Month: January 2025
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Garden Jobs to be done in January
Our Gardening Group met with Freda for an update on the jobs to be completed in January. There were some interesting plants to consider for the coming Summer – Gardeners are ‘Perennial’ optimists – and there was much discussion about flowers and fruit. In particular, we had details of our forthcoming Grafting Workshop scheduled for…
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Our Jazz Group studies Latin America
Our Jazz Appreciation Group met on Tuesday 28 January 2025 with Kevin to listen to an analysis of Latin Jazz, largely the music of Brazil. In particular we heard from João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and the curiously named Baden Powell. There were interesting back stories to the pieces, and how they came to be…
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Canterbury with Chaucer continues…
Our series on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales continued with David on Tuesday 28 January 2025. As well as meeting more of the party of 29 travelling to Canterbury in the latter part of the 14th Century, our analysis of the party and the descriptions provided by Chaucer came in for close examination. Why are only some…
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Some Female Artists from Netherlands
Our Art History course continued on 24 January 2025 with three female artists from the Netherlands of the 18th Century, some of whom were new and some who had been featured in previous sessions. Jennifer guided us through the artists, their personal histories, where and how they acquired their skills, and some of their best…
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Surprise, you drink the love potion!
On Thursday 23 January 2025, more than 25 of us sat down after being drowned in the pouring rain to listen to a truly heart warming story from Gaetano Donizetti in L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love). We started with a short introduction to Donizetti by Zsuzsana, our Opera Lovers Group Leader. We then had…
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Guided tour – Westminster & St James
On Wednesday 22 January 2025, our Monthly Meeting had a ‘virtual’ guided tour of Westminster and St James from Danny Hockman, a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London. Danny had an abundance of photographs, which turned out to be essential given the number of sites to be seen between the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey,…
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Current Affairs on an Important Day
With a temporary change of room for the next few occasions, our Current Affairs Group met on 20 January 2025 in the Harrow Room at the Harrow District Masonic Centre. With world-changing events taking place later in the day in the USA, there was a strong attendance at the meeting and much of the events…
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Beginners Bridge Gets Opening Bid
The first class of beginners on our Bridge Course assembled at the Harrow District Masonic Centre on Monday 20 January 2025. This course, unlike the Improvers Course, assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the players, and by the end of the session there were tricks being made by the players. The next session…
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To Canterbury with Chaucer Begins!
On Tuesday 14 January 2025, our literary journey to Canterbury began under the guidance of David. We started with an introduction to the life of the Geoffrey Chaucer whose life is well documented. He held a number of interesting posts, some of which resulted in him travelling to France and Italy. His homes in London…
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Bridge Bidding Opens with Session 1
On Monday 13 January 2025, our new Bridge Group for Improvers started their first session, looking into the ins and outs of Bidding for the Contract. Despite the cold snap, we had three tables set up, and all the seats were taken. Tony will be running the first session for Bridge Beginners on Monday 20…