25th April
I have been to secure my tickets for the next Basing Singers concert which is taking place at St Mary’s Church on the 16th May. It should be another super evening with pieces from Brahms Requiem, Jenkins’ The Armed Man, and Sicut Cervus by Palestrina. I understand there will be a raffle, so I shall be buying some tickets for that as well.
Bank Holiday Weekend
An unexpected visit from the West Country branch of the Halt family caused a bit of a stir at the Manor. For a start, I had put aside time this weekend to start preparing some food for the evening meal for our Silver Wedding celebration. Spencer had been tasked with the re-painting of the garage doors to make the front of the Manor look all spick and span for the 23rd May. Suddenly up the drive they rolled. Apparently, they had been at the Microlight fly-in at Popham, and thought they would just pop along here after. Fortunately, I had already been to Tescos and had purchased a packet of their Finest Shortbread, so was able to produce something on the spur of the moment.
Whilst at Tesco, I again bumped into Jeff Owen who I think must spend his Saturday mornings up at Chineham. He reminded me again that I had promised to donate a prize for the tombola at the Carnival on 20th June, and I assured him that one would be forthcoming.
To be honest, I have been racking my brains as to what we could donate for this tombola prize at the Village Show stall at the Carnival. Spencer, as usual, didn’t have many ideas - at least none that were remotely sensible. Since his tidy up of the garage (apart from the mouse) he has come across a few items that he thought might clean up a bit and be “useful” again. One of the things that I caught him washing up in the scullery is an old vase that came from his mother’s and which I had successfully managed to hide in the garage for a number of years now. I think he had been watching a recent episode of the Antiques Roadshow where a plant bought from a stall at a market turned out to be potted up in a Lalique vase worth £25,000. He’s hoping!
7th May
Whilst attending my regular session of Body Balance with Lisa this week,
my eye was taken with the notice on the British Legion door which was
advertising the forthcoming quiz night taking place this Saturday evening at
7.30pm. I have persuaded the whole family to take part and we will be
strolling on down from the Manor to check it out. Apparently you just turn
up and register your team on the night. So, prospective teams beware,
as Spencer is attempting to memorise “1001 Hit albums you must hear before
you die” to be sure that he is up to speed on the music round.