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Happy First Fiesta of 2026!

Altaira Superuser Jan 2, 5:47pm Views: 167 Happy First Fiesta of 2026! *pops corks* Greeting, everyone, and Happy New Year!! B.G. and I stayed up late and rang in the New Year with champagne, then spent Jan 1 relaxing. Our nephew was still under the weather so we didn't do our annual New Year's Day get-together, which has been rescheduled to next weekend. Today, 2026 errands begin with an emissions test due for our 'older' car (a 2012), and visits to stores and banks. Everything is still decorated for the holidays, so I'm looking forward to it! Did you have a good New Year's eve? New Year's Day? the champagne is still flowing at the Fiesta bar, and the buffet is piled high with holiday goodies, so have a pass at both and let us know how your 2026 is going so far! *puts quarters on juke box* play us a song to get us moving for the new year! Happy weekend, everyone!!!

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 2, 11:10pm Views: 158 Happy New Year! Thank you for the champagne, Altaira, but I'll pass for a large mug of hot cocoa! We added another 3-4 inches of snow to our total by New Year's morning, very pretty and fluffy stuff. And it hasn't been getting above the 20F's/-4C's. I had a fun New Year's Eve. Hubby is recovering from a bad bout with the flu (even vaccinations haven't warded off this new strain), so my son had me come to his workplace, a board and card game store with a dozen tables for game setup and play. We played one of my favorites, Wyrmspan (excavating caves and enticing dragons to dwell in them), with two folks who had never played it before, but were familiar with its predecessor, Wingspan (placing birds in forest, grassland, or wetlands). So they picked up on it quickly! I headed home by 10 pm, but my son stayed until closing (1 am). Here's an oldie for the New Year! https://www.youtube.com/...1z8hjUFCY&t=140s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 3, 12:12am Views: 156 Happy New Year! Getting on to TORn has been quite a quest these last few days, but it's behaving itself nicely just now. We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home, watching the lovely "Princess Bride" on DVD while snacks and fizz - and in bed by 10:30 :) New Year's Day the weather was marginal, but fine enough for us to have barbecued salmon. We're slowly getting through our Christmas baking - not much left now. Yesterday (the 2bd here) we had thunderstorms and a downpour, so it was nice to stay quietly at home. During fine spells we've been getting a bit of gardening done, keeping the weeds under some sort of control. We're also spending a fair amount of time on the pleasantest gardening job of all: harvesting! Lots of strawberries and (especially) blueberries, and enough raspberries for a treat. On the more mundane side, courgettes and the first cucumbers. Lots of tomatoes, but no ripe ones yet - probably not far off, though. Hmm, the thunder is rumbling again, and I think more rain is on the way. I'm really not envying all those people away on camping holidays! Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 3, 3:00am Views: 149 Strawberries? Blueberries? Raspberries? I think it's time for a Pavlova! You've been getting plenty of rain, no wonder the garden is bustling with activity. May your New Year be a pleasant one! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Altaira Superuser Jan 3, 5:30am Views: 154 We had that flu Empathy to mr. dernwyn. Although, ours wasn't as bad as some. What a fun New Year's Eve! So, how does one win? The most dragons? The biggest? The highest number of inhabited caves? I can already think of multiple possible goals. Happy New Year to you and yours!!

Altaira Superuser Jan 3, 5:52am Views: 150 You're making me hungry again! In a good way. What all do you bake for Christmas? I assume you freeze some of it? Either that, or gain weight, then work it off with a *lot* of gardening. Speaking of gardening, our winter has been so mild some neighbors have a few flowers blooming in their gardens, which is unheard of in January. Given that March is usually our snowiest month though, those little plants may be a bit optimistic. But, we shall see. Happy New Year weekend!

grammaboodawg Elvenhome Jan 7, 5:23pm Views: 143 Happy New Year Sibbies!!! WE MADE IT! :D It's been a crazy 3+ weeks! But so satisfying :) My daughter and her son are finally settled in their new home (albeit lots of unpacking to do!)!! I finished up their local townhouse cleaning and officially returned the keys to the main office on Sunday (1/4). The deadline was 12/31 (New Year's Eve), but because of the previous weekend's ice storm and the fact their offices would be closed from noon on the 31st until Monday 1/5... they said if the keys were in the drop box when they came back on the 4th that I could have the extra days to pack, move, and clean at no penalty charge for the overage. I needed every single moment! THANKS TPTB! I figured between 12/14/25 and 1/3/26 (3 wks) hobbity and I drove to their home with loads of furniture & belongings 15 times. Round trip is 140 miles. Days not driving were spent packing and moving things to their local storage units. Although there's been a LOT of that going on since the end of October. Once they took ownership of the house on Dec 15, the official move began! I figure we traveled 3,076 miles (3 trips with Sam (trailer)) with a total of over 5,500 miles since they found the house in September. I have one more trip tomorrow (Thurs 1/8) with "stuff" and will help put together a hospital bed for daughter and a fancy computer desk for g'son. *wipes hands together* Then I'm DONE!! :D Now I have to clean up MY home and maybe read the mail ;) It's just so great and such a blessing to know they're finally in their own home with an income that will keep them safe. Literally a year ago that had been an impossible dream. I'm relieved to know I don't have to worry about them anymore :D Though I'll still be heavily involved with medical/moral support and transports to out-of-town appointments here and there. So I raise my glass to both of my daughters and their broods, to my family, and to TORn! It's going to be a GREAT YEAR! *hugs and twitches* Thanks for taking such great care of us Altaira! We have been there and back again. TIME Google Calendar

grammaboodawg Elvenhome Jan 7, 6:14pm Views: 143 A perfect way to welcome the New Year! NOT with the flu (sorry Hubby). I hope Hubby is well recovered and no one else has caught it. Everywhere I turn I hear of the holidays also including the flu in too many cases :( Thankfully, it passed us by. I think it's because we were a "moving" target ;) But you've found the best way to take on the New Year is with dragons as I once read from a very wise person who must have heard it from another very wise person: "I desired dragons with a profound desire" I wish your family and you the BEST NEW YEAR EVER!!!! To Infinity!!!! We have been there and back again. TIME Google Calendar

grammaboodawg Elvenhome Jan 7, 7:10pm Views: 140 Happy New Year! :D What a wonderful way to transition from one year to the next! I prefer a peaceful journey myself, although I really did mean to stay awake! That recliner was just tooooooo comfy :) The garden sounds like it's coming along great! Anything fresh from the garden sounds so good right now. Especially the strawberries! I hope you have a very healthy and adventurous New Year! *raises glass* Here's to the Best Year Ever! We have been there and back again. TIME Google Calendar

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 7, 9:12pm Views: 140 What a math problem! Wow, you all certainly gave Hobbity a good workout! What a relief to have that all done, and what a wonderful New Year beginning for everyone! Take care on the roads, especially the black ice. May this year only get better for you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Altaira Superuser Jan 8, 5:56am Views: 140 Now that all calls for a toast! What a fantastic ending to 2025, and beginning to 2026! Here's to your daughters, and to you for being such an amazing mother and, well, gramma. Treat yourself, hobbity, and Sam to some r&r, and enjoy the good times!

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 8, 8:17pm Views: 138 The year of the...dragon? Son and I had a great time playing with two who had never played it before, but were familiar with related games. They did well! A happiest of New Years to you and all your family too! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Jan 8, 8:48pm Views: 137 Well, on your individual board you have three rows, each being a different cavern. You can "excavate" up to five caves in each row, the first cave is already excavated, but you have to play cave cards to excavate the others in that row. Once a cave is excavated, you can "entice" a dragon to it by paying its cost, and each dragon has an ability that you play right then, or at the end of the round, or when you "visit" the dragon by having your explorer person travel through the cave. Caves can get food, or more dragon or cave cards, or move one of your markers around a board which gives you food, cards, eggs, or other resources. There are four rounds, and at the end of each you get points on how close you got to that round's goal (randomly selected; includes things like having the most friendly dragons played so far, dragons with gold in their cost, etc.) Each dragon also has a point value, and there are other things, like number of eggs on dragons, that add up. And each dragon has a fanciful name, like "Helpful" Leafeating Cricketcatcher and the "Playful" Lavender Feydragon. Happy New Year to you, may all your dragons be "helpful"! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

cats16 Gondolin Jan 9, 9:25am Views: 135 Waving a quick hello overnight And wishing everyone a very belated Christmas and New Year! I've struggled to access the boards in the last week or so but managed to tonight, giving each click about 3-5 minutes to load (quick a throwback to what being online used to feel like!). Will pop into Fiesta tomorrow if I'm able to get through. Cheers! Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!

grammaboodawg Elvenhome Jan 10, 3:21pm Views: 132 Touchdown!! :D Happy Belated New Year! I hear ya on the bot-infected time delay. I'm allowing 30-45 minutes for my daily TIME/BS posts... which has been quite a challenge over the few couple of weeks of busy ;) I hope you've had a fabulous holiday season and the BEST NEW YEAR EVER! *high five* We have been there and back again. TIME Google Calendar