Hi Canasta Lovers,
It is chilly here in paradise today. Record breaking cold temperatures in south Florida according to my favorite weatherman, Al Roker. I'm not complaining, goddesses, the sun is shining, the temperature will warm up into the sixties and unlike our friends up north we have no need for shovels, snow blowers, boots or gloves.
Last time I wrote I promised an interesting hand. Well, the stars aligned for this beginner group last week. Nicki and Mickey were the lucky partners playing against Katie and Suzy*. It was the second hand of the lesson and Nicki and Mickey had already amassed 2025 points. Early in the hand Nicki tried for a wild card canasta, laying down three big jokers and two deuces. Mickey's turn, she closes it up with a fourth big joker and another deuce. 2500 beautiful points! Across the table Katie and Suzy were struggling to open with 125. In order to keep more points in her hand Suzy split her sevens (my students will tell you how I feel about that move). Play goes on, the pack gets bigger and bigger. Nicki and Mickey are still sitting with their big joker canasta and 1100 points in threes. They are watching the other teams discards very carefully. They know where seven sevens are and are salivating for the pack. Turn card...opponent Suzy throws her third ace into the discard pile and Mickey takes that big, juicy seven laden, virgin pack with her pair of aces. Wow !!! The aces and sevens cancel each other out but they covered the five threes with three clean canastas (1500 points) and over seven hundred points in count. One hand, a very classy 5800 points!!! The next hand was a little anticlimactic, Nicki and Mickey only made a regular wild card canasta, a final score after three hands of 10,355 points. After I regained my voice I told them to get in their car and hurry down to the Hard Rock Casino. That kind of luck doesn't come around every day.
Classes are continuing with two new groups, learning to play our favorite game. Hope something as interesting and fun happens for them.
Stay warm canasta Goddesses, it will hit eighty degrees again before you can shout PAIRS!
Sending love to all,
Barbara
*Don't try to figure out who's who. I change the names to protect the innocent!
Friday, February 20, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
Resolutions and Rewards
Hi Canasta Lovers,
We have just about made it through January, 2015. By now most of our New Year's resolutions have either been forgotten or fulfilled. Mine was to write my blog more often, now I'm trying to get it in under the wire.
In the weeks since my last observations I have been very busy teaching our favorite game to three tables of newbies. It is so interesting to watch the expressions on the faces of these beginners. They usually come in thinking "this is going to be a breeze" (after all, it's not bridge!) Well, we start by learning how to count our USABLE points (Yes I know those adorable aces are worth twenty points each BUT you need a wild card in order to USE them.) Uh oh, a little confusion starts to show on their faces. Next we go on to melding, 125 points and a clean triple, confusion deepens. We play the first hand open, I walk around the table helping each player count her points, point out the clean triples and hope someone is able to meld. With all 108 cards laying face up on the table panic ensues. We usually play two more closed hands and then call it a day. The newbies go home with a booklet of notes, rules and quizzes.
The second week we talk about the tricky threes, the adorable aces and those sexy sevens. We start to play and as I walk around the table I can see the players are arranging their hands with more confidence, anxious to begin to play. One of the nicest parts for me is watching these four women who were strangers the week before get to know each other and start to cheer each other on. Partnership is a beautiful thing! The following week after a lesson on special hands and more supervised play, the women make plans to play on their own. When they come back for the fourth lesson, after an afternoon of playing on their own, it is easy for me to see what is written on their faces. THEY GET IT!!!
After the fourth session all of the newbies are ready to join the ranks of Canasta Goddesses. Many of these new Goddesses find their way to the card rooms of Paradise and play canasta happily ever after. Many others continue with supervised play, honing their skills, as we delve deeper into strategy and timing. Everyone seems to enjoy this and it is very rewarding to me.
Next time I hope to have some interesting hands to talk about. Let me know if you've played one recently.
Goddesses, if you are not into football this weekend, play Canasta instead.
Love, Barbara
We have just about made it through January, 2015. By now most of our New Year's resolutions have either been forgotten or fulfilled. Mine was to write my blog more often, now I'm trying to get it in under the wire.
In the weeks since my last observations I have been very busy teaching our favorite game to three tables of newbies. It is so interesting to watch the expressions on the faces of these beginners. They usually come in thinking "this is going to be a breeze" (after all, it's not bridge!) Well, we start by learning how to count our USABLE points (Yes I know those adorable aces are worth twenty points each BUT you need a wild card in order to USE them.) Uh oh, a little confusion starts to show on their faces. Next we go on to melding, 125 points and a clean triple, confusion deepens. We play the first hand open, I walk around the table helping each player count her points, point out the clean triples and hope someone is able to meld. With all 108 cards laying face up on the table panic ensues. We usually play two more closed hands and then call it a day. The newbies go home with a booklet of notes, rules and quizzes.
The second week we talk about the tricky threes, the adorable aces and those sexy sevens. We start to play and as I walk around the table I can see the players are arranging their hands with more confidence, anxious to begin to play. One of the nicest parts for me is watching these four women who were strangers the week before get to know each other and start to cheer each other on. Partnership is a beautiful thing! The following week after a lesson on special hands and more supervised play, the women make plans to play on their own. When they come back for the fourth lesson, after an afternoon of playing on their own, it is easy for me to see what is written on their faces. THEY GET IT!!!
After the fourth session all of the newbies are ready to join the ranks of Canasta Goddesses. Many of these new Goddesses find their way to the card rooms of Paradise and play canasta happily ever after. Many others continue with supervised play, honing their skills, as we delve deeper into strategy and timing. Everyone seems to enjoy this and it is very rewarding to me.
Next time I hope to have some interesting hands to talk about. Let me know if you've played one recently.
Goddesses, if you are not into football this weekend, play Canasta instead.
Love, Barbara
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Jingle, jingle!
Hi Canasta Lovers
It is holiday season once more in Paradise. The store windows are all aglitter with holiday decorations, the sounds of joyful music in all the stores, there are Christmas trees and poinsettia, Chanukah bushes and menorahs all up and down the streets of Palm Beach. For me it is such a happy time of year.
Today, as I am replacing my 2014 desk calendar with the new 2015 version I like to take a little time to look back over the past year to see what I have accomplished. I continued my second season of introducing our favorite game to beginners and to refreshing and strategizing with some more experienced players. I continue to meet and play with so many interesting and accomplished women. In between hands we often talk about their exotic travels, their love of the arts and the movies we've seen. Not to mention all those adorable and brilliant grandchildren.
Steve and I traveled up to Boston in February for a family Bar Mitzvah (Mazel Tov to Aaron). In the spring we flew out to fabulous Palm Desert to meet up with our fabulous friends Roni and Phil. This summer Leni, Steve and I flew to New York for our annual Canasta marathon at the only dude ranch in Amagansett (thanks, as always, Maralin and Rick).
Steve spent much of September and October battling a nasty case of vertigo, but thank G-d that's past now and we are again out and about, having fun in PB.
One of the nicest things to happen to us this year was reconnecting with our very old friends (the friendship, not the friends) Judi and Steve. We all met in college, dated, married, had children and lost touch for about thirty-five years. We found each other again on Facebook and picked up our friendship without missing a beat. Lucky for us they live in South Florida too.
Our children and grandchildren continue to thrive and we count our blessings everyday that they live so close and we can see them so often.
Okay, so what's up for 2015? I have already started three classes. The first, a beginner group who has successfully made it through two classes and are starting to understand those sexy sevens, crazy aces and tricky threes. The other two groups are returnees who are reviewing and polishing their skills after a very busy summer.
I want to wish all of you Canasta Goddesses and your dear ones a happy holiday season and a wonderful, healthy and prosperous New Year. Jingle, jingle.
With much love,
Barbara
It is holiday season once more in Paradise. The store windows are all aglitter with holiday decorations, the sounds of joyful music in all the stores, there are Christmas trees and poinsettia, Chanukah bushes and menorahs all up and down the streets of Palm Beach. For me it is such a happy time of year.
Today, as I am replacing my 2014 desk calendar with the new 2015 version I like to take a little time to look back over the past year to see what I have accomplished. I continued my second season of introducing our favorite game to beginners and to refreshing and strategizing with some more experienced players. I continue to meet and play with so many interesting and accomplished women. In between hands we often talk about their exotic travels, their love of the arts and the movies we've seen. Not to mention all those adorable and brilliant grandchildren.
Steve and I traveled up to Boston in February for a family Bar Mitzvah (Mazel Tov to Aaron). In the spring we flew out to fabulous Palm Desert to meet up with our fabulous friends Roni and Phil. This summer Leni, Steve and I flew to New York for our annual Canasta marathon at the only dude ranch in Amagansett (thanks, as always, Maralin and Rick).
Steve spent much of September and October battling a nasty case of vertigo, but thank G-d that's past now and we are again out and about, having fun in PB.
One of the nicest things to happen to us this year was reconnecting with our very old friends (the friendship, not the friends) Judi and Steve. We all met in college, dated, married, had children and lost touch for about thirty-five years. We found each other again on Facebook and picked up our friendship without missing a beat. Lucky for us they live in South Florida too.
Our children and grandchildren continue to thrive and we count our blessings everyday that they live so close and we can see them so often.
Okay, so what's up for 2015? I have already started three classes. The first, a beginner group who has successfully made it through two classes and are starting to understand those sexy sevens, crazy aces and tricky threes. The other two groups are returnees who are reviewing and polishing their skills after a very busy summer.
I want to wish all of you Canasta Goddesses and your dear ones a happy holiday season and a wonderful, healthy and prosperous New Year. Jingle, jingle.
With much love,
Barbara
Thursday, October 16, 2014
"Stuff your sorries in a sack"
Hi Canasta Lovers,
One morning last week I watched a segment on Today dealing with how often women say, "I'm sorry!" As an example a young woman opens her boss' door and says I'm sorry, I have a question" What is she sorry about? Why not just say "Good morning, I have a question"? Another great example showed a woman sitting on a bus, a man sits down on the empty seat beside her and invades some of her space. The woman moves further away and says, "Sorry" What? What is she apologizing for?
Playing our favorite game that same afternoon I noticed how often "I'm sorry" was said at the Canasta table. If you meld with too many of the same cards as your opponent, why apologize? You and your partner should be happy that you melded. If, having no safe discard, you give the pack, don't apologize I'm sure you had no choice. If you pick a pack and get stuck with aces, don't say you are sorry, think of all the canastas you made and the threes you covered. If you lay down six sevens and your opponent goes out before your partner can close, you don't have to apologize, you were going for the gold!
As I often say, in the scope of our lives Canasta is just a game, albeit, a fantastic one and there is little room at the card table for apologies (unless you spill you coffee on your opponent's new white jeans.) So follow George Costanza's advice to Jerry Seinfeld in November, 1997 and "stuff your sorries in a sack, Mister."*
We are enjoying a cool day today here in Paradise. The roads and restaurants are getting crowded and season is almost upon us. If you or any of your friends are interested in learning Canasta or taking your game to the next level, give me a shout at 561-818-3131 or email me at canastagal8500@gmail and we will set something up. If you already have a group and would like to have some supervised play, I can do that for you too.
Stay in touch, you gorgeous goddesses.
Love, Barbara
*also said by Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple, October, 1974.
One morning last week I watched a segment on Today dealing with how often women say, "I'm sorry!" As an example a young woman opens her boss' door and says I'm sorry, I have a question" What is she sorry about? Why not just say "Good morning, I have a question"? Another great example showed a woman sitting on a bus, a man sits down on the empty seat beside her and invades some of her space. The woman moves further away and says, "Sorry" What? What is she apologizing for?
Playing our favorite game that same afternoon I noticed how often "I'm sorry" was said at the Canasta table. If you meld with too many of the same cards as your opponent, why apologize? You and your partner should be happy that you melded. If, having no safe discard, you give the pack, don't apologize I'm sure you had no choice. If you pick a pack and get stuck with aces, don't say you are sorry, think of all the canastas you made and the threes you covered. If you lay down six sevens and your opponent goes out before your partner can close, you don't have to apologize, you were going for the gold!
As I often say, in the scope of our lives Canasta is just a game, albeit, a fantastic one and there is little room at the card table for apologies (unless you spill you coffee on your opponent's new white jeans.) So follow George Costanza's advice to Jerry Seinfeld in November, 1997 and "stuff your sorries in a sack, Mister."*
We are enjoying a cool day today here in Paradise. The roads and restaurants are getting crowded and season is almost upon us. If you or any of your friends are interested in learning Canasta or taking your game to the next level, give me a shout at 561-818-3131 or email me at canastagal8500@gmail and we will set something up. If you already have a group and would like to have some supervised play, I can do that for you too.
Stay in touch, you gorgeous goddesses.
Love, Barbara
*also said by Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple, October, 1974.
Monday, September 22, 2014
When You're HOT You're HOT!
Hi Canasta Lovers,
Have you ever noticed how on some days you can lay down three big jokers and a deuce and on your partner's next turn she will close that canasta with the fourth big joker and two deuces? When that happens there is a good chance you're HOT!
Have you ever noticed that on other days you can lay down six wild cards on your first turn and you and your partner can wait the whole game and never see another wild card? When that happens, chances are you're NOT!
How about when you open your hand with 180 beautiful points? You are HOT! How about when you need 125 points and can't pick a clean three? You are NOT!
I find that these HOT and NOT days happen often. How to deal with them? This is not a canasta teacher speaking now but a superstitious card player thinking aloud. When I feel I am having a HOT day I am a much more aggressive player. I will try for those joker canastas. I am much more apt to pick a huge pack with 6 sevens in it (hope my partner is also having a HOT day too). On a NOT day I don't even like to lay down four wild cards at the beginning of the hand. I will play a very conservative game, try to stay out of trouble and wait for Lady Luck to reappear. She will, if you have patience!
With summer ending (although it is hard to tell here in Paradise) and fall beginning tomorrow, it is time for many of us to start to focus on the Jewish High Holidays. I want to wish all of my friends and followers a very sweet, very healthy, and very prosperous New Year and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.
See you soon Canasta Goddesses.
Love, Barbara
Have you ever noticed how on some days you can lay down three big jokers and a deuce and on your partner's next turn she will close that canasta with the fourth big joker and two deuces? When that happens there is a good chance you're HOT!
Have you ever noticed that on other days you can lay down six wild cards on your first turn and you and your partner can wait the whole game and never see another wild card? When that happens, chances are you're NOT!
How about when you open your hand with 180 beautiful points? You are HOT! How about when you need 125 points and can't pick a clean three? You are NOT!
I find that these HOT and NOT days happen often. How to deal with them? This is not a canasta teacher speaking now but a superstitious card player thinking aloud. When I feel I am having a HOT day I am a much more aggressive player. I will try for those joker canastas. I am much more apt to pick a huge pack with 6 sevens in it (hope my partner is also having a HOT day too). On a NOT day I don't even like to lay down four wild cards at the beginning of the hand. I will play a very conservative game, try to stay out of trouble and wait for Lady Luck to reappear. She will, if you have patience!
With summer ending (although it is hard to tell here in Paradise) and fall beginning tomorrow, it is time for many of us to start to focus on the Jewish High Holidays. I want to wish all of my friends and followers a very sweet, very healthy, and very prosperous New Year and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.
See you soon Canasta Goddesses.
Love, Barbara
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Barbara and Leni's Great Hamptons Adventure
Hi Canasta Lovers,
Leni and I are just back from our great adventure to the only dune ranch in Amagansett, New York. As most of my followers know every summer the girls of Rho Kappa (our 40 year old canasta group) meet up at Maralin's wonderful house at the beach. After settling in and having a delicious lunch, the five of us picked teams and sat down at the card table to begin the Canasta Marathon of 2014. Unfortunately, the Canasta Gods were not sitting on this girl's shoulder this trip. I could barely make 125 points. If ever I did make it and melded with SIX wild cards, my partner could not close the canasta. Woe is me, it's a good thing I love my friends and love the game.
My New York friends play different table rules than we play in Paradise. The biggest difference is here in Paradise we play a five card base, in New York the girls play with a three card base (the way we learned all those years ago.) For those of you who don't know about the five card base, the rule is that after your initial meld you MUST have at least five of the same face cards showing before you can add a face card to your meld.
Example: King, king, king, king, sorry no wild cards allowed.
King, king, king, king, king, wild cards welcomed.
With the five card rule in place, it is much more difficult to "go out" because you cannot lay your wild cards off on existing melds, you also can not put you pairs down with a wild card unless it is your last pair and you are "going out."
As we are all getting just a little bit older and our memories are not what they use to be, a few of the girls like to look back in the discard pile ALOT. They had to be reminded that you can only look back once a hand, four cards at your turn.
What else did we do at the ranch? Lots and lots of talking, lots and lots of eating, including our old standby Bobby Vans for lobster on Tuesday night, Wednesday, it was the East Hampton Grill (yummy ribs). Max's delicious soft shelled crabs on the menu Thursday. Friday night, a fabulous clam bake at the ranch including a birthday celebration for the guys who all turned OMG seventy this year. Saturday night at Muse in Sag Harbor ended a week of great picks. Thank you Mar.
After all that eating I must mention our morning power walks into the town of Amagansett, then a few hours at the beach with a good book and canasta before and after dinner. I may live in Paradise but our week at the ranch is always heaven!
Stay cool, goddesses, Season will be here before you know it.
Love to all, Barbara
Leni and I are just back from our great adventure to the only dune ranch in Amagansett, New York. As most of my followers know every summer the girls of Rho Kappa (our 40 year old canasta group) meet up at Maralin's wonderful house at the beach. After settling in and having a delicious lunch, the five of us picked teams and sat down at the card table to begin the Canasta Marathon of 2014. Unfortunately, the Canasta Gods were not sitting on this girl's shoulder this trip. I could barely make 125 points. If ever I did make it and melded with SIX wild cards, my partner could not close the canasta. Woe is me, it's a good thing I love my friends and love the game.
My New York friends play different table rules than we play in Paradise. The biggest difference is here in Paradise we play a five card base, in New York the girls play with a three card base (the way we learned all those years ago.) For those of you who don't know about the five card base, the rule is that after your initial meld you MUST have at least five of the same face cards showing before you can add a face card to your meld.
Example: King, king, king, king, sorry no wild cards allowed.
King, king, king, king, king, wild cards welcomed.
With the five card rule in place, it is much more difficult to "go out" because you cannot lay your wild cards off on existing melds, you also can not put you pairs down with a wild card unless it is your last pair and you are "going out."
As we are all getting just a little bit older and our memories are not what they use to be, a few of the girls like to look back in the discard pile ALOT. They had to be reminded that you can only look back once a hand, four cards at your turn.
What else did we do at the ranch? Lots and lots of talking, lots and lots of eating, including our old standby Bobby Vans for lobster on Tuesday night, Wednesday, it was the East Hampton Grill (yummy ribs). Max's delicious soft shelled crabs on the menu Thursday. Friday night, a fabulous clam bake at the ranch including a birthday celebration for the guys who all turned OMG seventy this year. Saturday night at Muse in Sag Harbor ended a week of great picks. Thank you Mar.
After all that eating I must mention our morning power walks into the town of Amagansett, then a few hours at the beach with a good book and canasta before and after dinner. I may live in Paradise but our week at the ranch is always heaven!
Stay cool, goddesses, Season will be here before you know it.
Love to all, Barbara
Monday, July 14, 2014
Summer Lovin
Hi Canasta Lovers,
Here in Paradise we have to pay for our fabulous winters with the hot and rainy days of summer. In July and August after my morning walk on the lake trail I tend to stay inside after lunch, and what better way to pass a triple H (hazy, hot and humid) afternoon than sitting down with friends to play our favorite game? A few interesting things have come up around the card table recently that I would like to share with you.
First, the change I've been hoping for: the "one to hold and one to throw" rule seems to be phasing out. I have long felt that if you can pick a talon after your discard you will have at least one card with which to keep playing. While we are talking of talons I am finding that many really good players often forget to take their talon after melding with wild cards. I don't know why this happens so often but it does. Are we too busy patting ourselves on the back? Is it the adrenaline rush that comes from attempting a joker canasta? Could it be the distraction of the moans and groans of our opponents? Whatever the reason, it happens so often that we must really try to be more cognizant of it.
Next, in the middle of a hand last week, my team had already closed a canasta and was working on our second when one of my opponents realized she only had 12 cards, her partner counted hers and found she also was short. " It's a misdeal!" she cried. Well, nooooo, it's not. Each player is responsible for counting her own cards before play begins. If she does not, them's the breaks kids!!!
Finally, I have often wondered where the term "Whip Out" came from. When a special hand is made the team that makes it earns a dollar from the other team.. It is easy to score this with a check mark when you are playing with four people. It becomes a score keeping nightmare when playing with five or six. Last week I was at a table of five when one of the teams made Pairs! The two opponents that were playing the hand "whipped out" their dollars and paid off right on the spot! Now I know the origin of "Whip Out" and so do you.
Hope I learn as much this week. Keep playing Canasta Goddesses and stay cool.
Love, Barbara
Here in Paradise we have to pay for our fabulous winters with the hot and rainy days of summer. In July and August after my morning walk on the lake trail I tend to stay inside after lunch, and what better way to pass a triple H (hazy, hot and humid) afternoon than sitting down with friends to play our favorite game? A few interesting things have come up around the card table recently that I would like to share with you.
First, the change I've been hoping for: the "one to hold and one to throw" rule seems to be phasing out. I have long felt that if you can pick a talon after your discard you will have at least one card with which to keep playing. While we are talking of talons I am finding that many really good players often forget to take their talon after melding with wild cards. I don't know why this happens so often but it does. Are we too busy patting ourselves on the back? Is it the adrenaline rush that comes from attempting a joker canasta? Could it be the distraction of the moans and groans of our opponents? Whatever the reason, it happens so often that we must really try to be more cognizant of it.
Next, in the middle of a hand last week, my team had already closed a canasta and was working on our second when one of my opponents realized she only had 12 cards, her partner counted hers and found she also was short. " It's a misdeal!" she cried. Well, nooooo, it's not. Each player is responsible for counting her own cards before play begins. If she does not, them's the breaks kids!!!
Finally, I have often wondered where the term "Whip Out" came from. When a special hand is made the team that makes it earns a dollar from the other team.. It is easy to score this with a check mark when you are playing with four people. It becomes a score keeping nightmare when playing with five or six. Last week I was at a table of five when one of the teams made Pairs! The two opponents that were playing the hand "whipped out" their dollars and paid off right on the spot! Now I know the origin of "Whip Out" and so do you.
Hope I learn as much this week. Keep playing Canasta Goddesses and stay cool.
Love, Barbara
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Delicious
Hi Canasta Lovers,
As summertime comes to Paradise we all look for different ways to occupy our time. We still play our favorite game, of course, but not quite as often and with seemingly less intensity. It is a mellow time of year. Those of us in town still get together once or twice a week for lunch and cards and, naturally, I look forward to that.
As usual in the hot, humid, lazy days of summer I do a lot of reading. I've just finished a book I'd like to share with you. It is titled Delicious, written by former New York Times food critic and Gourmet Magazine editor Ruth Reichl. Delicious is absolutely yummy! It is a great summer read, it has something for everyone. Food descriptions that you can absolutely taste, a tantalizing search for letters written during WWII, an ugly ducking to swan makeover, and naturally a love story. While Delicious is not great literature it is a delightful read for a summer afternoon.
At the end of the book is a secret recipe for Billie's Gingerbread Cake. It sounds delicious and might make a great dessert for your next canasta luncheon. Let me know if you are baking and I'll come over for a taste!!!
Keep in touch Canasta Goddesses and I will write again soon.
Love, Barbara
As summertime comes to Paradise we all look for different ways to occupy our time. We still play our favorite game, of course, but not quite as often and with seemingly less intensity. It is a mellow time of year. Those of us in town still get together once or twice a week for lunch and cards and, naturally, I look forward to that.
As usual in the hot, humid, lazy days of summer I do a lot of reading. I've just finished a book I'd like to share with you. It is titled Delicious, written by former New York Times food critic and Gourmet Magazine editor Ruth Reichl. Delicious is absolutely yummy! It is a great summer read, it has something for everyone. Food descriptions that you can absolutely taste, a tantalizing search for letters written during WWII, an ugly ducking to swan makeover, and naturally a love story. While Delicious is not great literature it is a delightful read for a summer afternoon.
At the end of the book is a secret recipe for Billie's Gingerbread Cake. It sounds delicious and might make a great dessert for your next canasta luncheon. Let me know if you are baking and I'll come over for a taste!!!
Keep in touch Canasta Goddesses and I will write again soon.
Love, Barbara
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Nibs, The Original Canasta Goddess
Hi Canasta Lovers,
As Mother's day is just around the corner I thought it might be fun to tell you about the original canasta goddess, my mom, known far and wide as Nibs. My mother was a card player extraordinaire. She could play any card game but her favorite was Canasta. When I was growing up my mom played canasta almost every afternoon and most week night evenings. She had her own posse of friends who laughed together, cried together, raised their children together and supported each other on the winding road of life.
I remember afternoons when I would walk into the family room (AKA the Den) and there would be the posse, Trudy, Louise, Martha, Roz and sometimes Gerry sitting in different stages of undress, those pesky flushes were starting. My mother used to tell a story about how she would be playing canasta late into the night and then walk into her bedroom backwards in hopes of my father thinking she was already at home. (This doesn't make too much sense to me, but it seemed to, to her.)
Once or twice a year the posse would go to a spa (AKA milk farm) for a couple of days. I can not imagine them doing early morning hiking or spinning, but massages and facials were certainly the order of the day. And of course, marathon canasta games into the wee hours. A little like Rho Kappa's annual trip to the ranch in Amagansett.
Things have not changed so much since Nibs and her friends ruled the Canasta table. We do have better air conditioning and so can keep our clothes on during flush- time. I wonder what the posse who opened with 50, 90, and 120 points respectively would make of our 125, 155, and 180 point requirement. But the most important things have remained the same. We still depend on the girlfriend connection for the love, common sense and positivity they bring to our lives. Besides a life long love of card games I have learned mnay life lessons from my mother and her posse, among them; how to treat other people, how to share laughter and dry tears, how to be a good support system for my family and friends.
With all these things in mind I want to wish all Canasta Goddesses, their mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters a wonderful and happy Mothers Day.
Much love, Barbara
As Mother's day is just around the corner I thought it might be fun to tell you about the original canasta goddess, my mom, known far and wide as Nibs. My mother was a card player extraordinaire. She could play any card game but her favorite was Canasta. When I was growing up my mom played canasta almost every afternoon and most week night evenings. She had her own posse of friends who laughed together, cried together, raised their children together and supported each other on the winding road of life.
I remember afternoons when I would walk into the family room (AKA the Den) and there would be the posse, Trudy, Louise, Martha, Roz and sometimes Gerry sitting in different stages of undress, those pesky flushes were starting. My mother used to tell a story about how she would be playing canasta late into the night and then walk into her bedroom backwards in hopes of my father thinking she was already at home. (This doesn't make too much sense to me, but it seemed to, to her.)
Once or twice a year the posse would go to a spa (AKA milk farm) for a couple of days. I can not imagine them doing early morning hiking or spinning, but massages and facials were certainly the order of the day. And of course, marathon canasta games into the wee hours. A little like Rho Kappa's annual trip to the ranch in Amagansett.
Things have not changed so much since Nibs and her friends ruled the Canasta table. We do have better air conditioning and so can keep our clothes on during flush- time. I wonder what the posse who opened with 50, 90, and 120 points respectively would make of our 125, 155, and 180 point requirement. But the most important things have remained the same. We still depend on the girlfriend connection for the love, common sense and positivity they bring to our lives. Besides a life long love of card games I have learned mnay life lessons from my mother and her posse, among them; how to treat other people, how to share laughter and dry tears, how to be a good support system for my family and friends.
With all these things in mind I want to wish all Canasta Goddesses, their mothers, grandmothers, sisters and daughters a wonderful and happy Mothers Day.
Much love, Barbara
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Setting the Canasta Table
Hi Canasta Lovers,
The time has come for this year's newbies to morph into full fledged canasta goddesses. The most important question they all ask at this most auspicious time is: "Where can I get the little thingies that holds the cards?" Soooo before the transition to Goddess is complete we will have to go on a little shopping trip. Grab a friend, cross the bridge and head down I95 to the Festival Flea Market on Sample Road. Take a little time to walk through the aisles, you will pass eyeglass booths, watch and jewelry booths, booths full of handbags, paper goods, cosmetics, visors and T-shirts. Eventually you will reach your destination: the games boutique. This marvelous little shop has everything you need to set your Canasta, Bridge or Mah Jong table. Here you will find the all important "Dual Deck Revolving Card Holder" aka "the tray." They also stock all kinds of playing cards. I like the Bicycle Cards best for teaching, they are large enough and not too hard to shuffle. There are lots of decorative cards here too. Talk about shuffling, they do sell a card shuffler for those of you who don't like to shuffle or have a little arthritis in your hand., Unfortunately, I do not find it to be a particularly effective helper as you must shuffle the cards multiple times and the cards still tend to come down in clumps.
What else will you need? Bridge Table Covers! Get back in your car and retrace your route back here to Paradise. You will find all colors and sizes of bridge table clothes just waiting for your monogram at Pioneer Linens on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach or at Lori Jayne Monogramming on South County Road. Lori Jayne will also make up personalized score pads for you. Many of the country clubs have great score pads with "special hand" scoring on them. Borrow a few sheets, take them to Lori Jayne and have your own individual score pads made up with your name on them. Beautifully wrapped playing cards are available at Mildred Hoyt and ,of course, you can never go wrong at Tiffany. The card sets make great gifts too.
For those of you who do not live in Paradise or have already left for the still chilly northern climes, I'm sure you can find all of this on line. Start with Amazon.com. I have bought some lovely monogrammed bridge table covers on line.
Now that your table is ready, invite your friends, sit down, deal the cards and have a wonderful afternoon playing our favorite game.
Wishing all Canasta Goddesses and your families a sweet Passover and a happy Easter. Keep in touch
Love, Barbara
The time has come for this year's newbies to morph into full fledged canasta goddesses. The most important question they all ask at this most auspicious time is: "Where can I get the little thingies that holds the cards?" Soooo before the transition to Goddess is complete we will have to go on a little shopping trip. Grab a friend, cross the bridge and head down I95 to the Festival Flea Market on Sample Road. Take a little time to walk through the aisles, you will pass eyeglass booths, watch and jewelry booths, booths full of handbags, paper goods, cosmetics, visors and T-shirts. Eventually you will reach your destination: the games boutique. This marvelous little shop has everything you need to set your Canasta, Bridge or Mah Jong table. Here you will find the all important "Dual Deck Revolving Card Holder" aka "the tray." They also stock all kinds of playing cards. I like the Bicycle Cards best for teaching, they are large enough and not too hard to shuffle. There are lots of decorative cards here too. Talk about shuffling, they do sell a card shuffler for those of you who don't like to shuffle or have a little arthritis in your hand., Unfortunately, I do not find it to be a particularly effective helper as you must shuffle the cards multiple times and the cards still tend to come down in clumps.
What else will you need? Bridge Table Covers! Get back in your car and retrace your route back here to Paradise. You will find all colors and sizes of bridge table clothes just waiting for your monogram at Pioneer Linens on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach or at Lori Jayne Monogramming on South County Road. Lori Jayne will also make up personalized score pads for you. Many of the country clubs have great score pads with "special hand" scoring on them. Borrow a few sheets, take them to Lori Jayne and have your own individual score pads made up with your name on them. Beautifully wrapped playing cards are available at Mildred Hoyt and ,of course, you can never go wrong at Tiffany. The card sets make great gifts too.
For those of you who do not live in Paradise or have already left for the still chilly northern climes, I'm sure you can find all of this on line. Start with Amazon.com. I have bought some lovely monogrammed bridge table covers on line.
Now that your table is ready, invite your friends, sit down, deal the cards and have a wonderful afternoon playing our favorite game.
Wishing all Canasta Goddesses and your families a sweet Passover and a happy Easter. Keep in touch
Love, Barbara
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