris was deep…. Obviously, or maybe not, this is before this year’s spring cleanup. We don’t live with this mess throughout the summer.

Before you ask, that’s our planter irrigation lines and drops stuck into the deck, to get them out-of-the-way. And yes, we are prepping for painting, having had many of the cedar siding boards replaced on this south-facing side.

We decided to go for it. Nothing could look worse than those creepy/creeping evergreens with dead spots on them. The two Princess Spireas, to the far left, have seen better days, too. What a difference a day makes when you have a strong, willing man with a shovel along with 6 whiskey barrel planters, 24 cubic feet of organic, soil less growing medium and 2 yards of fresh stone, well one yard of stone here, another yard around the rest of the yard.

Did you know it’s nearly impossible to find, online, how much soil one of these barrels will hold? Just so you know ours took about 4 cubic feet each : )

We will still be able to use our deck planters for lettuces and smaller plants that we might want to move around and the irrigation lines should still have enough oomph for it all. Can’t wait!

We’ve now completed cleaning up the debris all around the house and refreshed the stone. Time to bring out the deck furniture and flower planters.

Time to get the trees trimmed and flowers planted out front

and to get our tiny pond cleaned out and some fishies put in.

And, of course, getting our herbs and veggie plants and seeds put in….

For now, I think I’ll just take a peek and see what my fiends are up to!

Posted in Cottage, Gardening, Landscape, WIP | Tagged container gardening, flower planters, landscape, nature, planting, whiskey barrel planters, whisky barrel | 3 Comments

Best GF Brownies I’ve ever made!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Sewfrench

No lie.

Did you know May was Celiac Awareness month? Well, it is.

1 in 133 Americans have the very dangerous form of gluten allergy called Celiac. 1 in 20 have some form of gluten sensitivity. Lots of information available at your fingertips, if you are curious you can Google it. The WSJ published an article just last month. It is obvious companies are listening to their customers. Just look at the explosive quantities of gluten-free foods now available. And not just at health food stores but even your local corner store. Things that you have eaten forever, and which are naturally gluten-free, are now labeled to reflect that.

Do you think the rampant numbers of diagnosed celiac and gluten sensitive individuals has anything to do with the genetic modifications that happened to wheat in the last 50 years? Or that generically modified wheat could be a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other of our modern ills? It is FrankenWheat — a scientifically engineered food product developed in the last 50 years that is behind so many of our ills, I say. I could be wrong but jeez we eat a lot more wheat, now, than we did 100 years ago.

And I know not everyone is eating wheat free, or gluten-free for that matter, but if you have a friend, co-worker, neighbor, party thrower, you name them, that does avoid wheat or gluten give these a go. They will thank you for your thoughtfulness. But so will the same neighbor, friend, co-worker…. that does eat gluten. They are that good! You could also try them with traditional all-purpose flour. Either way, I bet you’ll think these are better than any old boxed brownie.

Okay, so, back to the best gluten-free brownies I have ever made.

Even if these may be the only gluten-free, brownies I’ve ever made, they are right up there with our favorite, some may even call famous, family brownie recipe which has gluten in it.

In my opinion, these have the perfect balance of chocolate and sugar. Fudgey but not heavy, more cake-like but not quite. You just have to trust me and make them.

Just so you know, I didn’t create this recipe. I just followed a recipe. Seems to be the best way to go when looking into *new* GF recipes. Karina is a goddess of all things GF. For real. She’s been eating this way since before most of us had ever even heard the word, much less put together symptoms and wheat. She has been creating recipes since before we had the internet at our disposal. She is the actual creator of many of the recipes we see out there on this internet thing.

Here you go.

And they taste much better than this blah picture. Moist and chocolatey with a perfect crackle on top.

Ingredients:

5 ounces high quality 60-70% cocoa dark chocolate (I used 59% Dagoba chocolate because that’s what my baking aisle has)
1/4 c organic coconut oil, 1/4 c butter (All shortening or coconut oil if eating dairy free)
1 c light brown sugar, not packed
1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 organic free-range eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla or other GF vanilla

Optional:

1/2 cup chopped pecans
Dark chocolate chips for the top

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with foil and lightly oil the bottom.Melt the dark chocolate, the coconut oil and butter in a saucepan over low heat, gently stirring.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the brown sugar, almond meal, brown rice flour, fine sea salt and baking soda. Make a well in the center and add the beaten eggs, vanilla extract and melted dark chocolate mixture. Beat on low-medium for two minutes, until the batter begins to come together. At first it will seem thin, like cake batter, but keep beating until it thickens and becomes smooth and glossy.

If you are adding nuts, stir in the nuts by hand and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Even out the batter with a silicone spatula. Or if you’re like me you forget to add the pecans until half of it is in the pan…. You can still mix them in…

Stud the top with some dark chocolate chips and press in slightly.

Bake in the center of a preheated 350ºF oven for 32 to 35 minutes, or until the brownies are set. The top will crack, like a flourless chocolate cake.

Cool on a wire rack; and remove the cooled brownies from the pan by gripping the foil edges and lifting the brownies out as a whole.

You could chill them for an hour before cutting. We didn’t. We couldn’t stand not cutting into their warm gooeyness!

If you decide to give it a go, let myself or Karina know what you think.

And if you’re wondering about serving desserts on smaller plates to make you feel like you are getting more? It doesn’t work. It just brings out the rebellious child in you and makes you want two.

I say Go For It!

Posted in Dairy free, Gluten Free, Recipes | Tagged brownies, celiac, dairy free, dark chocolate, gluten free, recipes | 3 Comments

I’m backkkk….

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Sewfrench

Wondered if I was returning, did you?

We spent part of the winter, less connected to technology, while playing snowbirds.

Only to return to near snowy conditions, in April, after missing out on the near 90° temperatures Michigan experienced during March. There was at least a week were it was warmer in Michigan than it was in Florida.

Go figure….

We had a great time taking in Tigers spring ball games,

getting up close and personal, with nature, as we walked almost every morning, putting in over 200 miles,

and taking in the sunsets most nights. I feel blessed and refreshed.

I did get some quilting done while we were away, but only on the drive south and back.

My Bubble quilt is quilted and I now have gotten the continuous bias binding attached and ready to hand stitch it down. Then off to the washing machine to bring out all the cuddly goodness.

Stay tuned to see my slowest, continually worked on quilt, ever, finally completed!

Happy Wednesday! Now, go check out the other WIPs over at Freshlypieced!

Posted in Quilting | Tagged Bubble quilt, continuous bias binding, hand quilting, snowbird | 3 Comments

It’s that time of year..

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Sewfrench

…when the hand quilting stack gets so high that I need a distraction to make a dent in it all…
From the bottom up~

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend~
Yes, she has been patiently waiting since before Christmas, now she’s ready to get a move on.

My untitled wall hanging~
Yes, this one has been around awhile, too.

It’s been marked and remarked. Stitched and unstitched. It is so thick in spots, because of the way I constructed it, that I actually thought I would machine quilt it. But I just couldn’t make myself do it. Especially on such a laborious quilt. I finally settled on concentric circles of equal distance apart and am about 20% complete right now.

Bubbles~
and here, among other mentions, I’m sure.

Finally backed and marked, ready to be hand quilted in the same concentric circle pattern as the wall hanging. This one was tricky because of the size of the circles. The templates I’ve made only go up to 16″ diameter. For these I had to use the string attached to a pin with a marker on the other end. It worked. Okay. Not as neat, as I would have liked, hence no picture, but I can correct the waviness with the quilting. Hopefully.

Untitled inventory reduction pair~
I created these lovelies, a teen and a toddler sized pair, while watching the complete HBO series Big Love, 5 years worth in two quilts. Bam.
What a great series. Not sure what extra memories I have imprinted into these. It’s all about the love, though, that’s for sure!

Lee, from Freshly Pieced, for Moda Bake Shop calls it Cross Terrain. I won’t officially name them until they are quilted. I have to see what they *feel* like to me.

Oh yeah, go check out what else Lee and the rest of the gang are up to this week!

Posted in Quilting | Tagged concentric circles, hand quilting, inventory reduction, kona cotton solids, road trip, scrap quilts | 3 Comments

Do we really need multi vitamins?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Sewfrench

If we are eating well, we shouldn’t.

And if we are trying, really hard, to get in all our RDA of nutrition and aren’t doing it with simple, close to nature versions, of those nutrients, we can easily run the calorie count up to where exercise alone can’t remedy the weight gain. What’s a girl to do, but go to Google…

We had *just* been talking about this when I ran across this article. I was amazed at how well we are doing with getting the most bang for our buck, as far as nutrition per bite, goes.

We all know which foods we do best to avoid (right?). Despite the alluring appeal of Oreos, Mountain Dew or McAnything, processed foods provide little nutrition and a lot of risks. But when it comes to the good stuff—what are the best foods to put into our bodies? While experts all agree we need a variety of foods for a healthy diet, do you know which are the healthiest of the bunch? The answers may surprise and delight you.

1. Spirulina: While the thought of eating lake algae might gross you out, spirulina is actually pretty tasty, especially blended into a smoothie or hidden in a chocolate bar. It has more antioxidants than any other food on earth and is loaded with protein and minerals making it the most nutrient dense food. The only way I’ve ever tried spirulina is in a green powder form that you add to your smoothies and I was not pleased with the way it ruined my perfectly tasty smoothie. I must find another way to try it again. I wonder if osmosis, through lake swimming, will give me the benefits while bypassing the taste buds??

2. Kale: According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, kale is the most nutritious food, loaded with minerals, vitamins, fiber and amino acids, as well as important antioxidants that reduce inflammation and can prevent cancer. It’s also delicious and an easy to prepare, versatile food. I could eat this daily and do eat it often in a variety of ways. Chips, raw in salads, cooked up with garlic and a touch of apple cider vinegar. So good.

3. Hemp Seeds: What do you get when you combine protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals? Hemp, of course. This easily digestible seed is versatile, easy to use and extremely tasty, too. Shelled hemp seeds are called hemp hearts and added to my smoothies, they keep me going, and going and going.

4. Chocolate: Yes, you read right. Cacao beans are so nutrient-dense that scientists haven’t even begun to identify all the benefits in the little bean yet. Don’t grab a Snickers though—the good stuff is found only in raw cacao beans or nibs (or really, really dark chocolate). Minerals, vitamins and tons of antioxidants are great for your heart, skin, and release chemicals in the brain that make you feel like you’re in love. Lower your bad cholesterol, lower your blood pressure and cancer risk *and* raise your mood along with relieving cure PMS? Oh yes, the good stuff, please. Mimi does it right!

5. Broccoli: Mom was right, you should eat your broccoli if you want a healthy digestive system and to decrease your risk of cancer. Broccoli has a wide range of yumminess too, from soups and stews to stir fry. Love broccoli any way you prepare it. Cooked up similarly to our favorite kale recipe sounds great, too.

6. Spinach: Popeye was on to something with that spinach fixation. But skip the canned stuff and stick with fresh or frozen for an antioxidant, protein and fiber-rich burst of healthy goodness. Fresh or cooked, spinach’s sweet and hardy flavor brightens any meal. Easy to get in several servings of greens and 30% of your RDA of iron when you make Aloo Palak.

7. Chia: The Aztec warriors may have died out, but their legacy is alive and strong in the chia seed. This yummy, unassuming ancient favorite is loaded with omega fats, protein and fiber. Dr. Weil says it’s a better choice than flax because “chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don’t deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid.” I just bought a bag of these this week to add to my smoothies. Flax is too seedy tasting for my stomach, chia sits much better. Pudding, please!

8. Berries: Unlike other fruit, berries tend to be less sugary and full of vital vitamins, minerals and those free-radical avenging antioxidants. Wild berries are always a great choice, especially black raspberries. Blueberries are always in our freezer. Picking wild blueberries, Up North, is always fun. The season, nor the containers, of raspberries and blackberries never last long enough! Muffins anyone???

So how did you do? Eating at least a few of these foods regularly? If not, instead of thinking about what you need to remove from your way life, why not think of it as what I get to add. Consider adding in more healthy foods and your body will begin to crave the basic, closer to nature, versions of the foods we need for our health and our taste buds. Seriously.

It does a body good!

Posted in Eating, Health, Wellness | Tagged dr joel fuhrman, food, health, nutrient density, nutrition | 1 Comment

10 things I wish I had known before my first cruise

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Sewfrench

…even though we have always said we’d never take a cruise, it’s just not our traveling style….

Never say never….

So when the sister trip dates started overlapping into our joint anniversary dates and a favorite author was putting on a cruise ship seminar…. you do things you never had intentions of ever doing. Some of us anyway…

Then our good friend hopped on board because you can never have too many laughs on a vacation. Besides, he’s been following the travel dates, of this author, looking for just the right seminar to hit, for quite some time. And this was it.

I thought I’d share a few things I wish I had known, before we sailed, instead of learning after the fact. I hope it might help another newbie to make easier/better choices.

10. It’s important to choose the right ship for your lifestyle. Are pools important? Are you looking for the party crowd? What about gambling? Glitz and glamour? Each ship has its own personality. The median age range differs from cruise line to cruise ship varies, too. Things to think about…

For us it was decided. We chose a speaker we were all very excited to hear from and the ship came with him. Holland America ms Nieuw Amsterdam. About 2000 people. Not too big, not too small. And great food. They all say that, don’t they?? This one really was. We all agreed on that.

More on the seminar, as my thoughts come more clearly into focus…

9. There is no need to stay in a port town any more than necessary. The ship loads late the first day and kicks you off at the crack of dawn upon arrival back in port. The cruise line will also deliver your luggage directly to the airport, for a fee.

8. And while you are killing time in Fort Lauderdale know that alligator alley tours are vastly over rated. The air boat ride was less than 20 minutes. The only alligator we saw was the one the van driver pointed out along side the road…. Peter and Gary had gone on a tour, many years ago, and wanted me to see the alligators, too. Well theirs was a private tour, the guide knew all the gators by name, had to kick them off the boat, back in to the water, and they had a really great experience… Now if you can find one of those type tours go for it. Otherwise, just keep you eyes peeled and everyone will still have their 3 hours and 50 bucks. Though you might struggle to find anywhere to spend it. The cruise ship hotels, in Ft. Lauderdale, are near nothing, except the highway… Okay, maybe not all of them, but from the offerings on travelocity.com and hotels.com most of them are just beds to sleep in. Nothing more. Just so you know…

7. Book cruise ship dinner reservations, in the alternative restaurants, for every meal, ahead of time. Especially if you are celebrating a special occasions and on formal nights. For us, formal nights fell on our second to last night on the ship and the first full day at sea, which happened to be our 25th anniversary. Peter did great on scheduling our meals and our days. It was a lot to keep up with, but being my front man is one of his strong points.

They treated us right with a special surprise anniversary dessert!

There are professional photographers everywhere you look. Always an opportunity to spend more money on board the ship.

As for dining, you may choose to eat at your assigned table, in the general dining room, on some nights, but you will have a choice if you plan ahead and reserve. Not so if you wait until you are on board. And we did love our Manhattan dining room waiters, Dodie and Edie, they were one step ahead of us, most of the time. Eating gluten-free aboard this ship was never an issue. When you say gluten-free they react as you said celiac.

6. No one is going to set your daily activity schedule but you. Do it the night before or you may miss out on some fun things you forgot you had wanted to do. We would have gotten in even more fitness as well as wellness seminars if we had been with it from day 1. It was enough just to keep up with our speaker and dining schedules, we didn’t understand all the options before we took off. Same thing goes for the show schedules. Magic thinking a comedian for the evening, when we needed it, worked for us, might not for you…. Laughing is good for what ails you! I wish I could remember his name….

5. Shore excursions must be booked in advance or you may not be doing what you had hoped to do. Just keep in mind these day trips, taken from a cruise ship, are not the same as booking a trip from a hotel concierge. Use Google to research the excursion you are interested in, to see if it is even worth it before you plunk down too much money for what feels like a cattle herding experience. Then take it with a grain of salt. Seriously.

Snorkeling in one of the top 5 snorkeling spots in the world was not exactly what we thought it would be. I guess stats can be written by anyone? I had never power snorkeled before. It was a lot less tiring than swimming, kicking and the waves carrying you further and further from the boat. It really isn’t much of a cardio workout when you snorkel with a motor in your hands. Just remind me to bring my own goggles and flippers next time…

4. Staying aboard the ship when everyone else leaves gives you your pick of lounge chairs. Two if you like. Go for it.

Yes, we had a little sprinkling rain, the day we stopped at Half Moon Cay. But we also had a good sister date, under the umbrellas, ready to run for our choice of chairs, as soon as the sun popped out!

Thank goodness the word Margarita is understood in all languages. *Especially* on National Margarita Day which we celebrated in style!

3. If you can’t afford an outside cabin, with a balcony, I would suggest you wait until you can, or take out a second mortgage, it was so worth the upgrade. Having the ability to open the balcony door made all the difference in not feeling like we were trapped on a boat. It also helped with controlling the room temperature. Brrr our rooms were cold. Even us thinned blooded Michiganders thought so. We had 3 adjoining rooms, with the balcony dividers opened, ready for a party in the making.

It also gave us a sneak peek of our next stop, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2. Check out your ships’ Facebook page or check in at cruisecritic.com for lots of good information specific to your cruise and your ship. Most people who love cruises, love to share the knowledge.

1. For me, I’m just sharing *my* knowledge. Our next trip will be a road trip.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got except for a few more pictures. Enjoy!