RETURN TO MESSAGE INDEX PAGE

Well.... Posted by Skye on June 17, 2025, 8:42 pm Valued Poster I'm slowly coming back to life after the long trip home. Just had to catch a cold at the tail end of the trip, but am feeling better today. Picked a cabbage out of the garden that was over 10 pounds. Had a recipe for cabbage rolls that said to use a large cabbage, about 3 pounds (!). Also picked a beet about the size of a softball. Cooked that up today... so easy for the beet, not so easy for the cabbage rolls... but so good! Just cut the beet in half, rub it down with olive oil, sprinkle some Kosher salt and pepper, put in a baking dish and cover with foil, and bake at 425 degrees for about one and a half hours. Then peel off the skin, cut into chunks and eat with goat cheese. Delicious! Also picked some blueberries that went into the homemade buttermilk pancakes. Delish, too. Processed and froze a lot of strawberries and broccoli before we left. It's good to live off the land!

Re: Well.... Posted by jacque on June 17, 2025, 11:30 pm, in reply to "Well...." Valued Poster Did you see and do everything you wanted? Favorite thing? Did you notice any anti-american sentiment? live long and prosper as best you can Jacque

There was one moment. Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 12:56 am, in reply to "Re: Well...." Valued Poster I saw a lot of graffiti in the larger cities, but don't remember anything sticking out that was political. Of course there very well may have been some written in Greek... which is Greek to me. However, there was some graffiti on the Island of Crete which we visited on the last day of the trip that read "Smash Zionism" "Free Palestine" and "Every Israeli Soldier is a War Criminal".. Also on the last day, we visited the Island of Santorini as our last tour. One of our guides on the ship (who was very sharp, sweet and funny, and you would guess was a gay guy) told us ahead of time that Santorini was the worst part of the whole trip. I think he was referring to the crowds and commercialism that had overtaken the island and sort of ruined it's charm and attraction for him. He talked about people who had gotten rich from owning properties there and that they didn't even want to live in them anymore but were getting rich renting it out to others. Anyway, our tour group was comprised of entirely American tourists I believe, so there was sort of a code of 'no politics' I think. But there was a moment on the very last day on Santorini, at the very end of the tour that caught my attention. The guide took us all around talking about the history, etc, etc, and at the very end after going through a Jewish neighborhood, he told us that the Jews mostly owned or operated all the businesses and banks... and that the island was "very cosmopolitan" and diverse, and that somehow everyone still gets along with each other, and that is really the way it "Has" to be. In other words... we all in this world HAVE to tolerate and get along with each other, because we really don't want or need what comes with the alternative.

I love all the little shops carved into the trail upward Posted by Trish on June 18, 2025, 8:53 am, in reply to "There was one moment." Admin Found some awesome olive wood pieces, some of which still survive after 30 years

I loved that, too. Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 10:34 am, in reply to "I love all the little shops carved into the trail upward" Valued Poster Really a beautiful place, but so many people! It was so crowded, we didn't go into many shops, but got some nice pics. Sat down at an outdoor patio cafe and had a drink. We were traveling light, so all we got basically was a few trinkets, T-shirts and gifts. Got a couple of Christmas ornaments, T-towels, fridge magnets, and some olive oil soap. I got some nice pics of those trails, buildings, landscape and the bougainvillea, etc... one of an art shop, too. I noticed that the grape vines on that island were different... kind of just bushed on the ground instead of vining up. They don't have much rainfall, and there is global warming, too, of course, so they told us about having to conserve water, etc. In one place, we saw the donkeys coming through on the street, but I can't remember which island that was.

When I toured Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 19, 2025, 6:30 pm, in reply to "I loved that, too." ADMIN I spent free time looking for insects. What I collected were put in envelopes, double boxed with cotton or newspaper, and shipped home, where I could deal with it when I returned. I have Papilio alexanor collected in Greece. Ny nets and collecting paraphernalia were collapsible and easily fit in my suitcase, weighting next to nothing and consuming next to no space. I typically returned with minimal things on which I had to pay duty. Never saw Santorini. Athens, yes. Always enjoyed and loved Greek culture. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

I love butterflies. Posted by Skye on June 20, 2025, 9:51 am, in reply to "When I toured" Valued Poster Don’t see that many of them these days other than the little ones. One of our little dogs loves to chase them. We are having a problem with moles lately. Found an odd looking snake while weed eating around the driveway. The hub put it in a 5 gallon bucket and googled on it. Found out it was a mole snake… beneficial! So we released it out by the pond where there is more evidence of moles out there, a little farther away from the house.

Donkeys often transport people and things up the mountain there Posted by Trish on June 18, 2025, 1:40 pm, in reply to "I loved that, too." Admin

On way back from Cho Oyu Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 19, 2025, 6:54 pm, in reply to "Donkeys often transport people and things up the mountain there" I had a stop over in Doha. They had donkeys that guests rode from their room to the lobby and restaurant. I was told you're expected to ride. It's an insult if you don't. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

post script: felt like home Posted by Trish on June 18, 2025, 1:42 pm, in reply to "Donkeys often transport people and things up the mountain there" Admin there are a few places I've visited where when my feet touched the soil there was a sense of being home. the other was Inverness, Scotland

Maybe you have some Greek in your ancestry? :) Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 2:48 pm, in reply to "post script: felt like home" Valued Poster When I had my DNA tested, I found out that I had a little Greek and Italian in me, too, which I thought was kinda cool. Mostly western Europe of course, with German, English, Scandanavian, Irish, and French... Our tour guide was so cool. She even sang to us a few times in Greek... beautiful voice, and she plays an instrument, too... forgot what she called it, but similar to the viola. The Greek history and culture is SO rich. They told us to be sure and watch the new Greek wedding movie, too, so that is on my agenda.

How are they with Germans these days? Posted by greenman on June 21, 2025, 1:57 pm, in reply to "Maybe you have some Greek in your ancestry? :)" Valued Poster I don't know if you had any indication of that or not. My Ancient Greek teacher in College and her husband, an Ancient History professor, went to Greece many times. Once they were hiking in the mountains and came to a village, where people were a little put off at first by her blondness - until she assured them she was Scottish-American. Then everyone was happy, and they broke out the cold beer. In the '70s they still didn't like German tourists much, though. -greenman

What if your post began with "Badly....." Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 17, 2025, 11:12 pm, in reply to "Well...." Laughingstock Massachusetts (AP) - "Badly." a Missouri woman said when asked how it felt to be home under Trumpcare. A Missouri woman has returned stateside with what she thought was a mild cold, but turned out to be the first case of the highly contagious Greek E cola flu, according to Nonsecretary of the CDC Sentator Robert F Kennedy. "I know all the coles" he said."Cola, cole, coli, colo, and colu. It tends to run through the vowels. I recommended her to be the first recipient of Trumpcare. We have a special bleach dissolved in steam killed cola, that we believe will be an effective alternative to the Greek flu vaccines currently peddled in the nation's farms and suitables. Secretary under Donald Trump Kristi Norm said, "Those of you in the listening audience waiting for this story to improve; you don't know us." Lieutenant General Attorney General Attorney Pam Blondi of the Department of Redundancy Justice and Redundancy Department said, "We've said it before. Nobody visiting Greece should expect to come home healthy. All that time in the sun, gentle seas, warm winds and recipes for two thousand year old bread is badly for you." "That's stupid, and not at all what I said," said the Missouri woman. " Things aren't badly for you. They're bad, or good. Badly? That's something a small child who doesn't have a gvood grasp of English might say. Who the heck says that?" President Trump, and he isn't a small child!" .. .. By now you're either feeling better or worse. Badly or worsely. You came home just in time for the Sax and Violins. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

Speaking of which.... Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 11:19 am, in reply to "What if your post began with "Badly....."" Valued Poster Just saw this headline. 'Have we fallen so low': Reagan-era judge accuses Trump admin of 'palpable' discrimination, orders NIH grants to be restored Yep, they are targeting cuts to people they don't like... mainly people of color and LGBTQ... likely the poor, sick and elderly, too. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/have-we-fallen-so-low-reagan-era-judge-accuses-trump-admin-of-palpable-discrimination-orders-nih-grants-to-be-restored/ar-AA1GTeWF?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=865e19aeab384cb1924ad40ed92624d0&ei=12

Now that Israel and Iran appear to be at war... Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 18, 2025, 4:45 pm, in reply to "Speaking of which...." ADMIN We have absolutely the WRONG person as POTUS. What's very disturbing is the evangelical base that was splintering and falling away from the felon, suddenly reunited behind him, ESPECIALLY if he gets the US involved in that war. They're calling it the beginning of Armageddon. Once again, and maybe more than ever the felon is a tool of God. If, and I say metaphorically if prophecies of Revelation are true, then by description and definition the felon is the beast, and a God fearing Christian should recognise him and flee AFAP. But see, these dupes so badly misinterpreted their Bibles, their reality world is truth are lies and lies are truth. Felon fled the G7 because he is afraid to face, face to face all the other leaders he insulted over the tariff debacle. The I-I war was just an excuse to leave early. Did he deal with that? No, he attended raising the US flag on the finest flag poles ever built on each side of the White House. I could not help but notice very brunette Ivanka and Jared standing there. Trump ain't no natural blonde. He represents the "blonde joke." Senator Tammy Smith of Minnesota confronted Senator Mike Lee face to face, eye to eye after Lee's outrageous social media posts about the Minnesota political assassinations. If Lee was a man, he would never have done that to begin with. But he'd apologize to Smith, and to the American public. After the face to face, by not apologizing, he continues to be a bully coward on the run, and so is the felon. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

So disgusted.... Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 5:38 pm, in reply to "Now that Israel and Iran appear to be at war..." Valued Poster I can't even spit right now. So many Christians hang on every word of the bible. I met some of them on the trip to Greece. Even went to the cave on Patmos where John wrote Revelations. I'm sure many of them are coached on what to believe or not to believe, and how to interpret this or that. It's just so nuts. Also went to Delphi, where the ancients believed in the oracles of the gods. People would go there to consult with these oracles or prophets of the gods, asking them various questions on what they should do or not do... and they would believe in whatever prophecies or advice they were given. People WANT to believe so badly... especially in uncertain and tumultuous times. After seeing all of those ancient ruins of very advanced civilizations of the past, and all the mythology and history that was part of it.... well, I have to wonder what the ruins of our present civilizations will look like thousands of years from now, and what god(s) or superstitions people will believe in then?

The Carmina Burana Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 18, 2025, 6:11 pm, in reply to "So disgusted...." ADMIN Those poems written by Goliards up to a thousand years ago show while times changed, people didn't. Humanity hasn't. Will our cities be ruins in two millenia? Some people are so desperate to believe, they tell and accept lies in order to believe it. We're gonna prelude Seikolos Skolion and Turn Turn Turn on Sunday. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

Fascinating Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 7:17 pm, in reply to "The Carmina Burana" Valued Poster So much history, and so much we will never even know...

Profound to profane Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 19, 2025, 5:34 pm, in reply to "Fascinating" Apologies up front. This is crass and distasteful. But when dealing with this man, no standard is too low. We all know the felon had the worlds tallest, largest, finest, most sophisticated, nearly hundred foot tall ropeless flagpoles erected at the White House where he can see them. It is his devastating message to Iran, the G7, Los Angeles and Gavin Newsom. Stormy, Melania, E Jean and Karen collaborated with the designer for the ornament atop the pole. Afraid the felon might see it and be thrown into a rage, the ladies said, "It's too high. He can't see it. He can't see his own right now either. He's too fat. We all saw it and the sculptor got it absolutely right. It doesn't matter, and we don't care. El Felon Mar a Lago doesn't know how to use binoculars either, so he won't see it that way. We snicker with joy at thought of him not knowing about it. He doesn't know anything about anything, and especially him pole sitting up there. Pam Bondie, Kristy, his press skankretary what's her name, Marjorie, Lauren, Pete, Stephen, Russ, and Senators Ron, Mike, and Lindsay all know what it looks like from close personal experience. We call it the trump eagle. One big putt better than a birdie. Instead of a hole in one, it's one in a hole." You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

Can’t say that word…! Posted by Skye on June 20, 2025, 1:02 am, in reply to "Profound to profane" Valued Poster The “E word”… well, dt can’t say it, even as he erects those ‘big beautiful’ ridiculous poles. Well, after all… it may be the only erection he has had in many years, as Jimmy Kimmel made note. LOL It was so important for him to leave the G7 meeting to rush off and erect those poles and then think about if he wants to think about launching an attack on Iran. We may as well laugh ourselves into oblivion, eh?

and this one…. Posted by Skye on June 20, 2025, 1:32 am, in reply to "Can’t say that word…!" Valued Poster

"Two week Trump too weak Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 20, 2025, 9:07 pm, in reply to "and this one…." ADMIN His go to when he has no clue is the two week plan. His "two week" plan for the war is like his two week plan when the Covid pandemic began. He stalled for time, hoping it would go away. His lack of a plan and unpreparedness is why Biden mopped the floor with him in 2020. Stolen election dysfunctional erection! This war, like Covid, isn't a manufactured crisis. He has no clue what to do. Xi and Putin both told him to stay away and stay out of it. One of his advisors like Miller, Hegseth, or Bannon might get the weak minded fool to do something and act. This one comes not at the end, but the beginning, and may lead to a Congress willing to impeach AND remove his arse. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

I’m pretty sure that Bannon…. Posted by Skye on June 20, 2025, 9:50 pm, in reply to ""Two week Trump too weak" Valued Poster is telling him to stay out of it as he is part of the “America First” Trump groupies, whereas the evangelicals are the ‘end times’ wing. Trump always campaigned on staying out of foreign wars since 10 years ago… but now he is crazier than ever and can’t stand not being the star of the show. Probably even fancies himself as taking over or controlling the whole damn world… if not through his tariff ‘deals’ then through military might or threats. And now he has other crazies surrounding him on both sides of the Trump train. What a nightmare!

Felon is big on making his own decisions Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on June 21, 2025, 2:05 pm, in reply to "I’m pretty sure that Bannon…." ADMIN Problem with that is Felon likes to hear from people who admire him. Their opinions too often become his decisions politically. He is too stupid to make a good decision on his own. Trump steaks? Trump bitcoins? Trump superhero cards? Trump mobile and phones? His so called business deals and adventures are one disaster after another. Mostly they're stupid ideas to begin with. Aside from that, he has no discipline to stay with a decision and work out solutions when problems arise. His best money making business, his NYC buildings make little money because they're half empty. After he contracted their construction, he charged prices far higher than real market value. few were interested in paying. The prestige of living or working in a felon property is worthless. If it says anythiong, it says the leasee is also too stupid to find a better location for lower cost. Most of his leasees appear to be middle easterners who likewise waste their money on prestige, hype, glitter, and worthless tricketry... trumpery! Politically Stephen Miller has the felon's ear more than anyone because his loyalty is unwavering. Imo he is more mentally ill than the felon, and much more dangerous. He is driving force behind the ICE and immigrant policy raiding businesses and flea markets of customers based on appearance and racial profiling. Many US citizens detained and arrested on flimsy trumped up charges, and much of the No Kings protest is based on that policy. Like the Venezuelan gang takeover of the apartments in Aurora. Mayor and Governor said it wasn't true. The owner said no such thing ever happened. It was a bald faced lie, and yet the felon still believes otherwise. I wondered last night, if Felon ever actually SAW a National Park? His putting around his golf courses is his closest activity to nature and the outdoors, and there he's consumed not by nature, but by a game! He rides a cart. Never walks or carries a bag. Little wonder why he's obese and getting fatter. Since bonespurs, he learned he can get doctors to lie for him. He goes through them until he finds a corruptable one. Same for lawyers, and now it appears judges who he appointed. If he isn't impeached and removed, if a SCOTUS vacancy appears- Alito or Thomas, he'll nominate Eileen Cannon! He has no scruples of any kind. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony

Well, he seems to have a hard time making decisions. Posted by Skye on June 21, 2025, 4:22 pm, in reply to "Felon is big on making his own decisions" Valued Poster They don't call him Taco for nothing.

Ummm Posted by Skye on June 18, 2025, 10:54 am, in reply to "What if your post began with "Badly....."" Valued Poster Well, I did feel badly, and bad, and perplexed... LOL After traveling in some of the European countries last year, even some with dictators of sorts, most of them at least had health care and child care policies. Trump repuglicans would probably gut all of that, assuming we even had it in the first place. They really don't care about anyone or anything that doesn't personally benefit numero uno in their 'America First' mindset... not even America, really.

Sounds good and I'm glad that you're feeling better now. Posted by Sia on June 17, 2025, 9:47 pm, in reply to "Well...." ADMIN

« Back to index