Sushi

Jennifer has a food blog far better than any I could write but I thought this production I did last night was worth a blurb. I have tempura shrimp, real crab California roll and Tiger roll with sesame seed sprinkles.
Pictures aren't great - out of focus a little but you can get the idea...........





See the two cute little radish mice?

People I've Met.......Impressions

I drafted this almost a year ago and had 2nd thoughts about posting it. I decided I would even though it seems a little self-serving.


Just looking at Karen's Facebook comments about right brain/left brain people and I saw Stephen Hawking's pic.

Many years ago I met him and facilitated him getting aboard an aircraft twice. No simple matter. First time I saw him he was accompanied by a nurse type who later on became his wife. He was totally uncommunicative except for the voice synthesizer which he controls by blinking.

As I was escorting him down the jetway to board the airplane I asked him if he wanted me to push his wheelchair. "No, Let me do it" It was startling because it was a loud 'no' which I had not anticipated.

The second time I was with him he was more controlled by his nurse/ wife and I was only involved in seeing that everything went well for them. I did greet him and he answered. This was at Houston's George Bush airport.

I was fortunate in my life to meet many famous people. Many of them blew me away at the time. Tommy Steele, Kookie Ed Burns,Phil Everly, Lonnie Donegan,MLK,Johnny Carson,Ray Charles,Frankie Laine, Walter Cronkite :-) Sandra Dee, Mickey Mantle and others.

Nice guys were Paul Anka, Steve Allen, Jimmy Durante, Mel Brooks and Bob Hope. These were all easy to talk to and seemingly unaffected by the fame. All of them had questions which stimulated conversation and they were good listeners.

Oh, and Jennifer and I met Mickey Mouse.

A Major Birthday Bash

Even though it was a sweltering muggy day we had a fun get together this morning to celebrate Graham's and Paige's birthday.


















And here are a few videos of the fun stuff...........

Open the pubs, The Martins are Coming.......

We are so enjoying Anna and Colin. Here's the activity that we like best. They are real good at it too!







Seriously though, we are enjoying this short visit. The kids went to the Downtown Aquarium today. Here are some snaps of the action.

San Francisco, Victoria and Seattle

Here are a few videos from the cruise. First the Golden Gate Bridge followed by the beautiful gardens in Victoria.





One more from Butchardt Gardens................


And one from Seattle. We had a good time with our family there..

And finally one showing how unusually calm the ocean was on our approach to the Los Angeles area.....

So how was your cruise?

It went very well. We got to L.A. on Saturday - not much going on in San Pedro and we had a ho-hum meal at George's Café. We boarded the ship Sunday at noon.
Our balcony room was good and we had a room steward who we seldom saw and yet he was capable.
First port was SFO and we were tied up at Pier 95 right downtown and we walked The Embarcadero full length and ate fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf. It was chilly and we were glad we had jackets with us.

Next night was at sea and we got all spiffed up for the 'formal' dinner. Next port the following day was Victoria in B.C. It was 85F and we were sweltering as we walked downtown to get the bus to Butchardt Gardens. Google it and you'll see it is an old stone quarry transformed into a wonderful garden. It takes an hour and a half to walk it if you don't stop at every flower. We took 2 hours and had an ice cream as dessert.

The next day and port was Seattle and we were met downtown at our pier 65 by Buck and Cathy and Lindsey. They drove us all around the hot spots with great views and we had a fish and chips lunch at one of their haunts. We saw Lindsey's apartment and she has a great view from her patio window. It was 90 degrees and we were all pooped by the time we got to Pike Place Market.

Back on the boat we relaxed and enjoyed two sail/sea days back to L.A.
We just missed the first flight ( we arrived at 0820 - the flight was at 0900 and we needed to be there 45 mins before departure to check our bags) and then we had to standby for 4 more before we made it home to Houston. I got an aisle seat, Bev went on a flight prior to me (last seat) and landed an hour before me. She had the car ready and we sped home for an 8 pm arrival. 12 hours from ship in LAX to home in Houston. Tough but free.

Here are a couple of pictures from Butchardt Gardens.