Double Trouble with Prim and Harrier - Poker, Sports, Cooking, Gardening, Mixed Drinks and more

Happy Koopa-family

Here´s my complete Koopa-collection:

Since this is the food and other things blog, I'll post this here

Mrs Vorpal made a couple of batches of butter tarts a day or two ago.
These have been a family favourite in both her family and mine ever since we were little kids.
The standard cookbook Canadian children used while learning to cook was "The Five Roses Cookbook" — now in its 21st edition.
It is still available on Amazon
There is yet another family connection — my Dad grew up in the town where the Five Roses Flour company had its flour mill.
In any case, these are butter tarts:

And should you care to try them, the recipe:
(note: Using the best raisins and dark brown sugar really make a difference
pre-made pastry shells speed up the process)

Yummy, Vorpal! Thank you!
Indeed you can never be wrong with posting about food in this blog!!

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Indeed you can never be wrong with posting about food in this blog!!

Is that a fact?

Thanks for the recipe, though, Vorpal. They look lovely.

I think neither Prim nor I did any special Christmas-related cooking this year so far.

Well....urm...yes..... and as we can clearly see, one of the bloggers is a Banhauser. I´m sure that picture makes fellow-Banhauser Vorpal happy and he would be happy to eat that ugly pizza!!!
(Yes that "Pizza Perverso" is a good reason to spit in the blog!)

The Troll Calendar 2024
Day 22

Have Merci

There is magic hidden in the quiet moments.

Another familiar one - from the very first day of our calendar, even. We got Praline Cream again

It's a good one, but we have talked about it before.

Through the Wood of Thorns

Guess what, I went to church today, and the song that inspired this calendar was the first song that came up.

We are almost done now, we mostly added some additional leaves today.

Also check out these vines, which were actually a royal pain. They hardly stay in place, one of them still comes off at the slightest touch and would hardly stay on for long enough to take the picture, and at one point, the whole structure even collapsed as I was trying to attach those vines more firmly. I hope I have been able to reconstruct it as it's supposed to be. The vines don't even look that good, I believe.

I do like those two shields with the deer symbol on it, however, which were another new addition today.

It's another Advent Sunday, the last one before Christmas, so here is another version of the song, this time in a choral arrangement. They sure do a lot better than we did in church earlier.

Trollette on vacation!

Vacation, nothing to do on the field, the appartment is clean, don´t have to get up early for work tomorrow, so ...... perfect time for a little poker session, right? Well, let´s do it! Bowser jr. was sent to the 4. p.m "Free to play" while Baby Peach played the 0,22 $ PLO8 (15 $ Gtd.) at 4:30 p.m. Unlike yesterdays session, today´s was a pain in the bum bum! We were TOTALLY card-dead and to be honest, we almost fell asleep. Bowser jr. could double up twice with AK, but that was it. A long long card-dead phase followed and a desperate jam with KQo (from CO, first in), resulted in running into BB´s QQ!! No help for us! (Hey! Where´s Kamek, by the way?!)

Pretty much the same situation for Baby Peach, even worse! SUPER card-dead just one double up with A245ds and then blinded down to shortie (have to tell that we were on a VERY aggressive table, where we really had to wait for solid hands - which never came...). Then, as shortie, hitting trips with nut full house draw and nut low draw, we jammed our last 6 BB on the flop. Well, we had outs against Villain who called with a already flopped full house. Even the low would have helped us ......(Villain didn´t have a low draw)..we had a bunch of outs ...........which never came .........

So where on earth is the Magikoopa?? Kamek?? Hello?

Well, after our session we noticed that he had fallen over ...... Guess he was holding his afternoon nap... Shame on you, Kamek!

beautiful vocal ensemble — thanks!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
beautiful vocal ensemble — thanks!

I had a feeling that you would like it.

The Troll Calendar 2024
Day 23

Have Merci

We received a short sneak peak of it on December 6th already, when I accidentally opened up a part of the door. But what's really inside?

Melodies of joy are ringing when we are laughing together.

Hmmm, looks like hazelnut to me, which we had before... but looking at the packaging a little closer, it says it's "Hazelnut Almond". Is this a new version, or did I miss the almond part last time?

I think it's the same, honestly. If not, it is very similar. I will simply update the name in the list and put the two of them together.

Through the Wood of Thorns - Final Day!

Our Lego calendar ends one day early, so this is the final step already.

We add a red flag and some shrubs, and we attach the leaves we added yesterday.

And now that we are done, we can fold the structure together...

...and there it is - we got a little tower of sorts, which is worked into a tree.

By opening up the structure again, we can put little figurines inside, to keep watch.

We also add a few accessories, like this archery target and a barrel containing two round yellow pieces, which I assume are supposed to be pieces of gold. So our merry men get their starting bankroll. We also add a spear, just in case.

There they are - and our journey through the wood of thorns is now complete.

It may not have been as interesting to follow as the ships from the previous years, but I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless. The Merci calendar will be concluded tomorrow.

The Troll Calendar 2024
Day 24 - Final Day!

Have Merci

There it is, the big final door. And it has a cute bird on it, how nice.

Christmas is when the heart returns home.

Check it out, we get one of everything. A Merci Together (Crème Brûlée Hazelnut), a Merci Petit (Cappuccino), and a regular Merci bar (White Mousse).

It's a nice looking assortment, I like the mix of light and dark colors. The chocolates are among the better picks of the calendar too, you may remember that White Mousse is even the one in the top spot. Trying it side by side with the others, I believe I probably ranked it too highly, but it doesn't matter, it was just for fun anyway.

That's it for the Merci advent calendar, then - I hope you guys enjoyed, and had your share of well-deserved treats this season too.

...Then the Thorns Grew Roses

Primrose and I are looking forward to spending Christmas with our respective families. For me, it just means going downstairs, while Prim has a much longer trip. I will leave you guys with a picture of our Christmas tree this year, which, fitting to the motto of the Lego advent calendar that was concluded yesterday, even includes some roses as decorations on its thorny branches.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Well, I´m a bit late for the party, but had tons to do until Christmas plus a couple of social events. And I´m VERY happy that Bowser was in the package, my collection of Koopa-bosses is now complete. Bowser is by the way very cuddly, but don´t cuddle him too much, don´t wanna make him dirty, he´s the most precious item of my collection. He´s very comfy though..... I enjoy putting my arm on him while relaxing on the couch ...

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Bowser is by the way very cuddly, but don´t cuddle him too much, don´t wanna make him dirty, he´s the most precious item of my collection. He´s very comfy though..... I enjoy putting my arm on him while relaxing on the couch ...

I'm glad you like him, but don't sweat it - he is nothing that couldn't be replaced, if need be.

I hope you guys had a great Christmas. Our winter holidays will continue for a bit, and Primrose is going to leave on another trip in a few days to celebrate New Year in style. Meanwhile, I am enjoying a nice prolonged stay at home vacation. My family will also stay until Sunday.

There may not be any more poker for me this year, unless I decide to cram in a couple of tournaments after all, but I will probably start collecting the data for this year instead soon, and plan to hit the ground running in 2025. Maybe Prim will play a few freerolls this weekend.

However, I managed to go for a 5K jog earlier today...

Time to beat: 26:45 Minutes
Current PB: 29:09 Minutes

Today's Time: 31:28 Minutes

No, I don't mind at all that I am trailing so far behind my PB from two months ago. It was to be expected, after not having been jogging for so long, and especially after the mostly sedentary days of Christmas with the usual "feasting" - though I did keep my pushups, squats and ab roller workouts up, like on any other day. It was kind of pointless to even time myself at all, this was just to help me get back into the habit. It felt good to have another run, and it makes the warm showers afterwards feel even better.

Christmas at Harrier's

Like in the previous years, when it was usually posted in the IDC-thread, here is the line-up of Christmas meals at Harrier's place. Note: I did not prepare any of them myself.

December 24th

Salmon in a puff pastry with a rice mixture and fish stock sauce with shrimps - like every year.

December 25th

Chicken stuffed with ground pork and spinach, served with croquettes. Fine, a little salad too.

December 26th

Zigeunerschnitzel (literally "gypsy schnitzel", a schnitzel topped with bell pepper sauce) served with French fries and broccoli.

We may need a while to get back to form on the jogging track, but in the pool, we still have some standards to set in the first place.

Yes, the same thing works with swimming too. Despite having earned my "Shark" badge this month, for which I am still waiting, I don't consider this to be my strong sport at all. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't at least try. We first need to put something on the board, however.

Today's Time: 5:06 Minutes

A little over five minutes for 200 meters. Pretty poor showing for a "shark", don't you think? It's what I thought, at least, especially after noticing how exhausting it felt to keep up the front crawl for a full 200 meters - which is still a very short distance.

Well, it is true that this current time wouldn't put me on pace for Gold in the "Trollympics" for 800 meters, even. 19:15 minutes are needed for men my age there, though the Gold time would be adjusted to 20:25 minutes once I hit the age of 40. My current time would be on pace for this, at least, if I was able to maintain it.

But instead of speculating about hypothetical paces, let's just take a look at this chart from SwimmingLevel.com:

I have been using similar charts for my running challenges last year, and while I'm still in the "Beginner" column for men my age, I am closer to "Novice" than to the bottom end of "Beginner". I know from my previous running projects that it can take quite a bit of practice to get to that level, and even breaking the "Beginner" time is not to be taken for granted if you are starting out.

Again, here is the explanation of the different levels. Considering that it has not even been a month yet since I finished that crawling course, it's hard to argue that I should expect to be at any other level than "Beginner" yet.

Here is what the "Swimming Performance Calculator" said about today's swim:

Considering that I am not being compared to the average population, but to "swimmers", however loosely that term is defined, I don't think that's too bad for a first try. I didn't even go all out yet, I just wanted to get a time to compete against in the future.

So I guess we have another nice little sporting project for the new year. For my next goal, let's try to get a time below five minutes first. After that, I can try aiming for the posted "Novice" time above.

Trollette on vacation

Yes I´ve been on vacation for a week, but this year is special. This year we have a longer vacation until January 12th and so, we decided to spend two weeks at the North Sea. No poker at the moment, will continue my Koopa-Freeroll-challenge in January. We will head to the North Sea tomorrow early in the morning, which will be a roughly 8 hours drive. This time, we rented a house, which has also a sauna!! And of course there will be tennis, but not exactly a bootcamp. The first week, we will play indiviually, whenever we want but the second week will be with our tennis coach.

We are already planning our Troll- and Trollette-opens but so far, there won´t be many in our home-region ... and some of them are already full! I registered to a Trollette-Open in January, but I am still on the waiting list .... so don´t know if I´m going to make it there ...? But first things first: Let´s have a nice vacation first ..........

Prim´s 2024 recap

So, let´s summarize this year 2024 as it soon comes to an end and let´s list the things that went well and those, which went not so well.

Want went well:
*Work: nice earnings, mostly nice orders, only few "customers from hell"
*Gardening: Mostly went well
*Tennis: Most matches won, mostly went well
*The weather: was most of the time okay, except for a very hot and humid August
*Food and cooking: recipes from own-grown veggies and fruit from the garden
*Family and friends: Still having good relationships and social life, meeting new people

What went not so well:
*Health: Bad injury in the middle of tennis season, haven´t competed since July 2024
*Natural causes: Slowly creeping into menopause (that´s natural, but not very pleasant)
*Food: Have to watch out MUCH better what and how much I´m eating, because..... see above: menopause is knocking at my door!
*Politics: Well ........Germany ...... you can read yourselves what´s happening here

Well, this will be pretty much it for 2024.

What I want to achieve in 2025:

*Good earnings, good customers, good orders at work
*Tennis: Winning some Troll- and Trollette-Opens
*Health: But taking better care to prevent injuries
*Fitness: Staying fit, healthy and loosing body fat
*Gardening: Good harvest

By the way: I never make new-years-resolutions, because when I want to achieve something, I just do it! Anytime! ♠_cool:♠_thumbsup:

Well, I didn't plan to do my yearly recap until one or two days later, but now that Primrose posted hers because she is about to leave on vacation, I suppose I could start already too. Poker stats and a review of the most memorable moments will follow in the next couple of days. For now, let's also take a brief look at what went well and what didn't.

I laid out some goals in one of my opening posts. At that point, poker was on a short hiatus and went through a bit of a motivational crisis. I still formulated some token goals, saying that "$500 will make me consider it an okay year, $1K will make it a good year, and playing for monthly withdrawals again in addition to that makes it an excellent year at that front".

The thing is, I didn't play a lot at all throughout the first half of 2024. OFC failed to deliver, mostly due to a terrible stretch in spring. Starting in July, however, MTTs really started to pick up, and I even briefly passed the $500 mark in MTT profits last month. By now, I should be slightly below it again, but considering that I effectively only played for half a year, I'd say the MTT grind was successful. Taking all things into consideration, poker was a mixed bag for sure, with a lot of wasted potential.

I also set a lot of sporting objectives. Specific goals were one more swimming badge, Gold at the "Trollympics" (German Sports Badge) while beating at least two of my PBs from 2023, a successful karate belt exam, and competing in a public race. I am happy to announce that all of those goals have been reached or even exceeded.

More concretely, I managed get my lifeguard silver badge early this year, which even led to lucrative side gig as a pool attendant in summer, and then earned the Shark badge a few weeks ago. A whopping eight PBs were broken in the Trollympics, with new records in almost all events that I tried. I passed the exam for my yellow karate belt, and even got to finish a public 10 km race on a relentless summer's day. Not to mention that I successfully completed workout plans for 100 pushups, 200 squats and 200 sit-ups, and integrated those exercises into my daily schedule.

While there have been some setbacks like failing to complete a Five Minutes Plank program and a completely botched 800m freestyle swimming attempt at the Trollympics, on the whole, sports were an outstanding success in 2024.

To sum up up quickly:

What went poorly:
- Bad OFC results
- A highly inconsistent poker grind
- Lots of unexpected extra expenses (new car, new laptop)
- A highly stressful schedule throughout much of the year
- A big swimming setback in summer

What went well:
- Great sporting achievements
- Good MTT results in the second half of the year
- A new side gig for extra income
- Staying financially afloat despite extra expenses

Plans for 2025 will be the subject of another post, likely after the new year has arrived. Like Primrose, I don't typically make new year's resolutions, but I set goals on what to achieve by the end of the year.

"Luxury" over New Year

As mentioned, we´re spending 2 weeks at the North Sea shore - just arrived about 2 hours ago. This time, we have a WHOLE HOUSE for our own!! Normally, Homer and I, we´re simple, humble people, but hey, the price for renting this house was a STEAL! We were very spontanous, when it came to booking our holiday over New Year, we didn´t even expect to find something ...an appartment...anything... but then, I found the offer for this house online! Somebody must have cancelled..because normally, everything is completely booked-out here over Christmas and New Year. So now, we´re in a big house, with sauna (!!!) and enjoying some "luxury" for a super good price!!

But now let´s get to the REALLY important thing:

I´m warming up the sauna already ...