Statue, figure of turned Pecan Wood

I turned this piece from Pecan wood and stained it with pecan stain. I then put lynseed oil and shellack on it. The piece included the pith so their is cracking in areas which I will later fill with some time of filling. I will wait to the cracking has finished before filling.

Sunrise in El Paso over Mount Franklin in West El Paso, TX

This was our view this morning while walking the dogs in West El Paso. Gary

Two New Mesquite Boxes

Just finished these two mesquite boxes. Finishes a series of six. Gary

Final Report, Italy, Greece Cruise

Day 10 Italy, Greece Cruise, Norwegian June 4; Last report for this cruise. We dock in Rome tomorrow and fly home. We docked in Livorna Italy this morning. At this port we were unable to walk off and we had no tour’s scheduled. We did decide to take a bus down town and walk around. We waited in line, took the bus and did not get off the bus. We returned to the ship. I think the tour yesterday was so demanding physically that we needed a down day. There were other tours and we had not signed up for them. The trip home was exhausting. We flew into Madrid Spain from Rome, Italy. We flew on a plane I had never flown on before: Iberia. The terminal at Madrid was exhausting in our walk to get to the gate. Two passport checks. The Iberia flight to Dallas was very good and the economy seats on Iberia are excellent compared to other airlines. The Dallas airport’s gate to go to El Paso was a lengthy distance however we were able to get ride on motorized transport. Terrific.

Italy, Greece 4th Report

4th Report, Italy, Greece Friday, June 2. 8th day of cruise. Watched the cruise ship slowly move into port, Catania, Italy. While coming into port, saw Mount Etna. Really large mountain and is active. We were to take a tour of it and then they changed the time of the tour to the afternoon so we cancelled. Too much for Linda in the afternoon. On trip into port got to watch a container ship being loaded with train cars. Our ship is a monstrous size and make all movements into port at a snails pace. We watched this while drinking coffee and sipping water on our little balcony. After the ship docked we did an hour walk down town. Saw a nice looking theatre that had many statues and figurines. We also saw the front of a small museum that was not open. We then returned to the ship for our lunch time snack. We get a free expensive style dinner with our cruise package and we have chosen an Italian restaurant for this evening. On this ship there are six places to eat with no additional charge. Up to eight speciality restraints require an additional charge. On our deck, our limited wifi stops working. Wifi is a money maker for the ship. We are paying it. We have resisted paying for the streaming service which is separate and significantly higher in price. The bait us initially with 150 minutes free which disappears rapidly. We some times forgot to log off and it continues to use minutes while you have gone on with your life doing other activities. June 3, Salerno, Italy It is a particularly beautiful morning. We pulled into Port in the dawn of the morning. The harbor safety lights were twinkling at us and the ship is so quiet, we creep into wide channel. Very peaceful and picturesque. Today is our last formal tour with guide and bus load of other cruisers. It is to the Villa Rufolo and Wine Apicella. It should be very nice. On board there is a class system on this ship. People in the “Haven” cruise category have their own area of the ship to eat, sun bathe, swimming pool (top floors). We lose the top floor area that we have had on previous ships for viewing and activity. They are segregated from us. Today’s excursion was one of the most trying regarding switch backs while driving. It is also one of the most vertical climbs I have ever experienced. One trip to the Philippines was very steep and vertical and dangerous also. The roads here had more experienced drivers and the roads were safer and yet it was very dangerous. The Philippine roads were the most dangerous. Our guide today, Ernesto was nice enough and kept us going with little stories and thoughts. He rambled about compasses coming from China, Lemons from South Africa, 200 years of Islamic rule here and Islamic traditions, chestnut trees. We experienced very narrow streets (11 centuries old), one way tunnels requiring the blowing of horns to pass safely. He also described Mount Vesuvius last blowing in 1944. It was covered in clouds and we could not see it. Ernesto said it blows every 100 years. We walked a long distance up hill to the Villa Rufolo to see many Ancient architecture features, flowers. Many events had been held there in the past and the view was very nice. Hey day was in the 13th century. Restored many times. 1851 a Scottish person did a major restoration. We did a lot of walking. 7905 steps today. We also visited a winery and had a complete briefing again of how to make wine. Wing a ding, ding. We sampled a lot of wine. They gave us some nice cheese, bread, olives to go with it. Salami for Linda. We were glad to get back to the ship. Linda proceeded to go to the bar and get another alcoholic beverage. A real party animal. Our big entertainment this afternoon was watching late guests run for the gangway which had already been pulled up. Police in uniform escorted them back. The entire balcony on our side was screaming for them to make it to the ship. What a show. Who knows if they are allowed to come aboard.

3rd Report, Italy, Greece Cruise

Italy, Greece Cruise 3rd Report On Monday the 29th we went on a tour of Athens using a hop on and off bus. It was a morning tour and consists of a 3 1/4 hours bus trip. Linda and I stayed on the bus the entire time and listened to a tour guide over small microphones which plugged into the bus near us. It was mostly difficult to hear the guide and was of little value to understanding what we drove past. Both of us did manage to take many pictures which were not close ups of the tourist attractions of the ancient past. Linda needed to rest in the afternoon so we did not get off the bus. We did get to see a lot of Athens and it was an acceptable experience. Fortunately, we had seen enough YouTube presentations of these sites where we did not feel it was necessary to get off the bus. We drove past the Acropolis and Parthenon archaeological sites. May 30, Tuesday We paid 9,000 to 10,000 for this trip including both of us, airfare, free drinks and some wifi (we paid for more wifi). This includes all we can eat. There are 23 bars on this ship and we note that many people are drinking excessively. Today we arrived in Mykonos, Greece with a ferry boat ride to Delos where we had a 3d tour of of Delos (another Creek Island). The tour also included head phones where our guide spoke to us. The tour also issued us an IPAD where we could see the various sites we visited in 3d replicating how the site we were looking at would look like in its original form. Our tour guide is named Marian Helena. One of the very best guides that I have had ever. She knew her stuff, was enthusiastic and kept talking rapidly for hours at a time. She described the houses in Mykonos as being restricted to two floors, and painted white only. There are 28 surrounding islands. We walked the excavation of the ancient City of Delos which is in ruins and is being restored. Many of the dwellings there have been destroyed over time. Archeologists have spent substantial time taking individual pieces and putting them together to represent how they were originally built. It is a rocky alcove, and is 3,000 years old. There are temple and shrines, houses, beautiful mosaics. The Romans declared it a tax free zone and as a result, was mecca of business activity with permanent resident population of 20,000. A Greek King killed all of them and later settlers left the area because of pirates in the area and it becoming unsafe. It is considered a protected area now and has 2 million visitors a year. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Five cruise ships were in the port while we were there. May 31, Wednesday. Today we visited the original site of the of the Olympic Games and a grape field and winery. This area is believed to be started as an area of athletic competition 776 BC. It was a site of competition for 1200 years in the name of Zeus a Greek king of gods. The Romans in the name of Christianity destroyed the area. The whole area is littered with what remains of buildings, columns. There has been little or no effort to rebuild it as it once may have appeared. My knowledge of the Greek government is they do not have the money and have been recently bailed out with massive loans from the European Union. Our guide did a good job of describing how the area once appeared. He described also a temple to Zeus that once stood in the area that was spectacular. It was a good area to walk through. We took pictures the famous Olympic stadium. Linda and I expended over 9,000 steps walking it. The area is filled with olive trees. The guide told us that their olive trees were exported to California. When we lived in Apple Valley we had two olive trees that looked like the ones here. It was demanding for me to trim them. One year I actually made green olives to eat with some. We ate them. The process is demanding using strong acids. I did not repeat it. Easier to go to the store and buy them. The wine tasting was OK. I am allergic to grapes and still managed to participate in the tasting. June 1, Thursday. Today was a trip to the Greek Island of Corfu. Really, I did not expect much. It was terrific. Some of the very best views of the trip. Our guide, Urainee gave us a good lecture all through the trip and also information on the culture, education, tax systems of the country. They are very heavily taxed and have a 22 percent unemployment level. School is free up to bachelor degree level. To get to the mainline of Greece from the island takes two hours by ferry. The island was colonized in the 7th century BC. We saw old fortresses which were mainly built by the Venetians who were afraid of the Ottoman turks. The streets are very narrow here and this was the first time I tipped a driver. We were inches away from walls, other cars and yet managed not to hit any of it. Seven percent of the population is employed in the tourist industry. They receive one to three cruise ships a day. Greece joined the European Union in 2002. There are 10 million Greeks and one half of them live in Athens. We stopped at a Kum Quat farm and were served a variety of alcoholic drinks (samples) and Ouzo. Very good tour and wonderful views.