A very Merry Christmas!

[blamebrampton]

I had a theory that there would be another chapter of Tidings of Comfort today.

And that laughter you are currently enjoying is my gift to you :-)

Maybe by St Hilary's Day?

I hope you're all having a most wonderful time. We have had a lovely and calm one, with Christmas salmon and a ridiculous amount of chocolate. I did set fire to the kitchen very briefly – a teatowel, really – but had it well under control when Mr B came in, picked it up and tossed it out the back door, proclaiming, 'It's raining!' Which it has been constantly since last night.

I am not joking about the chocolate. I asked Mr B for a Fitbit and electric keyboard. I received instead some lovely jewellery and this:


That frog is about 10 inches long. He will be receiving a lovely new desk chair when it arrives, and has a new game of Kubb. Which Cookie has laid claim to:

She is still sitting on the open bag. Apparently she is super keen on Scandinavian games!

Buon Natale to all!

PS It really is raining solidly, and has been humid for weeks. Our house is too small for a tree, so I hang the ornaments on termporary hooks on the wall. One by one the removable adhesives have been failing, so Christmas Day ended and Boxing Day has begun to the relentless sound of gravity working upon ornaments. It's like the sound of paeonies splatting in the summer heat ;-)

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's a bit complicated, and Mr B is the one who really knows how to play it, but basically you set up a playing field with the corner pegs about 5 x 8m, and then you put a big wooden block in the middle and then array the smaller wooden soldier blocks along the base line of your 'side'. The remaining bits are the throwing sticks.

You start by throwing sticks to see who will go first, then that team or person gets four throws to knock down as many of their opponent's soldiers as possible using an underarm straight throw. Any that are knocked down must be tossed over by the other team into the first team's side once the round is done, they are then stood up to become new soldiers for that side.

The second team gets six throws, as does every turn thereafter. You must knock down any captured soldiers on the opposing team before you can knock down the original baseline soldiers.

The goal of the game is to knock down all the opponent's soldiers and then you can knock down the King. First to kill the King wins!

There are some other rules about moving up on the playing field and so on, but I can never get them right. Like croquet, it is both better and worse to play with a drink or two ;-)

Quoridor looks like loads of fun, but I've never played it. Mr B is not as keen on board games as I am, so I have to get him outside playing games with potential violence :-)

[mama-pyjama.livejournal.com]

I managed to marry a man who is as obsessed with board games as me :) outdoor games are good in summer, so I will be keeping an eye out for your one.

I got a handbag pannier for pedalling around Cambridge looking cool and collected and no longer sweaty-backed! Shock horror, useful presents!