... hubby and I sailed our first repositioning cruise on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, traveling from Harwich, England (near London) to Boston. We picked this sailing because it included a day in Paris (via the port of Le Havre, France) and two days in Reykjavik, Iceland. Both places were on our "to do" list and the itinerary did not disappoint! It was truly an amazing trip (and, at 15 days, our longest cruise to date). We definitely want to return to some of these ports in the future.

It took a while to go through the 3,000+ photos I took, but I finally uploaded some of my favorites to Flickr.com. Click here if you want to see where Brilliance took us.

When traveling abroad, I do my best to find a McDonalds in every port of call. As you can see below, I was successful in Paris! Les Frites! Yum!

Target Hand Spear passed away peacefully today after battling multiple myeloma and kidney disease during the past year. He was 18 years old.

Target was born in the Los Angeles area and moved with his family to the Jersey Shore at the age of 3. The family eventually relocated to the suburbs of Philadelphia where Target spent the last six years of his life. For 15 years Target alternately played with, annoyed, and ignored his sisters Razzle and Misty, who preceded him in death.

Target was 1/2 Bengal and throughout his life he entertained us with many behaviors common to that breed of cat. Life with Target was certainly never boring and we are so glad that we were able to share our lives with him for 18 years.

We are grateful to Dr. Rufus and Bob at Colonial Animal Hospital in Newtown Square and to the staff at Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Specialists (EVS/Emergency Veterinary Services) in Malvern, especially Dr. Kumrow and Dr. Hamilton, for the quality care they provided Target during this final chapter of his life.

We love you, Targeee, and we will miss you forever.

Target, Oct. 22, 2014.

... our Target turned 17. He is still very active for his age and I wonder if he will be one of those rare kitties who will stick around until he is in his 20's. 

Happy Belated Birthday, Targeee!

… mainly because I send off the occasional tweet instead. As if I am so busy I can't take the time to write more than 140 characters. :) I am going to start blogging again, I think. If nothing else, it will help keep my writing skills sharp.

We have done a fair amount of traveling in the last year. I just posted photos from our most recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Pics from other trips to follow.

Below is a picture taken at Orient Beach in St. Martin (the French side of an island that is half French and half Dutch). Looking forward to our next trip to this beautiful place.

Dan and I voted around 1:30 this afternoon. We were told by a poll worker that 1200 people are registered to vote in our precinct and 600 had already voted, including 150 who were waiting in line when the building opened this morning. What does that mean? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. We shall see.

… with my little angels.

Spent the afternoon with my niece Janet visiting the Philadelphia Magic Gardens on South Street in South Philly. Took lots of pictures with my Lensbaby Composer lens (with Sweet 35 optic). Did some thrift store shopping on South Street, then had dinner at the Melrose Diner. Overall great day!

Photos can be seen here.

Misty "Mistella" Hand Spear passed away on Friday, August 10, 2012. She was 17 years old.

Misty was born in Southern California and moved to New Jersey at the age of four. Eight years later, she and her family settled in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, where she spent the last five years of her life.

Misty is survived by her adopted brother Target and her human companions, Dan, Kathy, and Chloe Spear.

Misty was a beautiful tortoise-shell cat with a sweet personality. Her greatest pleasure was sitting on Dan's lap (always with her special blanket!) as he watched television. The living room will seem so empty without you, Mistella!

Misty Hand Spear. (4/1/95 - 8/10/12)

Misty sleeping on my old, fat monitor.

"Yes, I like it up here. Why?"