Happy New Year 2020!

"I can see clearly now"... Happy 2020!

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A Colourized Wasaga Beach Seventy or Eighty Years Ago

Remember crayons? Well this is my colouring book...

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Port Bruce 1930's - Another Post Card Colourized

These old black and whites (brown and yellows?) come up nicely with some colour don't you think?

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My "Artsy" Steam Punk Pic for Today

The Steam Punk Dirigible is hovering in the Antwerp Railway station in Belgium in this surreal composition. I love to mix old Victorian and vibrant new colours and concepts then meld them into unlikely situations. I signed it 2020 so you are really getting a preview. Ha ha!

Enjoy! Check out my other Steampunk stuff CLICK HERE.
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Merry Christmas Carroll's 2019

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Let It Snow!

The snow is all gone in London. Wendy was afraid her lights wouldn't look too good so I had some snow trucked in for the Christmasy look. Hope our friends appreciate all the work I did.

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All I Want For Christmas Is My New Dental Implant #2

 Due to the total and complete success of my first implant nearly 6 years ago, I without hesitation, opted for another...

I can't wait to be able to chew steak on my left side again. January 8, 2020 is the the day I get the screw put in after having had my lower left molar removed due to infection back on April 15 of this year. My bout with pneumonia in October caused me to postpone the first step (the screw) of the implant procedure to January.

CLICK HERE to see more on the blog about implants.
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Cruisers Get Money Back and More

Looks like we are out the whole amount for cancelling our trip. Double whammy: cancellation insurance may not cover us due to pre-existing condition. Oh well. At least we are not down there needing eye surgery!

ABOVE: Empty ship Nieuw Amsterdam leaves Port Everglades at 4:38 on Monday Dec. 16 on its way to Bahamas and the dry-dock for repairs to the propulsion system.

Here's the latest news article Jeri Clausing in "Travel Weekly" on line magazine.

Holland America has canceled this week’s Caribbean cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam and says it’s unclear when the ship will resume sailing.

In a statement, the company said technical issues with one of two Azipod propulsion systems forced it to cancel the cruise that was scheduled to leave Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

All passengers will receive a full refund of cruise fare and taxes paid, hotel package costs, prepaid shore excursions and amenities, and any additional travel fees resulting from rebooking air tickets. They will also receive a future credit for the full amount of the cruise fare paid.

The company said it will notify guests and travel advisors by Tuesday if the issues will have any impact on the cruise scheduled to depart Dec. 21.

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Our Cruise Was Just Ended BY THE CRUISE LINE!

In a previous posting you will know that Wendy and I were not able to go on our December cruise and had to 'bail out'.

Well Holland America cancelled the cruise we were supposed to be on in its 8th day of 14 days for a full refund. Our friends were evicted from the Nieuw Amsterdam and have to vacate the ship by tomorrow (Monday) morning. HAL will send the ship to Bahamas for repair of the propulsion Azipod. Meanwhile our friends (from Africa, UK and Canada) will have to find something to do for a week. They decided to rent a van and the 6 of them are going to Disney-world for a few days. How sad for those who came so far.

It's strange how these things happen and a coincidence that we had to cancel before the trip due to Wendy's eye surgery. That was one cruise I don't mind having missed except I really do miss being with our good friends.

Fate works in mysterious ways.
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The 'Just Pretend' Cruise Ship Buffet...

Almost as good as the Lido Restaurant on the ship! Okay, we can pretend. Ha ha!

Today, Wendy and I went over to the fabulous Mandarin Restaurant for lunch. The happy greeters made our day by asking if we were over 65, thus qualifying us for the 20% 'Seniors Discount'.
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Today's Artoon

It was inspired by my monthly (or so) visit with Doug, Mike and Jay at Joe Kool's on Richmond Street today.

Happy days!

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Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!

Do You Remember?  Joe, The Hair Smelling Expert Does!

 Here's the original.

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More and More 'Artoons'.

ABOVE: I couldn't find the right Santa face with a look of surprise or concern, so I inserted my own mug. Ho ho ho!

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Another Christmas 'Artsy'!

This is a good example of one of my 'composite' works. The final artoon, like all of them, is made up of a few components blended into one. I thought you might be interested in seeing the make-up pieces of the completed composition above.

Stock textures and backgrounds can be integrated in with Photoshop.

 Above is a picture of a Santa costume from China. Costume pictures are a good source of components for my 'artoons'. The arms of course were manipulated as required.

Royalty-free images like the urinals are a good source of props

Another one I like is this 'Grunge' texture from a royalty free site. It can be used as an overlay to do as the title says... add grunge and an antique look when combined with a yellowish wash.

Here's another one. The old urinals are a picture I took in the basement men's washroom of the Western Fair Market. I re-coloured the paint in Christmas colours and added the St Nick from the previous composition above.

Hope you enjoy!

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A Classic Christmas. My Artoon for today.

Christmas in Canada Cannabis?

Original pic from internet

I love doing these artoons!

If you know me well, you'll know, I never cared to try cannabis but it always intrigued me. Back in the sixties I saw friends in art college get so enthralled with weed that they became 'spaced out' and 'dropped out'. The 'drug culture' and 'flower power' combined with the 'peace movement' and in my opinion, the rapid deterioration of music with the advent of 'psychedelic' in the late sixties and early seventies, all 'came together' to completely 'turn me off'. Not to mention it was until last year, illegal in Canada!

I never started with it and that's probably a good thing for me because, lord knows, I never needed any more vices. Ha ha!  Now that it's legal, who knows...
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On A Cruise You Don't Usually Have To Bail!

This is the first time in all our years of travel that this has ever happened. I had to bail. I had to cancel our upcoming cruise. With this sudden development; however, there was never any question that we would be able to continue. Let me explain...

The lead up to our Holland America 14 Day cruise (booked in August) aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam was normal. Get everything done around the house. Pack ahead of time to relieve some of the stress. (we bought the Christmas tree last week so we wouldn't have to deal with that set-up since we were to return on Dec 21, only a couple days before Christmas Eve)  I even pre-set up this blog to auto-load our daily progress.

Passenger Loading and Cruise Ship Names At Each Port

07-Dec-19 8070 FLL Adventure Of The Seas, Celebrity Equinox, Nieuw Amsterdam
08-Dec-19 4539 KEY WEST    Rhapsody Of The Seas, Nieuw Amsterdam
09-Dec-19 AT SEA
10-Dec-19 4744 GRAND TURK Carnival Sensation, Nieuw Amsterdam
11-Dec-19 4732 AMBER COVE Carnival Elation, Nieuw Amsterdam
12-Dec-19 AT SEA
13-Dec-19 2104 HALF MOON CAY Nieuw Amsterdam
14-Dec-19 9331 FLL Independence of the Seas, Celebrity Equinox, Nieuw Amsterdam
15-Dec-19 AT SEA
16-Dec-19 9465 GRAND TURK Carnival Triumph, Nieuw Amsterdam, Carnival Horizon
17-Dec-19 19378 PUERTO RICO Nieuw Amsterdam, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaside, Celebrity Edge, Norwegian Encore
18-Dec-19 15637 ST. THOMAS Nieuw Amsterdam, Norwegian Breakaway, Symphony of the Seas, Norwegian Encore
19-Dec-19 AT SEA
20-Dec-19 2104 HALF MOON CAY Nieuw Amsterdam
21-Dec-19 FLL 8070 Adventure Of The Seas, Celebrity Equino x, Nieuw Amsterdam

We were excited about our time with our good friends Cheryl and John, Mark and Louise and their daughter Niahm and her friend. We always have a such a good time together. With less than a week before we were to 'shuffle off to Buffalo' on December 5th, a problem, which turned out to be a 'show stopper', arose.

Everything seemed fairly normal (except for Wendy experiencing some eye irritation and a headache) as we attended the 'Circle of Friends' party at the Marienbad Restaurant on Thursday night (Nov. 28) but by the time we got home her eye was still inflamed and sore.

Friday morning (Nov. 29) early we drove to Ivey Eye Clinic at St Joe's hospital. A preliminary exam led to a follow-up with a retinal specialist later in the day. At 5pm Tim Jr. drove Wendy back to the hospital to see the doctor. He wasted no time and performed surgery on her eye that very evening.  The good news is, all turned out well and Wendy is making a fine recovery after the removal of what is called a 'scleral buckle' which was installed nearly 20 years ago.

No one could have forecast this. The timing was perfect. If this had happened a week or so later, we'd have been on the cruise with little or no chance of quality eye care at sea. The stress and anxiousness of the situation would have compromised the enjoyment of everyone with us, not to mention the threat to Wendy's situation had it not been dealt with in a timely manner.

This is a view you don't want to see if you are supposed to be on board! Bon voyage my friends!

Even with her rapid recovery we had to cancel because there is always a risk of infection or a retinal tear after this surgery so we would not want to be at sea, away from expert help, if some complication arose. Also, she would not be covered for this by our travel insurance since it would be deemed a pre-existing condition. She sees the retinal doctor again Dec. 06.

Oh well! Lots of time now to experience the lead-up to the Christmas season and I'm already packed for next time. Ha ha.

Have a great cruise, my cruising buddies! Take lots of pictures.
Tim

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Santa Relaxing In Canada... My Artoon For Today

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She's Still At It! More Lights!

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And Now For Some Snow...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

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Even Freezing Rain Is Nice If You Stay Indoors

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Having A Very Marienbad Christmas

The ladies 'Circle of Friends' group (at Christmas the men are allowed to come) have been meeting at the Marienbad Restaurant on Carling Street for several years.  The nineteenth century home and origin of our daily newspaper, the London Free Press. It makes a lovely meeting place for the festive season.

Above, friends start to arrive the hugs begin.

 

Above: The ladies of the 'Circle' talk. Wendy brought some cute little potted ferns and decorated the table with Christmas napkins, cedar boughs, ribbon and twinkling lights as a center piece.

L to R: Tom, Murray, Wendy, Pat, Anne, Barbara, Barry, Joyce, Trisha, Greg, Peter, Tim, Joan

It was really nice to get everyone together Thursday night. The solarium or center courtyard of the building forms a private, separate room for our pre-Christmas party. Missing from the group shot was Bud and Mary Helen who are wintering in Mexico.

Stories abounded and everyone seemed to have a good evening. (above: Greg, Joan and Peter)  The Marienbad is known for good food and tonight they didn't let us down. I had the prime rib and it was so tender and delicious as is usual here.

Merry Christmas to all!
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