Have you made any?

Have you broken any now that it’s 3rd January?

Spill the beans!

 

Well, it’s the second day of the new year.  What has changed?

It’s quite warm – not as hot as Spain, obviously, but they say the current 16 C temp is on a par with mid May.  Should we be bowling outdoors then?

I caught up with “”Wogan, Now You’re Talking” on Channel 5 (originally shown last Thursday night). I was a big fan of him!  If you can fast forward the ads (gambling???), it was a lovely story of his life and career.  He was such a brilliant presenter.  Never rehearsed, which is probably why the emails he read out caught him unawares at times.  The stories of Janet & John written by Mick Sturbs had thousands of us crying with laughter as we drove to work, sometimes making us pull over to one side and stop, so we didn’t cause an accident.  I had the privilege of singing in the Lack O’Vision Song Contest at a Togs Convention representing France with Luke Warm.  We re-wrote the words to “I Remember it Well” and had the lines stuck to the zimmer frame, the wine bottle, the string of garlic etc. (Generation Game style)  It had Terry and his producers and Togs almost falling off their seats with laughter and we won!  Luke & I also went head-to-head in Pop Master on Ken Bruce’s programme.  The Togs sponsored us for every wrong answer.  As a result, we were able to hand over a fairly large cheque to Sir Terry for Children in Need.
Children in Need, now that was one of his ‘babies’.   He fronted the charity for 35 years and cared deeply about it.  It was a shock on the CIN night on BBC in November 2015 when he suddenly wasn’t presenting it.  Everyone knew something wasn’t right but none of us expected to hear on 31st January 2016 that he had lost his short battle against cancer.

He loved what he did.  He loved his family.  He loved people.  He loved life, and laughter played a big part in keeping millions of people upbeat.  He would have done the same in 2020 and 2021.  He looked forward, not back.

We all need to look forward to this new year.  We will just get used to living with the coronavirus in whatever forms in brings up to try and scare us.

Go out and enjoy the fresh air, the flora, fauna, birds and the green spaces that we are fortunate to have in abundance in this part of West London even if it’s only for 5 minutes at a time.

Pick up your bowls and join your friends on the indoor and outdoor greens this year.  If playing is beyond you now, don’t stay at home, come along and share a chat with your friends.  Play the shots from the side of the green – we’re all experts there!  The Monday-Friday morning roll ups between 10.00 and 12.00 are well attended on the green and another friendly face is always welcome.

We have become used to emails, phone calls, zoom and facetime, but nothing beats seeing and passing a few minutes/hours with another human being even at 2m and behind a face covering.  Shared worries can reduce their enormity.  Shared memories bring happiness and laughter is good for us all.

For those getting back onto the green, we wish you every success in the roll ups, matches, competitions during 2022 both at club and county level.

The ladies have a big match next Saturday 8th January playing Folkestone at Mote Park in Maidstone.  We would love to have some supporters, so if you can get a car load together to come over, we start at 10.00 am.  It’s about 1.5 hour journey and a fairly direct route.

The men are playing the London & Southern Counties Challenge Shield on 15th January – a bit closer to home v Egham.  They would love your support too!

Sixteen of us are playing Australian Pairs this afternoon at 2.00 pm.  Pop in and watch if you like.  Otherwise, enjoy your Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, whatever they bring!

 

Wishing all our members, families and friends a very Happy and Definitely Healthy 2022.

Raising a glass to all of you tonight, because, without you, we would not have a club.

Thanks for all your support during 2021.

if you’re still awake at midnight, here are Dougie MacLean’s words for you.

Competitions are under way again.

Dawn started off like a steam train against Doreen H from Egham in the National Over 60’s, then with the surprise, she diverted into the sidings and couldn’t get back on track despite best efforts of the Fat Controller inside her head. Well done to Doreen though. It was a great come back.
Tina and Ann B are at Egham tonight in the National Over 60’s Pairs playing Doreen again who is accompanied by Pauline Clark (who knocked out Dawn in the Champion of Champions by 1 shot). It should be a good match tonight if any of you are in the Egham area.
At the same time, Peter T & Dawn will be playing Mixed Pairs in the L&SC competition down at Grattons IBC in Crawley.
Good luck to all of them.

Coming up on Saturday 8th January is the last 16 of the Yetton Plate v Folkestone. All four ladies’ rinks will be playing at Mote Park in Maidstone starting at 10 am. Team to be published at the weekend.

On Saturday 15th, the men play Egham in the next round of the L&SC Challenge Shield. Please let Steve G know if you are available. There will be two rinks at home and two away starting at 10 am.

The Australian Pairs is still going ahead this Sunday starting at 2.00 pm.  Unfortunately two have dropped out due to a family bereavement, but luckily two more are ready to step into fill the spaces. It’s a fun afternoon and spectators are welcome

George H is a bit under the weather so said he won’t be at the club this week or maybe next.  We hope both he and Roy E feel better for the new year.

On a more upbeat note, congratulations to Gordon who became grandfather to a baby girl at the weekend.  Lovely news!

I had an email yesterday from M&S. New Year’s Eve Dine In Meal Deal. That’s kind of them. Although we could all go out tomorrow night, how many of us are weighing up the pros and cons and have decided to stay in?

New Year’s Eve parties were best when they involved fancy dress, lemonade, a Watney’s Party 7 and lots of music to boogey on down until the last dance of the evening (invariably the slow one after Spirit in the Sky) when we hoped it would be in the arms of someone you fancied who would walk you home afterwards! Ah, those were the days!

What are you doing to knock another not-very-good-for-bowls-year into touch?

(2022 is going to be much better all round!)

The space between Christmas and New Year where you don’t know …

what day it is;

who you are; or

what you’re supposed to be doing!

 

I’ll give you a clue …  It’s Wednesday, as I’m back to work!

 

PS  I have not got Rink 1 booked at 2.00 pm today – I’m not sure how I managed that along with 3 rinks for Sunday at the same time?!

Norman & Jean sent over their morning view in Spain …

Certainly looks pretty stunning!

They say it’s about 18c which is a good bowling temperature!

Wishing all our members, their family and friends a very Happy Christmas.

I hope you have an enjoyable day with presents, food, fun and laughter!

(complete with a negative Lateral Flow Test result)