Harvested the first garlic this week, and also some yellow tomatoes, I grew in winter time in my indoor greenshouse.
Focussed primarely on cleaning up my garden and planning for next year.
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What´s in my harvest basket? 
Cucumbers from the greenhouse and from outdoors and mirabelles
So, what´s for lunch?
Schnitzel with cucumber salad
Last but not least: The Zombie-plants
Zombie-"Kohlrabi" 
- tastes good anyway.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Schnitzel with cucumber salad
Needs more sauce.
No way! They were great as they were!
(Archived photo)
No action at the Trollympic Stadium today... I went there, looking to maybe give some of the "optional" events a shot which won't count for my overall rating anymore. Some girl was supposed to run the 3,000 meters today, but it looks like she was a no-show. With no other athlete showing up and me being done with most of my mandatory events, we decided to just let it go for today - I guess that's the risk of organizing meetups during the UEFA Euro Championship. I could have run the 100 meters, but I'm still feeling my thighs from my 10K run last weekend. 
I aim to swim the 25 meters freestyle some time this week, then I will show up one more time next Monday for the 100 meter dash. I will make sure not to do any running this weekend, even though I intend to keep up my running habit, despite being done with my scheduled 10K training.
After that, the Trollympics will enter a break, and I want to make sure that I will have Gold locked up by that point, which should be more or less guaranteed. Primrose, meanwhile, will be battling it out on the tennis courts again soon, and both of us have some swimming plans for the summer. Will we be able to take down another badge soon? Ready when you are, Prim. 
Half a Year in Review
I sure am glad to put the month of June behind me, which was insane on many fronts. With a new side job, several tough and overlapping exercise plans, a public 10K race, tech troubles, being stuck without a working car for a week after a breakdown, having somewhere to go on almost all days including weekends, and our beloved Primrose being away for two weeks, I found myself longing for a few easy days to recharge my batteries. I may be able to get some of them soon, though I still find it a little hard to relax for the time being.
With the end of the month also comes the end of the first half of 2024, so what do we have to look back to? Any big success stories of the year?
Well, for me personally... not too many of them, really. There have been some successes, but they are mostly sports-related. I got my Silver lifeguard badge in February, all but secured Gold in the Trollympics already, and at least got an acceptable performance in my first 10K race, but other than that, it was mostly just "solid effort". I made good progress with my pushups, sure, but I haven't managed to complete the 100 yet, and seem to have hit a bit of a plateau recently. Our ambitious 5 minutes plank plan, meanwhile, had to be put on ice entirely.
So sports went pretty well overall, but poker has been abysmal on pretty much all fronts, whether we are talking about profit, ROI, volume or just plain motivation. OFC has been put on hold after disappointing results, Drawmaha did not show enough promise to make me keep going, mixed games satellites were a complete bust, and Badugi - once the uncontested flagship of the grind - had very little to show either. Not to mention that we simply didn't play a lot at all, when we get to it.
On a personal level, the combination of work, sports, poker, etc has also not left a lot of energy for other projects, not to mention that having to buy a new car (sharing the bill, luckily) and two new laptops, one of which resulted in an odyssey to get a refund, put a strain on my cash reserves and caused a fair bit of stress.
Prim might be doing better, she had a good showing in her tennis tournaments and she is getting back to the tables with a nice freeroll poker challenge that she seems to enjoy, not to mention that her gardening is looking really promising.
Maybe the grindette has some things to add, but as far as I am concerned, we have been on our toes this year, we had some sporting successes, but we are sorely missing some good news from the poker tables. We should aim to fix this, without slacking off in the areas that went well so far. We should also probably try to find more time for ourselves, which has also often been missing so far this year. I think both of us have been busy as bees at work.
In conclusion: Some good stuff, some bad stuff, but a little too much of the bad, and too little of the good, in my opinion.
Enough looking back at the past, what are our plans and goals for the upcoming summer?
The goals I would set for myself are:
- Get out of the red overall when it comes to poker
- Get a sustainable poker grind going
- Lock up Gold in the Trollympics
- Earn a new swimming badge
- Get a new PB at 5K or 10K running
- Get better at making sushi
- Present new cocktails, and find a good way to note down the old ones for easy reference at home
I usually don´t do half-year recaps but year-recaps but okay, let´s see what we have so far:
This year, we started really early with our "Trolland Gaross" and we indeed had some success, either in the mixed doubles or in the singles. Couldn´t play all the Troll Open´s that I wanted in May due to injury, but it´s now getting better and we indeed have plans for the next Trolland Gaross. Swimming is also going on, indoors and outdoor, well, due to cool weather it was more indoor swimming. Will also hit the poker tables soon, it´s my first week without high work-load, so I´m happy to take it a bit easier during summer.
Gardening goes okay so far, the harvest of radishes, salads and cucumbers have been quite successful so far.
What went well so far:
*Work: Had a lot of orders
*Tennis mixed doubles: Homer and I won most of our matches
*Tennis women´s singles (50 plus)
*Gardening: nice harvest of salads, cucumbers, radishes, peas, chard
*Vacation: Was great!
*Fitness: At the moment I´m in good shape!
*Poker: Yaaay, Bowser jr. won a 11 $ ticket for the Big Quarter
What went not so well so far:
*Injury: had to pause tennis competitions due to achillodynia
*Gardening: strawberries (only small harvest), one pumpkin got eaten by snails, Zombie-"Kohlrabi", chilis don´t grow well due to cool weather
*Weather: Well, it´s more fall than summer, I personally enjoy it, but it´s not optimal for a good summer-veggie-harvest!
Coming up this season:
*More Troll Open´s in singles and doubles
*Poker: The Koopa-freeroll challenge continues
*Mussgo: Everything in the freezer must go! We need some space for the upcoming harvest!
*Gardening: Hopefully a nice big harvest and HOT STUFF!
As usual, tennis-season will last until the end of September, off-season starts in October. Will do a full season recap at the end of September!
Originally posted by Primrose6789
I usually don´t do half-year recaps
Neither do I, it just seemed like a good spot for it. A lot has been going on recently, many things have been wrapped up, and I suppose it is time for something of a new start.
I guess I have been trying too hard to force things at times. This includes sports, where we have had at least some successes, but also poker, where we have seen little to none.
This halfway point should be a good opportunity to start fresh, after we have regained our energy. Another in-person meetup would be in order soon, which will likely not involve any big challenges either, but instead an "All-Prim-Has-Left" Chinese buffet, some gaming and plenty of Frangelico. It will give us the strength to kick some butt again.
Prim and I did indeed meet up in-person today, and we planned to take it slow... but we slightly changed our plans on short notice. Our meetup did include a trip to a pool, and I am excited to announce that Primrose is now joining the Trollympics!
400m Freestyle (Stamina)
Athlete: Primrose
Bronze: 18:00 minutes
Silver: 15:00 minutes
Gold: 11:30 minutes
Olympic Record (Long Course): 3:40.14 by Sun Yang (CHN) at the 2012 London Olympics, July 28th, 2012.
World Record (Long Course): 3:40.07 by Paul Biedermann (GER) at the World Aquatics Championships in Rome, July 26th, 2009.
World Record (Short Course): 3:32.25 by Yannick Agnel (FRA) at the French Nationals in Angers, November 15th, 2012.
Trollympic Debut!
Primrose's time: 8:38 minutes
While I would have to compete in the 800m freestyle for my aquatic stamina event, Primrose only has to swim for 400 meters in her category, technically making this the first instance of this event in the Trollympics.
I knew that Gold would be free for the grindette, with swimming being one of her strongest sports, but getting such an amazing time surprised both of us - as well as the pool attendant who took her time. What can we say... Primrose is simply a force to be reckoned with in the water.
It would be interesting to have her time herself for the 800 meters too, even though she would not be able to have it count towards her Trollympics performance, just to compare it against my personal record as well as the times for both men and women in younger age groups - the times in her own category are simply no match for her. Be warned, though - I intend to improve on last year's Trollympic 800m record of 20:30 minutes too.
25m Freestyle (Speed)
Athlete: Primrose
Bronze: 48.00 seconds
Silver: 39.00 seconds
Gold: 28.00 seconds
Athlete: Harrier
Bronze: 35.00 seconds
Silver: 26.50 seconds
Gold: 18.50 seconds
Olympic Record (for 50m Freestyle): 21.07 seconds by Caeleb Dressel (USA) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, August 1st, 2021.
World Record (for 50m Freestyle): 20.16 seconds by Caeleb Dressel (USA) at the International Swimming League in Budapest, November 21st, 2020.
Trollympic Record: 21.45 seconds by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2023 Trollympics, June 27th, 2023.
Primrose's time: 19.06 seconds
NEW TROLLYMPIC RECORD!
Harrier's time: 23.75 seconds
I'm not worried about trailing so far behind last year's PB - I only wanted to get a cheap Silver today, really, just so I have Gold in the overall rating locked up no matter what happens. I intend to compete in the 100 meter dash on Monday, and also improve on my 25m freestyle time under better conditions, though I will probably neither catch up with my Gold time nor Prim's great performance today. Having to swim the 25 meters in a full-sized 50 meter pool is distracting, and I even had to go twice because my goggles fell off on my first dive. I first tried to keep going with them hanging in front of my mouth, but it was too much of an obstruction.
As expected, Primrose left me in her wake once again, with a time that obliterates my "Trollympic Record" from last year, and makes a complete joke of the posted times for women in her age group. In fact, she even came within one second of the Gold time for men in my age group, which is also identical with the toughest female Gold times, intended for young women aged 18-24. For women aged 25-29, the Gold time would be 19.50 seconds already, so Prim would have taken down that one today too.
It should be noted that Prim declined to do a starting dive and instead went for a simple push-off start, and that she swam the 25 meters after already having done the 400m earlier, so she may have been even faster under better conditions. Mad respect, Primrose! ♠_thumbsup:
Harrier's "Medal Table":
3,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Gold
10,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Silver
Medicine Ball Throw (Strength): Gold
25 Meter Freestyle (Speed): Silver
Sling Ball Throw (Coordination): Gold
Primrose's "Medal Table":
400 Meter Freestyle (Stamina): Gold
25 Meter Freestyle (Speed): Gold
Harrier's Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (3,000 Meter Run) - 3 points
Strength: Gold (Medicine Ball Throw) - 3 points
Speed: Silver (25 Meter Freestyle) - 2 points
Coordination: Gold (Coordination) - 3 points
11 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.
Trollympics 2024 Result: Gold
Primrose's Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (400 Meter Freestyle) - 3 points
Strength: -
Speed: Gold (25 Meter Freestyle) - 3 points
Coordination: -
6 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.
Naughty little Larry!
Yes, yesterday we met up and again, performed well at sports. I personally didn´t know that I could swim so fast 
After the pool, we hit the Chinese all you can eat buffet nearby and the food was again delicious! And Harrier gave me those two cuties: 
blackberry error codes
Simba and Nala are now my summer-mascots. Everytime I complain about summer heat, they remind me that at their home, in Africa, it´s WAY hotter. They will help me dealing with the summer-heat.
And as usual, no meetup without Mario-games! This time, Harrier had bought the Super Mario Bros Wii and we were excited to try it! 
Harrier played as Mario and I played as Luigi. I found out that I pretty much sucked at it, but it was great fun anyway. I love those adorable characters! We even made it to the first mid-boss, which was LARRY KOOPA!
We found out that, first, it was a pain in the bum bum to get to Larry at all! 
And afterwards we learned, that this adorable little guy shows a pretty naughty behavior! We made it in the first round against Larry, but when we got to him the second time, Kamek was there - and helped him! Well, this is how it should be done - but honestly, we somehow f*ed up
I promised Harrier that I´m going to teach little Larry a lesson as soon as I get home and today, I made him help cleaning up the appartment! I let him clean the toilets for his bad behavior!
blackberry error codes
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Way to go you two!
Thank you! My 25m freestyle time wasn't all that good, though. I should be considerably fitter than last year, and even back then, I got a much better time. I would like to try again next week in my hometown's pool (we went somewhere else yesterday), and at least get a new PB, possibly a time in the 20 seconds range.
Prim and I intend to do a bigger swimming challenge later this month too, so I better get ready for it. Right now, I mostly just need to arrange everything.
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Simba and Nala are now my summer-mascots. Everytime I complain about summer heat, they remind me that at their home, in Africa, it´s WAY hotter. They will help me dealing with the summer-heat.
Yes, even though Prim's birthday is still a fair bit away, I thought that nice gifts don't need an occasion, and I know that the grindette often struggles during heat waves. So I bought her these two adorable cubs.As for the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game, it will surely become a mainstay during our meetups too - if nothing else because we are clearly not very good at it and will therefore take a while to get through.
Truth is, even though we both like to reference Mario stuff on our blog, we are not all that familiar with the games at all. I know a few Game Boy titles from my childhood, but other than that, I'm not much of a Mario player, I always preferred the spin-offs about sports and racing and the like. So we are both struggling quite a bit with the momentum-based gameplay, which was largely absent in my familiar Game Boy titles anyway.
Primrose has already announced that as we are fighting our way through this game, which I expect will take well until 2025 with our typically monthly meetups, she will come up with an appropriate punishment for our little Koopaling adversaries every time. Larry deserves a good shift of toilet duty for making us look so bad yesterday! (You're using a raspberry-scented toilet cleaner, Prim? Ewww...)
It was a very lovely meetup, great balance between challenges, gaming, chilling and "partying". Sometimes we neglected one of those points over the others in the past.
Actually, I used to play a LOT of Mario Games when I was younger (yeah..exactly those ancient, old Mario-Games ). But as you grow up and become an adult, you don´t have so much time for those games anymore of course But I still love the characters, I find those characters adorable and hilarious! Well obviously, as I already have a little collection of plush Mario characters.
And Harrier, let´s be honest: We can´t let the Koopalings get away with SUCH bad behavior? Can we? No way! Bad behavior has consequences! So, there will be some consequences, if those Koopalings behave badly! As we have seen, little Larry had to do household chores and clean the toilets (YES, with that raspberry cleaner which smells awesome! I love it!) The next mid-boss will be Roy Koopa and let´s see if we get to him before he gets to me (I do not have Roy yet. Roy and Iggy Koopa are still missing in my collection). I think we will get to Roy first, before he comes to me (my Birthday is still a while ahead), so maybe Roy Koopa will be lucky and escape the consequences as I don´t have him yet.
But now: Let´s see what´s going on in the garden - shall we?
On the terrace
A little fire kiss
That´s a dwarf-chili, a spicy one
Lila Luzi
A very decorative, hot pepper
Tomato Black Plum
As you can see, the fruits are not ripe yet, the weather has been pretty cool and rainy so far this summer.
In front of the house
Piquillo
A sweet pepper
?
Forgot to label that one. Let´s see what that´s going to be ...
Kale
The first time succeeding with the kale!
"Kohlrabi"
In the greenhouse
More tomatos
And cucumbers
On the field
Green onions
Peas have germinated and grow
More "Kohlrabi" growing
Salads
Pumpkin
More pumpkin growing
Spicy pepper
Zucchini
HARVEST OF THE WEEK!
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Actually, I used to play a LOT of Mario Games when I was younger (yeah..exactly those ancient, old Mario-Games
Well, I don't typically play the Mario games from my childhood anymore either, but when we do load them up nowadays, I tend to be able to whisk through them with relative ease, so I don't think it has much to do with "practice".Thing is, both of us mostly played the handheld games, which operate a little differently compared to the "standard" home console versions. The whole momentum-based platforming with which we were struggling so badly is pretty much a defining feature of the Mario franchise, yet it is completely absent in the Super Mario Land GB game from our youths, which also became the subject of our beloved drinking game.
And then there are the more modern 3-D games, with which I am almost completely unfamiliar.
Personally, I always found Mario and Luigi a little bland as characters. But I do love the side characters, like the princesses and the villains, they're adorable.
Well, Mario and Luigi are supposed to be bland, they represent two "average" Italian plumbers, just two "nice guys next door", but who achieve the incredible.
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Well, Mario and Luigi are supposed to be bland, they represent two "average" Italian plumbers, just two "nice guys next door", but who achieve the incredible.
They're nothing like any plumber I've met before, in any case, and certainly not like the guys who renovated my bathroom six years ago - then again, they were not exactly the "nice guys next door" either.But I have heard the theory before that the Mario games can be considered a modern legend of the average working class guy who gets summoned by fate on an Arthurian quest in order to protect his loved ones, to the point that he embarks on his epic journey while still in his work overalls.
Protagonists in fiction can often be bland on purpose, it can be a sign that the audience is supposed to "insert itself" into that character, which is easier if the character doesn't have too many outstanding quirks.
Still, when it comes to classic video game protagonists, I much prefer Sonic over Mario. Sonic, on the other hand, has bland villains instead...
All right, boys and girls, we have thoroughly enjoyed the extended weekend, and we are ready to kick butt again. This includes the poker tables, but also our athletic endeavors, as both the Trollympics and my Karate courses will return for one final week before the summer break. The local pool will be closed for two weeks afterwards too, so I better get my Trollympic aquatic events in before that, I intend to improve on my 25m time and go for the 800m stamina event too. Also, tennis will continue for both of us, with Prim looking forward to her next "Trolland Garros" tournaments, re-starting real soon.
Off the felt (and the track, field and pool), there is still plenty for me to do, since it turned out that several of my co-workers are very interested in buying my old broken-down Skoda Octavia. Imagine... Problem is, I have two guys who expressed their interest at about the same time, and who are willing to offer the same amount, leaving me with a tough decision, as both them are colleagues I would like to stay on good terms with. Flip a coin? Judgement of Solomon? I don't know, but I would hate to start a bidding war between the two of them, especially since they both already offer more than what I feel comfortable taking for this broken vehicle. I will try to act as a mediator and find a solution that everyone can live with, so one of them can finally take this thing off my hands and we can lay the matter to rest.
But enough of that, I would like to announce a new series on this blog. Prim and I liked our previous "Surprise Menu" spins, but I had the idea for a new cooking series, where one of us compiles a list of custom cooking challenges for the other Troll, who can deal with them one week at a time in any order (I preferred a more flexible schedule, but Primrose liked the weekly thing).
We have free reign when it comes to these challenges, they can be as specific as "Bœuf Bourguignon made with a 2004 Côtes du Rhône wine, Portuguese-made olive oil and exactly two onions", or as vague as "something on a plate". They can be as complicated as "a salad dish involving shrimps, olives, white cheese and vinegar-based dressing, starting with the letter 'E' and containing two words, one of which must contain three syllables" or as simple as "a sandwich".
Also, one feature I would like to include is "readers' choice", where you guys can come up with your own challenges for us. We will take the first appropriate one we see, though we are free to decline it if it turns out to be something we wouldn't eat, or something with ingredients that are impossible to get for us. We will try not to be too picky, though.
I have a challenge prepared for Prim, so stay tuned...
Okay, so here's my first cooking challenge for Primrose. She will be asked to prepare the following:
- A spicy chicken dish
- A homemade pizza of any kind
- Something involving tuna
- A salad that involves some kind of cheese
- Something with a toothpick on it
- A Mexican dish
- READERS' CHOICE!
You can only knock one point off the list every time, so Prim couldn't for example make a tuna pizza and deal with two points at once.
Like I said, "Readers' Choice" is where you guys come in. Think of a nice, interesting dish for the grindette to make, and don't be afraid to challenge her a little.