Keltyn Woods

2009-12-23T19:58:00.002-05:00

Hosta are shade tolerant perennials which comprise approximately 15 percent of all perennial sales. With over 4000 different cultivars to consider it is small wonder that there is an ever increasing desire on the part of plant enthusiasts to include many varieties in their gardens. H. Orange Marmalade is one of the more recent introductions that has become very popular due to its variegation and slug resistance. A sport of Paul's Glory (another favorite hosta), it has new leaves with an orange colouration.

As a hosta enthusiast, if there is an interest I will continue this blog. I can discuss hosta in depth and answer questions people may have about this wonderful plant.

The Eastern Block

2009-10-28T01:30:00.002-04:00

Since Oct 26th, 2 days ago, we have been in the Eastern Block. One of our first stops was Vukovar, Croatia. Vukovar was totally bombed by the Serbs in 1992. It is very troublesome to walk down the streets of Croatia where these bombings occurred. Overnight, in 1992, any Serbs living in Croatia crossed the Danube and the next morning, the Serbs invaded Croatia. The problem was that there had been a lot of marriages between the Serbs and Croatians.

Consequently, when the war broke out there were many brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, grandchildren fighting on opposite sides. Croatia wanted to be independent of Serbia after Tito (the communist/socialist president ) died. If Croatia had given up the land on the Adriatic Sea (which belonged to them), Serbia would not have attacked. This is the area where Dubrovnik, and many famous tourist resorts are located. We heard from the Croatians about the war in the morning.

In the afternoon,we visited Serbia where the people never mentioned the war. They only mentioned the bombing by NATO of Serbia in 1997. We even had a professor who came on broad from Serbia to tell us about the history. Whenever we asked a question, he skirted around the issue.

Today we were in Belgrade, Serbia and we had a young guide who told us about the terrible things that Serbia did to not only Croatia, but also Bosnia, Kosovo (Jamie, Ryan and Phil this is where the Medahonsics were from) because they were also seeking their independence from Serbia (the main power of the former Yugoslavia). These war crimes were the reason NATO bombed Serbia. To hear many Serbians speak, they make NATO the enemy.

However NATO has managed to stop the violence for now. Today we were outside Tito's former residence and there was a car parked in the parking lot with two guys in it with tools and wire. Our guide had stopped the bus in the parking lot to tell us about the residence and I was very nervous until we moved from that spot, because yesterday in Croatia, they were expecting a dignitary from Russia and they had bomb sniffing dogs going around all the cars in the area. Thank god tomorrow we sail towards Bulgaria and Romania. What is refreshing is to hear the young people of Serbia and Croatia speak of a future without violence to settle their differences.

Hope everyone is well. Please let us know of news from back home. We get a daily Canadian flier which is mainly sports. Love to all. Talk to you later.

Love Judi and Keith.

Where the cobblestones end

2009-10-26T01:25:00.003-04:00

We are now in Hungary and although Budapest is beautiful in many places, there are many poor areas around Budapest. Yesterday afternoon we went to a horse farm to see a beautiful horse show. It was great to see all the grass instead of looking at cobblestones. We had wonderful weather and really enjoyed being out in the country. Today, we went to the second largest city in Hungary called Pécs.

The communist left Hungary only 20 years ago and it is a very poor country. We are so lucky in Canada. When we listen to the history of Hungary, it has only been the last 20 years that they have not been occupied and under the control of another country. Their taxes are very high and their salaries are very low. It is easy to see from our younger guides that the young people are disillusioned with prospects for their future, even though they are part of the European Union. Hungary has trouble competing in agriculture with the larger European nations like France and Spain. Tomorrow, we head for Croatia.

We are now in the Eastern block countries and our passports must be shown at every port. The border guards have been known to delay the ships for 1-2 hours. One day on the last cruise, the ship was delayed for 8 hours.

We have enjoyed the trip immensely and will both be 10-15 pounds heavier, but it has been great. We get off the ship on Sunday and are in Istanbul until Thursday morning when we fly home. Hope everyone is well. Miss all of you. Looking forward to coming home.

Love Judi and Keith.

Austria in a robe

2009-10-24T01:15:00.002-04:00

Our first stop in Austria was LInz. We arrived at night and did a tour in the dark so we could see the city lights. There were 35 of us on the tour and we were required to wear our white bathrobes so that the tour guide could see us. We were quite the sight walking through the town. I think we became the tourist attraction. We were all Canadians in our white robes.

We went to a Mozart Strauss concert in an old palace in Vienna. It was beautiful and there was a couple who did ballet and a couple of opera singers as well. The setting was certainly royal. Today we did a tour by bus and walking. We went to Emperors Palace Library and the Church where the royal weddings took place. Loads of opulence but one has to remember that the rich were also the biggest employers of the time. Vienna is getting ready to celebrate an October holiday. Big parade also a large military display in the courtyard of the palace. Also saw a couple of the Liechtenstein horses (famous white prancers). Lots of statues, beautiful museums (seems all the former rich have given their palaces over to the state for museums or opera halls).

.......

We are now in Budapest, Hungary. We had a wonderful morning shooting pictures as we came into the city by ship. We also went on a shopping tour early since the shops are closed at noon. This afternoon we are doing a tour of Buda and Pest since they were really two cities on opposite banks of the Danube. Sorry to run but lunch awaits my already bulging waistline.

Talk to you later.

Love to all
Keith and Judi

From the Rhine to the Danube

2009-10-20T01:14:00.002-04:00

Sorry we couldn't email sooner. Our computer was down as we were traveling in the canal between the Rhine river and the Danube. We were in Nuremberg yesterday and visited the sites of Hitler's rise to power. It was very sombering to stand in the immense areas where he would rally the troops and see where he stood to do this. It is amazing one man could have such power.

Today we are in Regensburg, Bavaria. It is one of the oldest medieval cities in Germany. We had a Bavarian lunch at a 500 year old pub. We ate sausages and sauerkraut with the local beer. Jamie I got you an Oktoberfest t-shirt from Munich. Munich is the only city that has Oktoberfest. There is a very large beerhaus called Holfhaus which is the center of the celebrations.

The t- shirt is a green color with Oktoberfest across the top, the Holfhaus symbol in the center (it is blue) and Munich written at the bottom. This is the only place in all of Germany that sells these t-shirts and one from the Holfhaus is even rarer. They change the style every year, but not the symbol in the center. It is always blue. Pardon my paragraphing.

The computer won't let me paragraph for some reason. How are you guys doing?

Marilyn, when we were in France, we went to Montmartre where the artists were to get you a painting of a scene of Paris. Unfortunately, there was a harvest fest at the time with thousands of people up there and the artists were not set up because there were many wine, beer, food tents and people were eating a drinking everywhere. We bought you a lovely charm of the Eiffel Tower from a jewelry store near our hotel. I hope you will like it.

Well we have to run - they are calling us for dinner. Love to both of you and our granddogs. Write soon and tell us what you are up to. It would be lovely to visit Paris with the two of you someday - I know you would both love it.

Love ya - mom and dad.

Good morning from Bavaria

2009-10-14T00:57:00.001-04:00

How is everyone? I see there are snow flurries expected for the Brantford region. It is very cold here. We have been wearing many layers. I have put away the sun hat and now am wearing ear muffs and gloves.

Jamie and Marilyn how is your weather? Hope you are both well.

Alesha, I hope you are feeling well and Phill is taking good care of you.

Nancy and Ryan, give our love to Iyla.

We have bought the beer steins. There are many varieties here. Munich is the only place that has Oktoberfest and it was the end of September. I hope they still have some t-shirts left. I will try to pick one up for anyone who would like one. We will be in Munich on Saturday.

Last night there was a beautiful trio of classical violinist on board to entertain us. It was wonderful. Our ship has only 112 passengers and 72 are getting off in Nuremberg on Saturday. We will be getting more passengers, but the maximum is only 128. This is very different from the cruise ships which have 1600 - 2000 passengers.

Our tour guide is calling us to go to the little village of Miltenberg. Talk to you later. Please let me know if there is anything any one of you would like.

Love mom and dad

Thanskgiving on the river

2009-10-13T00:50:00.002-04:00

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Our chef prepared his first turkey in honour of the Canadians aboard. He had to order the bird from France and he had it delivered to one of our stops along the Moselle River. It arrived 16 kg at 11 am in the morning of Thanksgiving. We gave a toast to all that were not here.

We will be in Germany for the next few days sailing along the Rhine and Danube. We will be out of contact for 3-4 days because of low bridges but will talk to you as soon as we can. We had a wonderful day today and visited a wonderful medieval castle early this morning followed by a cruise through the Rhine valley of 32 more castles. "Castles at every bend in the river". It is easy to see how important the river has been to people in the region over the centuries and even into today.

Tonight we were at the mechanical musical instrument museum, it contained instruments from the turn of the century and many were in working condition. Some of the original music boxes were on display as well. What a place (the museum was located in a knight's castle). The ship and crew are exceptional. We did find the steins (but more on our return). Each day is packed with touring and our group is exceptional; we know almost everyone and we get along great. Tomorrow we are off to Frankfurt.

We hope you are all well and the weather at home is a beautiful fall. The weather here is much like at home.

Take care for now and we will be in touch.

Love Mom and Dad