October meeting

We were given a fascinating insight into life at the time of HMS Venerable; especially surprising to learn was the number of women who lived on board ship. We discovered how the phrases 'son of a gun' and 'loose cannon' originated and were amazed to learn just how many people were employed by the navy at that time. Most interesting.

Here are the pictures of the competition entries: 

Autumn Council Meeting in Barnstaple...

......was a fabulous day! Everything ran very smoothly, Sheila and I had excellent seats, right in the middle with nothing to mar our view of the stage! There was a most interesting talk from the chairman of Crime Stoppers UK who are doing fantastically successful work, collecting information and passing it on to the police or relevant agency. Anyone can call to report something they aren't happy about without giving a name or any contact details at all. 

Our afternoon speaker is the top man in UK flower arranging, designing, training and judging. He gave a most enjoyable demonstration accompanied by his very funny anecdotes and some beautiful music.

I took some photographs, but I'm afraid the quality is poor - but I think you need to see his creations which were breath taking:

This one was bursting with rich Autumn colours, and reminded us of a firework display.

This was my favourite - green and white. He explained how the different flowers gave varied textures to a design.

Michael is standing in front of the green and white display, but it appears to be merging into his shirt! Even though it is such a poor photo, I think you can grasp the drama and majesty of his arrangements.

The day finished with two of the St George's Day rap prize winners performing their rap for us! They were spectacular, very clever and funny! Sheila and I whooped and cheered Kate and she gave a marvellous performance - with most of the audience joining in with the 'Yo' at the end of each chorus! Even the Devon trustee who thanked them both began with 'Yo!'