Amsterdam, Holland - May 31, 2008

More snaps from the Canal bus. We found our way to the place in Dam square where the coach tour we are booked on leaves from tomorrow. We found a small bar for a drink before going back to the canal bus, and then walking from its stop back to our hotel. Shower, drinks and out to a cafe for dinner. It was a pretty full day!

At home: I have uploaded a few more photos to my Travel Multiply group. Its going a bit better but I like my own home page and its albums. I am not sure why I am even doing this Multiply one.. just so I can DO IT, I guess. I suppose, if I had nothing else to do I would go about finding Peolple with like interests, as they say. To me it just storage, and a place to keep my old msn garden group.

At home: I picked the apples and have them in bags on the deck for now. I should wash them and cull out the worst ones. I raked up the leaves, pruned the tree a bit. I also pruned back the wisteria. It was not too bad.. maybe someday I will have it trained to a single trunk with just a few branches at the crown. I must keep them low enough so that I can prune them easily. Pruned back the oregano, sage, lavender and anything else that needed it in the herb bed; as well as the clematis that is behind the herbs. Trimmed back the evergreen along the garden path. I now have a heap of clippings that will go into the bin after it is emptied on the 11th.
The pond was almost empty and the pump was disconnected from the waterfall hose. I guess the water had run out because the waterfall was full of leaves. I have no idea how it got disconnected from the hose though. Well, I was reading my new book on landscaping with stone yesterday and thinking about reworking the edges of the pond... guess I will be doing this sooner than I thought. I have to get about a foot of sludge and water off the bottom of the pond, first. I want to lower the ledge to set the rocks down a bit lower with the liner coming slightly up behind the rocks. I will slant the rocks backwards, slightly, too so that they are not sliding into the pond so readily. Hope I can get out tomorrow. It was suppose to rain tonite.

Pat has contacted Vern and another person at Home Depot about getting our carpet piece. They promise to do all they can to get this done right. I should have December to move kitchen stuff, so there will, hopefully be enough time.

Russian River Cruise - Day 10 - May 21

From my notes: We have breakfast while the ship is stationary. We are on the Neva River, and since it is foggy we are allowed to move to our dock only at a certain speed. So, we start our bus tour an hour late. I was on deck to shoot at the bridge as we moved closer to our berth.
The bridges are mostly draw bridges and at one time they would be drawn up at mid-night and put down again in the morning. They are no longer doing this. A list of bridges.

From the Litvinov information: Bus tour - Architecture, monuments and canals await your cameras. A brillian blend of western style and Russian character. Stops will be made at the Smolny Monastery, Vasilievsky Island and St. Isaac's Square.
Note: The weather in St. Peteersburg is very changeable. Sometimes the weather forecast varies from what we have, in fact. Most of the tours involve a considerable amount of walking.

We are back on the ship for lunch. There is a shuttle to downtown and back in the afternoon. We have signed up for the optional Ballet performance "Giselle' by Adam at the Hermitage Theatre in the evening. A most enjoyable performance.