Last night we had our first barbecue at the castle. King Russell’s been desperate to have one here since I first moved in. Tonight he cooked for Fat Sister, Poppy, our friend Nic and me. After we’d eaten we sat outside in the dusk chatting.

My tics enhanced the evening by suggesting a number of games which were embraced enthusiastically by everyone and evolved as we played them. Here are the rules so you can play too:

Harry Potter, Dogs, Underwear
How to Play: Each player in turn has to name a Harry Potter character, a breed of dog and then a type of underwear. Tourettes added a number of sudden rule changes including: ‘Talk about sheep first, do an action, and close your eyes.’ This game went on for many rounds. Here are some of our winning combinations:

Dementor, Dalmatian, red bra-and-knickers twin-set.
Hagrid, Afghan, suspender belt.
Professor McGonagall, Jack Russell, stirrup leggings.
Snape, Airedale, thong.

Add your answers in the comments section below.

Biscuit, Biscuit, Biscuit
The next game was a lot more biscuit in nature. It was also pretty controversial and provoked a lot of argument about the relative strengths and weaknesses of different types of baked goods.

How to Play: Biscuit, Biscuit, Biscuit is like Paper, Scissors, Stone but with biscuits. Both players put their hands behind their backs and say ‘Biscuit’ three times. After the third time they make one of three different hand gestures to represent a type of biscuit:

Jammy Dodger is two fingers making a small circle
Hob Knob is a fist stamping down on an open palm
Malted Milk is the action of milking a cow

Here’s a diagram that shows which biscuit wins.

Jammy Dodger beats Hob Knob
Hob Knob beats Malted Milk
Malted Milk beats Jammy Dodger

Other ticced game ideas we didn’t have a chance to develop included:

Noughts and crosses – divided by five.
Wallpaper, dongle, acid erosion.

And finally,

Twister on the edge of a cliff. (Don’t try this at home.)