Bilateral THR ByGosh ByGolly ByLateral

[ByGosh]

add New Zealand to your cruise, and on the way you could stop by the Pacific islands.

Oh octopus What a great idea that is! I'm so glad you've joined us on the GoshPorch and for our little journey. Now it's truely becoming an 'Around the World Fantasy Cruise of a Lifetime', thanks to your wonderful suggestion. I'm happy to hear that you've had nice sunny days and temps up to 18 degrees - I'm assuming that's Celcius? as 18 degress in Farenheit is still very cold. An early spring would be great for you and I hope it comes soon!
I've been meaning to check in with you - how's your leg and did the ultrasound give you good news? I'm hoping you're seeing improvement and feeling much better.

I do see myself in diaphanous white with a deep turquoise underlayer to give it an under-sea sort of effect.

I will have soft strappy flat sandals in deep turquoise, and I will wear my opal pendant, a delicate touch!

zauberflöte You're sounding more and more beautiful by the moment - and with an other-worldly glow as you appear to float along serenely by the pool, with Mr. Z gazing on with admiration and pride...
The bar is being raised higher and higher here, ladies, as we all don our gauzy robes and bejeweled sandals. Tourquoise seems to be the color of choice to compliment the deep hue of the sea.

glynis has really pointed us in the right direction for the start of our Fantasy Cruise! The GoshPorch is fun, and a great place to visit, drink our flavored lemonades, and plan our itinerary, but I can't wait to go to that beautiful porch on the Island of Santorini.

 

[ByGosh]

LeeApril26, Kim22, glynis, Kylesh, nmscienceteacher, anniemg Butterfly, sqwerlie, zauberflöte octopus Poppet sandybeach Littlejem Goody2Shoes3 sandpiper NylsorElosarabrab Peaches (where are you?) luluohio SeaSiren (we miss you) Songlady is there anyone I've forgotten? If so, I'm sorry, but all of you wonderful ladies are invited and may join us at anytime here!

Nylsor See what happens to your unruly students when you turn your back for a minute? Without you, we start off on our own! You've been such a good teacher, that we've picked up where you left off and we've run with it! But I'm so glad that you're back and taking us on a fabulous tour yet again.
You are quite the expert on the Greek Islands, my friend! We couldn't ask for a better tour guide. Now just how many islands will we visit? I had no idea there were so many, and you've been to just about all of them, and know them like the back of your hand. You seem to have a photographic memory for travel - lucky for us!

Other than kissing the wizened dried saint and the other's little red shoes I'm in!

I tend to agree with that sentiment! Although, if it'll bless my tendons and effect a cure, I'm liable to kiss anything, no matter how old, dead or dried up it may be! (BT)

 

[ByGosh]

Poppet As you can see, my dear, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are on our Fantasy World Cruise, too. It sounds like the Greek Isles are the starting point, lovely Santorini and the exquisite hotel houses that glynis introduced being my focus. Then it's off to the other Isles with Nylsor as our wonderful experienced tour guide - there's so much history and delicious foods, lovely scenery and interesting places to explore! It's sounding like such a fantastic experience that we'll have, I can't wait. We are lucky to have such creative and experienced travelers in our midst!

glynis That's a hilarious story, you poor thing, you. But it does make for interesting GoshPorch retelling. And you are quite the journalist, too, weaving such a good tale for us even if it was your own unfortunate self that was the brunt of it all.
In our Fantasy Cruise, though, we have only smooth sailing, luxury vessels for you glynis, with ship's captains that are very experienced and a crew that can accommodate our every need. So no need to worry. Unless of course, you prefer to jet around from isle to isle by means of a private plane? Whatever you prefer - it's all possible.

Kim22 Thanks for your help and your mucking around the GoshPorch - it's a pleasure to have you and everyone join in our lively conversation and help plan our cruise. Would you care for another tall, cool glass of flavored lemonade? Or is it time to move on to something for the evening - say a nice glass of wine?

 

[Kim22]

It's getting on for 6pm over here so I think it would be ok to open a bottle.Thank you

 

[Nylsor]

do have to take you to task on one thing, Nylsor. I have only ever been to Ithaka, and as you rightly say this has to be accessed via Cephalonia. You mention taking "the ferry".​

Wow! I'm not sure what ferry you went on but the one we travelled on was an actual car ferry which we drove our hire car on to. On parking the car we simply went up a flight of steps and into a lounge where we purchased coffee / food and went to the loo. We drove off on arrival 45 minutes later in Ithaka. The last time was four years ago and the ferries have been much the same since about 2001. Same on return journey. On arrival in Sami, we drove / walked off as did everyone else. We always stay in Lassi and it takes us about 40 minutes to drive to Sami from there. Ros

 

[Nylsor]

I don't know who it was who first suggested the Greek Islands, but they seem to be meeting with popular approval.​

It certainly wasn't me. I think it was you, Glynis. I've been absent while you lot have been sitting around on the Goshporch planning the Fantasy cruise and drinking a rhubarb concoction made by ByGosh.
quote="glynis, post: 499130, member: 5810"]

think most of us will pass on all that kissing, though.​

[/quote]
I didn't go to Corfu Town with the intention of kissing a long dead saint with leathery lips. I had a nice, live one to kiss. Not a Saint you understand. I mean Mr N. He is no Saint. We went into a beautiful church to have a look around and saw a long line of people slowly moving towards the front of the church. As I'm English we joined the queue. All English people queue even if they pretend they don't. We're sort of programmed to do queuing. Anyway, I digress. As we neared the front of the queue, Mr Nylsor saw that there were two large Greek Orthodox priests standing on either side of a highly ornate sort of cabinet. We were only about four from the front when Mr N murmured, 'They're kissing the Saint. Don't kiss him he'll be covered in germs.' Small Miss N was with us then and wasn't tall or old enough to kiss dead men so she got sort of pushed past by Mr N. I was instructed to 'pretend you're kissing him - make smacking noises'. So I did. Unfortunately, one of the large Greek priests must have thought that I wasn't putting in enough kissing effort and caught hold of the back of my neck and pushed my mouth onto the leathery lips. Yuk! Mr and Miss N were neither amused or impressed and neither would kiss me for the rest of the day until I had cleaned my teeth, washed my face and used mouthwash. Even then they kept asking each other if it was safe to kiss me. I felt as if I had leprosy. Ros x

 

[Littlejem]

ByGosh you have a very interesting thread at the moment, I think we'd all agree that a holiday/vacation is something we could all do with. Greece is lovely, the only island I've been too is Kos but I've been to the mainland including Athens. We should all be listening to Abba tunes on your porch getting us in the mood for our Greek Isle, from the film Mamma Mia and drinking a glass of Retsina!

 

[Poppet]

Well sadly, I have to go to work... So no cruise for this girl today... Enjoy your virtual fantasy my lovely peeps

 

[LeeApril26]

glynis I laughed out loud! darn that 84-year-old trapeze artist. I think we took the same "ferry" in the Bahamas. I rode across a bay saying to myself that I would never do this at home.

 

[Nylsor]

Unless of course, you prefer to jet around from isle to isle by means of a private plane? Whatever you prefer - it's all possible.​

ByGosh - we will have to build fantasy airports on some of the smaller islands then! Many of them don't have airports - Paxos, Ithaka, Patmos, etc. as well as many others. They can only be accessed by FERRY! Rosxx

 

[octopus]

ByGosh, I'm due for another scan tomorrow, the second one a few weeks ago was the same as the first. I do feel like there has been a change for the better. Will let you know. I had my last physio appt today, I have a normal walking speed now and good ROM which should improve a bit more.

 

[ByGosh]

Unfortunately, one of the large Greek priests must have thought that I wasn't putting in enough kissing effort and caught hold of the back of my neck and pushed my mouth onto the leathery lips. Yuk!

Oh Nylsor Ros - that's so funny! You poor thing. Yuk, is right! Not just because he was old and ancient and long dead with wizened, leathery lips, but because every other person in the universe kissed him, too. OMG. Let's just hope that someone, somewhere "upstairs" had a greater power, and the holy benefits you got from kissing him outweighed the germs! Since you didn't get leprosy or any other dreaded contagious disease, it seems to have turned out alright. And it is a funny story! Thanks for sharing it.

I guess those little islands all wouldn't have airports now, would they? And I imagine some are fairly close together, too. We'll just have to settle for little speed boats or nice ferries like the one you traveled on, Ros. glynis will be brave, I know she will. Unless of course, she opts to lounge by the beautiful poor on Sartorini?.. Not a bad option from the looks of it, although we'd miss her.

octopus I'm glad you're feeling some improvement even if the scan didn't show much. And you're walking much better and quicker with a good range of motion now, so that's all a big improvement for you. Hang in there - the next scan should be better.

Littlejem Abba tunes it will be, and Retsina is on the porch, waiting for everyone. I think we should have it with a nice greek salad and feta chesse, maybe some of Ros's famous grilled halloumi, too. That should be a good start to our Greek Isle cruise.
I think a stop in Athens is a wonderful idea for us Littlejem. Maybe that could be our starting point in Greece.

Poppet Have a good day at work today, and we'll wait for you before we do any cruising. We wouldn't want to leave without our resident sweetheart, now would we?
I hope you're gaining some strength back now Poppet. Don't work too hard today and rest as much as you can when you get home. Give Mr. Poppet my best - I hope he's improving, too. Take care.

 

[glynis]

The CAR FERRY?!

Yes, Nylsor, it's exactly as I suspected. They saw us coming, all right... They spotted 2 Innocents Abroard, and figured: "Who wants to get all wet and cold out fishing, when we can con these idiots into believing our rusty hulk is the only vessel capable of getting them to Ithaka?" I bet the story is till told in the tavernas of Cephalonia, about the time when they hoisted the poor old woman aboard their smelly old wreck, when she could have been having a retsina on board a nice, comfortable car ferry.

I have never before had occasion to use this phrase, but that certainly was "a Greek gift".

Anyway, on to more important things. I'm glad you are seeing some encouraging improvements, Octopus. And, ByGosh, I hope the medication may be having some good effects. Are you still trialling the prednisone? I don't think I've ever heard that name over here. Maybe we call it something else. My heart goes out to the various members of the forum who still grapple with real pain, particularly when there don't seem to be any obvious answers as to Why.

It's crazy, isn't it, the amount of time we spend telling children to be "fair". Then the first thing so many of them are going to learn as they grow up is that Life Ain't Fair. Don't want to get too philosophical here... just my personal experience. (Nothing to do with my hip.)

On the cruise we will have to allocate say, 2 hours a day, to discussing our problems, then get down to some serious Fun. Hey, walking backwards and forwards across the pool can be "fun"!

 

[zauberflöte]

*waving 'hey" at the GoshPorch inhabitants as I walk by on my way to bed *

 

[Nylsor]

Good morning all! A change from the Fantasy Cruise. This is the very first week since my op at the end of February when I have been totally pain free. I haven't had to take as much as an Ibuprofen.In fact, it's the first time I've been pain free since April 2012. It feels so good. I went down to the allotment on Saturday with Mike where the ground is very uneven and he even commented that I was walking freely and normally. Not hanging on to his arm anymore. I did a bit of weeding for him and then on Sunday we had a tour of Clarence House of which more later. We walked around the West End and hopped on and off buses. I expected to be very stiff and achey yesterday - but no. I did some housework and ironed and cooked. No pain. So for those of you still suffering, especially ByGosh and octopus, hang on in there. All things pass. Love to all Ros xx
Could someone please contact a 6* cruise ship company to book a vessel for the trip. Cruises are cheaper to book from the US than here in the UK

 

[zauberflöte]

Nylsor happy days! Pain free allotment working-- that's quite something to look forward to. What do youall grow? We could cater our own cruise if we engaged a fine chef!

 

[ByGosh]

Nylsor That's wonderful and inspiring news that you're feeling so well. It must be like a miracle to have no pain since over a year ago! Maybe kissing that dried up, old dead saint finally paid off!?
Either way, it's so good to hear and I'm happy for you. I'm sure that Mike appreciated your help with the weeding, too. I would imagine that your harvest time is coming near and your vegetables are producing alot of nice fresh food for you.

 

[octopus]

ByGosh & Nylsor, thanks for your encouragement! I had my third scan yesterday and good news. The vein is almost clear, only a small portion remains blocked, about 1-2 cms. Makes me feel a whole lot better.

 

[zauberflöte]

ByGosh I brought you a half bushel of limes, some sugar syrup, and a couple gallons of soda water-- I'll make us some limeade next time we're out settin' on the GoshPorch

 

[sqwerlie]

zauberflöte, I'll have some of that limeade...sounds delicious! Yesterday I sat out in the sunshine on my deck and blew bubbles with my almost 3 year old granddaughter....I forgot how much fun bubbles are!