Category: Friends Group

After 16 months on Zoom, we came to the last online meeting of the Reflections Friendship Group.

We had a selections of photos showing members gardens, prize blooms and vegetables. There were a lot of excellent examples. I particularly liked this rose named after our member J.

We didn’t have time for Gyda’s craft, but if we had, we would have produced a lovely flower like this.

We had a chat about our favourite crafts over the last months. C was keen on this flower (you can see a theme here).

We hope to see Nikki, in person, for the first time next week.

O told us she woke up at 3am one night and looked at this web site. She worked her way through Pearl’s jokes (in the general menu under Recordings) and really enjoyed herself.

Pearl’s songs included “Congratulations, by Cliff Richard. This was played for A&G who will be celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary. Congratulations from all of us.

Gerry is branching out! Jokes and poems – an extra special offering.

Lynne had to quickly run off for a toilet roll – so she could do ChiBall.

ChiBall is a serious matter.

The Reflections Friendship Group returns to Shrewsbury House on 3rd August at 1pm. Numbers are limited and many safety measures will be in place.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

A very hot day. The group spent some discussing who had sunshine, rain, thunder and/or lightning. By the end of the session, I think we had all had some of everything – except for our friends in Exeter, who just had extreme heat.

Today it was a day to remember the fun we have had on Zoom. The poll showed Pearl’s Jokes were clearly very popular – but exercise did very well too. The members said they did addition exercises outside the group to keep flexible (no-one mentioned cycling, although we have some keen cyclists in the group).

Not everyone joins in with the craft sessions, but those that do are very positive about the quick crafts. The poems “were always appropriate.  Often touching and uplifting“. The other sessions were also popular – including the Reflection reading – and the missing Quiz sessions.

The most popular was the chats. A said they brought back lots of memories covering lots of topics.  C said they provoked lots of memories. D suggested that when back at Shewsbury House we could possibly record peoples’ stories. P enjoyed the funny stories.  L enjoyed finding out about other people’s lives.

The Shrewsbury House poll speaks for itself. We look forward to being back there soon.

No Gyda this week, but we did have homework to show.

David showed us several of his paintings. We hope to see an exhibition when we return to Shrewsbury House.

Pearl’s songs were “Memories are made of this”, “Magic Moments” and  “Daydream Believer”.

Lynne always enjoys being quizmaster, but some of her questions are very tricky.

The Reflections Friendship Group returns to Shrewsbury House on 3rd August. More information coming soon.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

We have put the celebrations on hold until we return to Shrewsbury House.

Today it was a day to remember summer holidays.

• C – learnt to paddle board in Greece. Recently also on Romney Marsh Lake. She’s hoping to do more maybe at Danson Park. 
• G&M – had a coach trip to Scotland and became friends with a couple from South Africa. They flew to South Africa where they had a wonderful time and went on safari for 5 days. 
• L – in Ireland with a friend going on holiday to Turkey. They had to drive to Belfast, but her friend went the wrong way and then nearly ran out of petrol!
• C – when young, her brother broke his leg falling off a wall just as they were about to go on holiday. They didn’t drive at that time as her Dad worked on the railway. It was a bit of a palaver getting to Butlins and then they all caught a tummy bug. She has never been again.
• R – paid 61 euros for a trip to the Blue Lagoon and he was the only one there.
• A&G – had a relaxing holiday last week in Cornwall.

Gyda – holidaying in Egypt riding camels and quad bikes in the desert as well as visiting the pyramids. 

Gyda had rays of sunshine for our craft today.

Janet had us singing and dancing to “Summer Holiday” by Cliff Richard, “Is this the way to Amarillo” by Tony Christie & “Ring of Fire” by our man Tony.

Gerry is always keen to give us an appropriate poem.

Lynne is always the consummate quizmaster.

Plans are in development for our return to Shrewsbury House.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

The Prime Minister said on Monday that he expected the final step of the lockdown roadmap would go ahead as planned on 19 July. This will be confirmed on 12 July, after a review of the latest data.

Janet asked the group what they thought about returning to Shrewsbury House next month. The view of the group, including volunteers, was that this would be a welcome move, but everyone would like to feel safe. Janet said that she would be leading a risk assessment and would come back to the group with ideas for how the re-start could be managed. Any further views/ ideas/ comments/ concerns would be welcome.

Group members had been busy again this week. David had ventured overseas (north of the Thames) to enable him to paint this picture of our side of the river. Others had been meeting family and friends, as restrictions have eased. Most people had managed to keep gardening (more on that in coming weeks).

Gyda had another very quick craft, cats on a wall. G seems to have finally found a craft I might be able to do.

The homework had been popular, our members obviously like butterflies.

Pearl had us singing and dancing to “Don’t treat me like a child” by Helen Shapiro Green and “Green grass of home” by Tom Jones.

I’m not sure if Dot and Jen were reacting to Pearl’s jokes or the tricky quiz from Lynne.

Lynne apologised for the difficulty of the questions, but explained that Janet had found the quiz (!).

We hope to be back at Shrewsbury House soon(ish).

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

• P & G said George Clooney and not for the coffee!
• P has a photo taken with George at Madam Tussauds.
• J said Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe
• M also said Frank Sinatra
• R said Brunel and King Kala 
• G saw JFK coming past in a motorcade when he was working in a hardware store in 1963. JFK was wearing a blue suit with sparkles in it. [You can see JFK & G in the picture here] He would also like dinner with Pope Paul the second. 
• J2 idol was Robert Mitchum, she sent away for a signed photo of him. She liked all his films.
• C & D both said Nelson Mandela and would ask What it felt like to be free?
• D also sat next to Jack Charlton on a train going up north. 
• D2 is not a dinner person but taught Chris Eubank
• A thinks Nelson Mandela is an inspirational person. He has met Wayne Sleep, Michael Ball and Judy Dench when he was working security at the National Theatre.
• J2 went to the toilet at the Orchard Theatre and Judy Dench was in there at the same time.
• J3 met Prunella Scales at the theatres.
• P has Michael Aspel autograph
• J3 saw Acker Bilk at the Barbican.
• G saw Kriss Akabusi when he came to school to do a presentation.
• Mary saw Kenneth Moore at Wembley
• G2 met Linda Lusardi (but his head was cut off in the picture M took)
• G saw met Paul McCartney and Billy Fury.
• J2 met Steve Davis before he was born, as his mother was having him just a few hours before J2 had her daughter. M also had a photo taken with Steve Davis
• D2 met 3 Prime Ministers- James Callaghan Tony Blair and Boris Johnston
• M2 – liked Alan Ladd, but didn’t meet him
• D & J met Jean Alexander on a cruise and the Osmonds at a concert in the US.

As summer has arrived, Gyda had us making butterflies.

Pearl then had us singing and dancing.

Gyda engaged us in more Chi Ball [you can find out a bit more about ChiBall here].

We look forward to seeing Tony when we return to Shrewsbury House.

Another sunny afternoon.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

Everyone had difficulties in their childhood, but they all would prefer to have had their experiences, than be a child now.

• L – remembers children playing football outside her house ‘There were gangs of us’
• D – his older brother looked after him. His big brother cut his leg near the Dutch House and was taken to hospital, leaving David behind. He found his way home and had blackberry pie at his neighbours  house. Also walking through Greenwich to Deptford Creek, there was a factory which the boys went in to mess about in but David decided to go home he was only about 9 years old. He said ‘ we did what we liked’
• C –  her brother was paid six pence to walk C to school. But he never did. He also jumped into the deep end of a swimming pool (he couldn’t swim) and had to be rescued by the lice guard. Their Mum was  not best pleased. He was just showing off.
• D2 – went out with his mates getting into trouble. Now we wrap them in cotton wool. If we did something wrong then someone would tell your mum or dad.
• J – we wouldn’t back chat an older person. If you complain to parents nowadays, you just get abuse back. Now there’s always someone there to keep an eye on the children.
• L – used to go to Epping Forest to catch sticklebacks – it was near a weir. 
• J2 – was evacuated to a village near a farm when she was about 6 years old. She had a lovely  time.
• J3 – was 5 years old in 1934 and spent all the war years away from home. She didn’t have a very good time Her brother looked after her. They had to work hard on the farm.

We are almost able to attend events…

Gyda had a very, very, quick craft. You draw a dandelion (in any colour) and make a wish.

Pearl’s tunes were: “Roaring Twenties medley” and “Lucky Lips” (Alma Cogan version). 

We were very pleased to have Gerry back – he helped out by reading the poll questions, a well as reading “Our younger years”.

We listed to the group song: “Three little birds”, as sung by Tony Martin.

Another jolly afternoon.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

Were school holidays too long or too short? For some of our group the “holidays” involved working. Others had lots of fun doing what they liked, without much supervision. They had some specific reminiscences:

• R – In 1944 went to Sandwich Bay in Kent with 240 other boys from the orphanage he was in. They stayed in some sheds and swam in the sea, which was polluted with sewerage. 
• A – said he helped his Mum with chores and gardening. He also had a milk round.
• L – remembers going to holiday camps, and staying with her aunt and Gran. There was a cliff lift at Bridgenorth which they spent all day going up and down.
• J – stayed in Guildford in huts They had food coupons that went missing so they raided one girl’s stuff, who they thought had taken them. J later on found her coupons. 
• C – was off in the holidays straight to the stables with her sandwiches and squash. They were out all day. They played fox and hound. It was good fun and they had not a care in the world.
• D – Enjoyed the freedom, running round the common all day. It was real fun and gave them independence No mobile phones. We made our own amusements and made us independent and mindful of roads and each other (had sense of responsibility).

Nikki was saving on her internet usage, so we only had a disembodied voice and her photo.

Gyda drew a flower with a thick outline. She then cut out the petals and filled-in with strips of cut up magazines. The group were keen, but the craft has tipped into homework for next week.

Pearl’s tunes included:  “Summer Holiday” and “Come on over to my place”. 

Keep well.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

The group were and (mostly) are fans of the radio. Our poll started a long discussion about favourite programmes. Two way family Favourites, Educating Archie and Workers’ Playtime came up. After some chat we even found two fans of The Goon Show and Dr Finlay’s Casebook. Mentioning no names, but 86% of the group had listened to Pirate Radio. We even had a couple of people who had worked on Pirate Radio stations (never caught).

Three members have an unusual reason for listening to radio into the night – they have tinnitus and the radio sounds (LBC was popular) masked the irritation of ringing in their ears.

When chatting about the devices used for listening to “The Radio”, we went from Cat’s Whiskers to Alexa. We also had some comments about accumulators and acid. I had a look on the internet and this sums up the experience: ‘In the early 50s I remember riding up to the cycle shop to swap a used accumulator for a fully charged one, a glass jar full of acid! riding home with it swinging from my handle bars! And at no time did anyone say “you be careful with that now” !!! Carefree days’. Thank goodness Alexa etc only require a good talking to.

Gyda had a very quick craft – making a summer parasol. It was so quick we almost missed the photo opportunity.

Pearl’s tunes included:  “Singing the Blues” and “How do you do what you do to me”.

Dot and Jen were very amused by Pearl’s jokes – as were we all.

We are all very pleased that Gerry’s poems are, once again, a feature of the sessions.

Gyda gave us more Chi ball. Even in the heat, we were keen to join in.

Keep safe.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

Some people have a chair as their favourite. Others have ornaments bought by their children/grandchildren. The list stretched from a filled cabinet to a religious artefact. Gadgets were at the top of the list. The most personal was a video recorder for playing tapes of the family from years gone by.

We all chose something that had personal story behind it. The video tapes were something special, the videos had been created using their video camera and focused on the children growing up. The tapes were held up for the group to see. The content had been transferred onto DVDs for the family to use – but having and holding the original video cassette had meaning to our member.

We also talked about breakages in the home (and who was responsible). The story that appealed to me was that of the dog who liked a tea cosy – unfortunately, when he scampered off with the cosy, he also took the tea pot – he was so good at this he managed to break three tea pots. The family now us a stainless steel tea pot.

Gyda invited us to create a beanstalk and a caterpillar. By next we we have been asked to draw or write what we find at the top of the beanstalk.

Pearl’s tunes were:  “My favourite things”, “Roll out those crazy days of summer” and “Here comes summer”.

Lynne had other commitments today, so Janet stepped in…

Gyda gave us more Chi ball. I think we are all getting fitter – these sessions are certainly popular.

The week is “Volunteers Week”.

So, we say a big Thank You to all the wonderful volunteers who work for Reflections in The Friendship Group and The Carers Group. Also those making keep-in-touch calls to members, providing ad hoc help and supporting the web site . Thank you too to our volunteer trustees.

The BBC tells me – Covid: Zero daily deaths announced in UK for first time since last March!

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.

Such a simple subject, but it turned out there was lots to talks about.

We had a poll about favourite colours. The results were: 1. Blue 2. Red & Green. This was a bit odd, as we had asked everyone to wear clothes in their favourite colour – and there was clearly a love of pink. One member explained that, downstairs, the inside of her house was predominantly a tasteful green. Others chipped-in with comments on how they also liked green. We may have to review our voting system!

The homework was popular. Gyda is so pleased people are taking time to work on her crafts and produce some excellent results using basic bits and pieces.

It’s great to have this venue available again. We anticipate our members will be popping down in the coming weeks. Their website is due for an update, but you can find some information here.

Gyda’s craft was creating a flower and a bee from paper. Very simple, very quick, very popular.

Pearl’s tunes were:  “I can sing a rainbow”, “Yellow rose of Texas” and “Hi ho silver lining”. I believe Pearl’s home must be full of fun, she has hundreds of jokes and a ready selection of top tunes. We hope she will not be spending too much time at her local gym, now that has reopened – the group need her input.

Lynne’s quiz was about The Colour Green. Did you know the reason for wearing green on St. Patrick’s day is that legend has it leprechauns can’t see you if you’re wearing the colour. And if they do see you, they will pinch you!

Janet, who is not old, does like to wear purple.

It was difficult to fit in all the pictures in the Show and Tell session, but Janet managed it

David showed us a couple of his recent excellent paintings. I suspect he is running out of wall space to display them (we have two hanging in our house, while the group is not meeting in person).

Watch out for the sunshine… it is coming.

I always end with a reminder about how our charity can benefit from your purchases on Amazon. This week Reflections received its first payment from Amazon – a small amount – but thank you to those of you who have registered us on their system, it all helps us run our groups.

You may now nominate Reflections as your charity when you buy items on Amazon. Click here for more information. It does not cost you (or the retailer) anything and Reflections will receive 0.5% of what you spend.