Village activities were down on a normal year for Jan/Feb, can’t understand why!! However, the two events that did go ahead certainly cheered up the evenings as they were very entertaining. The first being the Zoom Quiz night on Saturday 30th January. Once again a thoroughly enjoyable evening with a great turnout, 52+ contestants in their individual zoom teams! A brilliant selection of questions throughout on different subjects, plus a photo section on famous ‘Phils’ to identify during the interval. Team winners were:- In 1st place with 87 points..’Still Not Going Out’ with Phil, Rachel, Amanda, Dave & Susie. 2nd place with 84 points. ’Stewarts’ with Barbara, David, Georgia, Antony & Dani. 3rd place with 82 points.. ‘Stevos of Steventon’ with Emma, Jeremy, Isabella, George & Jemima. Couples were:- In 1st place with 73 points..’I Hope We Are Not Going to Come Billy Bottom’ with Katy and Nick. 2nd place with 72..’Shiver Me Kimbers’ with Rachel and Charlie. 3rd place with 65 points..’Gruzeliers’ with Shona and John. Some great team names, to name a few, the evening just got funnier. It certainly did blow the cobwebs away and got the grey cells working! Thank you Sally and Laurence for a great evening, although we didn’t see much of Sally who was kept busy behind the scenes keeping score. Just imagine also our surprise, as up to then we had only seen our Quiz Master, Laurence, looking quite splendid in dinner jacket and bow tie, only to stand up and leave the room to reveal his lower half just in a pair of shorts!! Priceless.
The second event on Saturday 20th February was the Steventon Village Lockdown Film Night. With many thanks to Paul and Marilyn, ‘Pride & Prejudice the Steventon Way’ was put on a private channel on YouTube which enabled us to watch on TV screens. While we were on Zoom to meet up before, during the interval for catch-ups and refreshments which worked amazingly well. A very feel good evening with plenty of laughter as we had forgotten just how very entertaining it was. How things had changed since the very first Panto, especially sound effects, lighting etc. since ‘Cinderella’ back in 2005!! Fingers crossed for the real thing next year maybe?
Book Zoom group met on Friday 12th February to discuss ‘The Spanish Promise’ by Karen Swan which scored a 6, which was quite good as it wasn’t the book that was ordered! Great catch-up, thanks to Marilyn for setting up.
Daffodils and primroses are now bursting into flower, catkins producing their fluffy yellow tails and an abundance of snowdrops covering banks and gardens. How can one fail to smile and be uplifted? The snowdrop of course is a symbol of Hope; it was first planted for the beginning of Spring and the hope of good things to come. The blackbird can be heard now singing along with the robin, fabulous. We had a group of 7 long-tailed tits suddenly appear and all tucked into the fatty balls, such a very beautiful bird. The week ahead is due to be dry and warmer, days are getting longer and Spring is just around the corner. Time to dust off the outdoor seats and get out in the garden with our coffee. Can’t wait for next month and maybe start planting a few veggies. Till then, will light the fire again this evening, maybe watch a movie and plan for the good times ahead that will eventually be coming!