PICKETS POST NEWSLETTER August 2017

Transcription

1 PICKETS POST NEWSLETTER August 2017 Chairman s Welcome Over halfway through the year. Where has the time gone? The children are on school holidays. I hope you and your families are enjoying the Summer and that you are able to enjoy your camping. Hopefully some of you will be staying at one of our THSs. We enjoyed our weekend at Carringtons with 38 other units. Fortunately, the weather was fine. The highest score for crab catching was 123. Thank you to our July rally stewards Marian & Alan Bown & John Laws. I have just returned from the SWRSM. We entered 2 teams into the tumbling towers competition and got through to the final only to be beaten by Somerset DA. Never mind we will try again next year when our DA is hosting the event. Also, there were only 3 units at the event but we managed to hold our heads high by competing in the Village Games. We did not come last so did not win the trophy for Must Try Harder. Thank you to those who came. Hopefully more will go next year. If you would like to help at this event next year, even to make teas or sell raffle tickets, please let me know. These events can only succeed with volunteers, the same as our own DA events. It is hard work for a few and as they say, Many hands make light work It is good to see that we now have over 200 members in our closed group on Facebook, but it would be great to have more content for Pickets Post as not everyone is social media friendly. Forthcoming Events Birchwood DA FOL Theme Transport through the ages. Time to plan your window or awning displays. Prizes for the winners. Ideas trains, boats, planes, barges, bicycles, cars, camels, horses, donkeys etc. See programme in pickets post. Raffle donations always greatfully received. Marquee for socialising. This meet will also be the SWR Autumn rally & DA Birthday weekend. One of our Youth Rian will be playing together with his band Deuteronomy on Saturday night. ** Offers of help at this event including erection & dismantle of marquee would be appreciated**

2 19 th -22 nd Oct End Of Season Supper- Halloween meet Furzebrook Village Hall Camping Available. Booking form in next month s pickets post. There will be a fancy dress competition & a Halloween table decoration competition. On Friday night pumpkins, carving kits & tealights will be provided. Who can make the best lantern to bring Saturday to the party. Please phone me for any dietary requirements different to the menu. This year a 2018 sites list will be published in Pickets Post. If you would like to steward a rally, please phone or our Secretary Colin Rice or ricecolin@gmail.com If there are more than the required number of stewards for a meet, a draw will take place at our Haloween/Furzebrook meet. Chairman - Heather Brown heatherb_uk@yahoo. co.uk Urgently Required The DA is in need of a new treasurer that lives in the area to cut down on travelling time and expenses. Sue is doing a great job but travelling from Gosport to meetings takes a long time. I know this is an early request. The committee has to appoint a treasurer at the October committee meeting (3rd wed of the month). If anyone interested, please contact either Sue or myself. Heather Brown Chairman The Editor is Dean Mueller-Davies, 127 Craigmoor Avenue, Bournemouth. BH8 9LT or davdee46@gmail.com Articles for the April issue must be with me by August 20 th 10am. Next Committee meeting is on August 16 th. New Forest DA website is at Weekend stewards mobile number is now

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4 Feast of Lanterns, Birchwood Touring Park 28 th Sept/1 st Oct. PROGRAMME NFDA Birthday meet & SWR Autumn Youth Rally Theme Transport through the ages Raffle and bonus ball. Food van tickets, display numbers See steward. Information - see blackboard at Stewards van and at marquee. Thursday 28th/Friday 29 th Set up and enjoy the area. Friday 7.30 Bring cups and chairs to marquee. Soup & rolls provided. Stay and socialise. Saturday 30th Free day. Prepare your FOL window or awning display. Don t forget to get your display number from the stewards. 7pm Lighting of displays. Come and see the lights and vote for your favourite display. Junior, Youth, Adult window and awning. Get your supper from the food van (remember your tickets) pm Youth band Deuteronomy playing soft rock. Let your hair down and listen or dance to the music. Teas/coffee/hot chocolate served. Bring your chairs and cups. Sunday 1 st Oct 10.30am Tea round the pole at marquee. Raffle draw, birthday cake and prize giving. We hope you have enjoyed your stay. Have a safe journey home.

5 EMERGENCY WARD 10 Hello everyone Well, we certainly can t complain about the weather lately can we? I just hope that you have all been able to be in good health and get out and about and enjoy your camping. Since last month I have sent out just 1 card to Brian Kitcatt, hope all is well with you Brian. Sorry to say, but due to Ray being poorly we have only been out once so far this year to our Easter Meet at Ballards but we hope that we will be able to get out in the field again before the season finishes! So! fingers crossed! Please don t forget, just drop me a line, or give me a call, if you hear of any of our members who are poorly or in hospital and I ll do the rest Many thanks! Marg Miller ray.miller7@ntlworld.com A TALE OF A PAIR OF STRETCH SOCKS BY MARG MILLER Talking of Emergency Ward 10 I came across this account on my computer recently that I wrote about an event which happened to me some years ago and I just thought it would fill a few lines and maybe raise a smile.. Many many years ago when I was about 17 or 18 (I did say it was many many years ago!!!), I started a Cub Pack 37 th Bournemouth - at my local Church, and some of the Scouts in the Scout Group there, used to help me to run the Pack. One day the Scouts said that they were going on a hike the following Sunday over the Purbecks and would I like to go with them, there would be 16 of them on the hike. We caught the bus from Bournemouth to Swanage and the route we were to walk was from Swanage Durlston Head Dancing Ledge St. Aldhelm s Head Chapman s Pool and then inland to Kingston and then catch the bus back to Swanage and home. By the time we had got to Dancing Ledge we had encountered a lot of mud (it was February), and so, to get rid of all the mud off of my feet and legs, I just plunged my feet, shoes and all!, into the big natural swimming pool which is on the beach at Dancing Ledge. One of the Scouts, David Sweeney, who had previously been one of my Cubs, offered me his spare pair of socks to make my feet feel more comfortable in my wet shoes (I had no hiking boots in those days). I thanked him very much but pointed out that he was slightly smaller than me so I doubted that the socks would fit, to which he replied But they re stretch ones Akela! so I accepted his kind offer, put the socks on and felt much more comfortable. (You will be wondering no doubt by now, what on earth socks has got to do with anything. Well, just be patient!).

6 After we had had a rest we walked up the hill to the stile whereupon I stepped off of the stile, my ankle went over, there was a loud click and my foot swelled like a balloon, held somewhat in check by the stretch socks! (told you to be patient!!), and...yes, I had broken my ankle. BUT!! and according to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, this is where Mind Over Matter comes in, I walked on it from Dancing Ledge to the bottom of the hill going down from St. Aldhelm s Head to Chapman s Pool. By then it was cold and it was beginning to get dusk. Only 1 scout plus 2 of the younger scouts who had both been Cubs of mine (one of which was David Sweeney), were left walking with me, everyone else had gone on ahead. Suddenly, two people appeared coming towards us over the rocks and they offered to take me to Kingston in their car... the trouble was, the car was at the TOP of the hill that I had just walked down so I had to walk all the way back up.. no steps or handrails in those days, only rough very steep ground and rusty broken barbed wire to grab hold of!! By the time they dropped me at Kingston it was pitch black with only one street light, there was no-one around, it was cold and there was total silence. The boys were still on their way up from Chapman s Pool. There is a lovely pub in Kingston called the Scotts Arms. The lights were on so I knocked on the door and then slumped to the floor. The landlord opened the door and called out into the darkness Who s there? and I said I m down here on the floor, I ve hurt my ankle. He helped me into a tiny tiny little bar with a lovely roaring log fire and a lady asked if I would like to put my ankle in a bowl of warm water but I screamed Thank you but NO!!! please don t touch it. Eventually the boys arrived and piled into the bar and bought beer (the older ones) and pop and crisps (the younger ones!) and we stayed there until the bus arrived. When I got to Swanage I rang a neighbour and asked her to run over the road and tell my Mum that I had hurt my ankle, that I was alright but that I would be late home. I eventually arrived home at p.m. and the next day was at Boscombe Hospital being put in plaster for 6 weeks!!! A year later I went back to the Scotts Arms to say Remember me.. and thank you! but unfortunately the lady and gentleman pub owners had gone and there were new landlords. Recently Ray and I were in the Scotts Arms but the inside has all been changed and I couldn t find the tiny tiny bar and the lovely log fire and no-one working there seemed to know what I was talking about!!!! Oh, well.. never mind, after all it was over 50 years ago!!!! Marg Miller (Who now always carries a spare pair of stretch socks!) (Thanks Sweeney )

7 Some pictuers taken by Alan Bown at Matley Wood in the New Forest

8 LEMON & BLUEBERRY CAKE Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a long strip of baking parchment. 175g softened butter 500ml tub Greek yogurt (you need 100ml/3½ fl oz in the cake, the rest to serve) 300g jar good lemon curd (you need 2 tbsp in the cake) 3 eggs Zest and juice 1 lemon, plus extra zest to serve, if you like 200g self-raising flour 175g golden caster sugar 200g punnet of blueberries(you need 85g/3oz in the cake, the rest to serve) 140g icing sugar Put 100g yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon curd, the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Quickly mix with an electric whisk until the batter just comes together. Scrape half into the prepared tin. Weigh 85g blueberries from the punnet and sprinkle half into the tin, scrape the rest of the batter on top, then scatter the other half of the 85g berries on top. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins-1 hr 15 mins until golden, and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then carefully lift onto a serving plate to ice. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice to make a thick, smooth icing. Spread over the top of the cake, then decorate with lemon zest and edible flowers, if you like. Serve in slices with extra lemon curd, Greek yogurt and blueberries. KNATTY KNITTERS A little bird tells me that we are featured in the August edition of the Camping & Caravanning Club Magazine (the postman hasn t brought ours as I go to press ). WELL DONE & THANK YOU TO RINA, CAROL, SUE, JILL & YOURS TRULY FAME AT LAST!!!! Just a thought. How come One size fits all never includes me! Marg x