What kind of stories do you like? I hope the sky is the limit here!
I read a wide range of stories and owe a huge debt to my late mother for encouraging my love of reading at an early age. I wasn’t to know how much that gift of the love of reading (and I do see it as a gift) was going to stand me in good stead for my writing.
On June 30th 1980, Gran watches tennis on television with some pleasure, writing:
Play at Wimbledon started at noon again today… there were more excellent matches and results were much as to be expected except that Britain’s last hope, Virginia Wade, was beaten by the American fifteen-year old, Andrea Jaeger.
“But”, she says, “My main pleasure had already taken place!”
We have read once or twice of her encounters with the Wryneck, a rare woodpecker-relative once fairly widespread in the south, and on this day she has another one:
Looking into the garden instinctively from the television, I saw what I at first thought was a juvenile Green Woodpecker feeding on the ground by the Silver Birch on which the nearest nesting box hangs. Closer inspection, however, proved the bird to be a Wryneck, which was feeing in characteristic manner, on ants, I expect. After it flew across the bottom of Kingstons’ garden, down the Kingsway ones, I got out the Handbook and identification was absolute. I have only ever seen three Wrynecks, including this one, so it is a splendid record. I phoned Barry this evening to tell him and he was amazed and pleased. Geoff has yet to see his first!
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 162)
Lawns – now is the time to start looking after your lawn.
Every gardener knows, trimmed edges can make all the difference! Apply a spring lawn feed now. Any bumps and hollows on lawns can be repaired by peeling back the turf and either adding or removing soil. Sowing new lawns, or reseeding patches, can be started this month, depending on the weather.
Image Credit: Images used from The Chameleon Theatre Group were kindly supplied by them for previous CFT reviews.
Reviews. Do you love them or loathe them?
I find them useful. I use them regularly too in checking things out on Amazon, my online food shop delivery service, and so on. I don’t necessarily take them at face value either but if 50% or more of a review of a new product is good, then I am likely to give that product a chance. That goes for everything from a new CD to a new book to a foodstuff new to me. That policy has served me well. I’ve rarely been disappointed.
From Churches Together In Chandler’s Ford
For Christians, Easter is a time to celebrate New Life and God’s love and hope for the world. This feels especially timely this year. As churches around Chandler’s Ford are cautiously returning to worshiping in their buildings, Churches Together locally have also combined to create an opportunity for the community to celebrate these with us in the open air by taking part in our Easter Trail. You will be guided around 10 locations in Chandler’s Ford, finding clues and discovering the unfolding Easter Story.
All are welcome to join in any time from the 31 March 2021. There will be simple activities to take part in and small gifts to pick up along the way. Simply join the start of the trail at St Martin in the Wood, Randal Roadd, or look out for the egg signs. The route is about 3 miles so families with younger children may want to spread it out over more than one walk. We hope people of all ages can enjoy this and celebrate with us.
Happy Easter!
2nd Chandler’s Ford Scout Group needs your help.
The Scouts are raising £8,000 to help complete their new building on Ramalley Lane, to make it an amazing new venue for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and the resident pre-school.
The 2nd Chandlers Ford (Ramalley) Scout headquarters celebrated its 80th birthday in 2018. Over 83 years, it has enabled local children and young people to have fantastic opportunities, have fun, and develop new skills. They have learnt team work, problem-solving, resilience, independence, to name but a few. [Read more…] about Fundraising for the 2nd Chandler’s Ford (Ramalley) Scout Headquarters
The pandemic has made us so much more neighbourly …
… or has it? Perhaps it depends who we think of as neighbours! A famous question rings down the ages – ‘Who is my neighbour?’
We live on a pretty small planet. Far-off countries come nightly into our living rooms – no longer do we know nothing about them. We know that in Yemen, a civil war has decimated health systems, provoked widespread hunger, and killed almost 250,000 people. It’s a conflict that requires immediate aid. In Syria over 11 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Both war-torn countries are on the brink of severe famine. So is the Sahel region of Africa, and Southern Sudan. Two of the world’s most fragile regions. No wonder the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is appealing urgently. [Read more…] about The Pandemic Has Made Us So Much More Neighbourly …
As you know, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me but all good fun and a great learning experience.
On May 9th 1980 Gran, as always, working in Fahrenheit, records that it was:
… the coldest May night this century (according to the television weather man) with a minimum temperature here of thirty degrees, this morning was clear and sunny though still cold.
Post brought “Athletics Weekly” which informed me that Julian had a good run in the 3000 metre race in the southern Counties A.A.A. representative match at Crystal Palace on April 30th. His time was 7:58.9 seconds, only just over one second outside Sebastian Coe’s best time of 7:57.4, which he achieved the week before.
“Bird of the week” on radio this morning was the Nightingale and records were played of Beatrix Harrison playing her ‘cello in a wood with a Nightingale accompanying her, of a Nightingale singing with enemy aeroplanes droning overhead, and of the bird on its own. I was reminded of the war days here, when, after an air raid, the “all clear” siren sounded and we rushed upstairs to hear the Nightingales singing down by the Lake. Alas, present day disturbance there has driven these lovely birds away from this neighbourhood.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 161)
It soon became apparent to me, when I was new to the writing business, how much of it I didn’t know, it was much bigger than I anticipated, and it would be only too easy to be overwhelmed.
Due to direct experience, I soon came to realise there were sharks around. Every industry has its charlatans and publishing, sadly, isn’t exempt.
I was almost caught out by both a vanity agent and publisher (and what gave them both away was appalling grammar and spelling, funnily enough. I knew I didn’t want my works represented by anyone who could be that careless in a world where standards matter, particularly standards of spelling and grammar!).
Yesterday (Saturday 13th March) was the 52nd notparkrunday. That’s a whole year without parkrun. When Covid-19 caused parkrun to be suspended back in March 2020, Mrs Chippy and I decided we would carry on with our regular 5 km runs at 9 am on a Saturday morning. Originally, we called them Socially Distanced Runs, until the notparkrunday word was created. I don’t think anyone expected parkrun to be suspended for more than a few weeks – there was astonishment when we reached 13.
Book 180
On August 24th 1979 we find Gran at Coverack, in Cornwall again, sharing a holiday with Barry, Jane Elizabeth, Geoff and Robin. Barry is running his moth-trap and some of the family’s time is spent sitting on the beach, but on this day, she says, “Geoff and I walked towards Black Head instead of going to the beach again and I must admit that this was more in my line”.
She writes of Barry, ever the enthusiastic schoolmaster, on August 27th:
Barry has been showing the children from the [nearby] hotel the contents of the trap and an elderly lady has been keeping a list of the species. Today a small crowd of about fifteen people gathered and the “star” was the Convolvulus Hawk, which allowed itself to be picked up and admired, and when Barry had it he was even able to draw out its very long proboscis to show the company and the moth then curled it up again.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 160)
I mentioned in my post last week, Musical Connections, I used Danse Macabre by Camille Saint Saens as the theme to my book trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again.
For that particular trailer, Chapeltown Books, my publisher, produced it but for Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I made the trailer myself.
Image Credit: The images for the summit were supplied by the summit organisers, Creative U.
Introduction
I was thrilled to be invited to take part in my first writing summit, Share Your Story Writing Summit, which runs from 18th to 23rd March.
This is a big step for me and I was told about it by Wendy H Jones.
[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Share Your Story Writing Summit Update
Music, especially classical, is one of life’s great joys as far as I’m concerned and I count myself lucky to be able to enjoy listening to this while writing my stories and blog posts. Two fabulous things enjoyed together – lovely.
But how did I get into classical music at all and what connections had I already formed with it before getting into it “properly”?
The u3a nationally has been going through a re-branding of late and the new Chandlers Ford u3a website launched only last week.
The Chandlers Ford u3a group was formed in March 1998 and now has more than 400 members. The Chandlers Ford u3a would normally meet on the 3rd Monday at 2pm of each month at the Dovetail Centre of the Methodist Church in Winchester Road, but they have had to resort to Zoom of late.
Members of the u3a have a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience which as a self-help group can be shared with others. We have around 50 special interest groups which meet in members homes covering topics such as languages at varying levels, the arts, literature, history and science. We also have outings to theatres and gardens, local places of interest, and countryside walks.
A u3a is a learning co-operative of older people, which enables members to share many educational, creative and leisure activities. Activities are organised mainly in small groups that meet regularly, often in each other’s homes. Members, through sharing their knowledge, skills and experience, learn from each other.
Although all local u3as remain operationally independent, they are members of The Third Age Trust. As such they must abide by both the original Objects and Principles written by Peter Laslett in 1981 and the Principles of the u3a Movement (2014).
The Trust is a national, umbrella body (a registered charity and limited company) which represents all u3as in the UK at national and international level. It is run by a National Executive Committee democratically elected from the membership and offers a range of services, to support and advise local u3as.
The image of Compton Lock was taken on a walk from Shawford, Compton and St. Cross.
The aircraft image is from a visit the u3a members paid to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum, just outside Salisbury.
You can contact Chandlers Ford u3a with email: admin@cfordu3a.org.uk.
It is time to get busy preparing seed beds, sowing seeds, cutting back winter shrubs and generally tidying up around the garden. Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control. Pruning of wisterias will need to be completed this month.
Summer flowering clematis, late flowering shrubs (eg Buddleia and Perovskia) and winter flowering shrubs can be pruned now. Apply a general purpose fertiliser and mulch to beds and borders. [Read more…] about Wellie’s Gardening Tips – March 2021
This year’s Great Daffodil Appeal will be one like no other. Thousands of Marie Curie volunteers will not be able to collect donations in exchange for a daffodil at local supermarkets, trains stations or town centres like they usually do each spring. However, you can still be a part of this year’s Great Daffodil Appeal by donating online
You couldn’t pick a better year to support Marie Curie Nurses. Like everyone, Marie Curie has been hit hard by coronavirus. Their Nurses and hospices have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic, caring for dying people and their families.
Marie Curie have also seen more people than ever calling their Support Line, looking for help because they are feeling isolated or have had to grieve for a loved one alone during lockdown. [Read more…] about Great Daffodil Appeal – Supporting Marie Curie
Gran’s albums of newspaper and magazine cuttings about her twenty-six year old grandson Julian’s athletics career are getting thicker and thicker. She writes with considerable pride that he has quite a following amongst her aquaintances in Chandler’s Ford. On May 9th 1979, she says:
I scurried round this morning to get the new stamps for the election to the European Parliament and to take my “Julian” albums for Mr Biddle to see before Sheila came for me at half past ten. We went to Buckler’s Hard, via Ibsley, where we saw a Brimstone and the first foal of the season.
Buckler’s Hard, alas, is almost completely spoiled, being completely commercialized and only the little main street just about its old self. To begin with we had to pay 40p each to leave the car in the car park. There is a new, modern restaurant with concrete forecourt and iron tables and chairs and a new, large museum, and one cannot walk down the old street from the top but has to go between these new buildings and enter the street halfway down, thus losing the old, familiar, breathtaking views from the top. The waterside has become a marina, full of yachts and after passing my “dream cottage” one cannot follow the track by the river because a huge boatyard has been built.
In my head, and probably in yours too, there is a jumble of memories of ancient Greeks — old men, bald and with beards, who did stupid but essential things. There is one who overflowed his bath and ran naked down the street. One drank hemlock, and another lived in a barrel; one married his mother. They fought a lot, invented gods and wrote unreadable books. And they were good at geometry.
I resurrected one of these weirdos from my memory; they all look the same, dressed in chitons or togas and sandals. I first made the acquaintance of this one when I was 12 years old, Pythagoras by name. He died about 500 years BCE, but he was clever with triangles.
‘Pythagoras, please help me. I need a length of rope to hang from a high branch on a tree to make a swing. How long should it be? I can’t get up there to measure the height.’
[Read more…] about It’s All Greek to Me
