The  Met Office states it’s 10C today but feels like 3C.  Still brrrrr then!  Put an extra layer on when you go out!

Have you have your Census Form yet?  Have  you filled it in?  I thought it had to be physically done on 21st March but some of my work colleagues have already done theirs.  There’s a £1,000 fine is if you don’t complete it so it has to be done.

It’s 10 years since the last one.  10 years.  Wow.  Has your life and living style changed since then?  Can you remember completing the last one?  I was working for an American architecture company up in London and trying to sort out Mum’s affairs for probate and clear the house.  That was very traumatic as Mum and Dad had lived there for 60 years and were great horders.  Every box contained a memory, a photograph and lots of Kleenex was needed.  However, it did shed light on one of Dad’s sets of bowls which I returned to Cambridge Park in the May.  Thereby started a whole new chapter in my sporting life!

What are your memories from 10 years ago?

Being positive and looking ahead to when we get out on the green, Bowlswear Direct based at Wey Valley IBC are taking orders on their website now, but (DV) will be opening their doors for customers on 12th April

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm to start off with.

www.bowlsweardirect.com or 01483 536337 if you want to contact Chris or Pete.

Bowlswear Direct is a small family business like many other of the bowls shops.  If we can support local bowls shops, it will help them survive.   We need them and they need us!  Chris and Pete give a very good customer friendly service.  Both play bowls to a high standard so have a passion for the game meaning the knowledge and expertise they impart over the products is invaluable to each individual’s requirements.

Bowlswear Direct have often done Roadshows* at Cambridge Park, (although not in thelast few years for various reasons) as well as other clubs all over the country.  Obviously the Roadshows won’t start up again until a bit later in the season, but if you think it would be a good idea for them to come to Cambridge Park sometime over the summer or into early autumn, please let me know so we can fix a date.

Thanks

Dawn

*Roadshows – lots of bowls  in many sizes from Henselite, Taylor, Drakes Pride, Almark, Aero; shoes and clothing for all sorts of weathers; accessories like cloths, measures, chalks; bowls carriers, trolleys, gloves etc. etc.

OK, he was beside the lake and between the trees but George H wasn’t exactly fluttering and dancing!  Good to catch up with him unexpectedly in the Woodlands Garden in Bushy Park.  There were lots of daffodils dacing and fluttering but still loads to come out.

The gardeners (including Mike Brown?) have taken out a lot of the wild rhododenrons as they were prone to fungi which was destroying other plants.  The areas where they were are to be replanted.  It was a bit early for the cultivated rhododendrons and azaleas but there were camelias.  They’re doing well so far this year.

However, despite lack of a lot of colour, it was still a very pretty walk and, if you start at the Hampton Court end, the treat is the Pheasantry Cafe which was doing a great trade in hot drinks, pizzas, cakes, toasted sandwiches etc.  There are also loos open (essential after walking past the running streams!).  I joined the queue to be told it was the men’s queue and ladies could go straight in.  How often are those roles reversed?  I can’t think of any.

This morning seems bright and sunny but the weather girl on Virgin Radio wasn’t giving a very uplifting forecast for the rest of the week, so maybe today would be a good day to get out and enjoy that tea/coffee with a friend, wherever you are.

Roll on the day when we can enjoy tea/coffee etc. with a friend after a game of bowls.  The restriction ends are tantalasingly close but still too far away!

I think it’s also numerous other special days, including the one where the children go back to school.

Raise a mug, cup, glass or whatever to all the women you know but don’t forget all those who support us women, be it girl friends, partners, spouses, brothers, Dads etc.

If  you want to learn more about some famous women in the sporting world, head toward The Game Changers podcasts. Sue Anstiss chats to Claire Baldwin, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Katherine Grainger, Liz Nicholl CBE, Stacey Copeland, Jacqui Oatley MBE, Eleanor Oldroyd, Ebony Rainford-Brent,  Tracy Edwards (wow that was a good one!), Gail Newsham, Rachel Yankey and about 40 other women at the top of their field who didn’t necessarily have a good start in life.  Most of the podcasts are about 30-40 minutes long, so good when you want a break from watching tv or having a cup of tea having tackled the weeding!

Did I hear that Fulham won yesterday?  Brentford didn’t do so well and Chelsea face Everton tonight.  Will Norman or Ange be the happy bunny tomorrow?!

Better not mention the cricket at the weekend, but it was good to see the 19 year old Keely Hodginkson take her first gold medal in the 800m at the European Indoor Athletic Championships yesterday afternoon.  Great Britain secured 12 medals in various colours, so well done to all of our athletes.  There was also golf from Florida which I understand had a pretty tight field – maybe Kevin K can update us on that one?

Wrap up when you go out.  That winter chill still hasn’t left us yet.

I bumped into Peter & Gill C who had parked in virtually the identical spot to Ann & Terry beside the river.  Is it a Cambridge Park parking space?  Do we all take it in turns to park/walk/drive off before the next lot?

Well, from tomorrow, Peter & Gill and Ann & Terry can park at the same time and in pairs (ladies/men/mixed) can walk to the cafe and enjoy sausage baps as long as all four of them don’t sit on the same bench!

So, maybe this week would be a good time to think about arranging to meet one other person for a walk and a coffee with cake or other food – take your own picnic.  It will be a start in the process of getting back to life outside our homes.  The world has changed and become smaller without the travel although it has expanded digitally with Zoom/Teams/Facetime but outside our own front doors there is normality and regularity in abundance.  The tide goes in and out twice a

day, the trees are there itching to break out into blossom (remember how fantastic they were last March/April?); the daffodils are blowing  their own trumpets, dogs are still being walked, swans are swimming, geese are squawking and people are just looking a little paler – the same as every early spring without the warmth and heat of the sun.

Talking of which, where has the sun gone?  It poked its head right out last Saturday and hasn’t been seen since!  Top temperature of 5C today.  It’s not as windy as yesterday, which is a blessing but still somewhat dreary.

Today, open a window, put some music on and have a boogie.  Who cares if you look like a frog in a blender?  Have a sing.  You may not sound like Frank Sinatra, Maria Callas, Julie Andrews, Etta James or Ronan Keating but that doesn’t matter.  In days gone by, the family would crowd around the piano and everyone had a good old sing and a laugh.  You may not play the piano but you can sing and you can laugh – you know “Jus’ like that”!

Good luck to Lucy H and Susie R and all the other teachers as they head back into school tomorrow.  It will be a tough time as teachers and students have to learn to adjust to distancing rules and a more structured day after such a long time away from face-to-face teaching.  Our thoughts are with them.

The link should take you to the EIBA Competition Form for next indoor season.

Named Entrant Competition Entry Form A Inc International

All entries submitted for 2020/21 are being carried over, so you only need to complete a form for changes or new entries.

The Middlesex Indoor competition entry fees were re-imbursed, so there will be new forms for those at some point.

Hopefully outdoor County competition dates will go up soon

Did you know if  you have had both doses of vaccines, you’ll be welcome in Cyprus from 1st May?  However, we’re not allowed to travel for leisure before 17th May.  If you want to escape as soon as you can, check out Cyprus!  Greece will also welcoming UK tourists as soon as we can travel.  Sunvil, who have sponsored us in the past, would welcome you checking out their website  sunvil.co.uk

Kew Gardens was slightly disappointing yesterday but that was probably as much to do with the cold weather as anything else and no sun.  Today is better!

There were definitely more daffodils out than a fortnight ago and the bluebells will be fantastic in a month’s time.  The Camelias gave the best show.  There were more of those than other flowers but still a whole host to come out as the weeks go on.

Bumped into Terry and Ann yesterday.  Terry said he hadn’t yet been over run with volunteers for ditch cleaning/clearing and rubber cleaning yet … but he would like some help as he’s cracked some ribs following slipping down a slope in Kingston.  If any of you have cracked or broken ribs, you will know how unbelievably painful they are!

Following on from Ann & Terry’s Sausage Bap recommendation, others have reported that the ice creams at the cafe on the river are also good!

Some of our ‘youngsters’ have now had their first jabs.  Well done to the NHS Vaccination Centres who are working flat out to get as many people inoculated as quickly as possible.

Richard H was heading off to Bushy Park for his walk and has promised to send in some photos.  He’s a real whizz with the camera so they should be tiptop!

I’m off to Kew Gardens with my phone, so the shots will be ok but not as precise as Richard’s.  Camera phones are brilliant though. Temperature seems to be dropping back to 2C – maybe it’s to stop us all going out in large crowds before lockdown is officially eased?!

The EIBA have sent out Competition Forms for 2021-22.  I’ll get these posted up in the next couple of days.

It happens to most authors and I guess bloggers just the same, so apologies there wasn’t a post yesterday.

The bowls’ news is centred on the Commonwealth Games in 2022 at Leamington and this year’s Nationals with a few things to be resolved by Bowls England in discussion with the County Secretaries.

Closer to home, we can meet with one person for a cup of tea/coffee  (other beverages are available) and eats from Monday and not just exercise with one person.  It would appear that this permission has been granted early in Richmond for the last fortnight or am I just imagining it?  And not just two people!  In all honesty, most of us  have probably stretched one of the rules at some point.

Looking ahead to the day the club opens and the new season, there are plenty of jobs to do around the club. So, have a think and work out what you might be able to do to help – we have a tool for getting the moss out between the flagstones; a lot of the ivy could be removed from the flower beds to allow space for planting; Terry will probably want some spare hands to help clear the ditches (again!) and wash and lay the rubbers; Ken’s bench needs a protecting varnish and the other benches could do with a bit of tlc.

From 29th March, outdoor groups can be of 6 people so a lot of the above will be much more fun working together.  Have a think if you could spare half an hour or an hour and could help.

Bowls England are pushing for a recruitment drive over the second May Bank Holiday weekend.  Do you have friends and neighbours who you think might like to have a go.  In the last 12 months, we have all met people around us that we didn’t know before and it’s a good time to share something of the sport you love with others.  Would you like a morning session with a beer afterwards, or an afternoon session with tea and cake?  Again, have a think.  The Club belongs to its members and not just the few who’ve stuck their heads above the parapet for specific roles.  We can all contribute from meeting/greeting; helping new people select an appropriate size of bowls to borrow; sharing the basics of what is a very simple game (in theory but not in practice!); encouragement; making a cake; cleaning tables and chairs; gardening.

Recruitment is not purely about being a qualified coach!

In the meantime, enjoy stepping outside in your garden or your front path or a local park and getting a teensy bit of Vitamin D – Friday should be the sunniest day.

Anyone been to the Woodlands in Bushy Park?  Are the Camelias out?  Please email photos and I’ll put them up.  We need spring more than ever this year (preferably without the tree pollen!).