The shimmy!

Hi Canasta Goddesses,

Anyone who has ever taken a bridge lesson from the irreplaceable Roberta Salob will remember her standing up in front of a ballroom filled with beginner bridge players and shimmying to "Use up the honors from the short side first!"  No matter how poor your bridge skills might be you will always use up the honors from the short side first.  I have been trying to come up with a " Roberta-Worthy"
 catch phrase for my canasta rookies, so try to imagine me shimmying to "Three, Five, Seven I am in Canasta Heaven!"

Why three, five seven?  I'm sure your asking yourself.  To me they are the most important numbers in our beloved game.  Three?  Threes are very valuable commodities.  If you can collect and cover all eight of them you will be rewarded with 2000 points.  Three is also the minimum number of cards you need in each individual meld.

Five as in five card base (the way we play here in Paradise).  Five is the amount of face cards you must show before you can add a wild card to your meld.

Seven, ah sevens!  Seven is the number of cards in every canasta.  Sevens, if you can collect seven of them, your team will be rewarded with 2500 points. Sevens, if you try to collect all seven and cannot your team will be penalized that same 2500 points.  If at the end of the hand you have more than two sevens (or aces) in your hand you will be penalized 1500 points. 

So c'mon  shimmy  everybody, Three, Five, Seven I am in Canasta Heaven!

Well they have certainly turned up the heat here in Paradise.  When it is this hot outside I do a lot of reading inside.  I've recently come across a very prolific writer name John Lescroat.  His newest book is called The Fall.  If you like law procedural novels you might want to try one of his.   

Lastly, my daughter mentioned that though I often write about my friends I never mention her.  My daughter Erin is a wonderful young  woman who makes me proud every single day.  Next week she is going back to practicing law full time after a long mommy-break.  I know it will be a wonderful and rewarding experience for her and her new firm.  Good luck baby!

Stay cool and in touch Canasta Goddesses,

Love, Barbara