Dear Prime Time member
Hope you have had a good first August week and are keeping well. Following on from Olwen, I am another member of the committee - I am Jane!
I am not at all the Prime Time events as work gets in the way!...but I love those which I can be involved with. I recall particularly visits to various gardens including Polesdon Lacey and Ramster when we were blessed with good weather as well!
We are lucky in this part of the country to have such great gardens and it made me think how important gardens, in general, have been for people over the last few months.
They have provided a space for meeting family and friends when we were restricted with indoor visits and have kept a lot of gardeners very occupied, as well as allowing folks to have a go at growing new plants or vegetables. My husband even splashed out on buying an outdoor fire chimney so friends might be able to stay longer into the evening and it was very much appreciated by the grandchildren for toasting marshmallows!
Another garden I really value is a small courtyard at the care home where my mum lives. This means that recently, we can book an outdoor visit to meet for a short time.
We all know how therapeutic it can be being outdoors, even for short periods, close to nature, breathing fresh air and hopefully enjoying a little slice of tranquillity.
This week, I ventured further afield to visit a garden near Chelmsford in Essex. It was RHS Hyde Hall, formerly a working farm which was bequeathed by its owners to the RHS in 1993. It was on a smaller scale to Wisley but had a lovely outlook with far reaching views of rolling hills and big skies.
It had an interesting Global vegetable garden with some fascinating facts which I thought I might share!...
the chemical in a chilli pepper that causes the burning type pain you feel is the same as that from a tarantula bite!
when Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato into England the Queen was served boiled stems and leaves to eat which were obviously not good and so she banished the potato plant!
If you made an Apple pie every day for 16 years you wouldn't need to use the same variety twice!!I
On that note, whether you have a garden big enough to sit in or plant pots on your windowsill or balcony, I hope you enjoy the beauty and wonder of creation.
I will leave you with a famous verse from Dorothy Frances Gurney's poem Gods Garden:
The kiss of the Sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,...
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else in earth.
One last reminder from Prime Time HQ that we are holding our second 'Virtual Quiz' via the magic of Zoom on Tuesday afternoon next week. Tuesday 11th August at 2.30pm will see Team member Di Drudge putting us all through our paces once again by making us exercise our little grey cells! It was great fun last month and so lovely to have the opportunity to catch up with everyone again and there was plenty of time to chat once the quiz had finished. Di would like to remind everyone to have plenty of paper and a couple of pens or pencils next to your computer as you’ll need to write down your answers.
To join the quiz either go to What’s On and select the event that is at the top of the Featured Events.
Or even easier, click on this direct Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/9463914833
Either way, you’ll need the Password for the event: 2020
You should then find yourself in our Zoom room along with many other of your Prime Time friends!
We do appreciate however that sometimes technology just doesn’t seem to work the way we expect it to, so should you find yourself stuck in front of your screen and getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to join the quiz – do give Penny a call on 07766 572934 and we will do our best to guide you through the process.
We can also invite people who are not on the internet to join the quiz as Zoom offers the facility of being able to telephone in and listen to what’s going on. If you know of anyone who would like to use this facility, please do put them into contact with Penny and she will let them have the instructions to enable them to do this.
So, if there is nothing in your diary for Tuesday afternoon – why not turn on your computer and give our Quiz a try? We look forward to welcoming you then.