Sunday, June 10, 2012

five people

Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)

Well...leaving aside the completely obvious... 

1.  Harry

2. Murray

3. Mrs Holmes

4. Mrs Hudson 

5. Laura

But that still leaves an awful lot of people out. This should've been the ten things one.

Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.

We are home. I've started the laundry. I'm exhausted. 

Here's a list of the clues for Lancs. Anon's game:

It's a game of cap and hat but not bonnet
It's a game of route but not root
It's a game of rut but not puddle
It's a game of iron and tin but not gold
It's a game of den but not nest
It's a game of dream but not vision
It's a game of lit but not lite (unless you're American, in which case it is a game of lite)
It's a game of kin but not kind
It's a game of plus but not minus
It's a game of butter but not bread
It's a game of grin and smile but not cry
It's a game of clot but not clod
It's a game of ton and tun but not barrel
It's a game of not and no but not yes
It's a game of boo but not ghost
It's a game of boo and not shoe
It's a game of boo and not page
It's a game of hi but not greetings
It's a game of to and fro but not hither or thither
It's a game of tan but not color
It's a game of join but not meet
It's a game of roo not kanga
It's a game of hone but not sharpen
It's a game of pen but not nib
It's a game of rabbi but not vicar
It's a game of war not peace
It's a game of cow not donkey

82 comments:

Anonymous said...

This definitely should have been the ten things choice. I like your way of handling it, though!

I hope everyone gets a good night's sleep before you all have to back to the routine tomorrow. Or at least a good bed time. How long now till you get your red motorcycle? :D

Greg Lestrade said...

For once I suppose I hope I'm completely obvious...

Who's Laura?

John H. D. Watson said...

L - you and the boys are completely obvious. :) Laura's the girl in Cairo whose chihuahua I once got arrested because of.

RSF - too long! A few weeks, at least two. I hope not three.

Anon Without A Name said...

You're very organised John - I always leave the laundry to the next day, I just can't bring myself to start it when I've just got back.

Anon's game is still completely stumping me.

John H. D. Watson said...

There is really an unnatural amount. I would almost swear there's more laundry than clothes that we brought along.

Me too. No idea.

Greg Lestrade said...

I think Sherlock's attempts at cloning have finally come to fruition... sadly on laundry, not something useful.

John H. D. Watson said...

I would've thought he'd start with the degus. Or...biscuits or something.

Greg Lestrade said...

And you could then have persuaded him to move swiftly on to motorcycles ;)

Can't be cloning, anyway. I swear every sock has no matching counterpart...

Kholly said...

When I travel for work we have sort of a conference uniform. When I came home from the meeting in may I rolled my suitcase into the laundry room and promptly forgot about it. Didn't realize it wasn't empty until I had to pack for this trip. I emptied it all into the washing machine, washed, dried, and put it rigt back into the bag.

John H. D. Watson said...

Oh no. They must be breeding.

John H. D. Watson said...

Kholly - ha, that sounds like an extremely efficient plan. You could be packed at all times!

Greg Lestrade said...

I'm just waiting to find out we've put a wash through with a pocket full of undiscovered owl-pellets, or sheep-poo or some other thing Sherlock's picked up and forogtten abaout.

John H. D. Watson said...

As long as it's not tonight. I am so tired.

Greg Lestrade said...

bed, then. I'll hang the washing up in the morning and put a new load on.

Think the quality of my typing is a sign I should sleep too.

John H. D. Watson said...

Right, good. Pull me up?

Anonymous said...

Ew. I suggest investigating Sherlock's pocket with tongs! Or rubber gloves at the very least.

Greg Lestrade said...

carry you to bed, if you want. fling you on the mattress and...collapse in a sleeping heap on top of ou.

John H. D. Watson said...

excellent

Greg Lestrade said...

you're only very slightly heavier than a soggy, mud-caked lunch-filled Sherlock, you know? And distinctly less demanding.

John H. D. Watson said...

shhhh. no short jokes when i'm alsmost aslep

Anon Without A Name said...

The biggest concern isn't whether the socks are breeding, it's whether they're breeding the right side out...

Anonymous said...

Hmm..holiday laundry, what a joy. I once came back from three weeks at my mother's with all that dirty laundry (me and child) to find that hubby hadn't done any while I'd been gone either (I quote "I didn't need to - I have *lots* of socks']"). You can imagine what that pile looked like.

And I think the sock thing is just with men, at least the non-matching and multiplying part of it - my socks are always fine, his on the other hand are such a disaster I've taken to just shoving singles in the drawer and hoping that they find their own match in the dark.

And yes, definitely tongs for pockets - it's one of the things I notice about having a girl (as opposed to growing up with brothers) fewer really nasty things in dark places.

My five - also other than the obvious. This is hard because of the limited number - but at least it's quick to answer once you've decided on the order.

1. Mum

2. Trish

3. Jack

4. Sharon

5. Cathy


Night guys...

Anonymous said...

1. Mum
2. Elaine and Colin
3. Dad
4. Auntie Doreen
5. Laura

I didn't realise I thought about 5. so much... I haven't spoken to her in years...

Rider said...

When I was a kid we had the single sock drawer and the paired sock drawer.

All singles no matter if kid or adult size went in the single drawer, when the pair count got too low the drawers were brought into the living room and we sat around pairing socks.

I kept up the method for years and still do because no matter how hard you try to buy the same socks it never quite works out.

Anonymous said...

Rider That's brilliant! I'll have to think about doing that, at least for his...

Anonymous said...

I pair my socks once in a great while, and am always missing some. I think they travel through time and space vortices, looking for unsuspecting launderers to bewilder. They are washed because they need washing, which would be helpful if they would come home, but invariably they get eaten by the sock eaters and are never heard from no more.

Pommery said...

Argh, five really isn't enough, especially since I've got eight siblings and can't pick just one, 'else they find this and I get an earful. So none of them made it. :P

Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)

1. Mum

2.Dad (1)

3. Dad (2)

4. Grandmother

5. My best friend.

REReader said...

I've no idea whatsoever about Anon's game, none! I'll have to try again tomorrow.

I'm not sure what it means that I got Mycroft's game immediately--I'd just love to say that it means my mind works the same way yours does, Mycroft, but it probably has more to do with my having done copy editing for several years. :)

John, I'm with you--I don't always start washing laundry the minute I come back from a trip, but I definitely always at least collect and sort it all out, ready to start in the morning! (And put away all the suitcases and garment bags right away, too, no matter what time I come in.)


5 people...I don't think I can do exactly this. I mean, I can think of five people, or rather groups of people, but I can't think of any way to put them down without using names, and I don't feel comfortable using names. I'm sorry. :(

Anonymous said...

Truly, RR, we're heartbroken.

Desert Wanderer said...

Anon, is it a game of hi but not greetings? Of to and fro but not hither or thither? Of tan but not color?

Anonymous said...

I've gone with the fudging a bit and combined a few people.

Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)

1) My mom and dad

2) My brother and his fiance

3) My sister

4) Vanessa

5) Lisa

REReader said...

Very well, Anon, if you prefer I don't play your game, I won't.

Anonymous said...

Never assume an anon playing a nice game is the same person as an anon being nasty rr.

Anonymous said...

I'm the game setting anon, and I can confirm that wasn't me RR, I was staking the zeds at that point!

REReader said...

Hello, game-setting Anon. Perhaps you could come up with a slightly less-generic signature?

Small Hobbit said...

In fact, game-setting Anon would be a perfect name if you were happy to chose it :)

Yes, folks I'm back. Hi DW hope you had a good trip! We got home at 11pm last night after 14 hours coach/ferry travel. I've unpacked, OH has the day off today so he's got the laundry to do (haha).

I've been following the conversations on my phone and very jealous not to be able to join in ;) I've been writing my various days down and will put them up in the next few days, some on my Tumblr, but I'm afraid a couple of days will have to go up here because it's more private, I hope none of you object. It did get incredibly personal, as many of you have said.

Re elbows on tables - I was always told by my mother that it meant I was less likely to knock anything over - a fact which remains true to this day ;)

So now, back in England and guess what it's raining! Glad to hear that the weekend wasn't too bad in the general scheme of things John and wishing you, Lestrade, the boys and all fellow badgers (including welcoming the new ones) a good week.

Desert Wanderer said...

Welcome back, SH! How was the trip?

Anonymous said...

It was me setting this game yesterday, I don't entirely know why I didn't sign off as I usually do,

How about

It's a game of join but not meet

Lancs. Anon

Anonymous said...

RR, I figured out gameAnon's game yesterday, and some of our back and forth conversation at the end of the last entry may help you since I think you're American too. I know you can figure it out. It's the kind of game that makes you go "doh!" like Homer Simpson once you see it.

DW, you've got it.

*waves a greeting to Small Hobbit* I hope you had a lovely holiday!

*looks at clock, falls back into bed*

Anonymous said...

Yes, sorry DW you have indeed got it!

Lancs. Anon

pandabob said...

Ok so I spent a long time trying to work this one out and I even went as far as asking my dad if he had any idea but still I have no clue :-(

Lancs. anon will you be giving us the answer at some point? or should I just delete the whole enterprise from my brain? :-)

Desert Wanderer said...

Anonybob, I think if you put just give it a bit longer, something will take root.

Anonymous said...

I'll come across with an answer if there's a consensus that people want the answer :)

Lancs. Anon

Anonymous said...

It's a game of roo not kanga!

Lancs. Anon

pandabob said...

I can wait and will keep trying to work it out if I know I'll get an answer someday lancs. Anon :-)

ryo said...

I think I figured it out, lancs.

war not peace?
cow not donkey?

ryo
(Yay! Nadal won!)

Anonymous said...

ryo

Those work! Had to think a little about cow!

It's a game of pen but not nib
It's a game of rabbi but not vicar

Lancs. Anon

ryo said...

Lancs game has been going for a while, and I've finally conquered it, so I thought I'd start a new one.

Live but not die
Devil but not angel
Era but not period

ryo

pandabob said...

Doctor Danger the Sherlock wrangler (or anyone else who has any ideas) can I ask your child wrangling advice please?

How do I calm an ‘its my birthday and you haven’t bought me what I wanted tantrum’?

It’s my fault for leaving it until today to shop for birthday tomorrow (she’ll be 5) so I don’t feel I can get cross with her but what do I do? I’ve promised to get it ASAP but she’s still rightfully not happy about it and I feel like it’s a very bad mummy day :-(

On a happier note (until full time anyway!) is anyone watching football this evening? Anon from Paris I apologise now if I sulk when you beat us ;-)

John H. D. Watson said...

Lancs. Anon - boar but not pig?

Anonymous said...

Excellent example John!


Lancs. Anon

John H. D. Watson said...

Anonybob - that's hard. Has she got other presents to open? I know delayed gratification isn't really something five year olds understand (Sherlock still doesn't and sometimes I think may never), but...

I don't know, if it were Sherlock, I suppose I'd tell him that things can't be perfect all the time, even on birthdays, and then wait out the storm. There must be things that helps her calm down usually? Baths? Warm milk?

And also, you can't make things perfect for them all the time, and that's all right, so don't blame yourself, okay? Good luck.

pandabob said...

Thanks John :-) she wanted three small things instead of one big one so she has two things to open in the morning(thank god, if she'd only asked for one thing and I couldn't get it I may have been driving the country all day trying to find it somewhere!) She'll have it on Saturday when my family come to visit because I managed to find it in a shop there so her auntie is getting it and bringing it. I know there's nothing more I could really do it just feels slightly bad to upset her about her birthday :-(

She's currently watching cartoons which seems to have calmed her down but what will happen when I turn them off for the football who knows! I think you're right though about just having to wait it out, however guilty I feel I can't actually control the world I guess ;-)

Thanks again for the advice and well done for always getting these word games I'm totally stumped! :-)

John H. D. Watson said...

This one was really killing me - I still may not have it right!

Lancs. Anon - would these also work?

coo but not murmur?
past but not future?

REReader said...

Lancs. Anon, do these fit?--

Fir but not oak?
Fur but not leather?

Anonymous said...

So, I just discovered I can't post from work...if I could, you would have got this an hour ago, but for what it's worth - child-wrangling thoughts.

First off, you are most certainly not a bad Mummy, you didn't deliberately set out to thwart her...you just made a small, and entirely understandable miscalculation (if not maybe understandable from her POV - but 4/5 year olds are still mostly at that "the universe revolves around ME" stage so their POV isn't all that reliable). It's hard that she's upset about her birthday but it's all part of learning that you can't always control the world, even when you really, really want to. : )

As for a solution, all I can suggest (because it works with mine) is to promise to fix it ASAP (which you've already done) and then make it up to her by allowing her some rarely proffered treat - in our house that means bath time in the "big" bath or extra stories at bedtime or, if I'm feeling *really* guilty she gets to pick a favorite film to watch with me (I don't think football would count - good luck with that - mine's in school so I get to watch without interruptions).

I don't know if any of that helps - but good luck with it and Happy Birthday to your little panda...

pandabob said...

thanks imachar she's watched a lot of cartoons which she doesn't normally get to and had some sweets (again she doesn't normally) and she seems quite calm now. :-)

She told me I couldn't turn cartoons off for the football because I'd upset her so much so(hoping John won't mind this) I told her that the dangerous doc had told me I'd done all I could to get it right and not to blame myself so there was no reason I shouldn't watch the football :-) she looked rather confused for a minute and then said ok then can a build a den!

It's kind of impressive that John can have such an effect on my daughter over the internet but I'm very grateful for it today :-)

Thanks for the birthday wishes and enjoy the football :-)

John H. D. Watson said...

Ha, I'm glad it worked! I'm sure building dens is more fun than watching cartoons anyway. :)

Anonymous said...

She told me I couldn't turn cartoons off for the football because I'd upset her so much Ha, yes, mine's good at those kind of declarations too...good for you using Dr. John as your surrogate authority figure:)

I am enjoying the football, I'd enjoy it more if I was watching Scotland, but then we'd just lose and that would be depressing, at least this way there's a chance I'm going to like the result.

REReader said...

Happy birthday to the pandacub, Anony!

(Apparently my mother and I have food poisoning. Ick.)

Desert Wanderer said...

Ryo,

Bed but not pillow?
Liver but not heart?
Panama but not Nicaragua?

pandabob said...

two chairs, three blankets, two sofa cushions and a couple of pillows! I think she's aiming for something to rival Sherlock's fort ;-)

football just got better :-)

Thanks RR :-)

Can I cast the first vote for an answer from lancs. anon please, she said we needed consensus before she would tell and my brain hurts at not being able to work it out ;-)

Anonymous said...

John, yes those work, I particularly liked past as an example!

RR, also very good examples!

Do people want to continue guessing or should I declare a cut off time?

Lancs. Anon

Anonymous said...

And things just took a downturn in the football :(

Anonymous said...

Also late. Pandabob, I'm of the "nothing nice happens while you're having a fit" school of thought, but when a kid hits the point where they're upset because they're upset, sometimes combining the hug with a nice chilly washrag for washing the face can short circuit the worst of the crying. With the younger ones I also talk in a low voice, sympathetically, but without giving any ground, and try to get them to take deep breaths and hold them for a second or two before letting them out. (I demonstrate this, blowing my hair up away from my forehead, which frequently gets a giggle.)

I do have the advantage in that I'm not Mom, though. Still, most kids don't seem to ever get any practical advice about ways to calm down once you've stopped enjoying pitching a fit.

Ryo,

is it a game of robot but not machine?
a game of liver but not lungs?

Greg Lestrade said...

Lancs. anon, I thought perhaps John or I could put up a dedicated post with the answers of these (pref. Answers provided by the people who set them, to be sure they are correct) and then anyone who doesn't want to know just needs to avoid the comments on that post until curiosity gets the better of them.

I'm giving up hope ever understanding anything ever again, personally....

pandabob said...

good idea Greg :-) I gave up hope a long time ago :-(

I'm normally of that school of thought RSF this one just threw me a little because it was my fault in the first place and I know that there have been times as an adult when birthday presents haven't turned up on my birthday and it's bothered me eventhough I know it's unreasonable ;-)

Cartoons, sweets and a message from the dangerous doc and she seems fine now so thank you everyone for your help :-)

Desert Wanderer said...

No worries, Lestrade. I've gotten your last two post titles, which brings my grand total ever up to six.

Anonymous said...

I think that would be a good idea, Greg. To be honest I'm rather worried that the reason that lots of people haven't got it is because I've stuffed it up somewhere!

Lancs. Anon

Anonymous said...

RR, I'm sorry to hear you're sick! I hope you and your mom have laid in lots of bananas, applesauce, rice and toast for the duration.

Pandabob -- Building dens does sound much more fun than cartoons. Sounds like the cub is managing a happy birthday after all! (And I'm amazed by how many people got up answers while I puttered around on mine!)

Maybe we can let Sherlock decide when to cut off lancs anon's game. (Well, unless he's been completely distracted by tadpoles and newtpoles.) If it helps at all, it is a game of mite and lite in America, but not in England. ;D

I still am not sure about ryo's game, though.

Anonymous said...

DW, whenever I "get" one of L's post titles, I end up singing the parts I know and then having to go find the entire song to get it back out of my head.

L - an answers post is a brilliant idea. Although I'm almost nervous about how gleefully you've all taken to the Game!

(n.b. this response will probably be oddly late too. I've even tried reloading in a separate tab, to see if there's any comment I've missed, but... *sigh*)

ryo said...

dw and rsf, nope to all of those. bed, liver, panama, and robot are not in the game.

I'm terribly curious about what you both thought the rule was, though, since you both came up with liver.

here are some more examples:
eve not adam
draw not color
pan and pot but not stove

ryo
(who misses blanket forts)

Anonymous said...

Ryo is it a game of ten but not eleven?

is it a game of bad but not good?

Lancs. Anon

Small Hobbit said...

I seem totally incapable of doing any of these games, clearly my brain isn't wired that way.

And glancing at the tele one of the English footballers seems to be lying on the grass crying cos he's fallen over.

Desert Wanderer said...

Don't say, rsf! we can use it next.

Ryo, Ron but not Mike?
Wed but not marry?
Rat but not mouse?
Reward but not present?

Anonymous said...

Ryo...now I'm really confused. I thought I was getting it (enough to follow along, if not actually participate) but clearly I'm not. Which is okay, I need frequent reminders that I'm not really as smart as I think I am, and this is serving that purpose nicely.

Anonymous said...

Small hobbit, if it's any comfort, I started them off, and I'm still staring at ryo's game with confusion.

(I also started them off with a Game that I thought would be a good introduction and would amuse Sherlock too, over a long car ride. I should have remembered how much grownup people love a challenge too!)

ryo

is it a game of small but not large?
a game of hot but not bothered?

ryo said...

lancs and dw -- those are all correct.

no worries, imachar. I find these somewhat challenging myself. I prefer number puzzles, usually. But it's a good way to stretch my brain.

ryo

ryo said...

rsf, yours snuck in there while I was posting just now. Neither small nor hot work.

Here are two more examples:
loot not treasure
lever not pulley

ryo

Desert Wanderer said...

Ryo, deified not god-like. :)
Ewe not us.
Saw not hammer.

Greg Lestrade said...

By the way, if anyone ever really wants to know my post titles' origins, you can ask! It's not supposed to be a secret or some sort of fiendish game!

ryo said...

DW!!! Deified is GREAT!

another clue:
was and not will

ryo
(if you're stuck, looking at this one next to the last one in DW's most recent list may prove instructive)

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