Gaming

Settlers ... intense gaming

If there were a vote taken among the adults as to which is the best board game in the world, Settlers would be the winner.

What is a day without the hope that somewhere on the property, a Settlers game will be in progress!

The thrill of playing is so deep that some even continue the game of buying and selling commodities, well into their sleep patterns.

 ... chocolate covered blueberries as well as bridge mix ...

On the other hand, in other homes, ... like ours, ... if Bonnie puts out a few dishes like this, it is easy to entice the non-Settler players into a game of bridge.

I got my first small slam hand this way.

I forgot all about the Bridge Mix when I saw all of those points in my hand.

Now I know how golfers feel when they get a hole-in-one.

At our house we are trying to teach Joaquim to play to that we will always have a fourth ready -- at least ready enough to be the dummy.

He says he has no problem with that.

Most of the other PhD's he knows are also dummies.

... filled and waiting ...

I was on Glen's porch when I saw this rainbow of colours.

"That bucket of water balloons took us 1/2 hour to fill this afternoon and we are just waiting for the event when we will have to fire them," said Laynie of the job Patrick and Morgan had helped her with.

Bonnie and I played another kind of game on the porch with Audra while her mom was busy with Settlers.

 ... I am having a problem with you wearing my sweater ...

"Are you cold?", Bonnie questioned. 

"Do you want your sweater on?"

Getting no response, Bonnie then said, "I am cold and here is a nice sweater for me to wear."

Audra could see that Bonnie was having trouble putting the sweater on, and she went around to give her some help, pulling the side of the sweater around for her, and then helping Bonnie to put her hand in the tiny sweater sleeve that had become the object of our game.

She even tried to straighten it out and make it fit.

... figuring out the next move ...

Bonnie brought a new problem to Audra's mind by try extricate herself from the size 3 straight jacket.

Some sniffles and sobs from Bonnie made the task seem important and Audera came to Bonnie's rescue.

This might have been the first time in her day that she could see there was no one else around smarter than she.

She wasn't showing any confidence in the two adults on the porch with her who didn't seem to be that smart and needed help at every turn.

 ... I'm taking my tea set and sweater ... and going home ...

In the end,and after a lot of struggle, she got that sweater back in her own hands, the one she hadn't been interested in wearing herself.

She folded it up, gathered up her tea set that Grandmother Wyona had given her, and she headed back through the kitchen door to find some sanity.

"Goodbye, you dummies," the look on her face said.

And thus ended the best game of the day.