Category: Friends Group

The full title of the session was “Things you did as a child that you wouldn’t do as an adult”.

As usual, we had a pole. This time we found there were a lot of thing our group members would not be doing now:

In the ‘Other’ category we had: J climbed a long rope after a gym lesson when the teacher had left. She wasn’t supposed to, and found it was very dirty towards the top, the dirt attached to her clothes and she wasn’t popular when she got home. – C was a good climber, but doesn’t climb trees anymore. – M was a tomboy, climbing anything especially if she was dared. When 8 months pregnant (in her twenties) she climbed a tree to cut some branches down. And, when playing blind mans buff she hit the bridge and fell 6 to 8 feet onto a field, luckily she didn’t fall in the nearby rocky river.

Last week’s card making had proved very popular a homework. Here are a few examples:

Not to be outdone, Gyda showed us how to make a simple picture frame out of a single pice of paper. Simple!

Another successful 5 minute craft.

Lynne’s quiz was tricky, but Team Dot & Jen managed to get 10/10.

A few of us admitted to having been Cub/Scouts/Brownies/Guides/Adventure Scouts. Only David had the photographic evidence:

The group told us a few stories, which gave the impression, when young, they had a problem with authority. Rebels!

We all look forward to the further easing of restrictions and Boris telling us we can hug again.

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Some things run smoothly, some don’t…

There was quite a bit of coming and going today. It seems more hospital appointments are happening. There are also more care home visits. Good news.

Janet asked people to think about the possibility of the group returning to Shrewsbury House in a few months time. We would need to do risk assessment and fit-in with the Community Centre’s guidelines. We will see how the government’s advice develops and members views.

Nikki, from BLG Mind, popped-in for a while. Good news: she has been promoted. I think this means she has even more work to do!

The front and inside of the card – a nice wedding craft.

Pearl’s tunes were “Chapel of love” and “Get me to the church on time”.

I’m sure you know all the answers. Our group thought this was a bit more difficult than Pearl’s quiz last week – no one got full marks.

Avoid the wind and rain – the sun will be back soon.

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Always a popular discussion topic, and today we had a very good chat:

D – was in digs and then sofa surfing. 

J – bought their own house, in Charlton, which was unusual at that time. They had a cooker but no stair carpet. Then had their first baby.

M – left home to come to England in 1962. She lived in Forest Gate until she got married in 1974 moving to Plumsted, then Abbey Wood.

R – at age 15 had to leave the homes he had been living in with no money and no clothes to a hostel in east London. Then in 1951 he went into the army. 

O & L – L still in the same house. O left home at 12 to look after children. The parents thought she was 15/16. She stayed for 3 years just looking after the children. There was a housekeeper and a cook. She still keeps in touch with them. 

P – lived in a flat at the top of a house, then to Maidstone with first husband, who went off with someone, so she went back home to Bromley in the flat upstairs. Then she met P 

M – came from Yorkshire in wartime to London and have lived where they are now and across the road from where her parents lived. 

G & M – lived next door to each other before they were married. Then they moved to Surrey then Barnfield Gardens for 42 years and now they live in Maidstone. They married in 1969

G – moved down to London from Liverpool to teacher training college. Lived in halls of residence and digs. 

Gyda showed us a simple way to build your own home – at a very low cost.

And we had Gyda’s Zentangle homes.

Pearl’s tunes were The Bay city rollers – “Bye Bye Baby” (RiP Les McKeown), Tom Jones “Green green grass of home” and John Denver “Take me home country road”. 

Pearl was also today’s quiz master. Here are some sample questions: ‘What do you respond when someone says “See you later alligator?”‘; ‘What is a baby goat called?’; and How many tentacles do octopuses have?’

Back to our favourite fitness fan…

and straight into…

Keep fit, well and chilled.

We are interested to see the Oscar winning film ‘The Father’: “Led by stellar performances and artfully helmed by writer-director Florian Zeller, The Father presents a devastatingly empathetic portrayal of dementia.“

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Everyone had examples of today’s theme.

Knock-down ginger was worryingly popular (more people admitted to doing this, after the poll). Some played card games. We had a picture of a boy playing Gudu – which is a mix of cricket and baseball. People remembered playing on bomb sites and having gas lights.

Some of the games resulted in injuries and trips to the hospital: a mum told us about her daughter (sitting next to her) “she was very naughty and was always getting hurt”. ‘A’ remembers breaking his wrist playing with clackers. Another member had 7 teeth out in hospital – went outside and bumped into a lamppost.

Gyda showed us a simple way to make interesting images from just a few pieces of paper, otherwise known as Tangrams.

Lynne was on quiz-master duty.

Pearl showed us her clackers.

It’s good to have Gerry back every week with his choice of poems.

Chi Ball with Gyda was a gentle few minutes of stretches.

Keep fit and healthy.

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Another popular topic. We chatted about lots of familiar programmes – and agreed that watching ‘Line of Duty’ is very stressful.

‘A’ is a clearly a discerning fellow – Patrick McGoohan played a fiercely independent man in both series: “I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own.”

Gyda’s craft was a 3D TV!

Lynne’s quiz had us scratching our heads as usual.

Pearl’s tunes were: “Wonderful World” and The Seekers, “Georgie Girl”. 

Chi Ball with Gyda – popular as ever.

Keep well,

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Group members have regularly told us about their favourite pop stars. Today we added a new band to the list: Iron Maiden! – something of a departure from our usual jolly pop people.

Trees were in blossom again…

Gyda showed us a quick and very effective tree craft.

Lynne produced another top quality quiz.

Pearl’s tunes this week were: “Good Company” by Alma Cohan, Manfred Mann “Do Wa Diddy Diddy” and “Living Doll” by Sir Cliff Richard.

Chi Ball with Gyda fired-up everyone. Then she calmed us down…

Gyda’s shoes were very popular…

Keep safe and healthy.

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As ever, the group came up with some interesting thoughts.

We discussed the results in more detail and there were a few regrets that came out.

It looks like some of our members will be busy doing new things soon.

Gyda’s craft focused on Easter rabbits.

Lynne produced an Easter quiz.

Pearl’s tunes for this week were “I did it my way”, “Any dream will do” and “Rivers of Babylon”.

Chi Ball with Gyda was out exercise for today.

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Teachers – everyone had a story…

The group told us their experiences with teachers…

There were more stories of nasty violent teachers, but let’s move on…

Peal’s tunes this week included: “Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah” and “Wonderful World”.

Gyda had a chick themed craft.

Lynne had a quiz.

Gyda had more Chi Ball then…

We were delighted David had been painting again:

Another jolly Tuesday afternoon.

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Following my holiday (care of the NHS) I am catching up on the group blogs.

First holidays was another popular topic. Here are some of the group’s reminiscences:

Gyda had another of her excellent crafts.

This week it was Zentangles (a miniature abstract work of art created by a collection of patterns).

There were some excellent examples of homework from last week!

Lynne stepped in and gave us another top quiz.

Pearl played us “Music to watch girls by”, Bony M – “Holiday”, Bobby Darren – “Beyond the Sea”.

Gyda’s Chi Ball was as popular as ever.

Prepare to go out and meet people!

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Everyone had their thoughts on today’s theme.

Janet couldn’t vote, but she would have picked “Something funny” – her mum playing drums – to everyone’s surprise, while on holiday.

• L – played with her mum’s jewellery, rouge and lippy.
• M – her Mother was a brilliant accordion player and she liked poetry.
• A – his mum taught him to cook and bake cakes.
• P – recalls a trip to Ramsgate on a train with the tent loaded on a pram.
• J – her Mother made toffee apples and toffee onions for prizes on camping holiday sports.
• P – showed a photo of her mother aged about 75 playing the piano.
• M – her mum was a knitter. 
• C – said her mum always stuck up for her (even when faced with a motorcycle gang).

Gyda was just a blur with her speedy flower basket craft. We expect great things from the group’s homework – no pressure.

Lynne produced another tricky quiz. Fortunately, we have some top quizzers.

Lynne needed a lie down after Pearl’s jokes.

The requested tune for this week was “Staying Alive”. We all had a boogie.

Chi Ball with Gyda fired-up everyone. Then she calmed us down…

David had his homework ready…

Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save lives, have a jab, and a second jab (I’ve had mine).

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