Oh dear. I’m in trouble again. It’s not every year that one goes on no fewer than THREE cruises and then to Geilo in Norway for a skiing holiday at Christmas with all the family. But when writing the previous post, all of this went right out of my head and as Granny-Anne paid for the cruises and the Geilo holiday in 2015, she was not amused. I’m in the doghouse again.
We went to Amsterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg on our “European Cities”cruise. Norway was the destination another time and the picture shows Fred Olsen’s Balmoral at Olden, one of my favourites, situated at the inner end of a fjord. Our third cruise was around some UK cities and islands. All three cruises were on Balmoral, because we enjoy the ship so much that we have tended to choose Balmoral first, then accept wherever she happens to be going, within our budget of course.
A large part of my time, in the first half of 2015, was spent emptying Gerry’s house under the direction of her immediate family (who live well over 100 miles away but visited a few times to help where only close family can help) and preparing it for sale.
(Some days later…)
I wrote this post while in the hospital using the hospital-supplied wifi. When I tried to publish it, a message told me that it could not find the WordPress website. So a lot of struggling with one-finger typing and many errors was wasted as there was no way to save the post.
I have been at home for three days and trusting that my wifi will work correctly I am starting again.
This year has seen the sale of both the VW camper van and the Morris 1000 Traveller. Although we had several enjoyable outings in the van, it was under-used as we never actually camped in it. The Morris, having lost the use of Gerry’s garage, was kept on the drive, albeit under a good weatherproof cover, but not a satisfactory arrangement.
We now have a 5-year-old VW Polo Bluemotion which suits us very well, and when I am strong enough to give it a wash and take some photographs I will have more to write about it.
Just Williams 
Your wifi worked perfectly well, and it was delightful to hear about your cruises. Say hello to Granny-Anne for me, too.I do hope all’s well with her and the rest of your family.
I’ve never heard of a VW Polo Bluemotion. Not once. Funny how different areas of the world have such different model names. I suppose it makes sense, since markets do differ, but you’d think we’d at least hear about the “other” VW models over here. It may be that other people are perfectly aware, and I’m the one who’s behind the curve.
Is Balmoral-the-ship named after Balmoral-the-castle? I’ve always liked the name. It’s good to hear that the ship has suited you so well!
Yes the ship is named after the castle. We have had about nine or ten cruises over the past seven years. The first two were on other ships but then we discovered Balmoral and liked it so much that we stayed with it.
The VW Polo is a small 4-5 seater saloon car and ours is the two-door version with a 1.1 litre diesel angine. Ours is the Bluemotion version for which the makers claim over 80mpg average. despite this economy it is lively when required. More info in the next post.
Linda,GrannyAnne sends regards. It is really nice to hear from you again.