Beaten at draughts by my six-year-old daughter
One of the mini-Ws, who recently had her appendix removed, was bought a chess and draughts set by dad as a recuperation present. I haven't tried Knight to Queen 4 with her just yet, but did attempt a game of draughts. Big mistake. We got to a point where we both had one King each. I told her that this was a draw, as we could continue to dance around each other and no one could ever win. She disagreed and wanted to carry on playing. To humour her, I thought I'd play out a few moves until she got bored. She then proceeded to pin my King to the side of the board in such a position that he could only move into her direct line of fire.
Admittedly, I haven't played this game in about a quarter of a century, but all the same, I think - on balance - I probably should have won.
I am now very scared at the prospect of Chess, in case she starts speaking fluent Russian and thinking fifteen moves ahead.
05.06.06 @ 04:44 PM PDT [link]
Reviving cheese and ham
Granny knows best: this late 70s booklet reminds us how to revive stale cheese
I found a copy of a great little book that was published by Reader's Digest back in 1979. It waxes nostalgically about the lost wisdom of our grandmothers and passes on some great tips.
If your Cheddar has gone a bit hard, you're told to dip a rag in some white wine and wrap it around the cheese for several hours. It's then, apparently, nice and succulent again. Ham can be given a similar boost if you soak it for ten minutes in milk.
I'm all ready for a Croque Monsieur now. Or maybe a nice slice of pizza. With just a dash of Liebfraumilch and UHT.
05.06.06 @ 04:32 PM PDT [link]
Explanation for radio silence
I've been a bit slack on the blogging front recently. Two reasons. Loads of work and tough deadlines, particularly towards the end of last week. Then a bit of a medical crisis. One of the mini-Woodfords had to have an appendix whipped out, which is the kind of thing you just don't plan for. Lots of time spent in the hospital over the past few days. A big thank you to the folk who know how to remove strange inflamed bits of tissue and seal everything up again. Not something I'd want to do. I hope to tackle my backblog in the coming week.
05.03.06 @ 01:05 PM PDT [link]