Back in FL

We made it to our house in FL for the winter. It seems we came down later than we had planned but we were held up by several different circumstances.

We had a nice drive down here, and it took about 9 ½ hours in our new Subaru Outback. The trip was very comfortable and enjoyable, which I think is due to the new car.

When we got here, we turned off the water and took down all the hurricane shutters. Then we put up the awnings and opened the house. After unpacking the car, we were exhausted.

Luckily, the weather was cool with gusty winds and intermittent showers. Since we didn’t have any AC, the breeze was delightful. One morning we did our grocery shopping but still needed things we hadn’t thought about. I’m sure it will take several runs to the store before we have everything we want and need.

On Thursday we had our new HVAC system installed, and it is so nice to feel cool again!

One morning we went out and trimmed our bushes and palm trees. It helps our house and yard look much tidier. It is easier to work on our hobbies when we aren’t feeling like we should be working on the house.

Now I’m off to do some knitting!

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Famous American Authors

The 1940 Famous Americans Series (#859-93) was a major group of U.S. commemorative postage stamps that honored 35 important Americans. The series was divided into seven groups: Authors, Poets, Educators, Scientists, Composers, Artists, and Inventors. The first stamps were issued on January 29, 1940, beginning with the Authors group. The Post Office Department selected people who had made important contributions to American life and culture. The First Day of Issue ceremonies were usually held in places connected to the person being honored, such as their birthplace or a community where they had lived. This gave local communities an opportunity to celebrate their famous residents.

The Famous American Authors stamps honored five well-known writers: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Samuel L. Clemens, who was better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Washington Irving, shown on the 1-cent stamp, wrote Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. James Fenimore Cooper, on the 2-cent stamp, became famous for stories about the American frontier, including The Last of the Mohicans. Ralph Waldo Emerson appeared on the 3-cent stamp and was an important writer and thinker. Louisa May Alcott, on the 5-cent stamp, wrote the beloved novel Little Women. Mark Twain appeared on the 10-cent stamp and wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The five authors' stamps were issued between January 29 and February 13, 1940, in Tarrytown and Cooperstown, New York; Boston and Concord, Massachusetts; and Hannibal, Missouri.

The Famous Americans Series is also a good way to connect postage stamps with National Authors' Day, observed each year on November 1. The idea for this holiday began in 1928 with Nellie Verne Burt McPherson, a teacher and president of the Bement, Illinois, Women’s Club. She wanted to create a special day to appreciate American authors. The General Federation of Women’s Clubs supported the idea in 1929, and the U.S. Department of Commerce recognized National Authors' Day in 1949. Today, November 1 is a chance to read a favorite book, discover a new writer, or thank an author for the stories and ideas they have shared. The authors honored on the 1940 stamps remind us how writers can influence American culture and leave their ideas for future generations.

Do you like to read? I’ve loved reading since I was a little girl. I like reading fiction, but my husband likes reading nonfiction books. What is your favorite book or author? Mine is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

References:

• Smithsonian National Postal Museum – American Authors
• Smithsonian National Postal Museum – 1940–1941 Issues
• National Day Calendar – National Authors' Day
• 1847 U.S. – The Famous American Stamps of 1940
• https://www.mysticstamp.com/859-93-1940-famous-americans-series-complete-set-35-stamps/
• https://nationaltoday.com/national-authors-day/

Rental Property Adventures

In August, we evicted our tenants from one of our rental houses for failing to pay rent. They moved out before we had to go to court, but they left the house a mess.

We had to rent a dumpster and get people to get all the stuff out of the house (dresser, recliner, bed, and lots of junk). Then we had to spray for insects.

Next, our contractor had to rip out the kitchen and dining room floor almost down to the joists because the floor was rotten. Apparently, the tenants let a leak happen and never called us about the problem, and let the floors rot.

He also had to replace a couple of doors and doorknobs.

We ordered carpet and flooring for the house. The carpet will be put in all the bedrooms, and the LVP (luxury vinyl planking), which is supposed to be waterproof, will be put in the kitchen, dining room, and halls.

We had some new cabinets installed in the kitchen along with new countertops. One bathroom needed a new cabinet and sink also.

The back porch needed a new piece of wood in the floor, and the railing needed repairs.

Then we painted all the rooms, which took forever. The tenants had painted one room mint green and the other blue, so when we painted over with white, it bled through. So, we had to put several coats on the bedroom walls. Then we decided to paint the brown trim in the dining room white, which makes it look bigger and better.

We cleaned and polished all the paneling too.

This week, the flooring and carpet will be installed. We also have an electrician coming out to check all the electrical. Then we will meet the realtor to see about getting the house back on the market to rent.

I’m so tired of doing renovations, and I need a vacation!

Knit-A-Way Day 2026

Click here for pictures.

Day 1  9/17/26:

We left home at 6:30 and arrived at Big Lynn Lodge around 8:30. I left my chair and said hi to everyone. I asked if anyone needed anything while we were out and about, but no one needed anything.

We headed to Burnsville and stopped at First Citizen’s Bank to visit my former student. He graduated from my class in 2000! He looked fabulous, and I was so proud of him! I can’t believe I forgot to take a selfie with him!

Then we went to Hammonds Antiques and YummiYarns store. Don bought a few things at the antique store, and I bought some yarn at the yarn store.

We stopped at the Ingles Cafe for lunch, and it was a very good lunch.

After lunch, we stopped at an antique store in Spruce Pine but didn’t find anything. Then we drove north on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it was closed 6 miles later. On the way back, we stopped at the Apple Orchard and went into the general store. Then we drove south on the Parkway, but it was closed right after Little Switzerland. By then, we went back to Big Lynn Lodge to see if our room (#135, on the end by the parking lot) was ready, but it wasn’t yet. It wasn’t long before our room was ready, and Don sat on the porch while I went back and knit with the group. At 6 pm, we had dinner (roast beef, squash, broccoli, and peach cobbler with ice cream for dessert). At 8 pm, we had our general meeting.

Day 2  9/18/25:

After breakfast (at 7:30), we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We ended up at Moses Cone Park and did 3 hikes there. We did the Figure 8, Bass Lake, and Trout Lake. The weather was clear and cool, but I was still in shorts. It was a beautiful day. We saw water lilies blooming on the lake. We also saw wood asters, goldenrod, snake root, lungwort, and mushrooms. After hiking, we drove south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and after the Linville Viaduct, we headed to Newland for lunch. We at lunch at Ingles, but after we headed back to the lodge, we passed a McDonald's. If we do this again, McDonald's will be a better choice.

When we got back to the lodge, we sat out on the porch in rocking chairs and read. At 4, I knit on the patio with my friends until dinner time. Dinner was very good (turkey, mac and cheese, carrots, and apple pie with ice cream). Then I knit on the patio until the general meeting at 8. I won a door prize! Cheryl and I swapped door prizes since we liked each other’s prize better.

Day 3 9/19/26:

It was a cloudy day with rain expected, so we didn’t go hiking. I spent the whole day knitting with my friends on the patio. The guild had a picnic lunch catered by a company from Marion, and the sandwiches and vegetables were great! Don went back to the room and watched football games on the TV and 2 laptops. I worked on my sock all day and almost finished it by the time we had our general meeting. They announced the clothesline winner and the raffle winner at the end of the meeting.

I’m glad I came to the retreat. It was great to see friends that I only see once a year. I made new friends too.

Original photos by Pat Hensley

NCL Pride of America

Click here for more pictures from the ship.

The NCL Pride of America can accommodate 2160 passengers and 927 crew members. Our captain was Ron, the General Manager was Dustin, and our Cruise director was Kevin Patrick Sweeney. Our interior cabin was 9543 on deck 9, and our cabin steward was Ruste Yanong. The bed had 2 bunk beds in the side walls, which made it very awkward to get in and out of the bed. You had to bend over and duck, so you didn’t hit the bunk bed folded against the wall.

Day 1: Honolulu, Oahu 8/22/26

After breakfast, we went back to the room and relaxed. We left the hotel around 10 am to catch the bus. It was easy to get to the Pier 2 cruise terminal, and it was only about a 5-minute walk. We walked right up and dropped off our luggage. After going through security and check-in, we were on the ship by 11:15.

First, we went to our muster station and checked in. Then we went to the Aloha Restaurant for lunch. The food and variety were great. We met another couple from Rochester, NY (Marina and Bill) and enjoyed talking with them. They said our cabins were ready about 2 pm, but we hadn’t gotten our luggage yet, so we explored the ship. At 5 pm, we watched the hula dancers at the pool area. Then we went to the Skyline Restaurant for dinner. The food and service were great. We started with French onion soup. Don had Mahi Mahi, and I had a NY strip. We both had creme brulee for dessert, which was also good. I was told the steak would be on the menu every other night. At 7 pm, we saw the sunset and watched as we pulled out of the port. We walked around the ship some more and then returned to the cabin for the night.

Day 2: Kahului, Maui 8/23/26

We arrived in Maui, and we got off the ship at 8:11. It was already sunny but not too hot, so we walked out of the port and walked a couple of blocks to Ho’aloha Beach. When we reached the road (after about 2 miles), we walked back towards the ship along the road. We stopped at a store so I could buy a Diet Pepsi ($3.50). Then we walked until we saw a lot of people going into the CVS. They had chocolate on sale and postcards for .29! After shopping, we went back to the ship and relaxed until lunch was served at the buffet at noon. When we got to the ship, it started raining and rained most of the day. In the afternoon, we went back to our cabin and watched movies (I Can Only Imagine 2 and The Working Man). At 5:30, we went to the show Aloha Polynesia, where dancers performed traditional dances, and we really enjoyed it. After the show, we went to the buffet and had dinner. Then, we returned to the cabin, and we finished watching The Working Man.

Day 3: Kahului, Maui 8/24/26

We got off the ship at 8:30 and went to CVS to buy some more chocolate. Then we got back on the ship and relaxed. We sat out by the pool until lunchtime. After lunch, we walked around the ship and watched the workers move things around the port. At 2:30, we went to the flower lei-making class, which was a lot of fun. We strung fresh orchids on string, and they were beautiful! Next, we went to a sushi-making demonstration. By then it was time to go to dinner in the dining room. I enjoyed my steak again. We finished in time to go to the show featuring comedian Ralphie Roberts (who looks like Bernie Mac).

Day 4: Hilo, Hawaii 8/25/26

We arrived early, and the captain announced that we had a medical emergency and that is why we arrived in the middle of the night. We weren’t allowed to get off the ship until around 8am. We walked out of the port and crossed the street to catch Bus 101 to Richardson Ocean Park. No one at the store or the tour operators knew much about the bus, other than it was Red and White. I used Google Maps, and it told me that the bus would arrive at 8:39 am and it did. It took us to Richardson Ocean Park in about 12 minutes. The bus driver was nice and said that we needed to come back to the same spot to be picked up. He was a very nice and friendly bus driver.

We spent two hours scrambling over the lava rocks and saw 2 large turtles and a mongoose. Then we went to the beach area and waded in the water. We saw black crabs along the wall. The park had showers to rinse off before we went to the bus stop. The bus arrived at 10:52 am, and we stayed on the bus all the way to Queen Liliuokalani Gardens, downtown Hilo, and the airport before returning us to the ship. The bus driver did get into a verbal argument with one of the passengers who was very cranky.

When we got to the ship, we dropped off our stuff in our cabin and then went to lunch. After lunch, we took showers and then sat out by the pool until it was time to go to the Ribbon Lei class. This was a little more complicated than yesterday’s class. After class, we went to dinner and the show. We saw the magician, Joseph Reohm, and we enjoyed his show. After the show, we went back to our cabin to eat junk food and watch Zootopia 2.

Day 5 Kona, Hawaii 8/26/26

Kona was a tender port, so at 6:30, I went to stand in line to get tender tickets. Then they announced that if you are getting off the ship between 7 and 7:30, you didn’t need any tender tickets. We got on the tender at 7 and were on land by 7:11. We walked one mile to Walmart (which opened at 6am), and it was all uphill! We had a great time in Walmart and bought several souvenirs. There was a McDonald's in there, so we bought a drink and enjoyed it while we rested. Then we walked towards the pier, and we found a yarn store (in a quilt shop), so I bought some yarn. We also walked to the farmer’s market. Then we got back on the tender to return to the ship around 11am. When we got back to the cabin, I realized that I left my bag on the tender. We went to eat lunch, and after lunch, I went to guest services to see if someone turned it in, but no one had. I went down to where the tenders were on deck 3, and my bag was there. Next, we went on the deck and sat near the pool for a couple of hours. After dinner, we went to the show Duo Quintessence, and they were amazing! After the show, we returned to our cabin to watch Solo Mio with Kevin James and eat chocolate.

Day 6 Nawiliwili, Kauai 8/27/26

We got off the ship around 8 am and walked towards the Anchor Shopping Center. We passed a bus stop (across from Garden Island Inn), and a bus stopped, so I asked how much a ride was. The bus driver said 25 cents, so I downloaded the bus app and tried to figure out how to open an account and buy an online ticket. After a little confusion, I opened an account on my phone and Don’s phone and loaded $5 on each account. Then I had to buy a ticket on the phone using the money on the account. Once the ticket was bought, you don’t activate it until you are boarding the bus, or the ticket is lost after a certain amount of time. The shuttles cost .25 each ride for seniors, and the mainline was $1 for seniors. So, we took the 70 shuttle to EIWA at the Lihue Town Center (which seemed like a transfer station for other buses) and transferred to a 500 bus ($1), which took us to Hanalei Post Office. This ride took about 90 minutes. We walked around the shopping area, bought a drink and Triscuits for a snack, and then walked to the beach. The beach was absolutely beautiful! Then we went back to the Hanalei Center and took the 400 bus back to EIWA. We transferred to the 70 shuttle again and thought we’d ride it in a loop, but when we got to the Hawaiian Bank, the bus driver said that it was the last stop and we’d have to wait for another bus. So, we waited about 45 minutes for another 70 bus, which got us back to the port around 4:20. We made it back to the ship about dinner time. Then we walked around the ship and looked at the beautiful scenery. We returned to our cabin to watch Hamnet and have an early night.

Day 7 Nawiliwili, Kauai 8/28/26

We got up at 1:30 am because Don had a phone conference for his board meeting at 2 am (8 am ET). We went up to the Aloha Café back deck on the 11th floor to make sure he got a good phone signal. He was done by 3:30, and we went back to bed. I wasn’t able to go back to sleep, so I went back up to the Aloha Café at 5 am and waited for breakfast. After breakfast, we found 2 deck chairs by the pool and relaxed. After lunch, we went back out to our chairs and relaxed until 3 pm. We went by the ship store to spend our shipboard credit (which couldn’t be applied to our gratuities). I bought a dress, and Don bought some chocolate. Then we packed our suitcases before dinner. After dinner, we went to the show featuring the magician, Joseph Reohm. We won’t put out our suitcases because we plan to self-assist and get off the ship by 7:30.

Day 8 Honolulu, Oahu 8/29/26

We went to breakfast at 6am and got off the ship around 7:30. We walked to the bus stop, and the bus arrived 5 minutes later. We took the W bus to the airport for $3 on our Holo card. We were able to check in our bags, and we had a 4-hour wait for our flight. We found a Burger King and paid $4.59 for a small drink each and sat there until we had to go to our gate. Our flight left at 12:39pm for LAX. We arrived around 9:05 pm, and our plane was supposed to leave at 11:59 pm for Atlanta but it was delayed an hour due to a "baggage issue." When we arrived in Atlanta and I turned my phone on, they had rebooked us on a plane an hour later.  Both planes were scheduled at the same gate, and I noticed our original flight had not left, so we were going to check if we could get on it. As soon as we arrived, the lady asked our names and told us that we could get on the plane. As soon as we got on the plane, they closed the doors. But our luggage didn't make that flight on time and was sent on a later flight. We arrived in Greenville around 9:15 am and we had to file a baggage claim. The lady said our luggage would be delivered to us sometime today.  Our friend, Debbie, picked us up, and we stopped at Carolina Fine Foods to bring home some lunch. We got our luggage by 3:45 pm. 

Things I Learned:

• NCL is better than I expected. The crew is friendly and helpful. The food is great.
• In Maui, there is a CVS across the street from the port entrance. There were souvenirs and chocolate macadamia nuts at good prices. There were also other sales going on there.
• The public bus in Hilo is free! (Until December 2028, after that, you will have to check.)
• Richardson Ocean Park in Hilo is about a 12-minute bus ride, and it was fabulous! It was a black sand beach.
• Bring water shoes to Richardson Ocean Park. We had to scramble over lava rocks.
• We rode Bus 101 in Hilo in a loop, and it took about an hour.
• The bus drivers on Kauai were not friendly or helpful.
• The Kauai shuttle bus cost .25 for a senior (I had to choose a senior ticket on the app on my phone), and the mainline (long distance) cost $1 for a senior.
• The beach at Hanalei was breathtaking!
• You can take the bus from the pier to the airport for only $3 on a HOLO card, but you need to get a HOLO card in advance and put the money on it.

Original photo by Pat Hensley