Choir Group

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January isn’t usually a cheerful, sunny month, and the one just past was no exception, although it was brightened in our home by tuneful and kind choir members. David celebrated a birthday, and I had arranged a Ring and Sing call for him, so on the day left him to answer the ‘phone when it rang. On being told it was someone from the choir he began to call for me, then stopped. I saw him begin to smile, as presumably they began to sing the greeting, and by the end of the call he was beaming. He was full of praise for the singer, and I was pleased that he had enjoyed it, if a little surprised at the extent of his pleasure.

However, I appreciated how he felt a few days later, when my own birthday occurred. I organize the Ring and Sing requests, so a surprise call couldn’t be arranged for me, instead, I explained my predicament in one of my regular emails to choir members, and invited calls from anyone who would like to Ring and Sing on the day. What a great group our choir is, several members responded, and it was super. Family singalongs always occur and are appreciated, but I couldn’t tell you quite how nice it was to pick up the ‘phone and be surprised by cheerfully sung birthday wishes instead of someone trying to sell me something.

One of the singers gave me her details and a request, so I shall arrange a happy call for her too. I recommend it, I can’t recommend it enough, it is surprisingly cheering and pleasing, and had me smiling all day. Feel free to request a call for someone, or treat yourself. (You would need to know that the recipient wouldn’t mind you divulging their telephone number or birthday) The request form is on the website under ‘Choir’.

Just February to get through now, then it’s Spring! Spring! Spring! (Oh, the barnyard is busy …)The bulbs are shooting and growing fast, it won’t be long before we can sing all the lovely Spring songs. Continue to take care everyone, the vaccine doesn’t provide immunity, it only gives us some protection from Covid, stay in good health, then hopefully we’ll see each other at our u3a meetings at some time in the future.

Cheers, Christine.

And Finally…..

by WebmasterGeneral News/EventsPosted on Comments are Disabled

Working parents want kids to go back to school because school closures directly impacts them.
Teachers don’t want schools to open because covid spreading round their school directly impacts them.
NHS staff want a full lockdown because sick Covid patients directly impacts them.
Business owners want to carry on as normal because lockdown directly impacts them.
People with physical health problems want everyone to stay socially distant because catching Covid could kill them.
People with mental health problems want people to spend time with because isolation could kill them.
Some can’t wait for a vaccine because they believe it will bring back some normality.
Some are terrified of a vaccine because they believe it could harm them.
We are all going through this but none of us are going through the same thing. Some face crippling financial challenges, others face heart break.
We don’t all have to agree with what is best because what’s best for us won’t be best for everyone. We don’t have to understand what others are going through. But we do need to stick together and keep loving each other no matter our differences.
We need to be mindful when some things go the way we want it to, it could be terrible news to another person. We need to be kind.
Author Emma Jane

Pub Quiz

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It has been nearly a year (March 9th) since the Pub Quiz Group last met; doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? (Not!) Thanks once again to David Rose who keeps us supplied with excellent quizzes on line. Here’s your Pub Quiz for February after the answers to last month’s Quiz:

SECTION ONE – Name the profession from the description given.
1. Someone who designs dance moves. Choreographer
2. He makes and fits shoes for horses. Farrier (A Blacksmith only makes shoes, does NOT fit them)
3. A medical professional who collects and tests blood. Phlebotomist
4. A professional wine waiter. Sommelier
5. Front of house at a restaurant. Maitre D’
6. A head chef’s second in command. Sous chef
7. A brain surgeon. Neurologist

SECTION TWO – ENTERTAINMENT
8. Which stage musical tells the story of an Argentinian dictator’s wife? Evita
9. Who sang with UB40 for their 1985 hit, ‘I Got You Babe’? Chrissie Hinds
10. Which horror film used Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ as its theme? Exorcist
11. Who played the title role in the 50s/60s TV show, ‘Dr Kildare’? Richard Chamberlain
12. Who was the Prince of Denmark? Hamlet
13. What was the name of the spaceship in Blakes 7? Liberator

SECTION THREE – TRIVIA
14. What is the children’s game, Noughts and Crosses, called in the USA? Tic Tac Toe
15. What two names are given to a group of swans on the ground, beginning with B?
(A ballet is swans in flight) Bevy or Bank
16. Which of the sciences is regarded as the oldest? Astronomy
17. Born on 5 May 1818, who was known as the father of communism? Karl Marx
18. Which word can go after PUPPY and before LETTER to make new words? LOVE
19. Which animal’s English name means earthpig in Afrikaans? Aardvark
20. Name of chalk rocks situated in the Solent, off the Isle of Wight? The Needles
21. Which book features a pub called ‘The Admiral Benbow’? Treasure Island
22. Which year did Jesse Owens become the first black athlete to win 4 Olympic gold medals! 1936
23. The Whitsunday Islands are located off the coast of which country? Australia
24. Which artist’s studio was known as the Factory? Andy Warhol
25. What is the lightest of all the elements and has the atomic number 1? Hydrogen

FEBRUARY QUIZ

SECTION ONE – FOOD & DRINK
1. Cinnamon comes from which part of the tree?
2. A White Lady cocktail consists of which main alcohol ingredient?
3. Brassica Rapa is the Latin name for which vegetable?
4. In Japan what type of drink is Matcha?
5. What flavour is the liqueur Triple Sec?
6. What is another term for Vitamin C?
7. Plaintain is the cooking variety of which fruit?

SECTION TWO – ANIMAL KINGDOM
8. Macaws, long tailed colourful parrots, consist of how many species?
9. Traditionally Mozzarella cheese was made from which animal’s milk?
10. Sharing its name with a percussion instrument, which relative of the antelope, native to Africa, has white vertical stripes on its body?
11. The French clothing company “Lacoste” features which type of animal in its logo?
12. The Roadrunner is a member of which bird family?
13. The world’s largest frog and beetle are both name after which biblical character?

SECTION THREE – GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
14. How many stars feature on the flag of New Zealand?
15. What is the most fractured human bone?
16. What is the most famous university of Paris?
17. What animal is on the golden Flemish flag?
18. What is the name of the Indian holy river?
19. What is the Kabbalah?
20. What is the meaning of the Arab word Habibi?
21. What does the abbreviation GPS mean?
22. What is the most spoken language in the world?
23. What does the abbreviation SMS mean?
24. What is another word for wall painting or mural?

Reading Group

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Due to the Library closure we did not have a particular set book this month but the librarian had been helpful in that she had put together at least three sets of books which we could collect and which hopefully would cover our January, February, March reading needs. But then the next lockdown came along and the Library closed! So we have all been dipping into our own bookshelves and also have been swapping bags of books to tide us over.

I was given a book as a birthday gift which took me right back into my childhood – “Growing up in the 1950’s” by Paul Feeney. Memories of outside toilets, tin bath in front of the fire on a Sunday listening to “Sing Something Simple”, toasting fork, stone hot water bottle, fur coat and my dad’s old Army coat on the beds as extra blankets, frost on the inside of the bedroom window, bread and dripping, no telly; the list is endless. I wouldn’t want to go back to all that but people’s general attitudes and ethics would be welcomed back these days – no mobiles at the dinner table, you ate what you were given or starve, no striving for the latest clothes or gadgets; even the Teddy boys were not really as violent as they were portrayed compared to the knife wielding yobs today. The Teddy boys spent a lot of money on their draped coats and wouldn’t want to damage them! I wonder if today’s youth will look back with fond memories of present day activities and attitudes? Oh well, back to the books.

Weekenders’ Group

by WebmasterWeekendersPosted on Comments are Disabled

The February Newsletter will be sent out on 1st February. Once again, many thanks to Margaret Whilde for printing off copies for those members not on email and for delivering them on her morning walk. The good news is that several of our members have had the Covid 19 vaccine already; let’s hope we can all get it in time for an un-locked down summer when hopefully the Weekenders will have one very large birthday lunch to make up for all the ones we haven’t been able to have during 2020. But we are all keeping in contact via the phone and emails and of course the website. Keep chatting ladies!