Halloween
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

I saw a pumpkin in our local supermarket today, and couldn’t resist buying it to make a Halloween lantern. I’m rather satisfied with the results – not bad for my first try!

.
Board games evening in our living room

Another board games evening, this time at our place. There were sixteen of us this time, so we split into three games, two on the big dining table and one around the coffee table. The games played this time were:

• Spank the Monkey, which lasted very long
• Citadels, an old favourite which we hadn’t played in a long time
• Karibik, one Scott bought in Essen
• The Gardens of Alhambra, again from Essen
• Funkenschlag, this lasted over 2 hours!
• Geschenkt ist noch zu teuer”, a short game with a long name
• Da Vinci Code, another short game
• Der Ausreisser, “Race Leader”, another short game

.
Spank the monkey

Stu, Michael, Eve & Markus playing Spank the Monkey. This game is often over very quickly, but this time it just went on and on. Then I dynamited the missile, returning the game to the start, and Michael won very quickly.

.
Karibik

Anne, Séverine, Mari & Markku playing Karibik. A rather pretty game. Was it any good?

.
Funkenschlag (Power Grid)

Scott, Iris & Michael playing Funkenschlag. This was the game that lasted over two hours…

New card games
Originally uploaded by Greygriffin.

On Saturday I bought some new card games. I’ve been waiting for Reiner Knizia’s new Circus Flohcati for a while now, and Safe Haven finally announced on their site lautapelit.fi that they had it. While I was there, Eve noticed that they had Spank the Monkey, which we enjoyed so much a few weeks ago, so of course we had to buy that too. And then somehow I found myself buying Katzenjammer Blues, which I vaguely remembered reading a good review of. To cap it all, Eve & I bought a couple of the latest Magic prepared decks, which we’ll play in a pub some evening soon.

And I wonder why it’s so hard to save up for things…

Yesterday I cooked this year’s Christmas puddings – a little later than I’d intended, but they should still be fine by Christmas.

.
Christmas pudding mix

Here are all the ingredients mixed together; they are: sultanas, currants, raisins, mixed peel, glacé cherries, chopped almonds, ground almonds, eggs, breadcrumbs, lemon peel & juice, orange peel & juice, mixed spice, cinnamon, brandy and stout. I use a recipe from Good Housekeeping Beginner’s Cookbook by Rosemary Wadey, which I’ve relied on since I bought it as a university student in 1984.

.
Christmas puddings steaming

You have to steam the puddings for 7-8 hours. If, like me, you don’t have a proper steamer, you can suspend them with string in boiling water.

.
Finished Christmas puddings

And here’s the result. Now just store it in a cool, dark place until Christmas…

Helsinki tram at Ruoholahti
Originally uploaded by David Price.

This morning, for a change, I came to work by tram. I walked from Hakaniemi round Tokoinranta, through the Linnunlaulu villas and round the top of Töölönlahti, then caught the number 8 tram outside the Opera house and rode it through Töölö to Ruoholahti. Much more interesting than the metro, but it did take 45 minutes rather than the metro’s 10.

Carlos & Antti at Antti’s recording studio.

Jim & Carlos watching Antti bowling. Antti’s winning…

James, Stu & I went to see I, Robot (somewhat disappointing, despite our low expectations). Now we’re having a couple of beers in Teerenpeli.

It’s board games evening again, this time at Michael & Kim’s.

Mari & Stu playing Ticket to Ride; Séverine & Tommy playing New England.

Nicolas, Peter, Sebastian & Michael playing Shogun.

Other games played included Evo and Bang!.

The next board games evening will be on Tuesday 26th October, at our place in Hakaniemi. And soon after that it’ll be time for Helcon III (Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th November).