John is in town. Yay! He's in London for business but that doesn't mean we can't hang out. We've tried to squeeze as much Johnny goodness out of him as possible. Friday night, we caught up for drinks and dinner. Saturday, we invited John over for dinner. Sunday night, we had dinner and the boys went to a Superbowl party.

Our Saturday dinner followed the usual Dubs schedule. The boys played some Pentago, we ate dinner and then we played a game of Diminishing Whist.

While John is gallivanting around the world for business, poor Leah is stuck at home. So on Saturday evening while we played cards, we video conferenced Leah in so that she could be part of the fun. Every round John would show Leah his hand. On the webcam, Leah could watch each trick being played out. Leah could also listen to the usual trash tralking and join in the conversation. It was like hanging out with Leah, except for the fact that she was physically on the other side of the world.

As I've described before, there is a round in Diminishing Whist, where you are dealt one card which you are not allowed to see. Instead, you have to stick it on your forehead and let everyone else look at your card. On Saturday evening, we figured that we could include Leah in the round of one. We dealt everyone a card. We used the webcam to show Leah the cards on our foreheads. When we bid, Leah called out her bid. There was lots of giggling.

The photos below describe the second round of one. (Andrew was leading. Diamonds were trumps. Andrew, Jess and Leah bid 1 and John bid 0. Andrew won and bid correctly - 11 points, John bid correctly - 10 points, Jess and Leah did not bid correctly 0 points.)










We spent the rest of the game trying to figure out how we could play a full game of transcontinental Diminishing Whist. We'll keep brainstorming.

Yesterday we had the lovely John and Leah over for dinner and a round of cards. Unfortunately, last night, Diminishing Whist lived up to its colloquial name of Get Jess. Andrew won, Leah was the runner up, the taller JDubs came in third and short-arse JDubs - me - came dead last.

Diminishing Whist is a game that I learnt when I was quite young. Over the Summer Holidays we'd head to the Carlingford Daleys' holiday house at Budgewoi. We'd swim at the beach in the mornings, nap in the afternoons and play Diminishing Whist of an evening. Because Diminishing Whist is such a good group game, Andrew and I have taught it to our friends and people we have encountered on our travels. We are spreading the word.

As the name suggests, the number of cards dealt in each round diminishes. At the beginning of the game, you are dealt seven cards, the next round six, the round after five and so on until you reach the number one. In this round, you are dealt one card which you are not allowed to see. Instead, you have to stick it on your forehead and let everyone else look at your card.

We usually try and get a photo of this round of one, so now we have the beginnings of a Diminishing Whist Rogues Gallery. Can you spot yourself?

It's struggling to top 14 degrees this week in London, which means I'm really missing Sardinia. We spent four idyllic days on the east coast of Sardinia. We spent our holiday lying on the beach in the sunshine, hanging out on hammock hill, playing cards and other assorted games. The weather was perfect! We had tropical days and balmy nights. I was so pleased to be wearing shorts, singlet tops and my birkies again.

We stayed with a group called Amfibie Treks. It was a school camp kind of holiday. Our accommodation was a two-person tent (just a mattress on the ground in the tent. Don't turn it over or you'll be overwhelmed by the mold!). Meals were all included in the Amfibie package. We ate breakfast and dinner at long communal tables. Lunch was consumed on the beach. The meals were quite basic. Breakfast was cereal, bread rolls, cold meats and cheese. The same cold meats, cheese and bread rolls made an appearance at lunch. Dinner was a bit more complex with three courses. First up was a pasta entree then meat dish accompanied by a salad, followed by dessert. Every evening we ran a pool to try and guess what dessert was (day 1 - apple cake, day 2 - fruit salad, day 3 - tiramisu).

The school camp atmosphere was definitely amplified by the group of 150 Italian high school kids also staying at the campsite. I'm now fully versed on current fashion trends (teeny-tiny shorts, teeny-tiny bikinis and very short frilly skirts are currently in fashion. I saw an awful lot of Italian flesh on the weekend. *sigh* I'm just jealous... )

Our activities for the weekend can be divided into two categories: Daytime entertainment and Nighttime entertainment.

Daytime entertainment

• Windsurfing - I didn't take part in this strenuous activity so I'll leave it to Andrew to describe:
  
  With only two minutes of instruction, John and I were sent out into the Mediterranean with our selected sailboards (well only about 200m max from shore). John, who had done it before had no troubles. I, on the other hand, was a complete novice (except for one day about 20 year ago - man that makes me feel old).
  
  We spent about an hour a day for three days boarding, and Leah joined us on the third day.
  
  The first day I figured out how to get started, but was trying to balance on the board using my body weight. The result was much falling off.The second day I figured out that using the wind to balance was much easier. Adjusting the sail instead of my body position made all the difference. I felt I was really getting the hang of things. On the third day we went out a bit earlier, and there was less wind, so I chose a larger sail. Then the wind picked up, and became gusty. It was a typical case of third-day-ambition which resulted in me falling off lots and getting blown down the beach. It was heaps of fun, and I'm keen to get more windsurfing done at some stage, or possibly some land sailing.
  
  

Nighttime entertainment

• Limbo - Each evening, Amfibie would have some sort of night time activity. On our first day, they ran a Limbo competition. Now you'd think a group of oldies would have no chance against a bunch of teenagers. Not so! Leah, John and Andrew all took part in Limbo and performed quite well. They all made it through the first round. Andrew made it through a couple more. John made it to the third last round before going down. It was a valiant effort but unfortunately John was not as bendy as a sixteen year old Italian girl. We awarded John the Masters Limbo title. (I pleaded injury and cheered from the sideline. Go thigh power!)
  
  
• Pub games heptathlon - At the beach, when the boys weren't windsurfing they were playing Pentago or Backgammon. Back at camp, they enjoyed using the camp's games amenities, playing several rounds of darts and table tennis. On the day three, the boys came up with Pub games heptathlon. The heptathlon involved a competition of seven different pubs games (pentago, backgammon, darts, pool, table tennis, foosball and cribbage). This idea could only come from the brain of a male. Andrew was declared the winner of the inaugural Pub games heptathlon winning the first 4 rounds (pentago, cribbage, darts and pool). Poor John, better luck next time!
  
  
• Diminishing Whist - we continue to teach the world Diminishing Whist. This time, we taught Andy to play DW (Andy is a British guy the boys met while windsurfing). He claimed to have no prior knowledge of games that involved tricks or trumps but went on to win his debut match. We played four rounds of DW on our trip and the winners were Andy, Leah, John and Jess. Poor Andrew, lucky he won the heptathlon otherwise he might feel a bit sad.
  
  (Mum / Dad, we're looking forward to your visit next year so we can play a real game of DW / Get Janis with John and Leah. I feel the current incarnation of DW aka Get Jess is an inferior game.)

So, I was only joking when I wrote about our mini-break in Sardinia as preparation for our next grand adventure. But, now that I think about it, it was perfect. On July 7 we leave for a 4-week jaunt through Russia and South America (because they are so close!). Can't imagine we'll fit in much rest time in the midst of all our sightseeing. It was great to get in some heavy duty relaxing before the crazy travelling begins.


Thanks for organising John and Leah. We had a great time!

I guess it's no secret that London has been getting me down. Truthfully, I don't enjoy living here. There are lots of things that I like about London (our London buddies, free museums, quality theatre, the pound, proximity to the continent) but as a whole I'm discontented.

I'm disappointed with myself. I'm not usually the cynical type. I'm not usually the "I hate the world and everyone in it" type. Everyone else seems to love living here. What is wrong with me?

I've resolved to turn my frown upside-down and start liking it (or else!). After our mini-break this weekend, I feel rejuvenated. Anything is possible! This weekend we rented a cottage in the Cotswolds and spent a few idyllic days with John and Leah, relaxing in the English countryside.

Who knew that there was such beauty only an hour or so from London? In the Cotswolds, daffodils lined the pathways, lambs capered through the fields and everything was green. I think we all fell in love with the English countryside. And the weather! We had blue skies, sunshine and temperatures of 20 degrees every day.

We explored quaint little villages and wandered through grassy fields. We BAAed at the sheep and MOOed at the cows. We played Cribbage and Diminishing Whist. We napped (well, I napped). No wonder I feel refreshed and ready to tackle London.

I know exactly where to head next time the rubbish strewn, dog-poo speckled, grey streets of SheBu are getting me down. To the countryside!

Thanks John and Leah for the refreshing mini-break! (Leah for organising, John for driving and to both of you for the Frickets)

Andrew and I continue the Daley tradition of teaching the world Diminshing Whist. Last night we visited the Veitch's and after dinner we taught Heather and Jason how to play.

Diminshing Whist is a very Daley game. Mum and Dad started the "teach the world" tradition when they taught their waitress how to play one night in Vietnam. Although I'm not sure how much she actually understood. In my family, the game is also known as "Get Janis" because my Dad loves picking on my mum (it's funny how Andrew is also a stirrer).

The whole family (the parents, my brother and sister, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins) used to spend many evenings at Budgewoi, the Carlingford Daley's holiday house, playing Diminishing Whist. The games were accompanied by much laughing, yelling, screaming, boasting, trash talking and general rowdiness. I think these memories are one of the reasons I love playing it so much.

However, I am also a very competitive soul (like my mother). Maybe I just like playing games (and winning, muhahahahaha!).

Punk Hannah in the Bath	Andrew reading "Maisy" to Sarah and Hannah	Andrew reading "Maisy" to Sarah and Hannah	Jess and Sarah