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This event was held 2 weeks ago and 18 of us gathered either to spectate or to perform. Amongst other items we enjoyed singing in Italian, piano music by Chopin, Lloyd Webber and Paul Simon; clarinet music by Gershwin  as well as poetry and readings in Swedish, French, Dutch, English and Spanish. In our hallway we even made room for a demonstration of Flamenco dancing. During the lengthy  interval we had a good variety of European cheeses with bread and crackers accompanied by different wines and soft drinks for the drivers.  A very good and varied evening of culture.

The evening started with the Selkirk grace and was promptly followed by Nicola’s tasty cock-a-leekie soup. The haggis was brought steaming from the bain marie and I quite dramatically addressed it with Burns’ famous ode. Malt whisky was served for the toast. Lots of other lovely accompanying dishes were brought to share.

We were able to do this on the actual date of 5th November. We had a fantastic display of loud and beautiful fireworks, which was followed by Champagne to celebrate a 60th birthday and delicious, autumn dishes brought to share.

In the delightful setting of The Ship at Owslebury, we played for a couple of hours and avoided the rain that was forecast. The “terrain” was booked for 2 hours and in that time two of the teams remained unbeaten but we didn’t have time to play an extra round to decide which team was the overall winner. Selina and Wilma to play Paul and Guy next year!

While happily it didn’t rain until after everyone went home it was sadly not the warm sunny afternoon anticipated! Despite a red, white and blue dress theme most of us had to wear coats and wrap up in blankets!
We all gathered in our hosts garden bedecked with red,white & blue bunting & Union Jack flags.
Everyone brought along a dish to share, that were delicious and not much was left to take home; home made Greek salad, sausage rolls, finger sandwiches, cheese pie, coronation chicken Volovants and delicious cakes topped off with a scrumptious trifle.
The Jubilee quiz had everyone talking in their teams , and the winning team won jubilee shortbread , with prizes also for the best home made tiara 👸🏼 , the best crown 🤴🏻 , and the best red, white & blue outfit!

The sun blessed us with a whole afternoon of warmth and we were able to enjoy a range of delicious, typically English foods as provided by the 16 participants in Sue’s sheltered west-facing garden. Mini toads in holes, pork pies, cheese and onion pie, raspberry trifle and many other lovely dishes were consumed with great pleasure. Most made an effort to come dressed in red or white and we even had a stunning damsel in distress, complete with flowing locks.

Back in February a group of us got together at Mark’s where we enjoyed some delicious pancakes, courtesy of Mark, and Johann supplied crisp, light Belgian waffles. Geoffrey was his usual flash self with the flambe pancakes and all  enjoyed the evening.

Saturday 26 March 2022

Our first walk of the year, organized and led by Pam, to whom many thanks.  We met at Shawford Down car park, twelve of us in all and set off at 10.30am in glorious sunshine.  We ascended Shawford Down, the only strenuous part of the walk, then walked along the ridge above Compton with extensive views north towards Winchester.  Turning left at Silkstead Lane, we made a gradual descent to Silkstead.  From there we headed back to Shawford via Shepherd’s Lane and Compton Down, a round trip of about five miles, arriving back at the car park around 12.45pm, in nice time for lunch at The Bridge Inn.

Twelve members attended. Very pleasant afternoon with delicious contributions from everybody. A well organised event. Thanks go to Nicola for hosting.