How to Play Canasta?

On Sunday afternoon, we had been invited up to Pauline and Alans for dinner. The plan was to go for a walk and then eat. The weather was against us. It was very wet and windy so plans were changed. Pauline got out the Canasta ste. They have had it quite some time and haven't played for a while so we learnt the rules as we went along! We teamed up, males and females. I admit to being a bit sad and always reading instructions but the booklet with the set was nigh on incomprehensible. If I'd known we were going to play, I would have consulted "The Family Book of Games" by David Pritchard. We've had it for over 20 years but it stands us in good stead whenever we consult. After an hilarious hour, researching the rules and playing three hands, the males won by default as we had the highest score by over 1400 points when the meal was ready. I came home and read the rules from our book which made it far easier than the Waddingtons booklet and found we hadn't been too far out.

On the way to Pauline and Alans, we called and saw Lisa. She had just taken delivery of series 4 of Scrubs which she loaned to me. I had passed on series 2 and 3 to her as I'd watched the DVDs and couldn't imagine watching them again for a while. Last night I took advantage of the loan and had a Scrubs night! Barbara was at the theatre with her ladies group and there wasn't anything I fancied on television so I watched eight episodes back to back. A great series that makes me laugh aloud. I may have to rethink my resolution not to buy any more series on DVD. It was the only way to watch them when I was at sea but now they are available down at t'video store (and I have all the West Wings already!) Still I enjoyed last night. Kept me off the computer tho' so catching up this morning.

The council came yesterday and started digging up the pavement. They are doing a complete replacement around the whole area and started on our stretch first. I got the car out yesterday and, after giving it a wash, parked it across the other side. Shortly afterwards, one of the workman gave us a knock and told us we'd better do that as there would be no access to our drive overnight. This morning, they have "coned off" the other side of the road so the lorries can drop the material off. Luckily Barbara is out in the car so it is parked elsewhere. Hopefully access will be sorted by the time we need to find somewhere to park! I was out in Japan for a while a couple of years ago. There is no on road parking overnight allowed out there. You cannot buy a car unless you can demonstrate that you have an off road parking place. In the larger cities this can cost nearly as much as a car. That explains the small Japanese cars. The smaller the car, the less the cost of a parking space!