Contest Winners!

To recap yesterday's contest question --

What is this box used for

when it's reassembled?

The answer is --

CANDY CANES!

This box was a bitch to reassemble, by the way.

If I'd been smart, I would have taken 

the photos in reverse order.

Incidentally, I bought candy canes for 

the first time in years because I made some 

white chocolate candy cane bark 

for Christmas. 

What? 

We didn't already have 

enough calories in the house,

I swear it.

Actually, we have quite a few winners!

I guess this contest wasn't as hard

as I thought it would be!

Congrats and a hearty elbow bump

go out to the following

who got the answer right --

Grace

Travel Penguin

Laurie

e

Anonymous

Marcy

Tundra Bunny

(who sniffed "Too easy!")

Bruce.desertrat

(who had conveniently watched

the candy cane episode of

The Discovery Channel's all-day

"How It's Made" marathon on

Christmas Day)

Old Lurker

(who pretended he

thought the box was for my

"collection of slender, minty-flavored

dild...uh...pleasure devices")

Mistress Maddie

(who of course referenced

 his own "covid dildos collection")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

And for those who didn't come up 

with the right answer -- 

thanks for all the imaginative guesses!

It's Contest Time!

But alas, there's no prize 

for the correct answer, 

only bragging rights! 

This contest is brought to you 

courtesy of doing the recycling, LOL!

What is this box used for 

when it's reassembled?

Any guess in the comments today 

that is incorrect will be published 

right away. Correct guesses will not be.

The correct answer will be revealed tomorrow, 

along with the names of those who got it right!

LEGO -- Innocent Fun or Weapon of Destruction?

Who doesn't love LEGO,

the iconic, educational, fun-filled

toy of childhood?

LEGO helps build a

sense of accomplishment

and self-esteem,

no matter your age!

Some may even find

a spiritual aspect

to them --

But there's a darker, 

more evil side to LEGO.

And if you've encountered it,

you'll never forget the 

horrific experience!

It can bring the mighty to their knees!

Few other things can match or exceed

LEGO's pain barometer!

 

But . . . remember THESE?

* * * LATE-BREAKING ADDITION * * * 

Leanna of Can We Have a New Witch, Ours Melted just sent me this meme in response to my post. Because I had no idea WTF those alien-looking things are, she very kindly provided me with an explanation in a subsequent email --

People become very familiar with "goat heads" here in the southwest U.S. They are from weeds that grow and when the weeds die in September it is best to not run barefoot outside and you have to leave your shoes outside the door and not wear them into the house. These buggers hide in rugs when brought into the house from shoes. You have to cut them out of the rug fabric with scissors in order to get them out. You have to pull them out of your shoes with tweezers and if they break off the thorns will work their way through the sole of your shoes.

Holy moly! I'm so glad to live in the frozen northern tundra of Canada where these do not exist! I hope that doesn't change with Global Warming. We didn't used to have Lyme Disease and Murder Hornets here either and now we do.

And Now, In Cribbage News

Do you play crib/cribbage?

I learned the game as an adolescent, so I've been playing it now for over 50 years (yikes). I learned to play at a friend's house on a "cribbage table" which her father had made. I've never seen one of these before or since,  but isn't it a great idea?



My Rare One and I have been playing crib a lot during the pandemic. It helps to pass the time.

(1) Our Boards

My crib board is a classic long board which I bought 30 years ago at a Greyhound Bus Station smoke shop.

I gave this golf-themed board to My Rare One about 15 years ago and, until recently, it was the board we always played on at her house.

But last month, she bought a new board in the classic "perfect 29 hand" style (the highest single score possible in crib).

I like this board for two main reasons. First, it displays one combination of the basic cards you need for a perfect 29 hand. Secondly, it clearly marks not only the Skunk Line (S) but also the Double Skunk Line (SS). It is a great disgrace for a player to be behind either of these lines when the other player wins (doubly so for the Double Skunk Line, of course). And speaking of skunks . . . .

(2) Our Skunks

We follow the "ancient tradition" (LOL) that whoever gets skunked must accept temporary custody of a little skunk figurine. My Rare One's skunk is a DIY skunk, which she created by painting a little black cat key chain with white stripes. She did a good job, eh?

I bought my skunk in a gift shop at Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia when we were down in the Maritimes a few years ago. It's a little wooden hand-carved and hand-painted "folk art" skunk.

I have named him "Wally the Wall-Eyed Skunk" for obvious reasons. (Sorry about the blurriness of this photo, but you get the point).

Skunks are good to have around right now for more reasons than just cribbage, too . . . .

(3) The 28 Point Hand

Neither My Rare One nor I have ever had a perfect 29 hand. They're pretty rare. But this summer, My Rare One got sooooooooooo close -- she had a 28 point hand! She had a 10 of clubs instead of a Jack of clubs and so missed receiving that crucial extra point. But still!

Here I am congratulating her, in the spirit of good sportsmanship --

Good Bingo Juju

In Vancouver, we visited My Rare One's Auntie Olga, who is a big fan of bingo. So one evening we tagged along to the Croatian Community Centre and played bingo with her and about 500 other hopefuls. Here we are setting up and waiting to buy our bingo cards. Thank goodness Auntie Olga was well supplied with daubers so she had more than enough to go around.

As you undoubtedly know, all bingo players have little good luck charms and tokens that they set out on the table to attract good bingo juju. So I dug around in my purse and managed to come up with my own little collection -- part of a Moon Card from the Voyager tarot deck, a Thor's hammer pendant, a triple-spiral goddess rock, a key to some long forgotten door, and a rather grimy little quartz chip. You will note that I also hogged the rainbow dauber, of course.

My Rare One and I were comfortable playing up to six bingo cards at a time but more than that did not go well. When playing nine cards, we'd get behind and miss numbers. Auntie Olga played a dozen or more cards with ease, of course.

Alas, the bingo gods did not smile on us that evening. We won nuttin, my friends, NUTTIN. But we had a good time with Auntie Olga and that's the important thing!

[Photos by My Rare One, August 2019]

So, How Are the Bridge Lessons Coming Along?

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY RULES?

WHY????

Do You Play Bridge?

My Rare One and I love to play cards -- Cribbage and Hand-and-Foot Canasta are our personal favourites, although we have been known to play other games on occasion as well, like Euchre and Rummoli. When I was a kid at home, we played Whist almost exclusively -- it was my Mom's favourite. She was also a menace at Gin Rummy, although I could defeat her occasionally at Crazy Eights.

My Rare One and I have just taken on a new challenge -- we have signed up for beginners' Bridge lessons at the Edmonton Bridge Centre! I am feeling a bit of trepidation about it, given Bridge's reputation for difficulty, but I'll give it my best shot.

Why Bridge, you ask? We are good friends with another lesbian couple -- let's just call them the Valhalla Valkyries -- who are avid Bridge players. They have encouraged us to take up the game. I'm not sure what it's going to be like playing Bridge whilst screaming through the skies of battle on horseback but how bad could it be?

Mandalas Puzzle

Do you like doing jigsaw puzzles? Personally, I don't have the patience to sit and figure them out, but My Rare One does. It's one of her Christmas traditions each year to put together a puzzle over the holiday season, so I always buy her one for that purpose.

This year I got her a black-and-white jigsaw of mandalas. The puzzle was hard to do because there was no help or guidance from a colour scheme.

Here she is putting in the final piece!

Then she had the fun of colouring it with markers! Yes, this puzzle is part of the "adult colouring book" craze that is still apparently going strong. So it was kind of "two gifts in one!"

Ta da! Completed!

Now that it's coloured, it would be much easier to put together a second time, if she ever decides to do it again.

[Photos by My Rare One, December 2016]

Jenga!

Friends of ours host a wonderful annual Christmas party to which My Rare One and I are going tonight. Among the many favourite party games we play each year, there is ALWAYS a Jenga Tournament.

Have you ever played Jenga? It requires a steady hand (or paw) . . .

. . . and a lot of patience, which not everyone has.

Don't let My Rare One see this invention or she'll be building one for her own use tonight!

This method of playing looks intriguing, doesn't it? Hmmm . . . .

My Rare One and I often played this version together at home, which we called "Jenga Garbage." How high can stuff be piled before SOMEONE (not me!) empties the garbage? Who will break down first?

But here's the best Jenga of all! Cats for EVERYBODY!

Wish me luck at the Jenga Tournament! I have been known to kick ass in the past.

Hardcore Hopscotch

Oh, what has happened to the simple, innocent game we all played as children? I guess it's true what they say. The world is a much more dangerous place today.

Party On!

"Fast away the old year passes" and all that, so it's time again for a New Year's Eve party! We'll be kickin' it old school tonight by having a bunch of friends over for snacks, beverages and board games. Haul out the old favorites!

Bring yer pennies too cuz there'll be rummoli!

Hopefully, everybody will be able to last until midnight so we can turn on the TV and do the countdown to 2013 -- I know that's way past MY bedtime. Oh, we are such wild 'n crazy gals!

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Red Book, Black Book, Pure Book, Dirty Book

If you know that this post's title is NOT a Dr. Seuss rhyme, then you play canasta!

My Rare One LOVES to play cards, especially canasta. She taught me how to play shortly after we first met. I like canasta too but MY GAWD it's a long game -- two hours to play a full four hands. So when My Rare One and I indulge in a little canasta after supper, we simply play one hand per evening so we only spend half an hour at a time doing it. We can wait four evenings to see who the winner is. We're not in any rush.