By: Blonde Two

Blonde One and I invented a new Dartmoor game during Saturday’s journey home in the minibus. She, by the way, is quite enjoying her new status as “driver” and the “watch-my-left” role that I have taken on is now coming more naturally to me.  I have developed new phrases like “left is fine”, “mirror touching branch” and “we are in the hedge” (I have never actually used that one but I am saving it just in case).

Our new game involves Two post-walk Blondes, a half empty bag of Jelly Babies and a longish minibus drive down off the moors.  The aim of the game is to make a plan as to when the Blondes are going to be allowed to eat another Jelly Baby.  This may sound simple but, as in all good games, there are rules.

1.  The Jelly Babies must last until the bus is very, very nearly home.  If this doesn’t happen, the driver may be overcome with exhaustion at any moment.

2.  The gaps between Jelly Baby eating points must be evenly spaced.  This is to prevent unnecessary grumpiness due an unforeseen sugar dip in either navigator or driver.

3.  You mustn’t look at the colour of the Jelly Baby before you eat it.  This is mainly because we both get upset at having to eat the Yellows.  We usually save them to leave as calling cards when we visit cafes (usually Foxtor Cafe).  If you don’t actually look at the colour, it is possible to pretend that a Yellow is Green.

4.  If there is an odd number of Jelly Babies, the final one must be shared equally by both Blondes, (stop reading now if you are sqeamish), this means that one Blonde must bite the head off the Jelly Baby before handing the legs to another.

Feel free to try our game out if you want to.  You don’t really need a minibus and you can probably play it if you are brunette, redhead or even bald.  You will need Jelly Babies but not a whole packet (unless you are driving somewhere far, far away).  Trust me, it is a fun game but if you are not feeling that adventurous, you could always wait until you get home and play snap instead.