The Rest of the Story and a Zoe Update

     I had several comments about the menu that was on my tablescape last week. I found it in with a box of vintage postcards. I decided to see if I could find out a little bit more about the ship. I was very excited to be able to find an actual picture of it.

     The R.M.S. Caronia was a British ocean liner, launched on July 13th, 1904. She was built for Cunard by John Brown & Co. of Glasgow. She left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York on February 25th, 1905. After a successful 1906 cruise from New York to the Mediterranean, the Caronia was used often in the following years. 

     The Caronia was briefly placed on Cunard's Boston service in 1914, but the start of World War I caused her to be requisitioned as an armed merchant cruiser. In 1916, she became a troopship and served in that role for the duration of the war, returning to the Liverpool-New York run after the war was over. In 1920, the Caronia was converted to burn oil instead of coal. She sailed on a number of different routes, including: New York/Boston from Liverpool; New York from London; New York from Hamburg; Quebec from Liverpool; and New York from Havana. 

     Her last voyage, from London to New York was on September 12th, 1932, after which she was sold to be disassembled. Initially sold to Hughes Bolckow for demolition at Blyth, she was resold, renamed Taiseiyo Maru and sailed to Osaka, where she was scrapped in 1933.

     I would love to know who owned the menu that I now have...but that may just remain a mystery.

     Some of you have asked about Zoe. She will be 5 months old in a few days. She is slightly taller than our old beagle. Her body type is entirely different than our past 2 beagles. She has long legs and a very lean body. This means that she can reach things off the coffee table, jump on all the furniture and jump high enough (think trampoline) to pull the throws off the back of the couch! She just lost her first baby tooth. We still have trouble when they are both loose at the same time. The older dog really instigates the problem but Zoe thinks she wants to play. She isn't completely housebroken yet, but she is making good progress and is certainly where we would expect her to be at this age.

     Having two dogs that don't get along has proven to be much more difficult that we anticipated, but we don't for one minute regret adding Zoe to our family. We just won't have 2 at the same time again. Our older beagle continues to hang in there as she nears 16. Her back legs seem to fail her at times for a few minutes, but she gets back up and keeps on going. Her goal in life right now is to get to every dog biscuit of Zoe's before Zoe can eat it!

I am joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for

Tablescape Thursday since this post concerns last week's tablescape.

Please visit our hostess!