New Year's Day games 2023

Due to the Covid19 pandemic lockdowns, we have not held a proper New Year's Day games party since January 1st 2020. Today we made up for lost time. We were fourteen in total:

1. hazelh
2. Mr hazelh
3. Jon
4. Katharine
5. Jack
6. Paddy
7. Caitlin
8. Bruce
9. Elly
10. Sally
11. Richard
12. Brian
13. David H
14. Rachel

The guests arrived at 3:30pm sharp for afternoon tea (or coffee) with Christmas cake, panettone, shortbread, and (vegan) flapjacks.

About an hour later we set up three board games. I played Catan at a table in the hall with Paddy, Jon, and Richard. A second Catan game took place at one end of our long kitchen table with Caitlin, Brian, David, and Bruce. At the other end of the kitchen table Sally hosted a game of Ticket to ride with Katharine, Elly, and Rachel. As Jack doesn't play board games, Mr hazelh kindly played guitar with him in the study.

The hall table game of Catan finished first (I won, beating the World Champion - hurrah!) so we swiftly moved on to a game of Azul (which I also won - double hurrah!) Then, as the two games in the kitchen came to a conclusion, we started serving drinks.

I made three curries for dinner (one meat, two vegan) and served these with pakora and rice. For pudding the choice was chocolate bread and butter pudding or fruit salad (vegan). We split into two tables again to eat: I with Paddy, Caitlin and David in the hall, and everyone else in the kitchen.

After dinner we gathered in the sitting room for communal games enjoyed by all, including Jack. First we played two rounds of Werewolf. Bruce and I were complete failures in the main role (and, incidentally, each of us managed to smash a glass in the course of play, proving Mr hazelh right to insist that we take up our silk rug from Singapore whenever we throw a party). Then followed three rounds of Empire.

The last of our guests left at about 11:30pm after a wonderful afternoon/evening of super fun. As far as I am concerned, this really is the best way to spend New Year's Day.

My blip shows Mr hazelh, Brian, and Caitlin discussing their strategy for Empire. The extra shows the look on their faces when they realised that their strategy was flawed.

Exercise today: walking (10,722 steps - including post-midnight walk back from Jack's house last night).