Granny's Bowling Season

Ready for an indoor bowling session...

I do love a game of bowls. Indoor bowls. Short-mat bowls to be precise.

Short-mat bowls has little of the high-tech, razzmatazz of ten-pin-bowling to be sure. Nor the wider aspects of the outdoor game which is played on fine green lawns in all kinds of British weather! This is a game created for small venues and has been scaled down from the longer rinks of purpose-built indoor bowls clubs, especially to fit into village halls and community centres.

The sponge-backed mats are around 13 metres long and are set down with a block of wood across the middle for added interest (and annoyance)! A game of great skill, it's rather a shame it suffers from a dull image, as it can get very competitive and noisy at times! Many, indeed most of the players are senior citizens who enjoy the socialising and buzz of competition and it's good to see folk getting out and about, visiting different venues.

Often our club hosts other teams from our local league and vice versa. The groups usually turn up in team colours and their bowls, which are weighted so they move with a bias, are marked with coloured team stickers. My own bowls are quite small compared to some of the those the gents use, so I am disadvantaged sometimes as mine tend to rebound off the bigger ones. Conversely, I can sometimes use their smaller size to 'trickle' through to the small, heavy cott (or jack) via narrow gaps!

All teams observe the formalities of a friendly handshake at the beginning and end of each practice game or competition match, and we generally have a good experience though some, it may be said, take the game a lot more seriously than others.

It's a pity more young people don't play either long or short mat bowls. One or two are now coming through and I must say jazzier clothing and the newer coloured bowls are a step in the right enticing direction. They're proving very popular and lend bright touches to the rinks. Our team shirts too have brightened up. We are now kitted out in white with orange and black trim. Very snazzy!

Our small club usually languishes somewhere in the middle of the league tables but this season, dressed to kill, we're determined to be promoted. We shall see...

A recent competition...

http://www.shortmatnorfolk.co.uk/

Going for A Spin (Literally)

Dancing at the ceilidh

Hubby and I have just returned from the city where we were lucky enough to come upon a ceilidh band. The venue was a very large church hall and there were about 70 adults and 20 children. The band, two violins (or fiddlers), two guitarists and one banjo player were up on stage. The leader of the band is also the caller, encouraging 'newbies' to master the steps of the traditional dances. It's great fun and the children particularly seem to love weaving in and out between each other.

It's not all dancing of course. Too exhausting I should think! So the band members vary the routine and pace with various songs. These range from traditional English, American, Scottish or Irish, to this polka, their latest offering.

One member of the band is something of a linguist and finds learning languages relatively easy, so this Finnish folk-song presented no great problems to memorise. It is literally a tongue-twister, done at high speed. This is just one of several verses. Fancy giving it a go? All together now!

Nuapurista kuulu se polokan tahti jalakani pohjii kutkutti Ievan äiti se tyttöösä vahti vaan kyllähän Ieva sen jutkutti Sillä ei meitä silloin kiellot haittaa Kun myö tanssimme laiasta laitaan Salivili hipput tupput täppyt äppyt tipput hilijalleen...

Easy peasy eh?

When I was in junior school we enjoyed occasional country dancing and when our children were at infant school, they danced round the Maypole for their school fete but, I ask myself, do today's children still have time for such carefree music and movement or is it more about cramming for OFSTED visits?

This afternoon we witnessed the joy of children happily spinning around the floor or galloping alongside their mums and dads. Such fun. Such lovely musical memories created.

Long may ceilidhs continue!

Cynicism as Skincare

Thankfully I was born with good skin as well as a strong dose of cynicism which makes me question the motives behind cosmetics advertising though I know of course they are primarily financial!

​Naturally, cosmetics companies are going to slate simple soap and water. A face-cloth and bar of soap followed by a touch of overnight cream is not going to bankroll the chief executive! A few reviving splashes of (naturally) astringent cold water in the morning followed by a light covering of whatever you fancy is not going to pay for exclusive headquarters in Paris, London or New York!

​I don’t like being dictated to by so-called experts, and object to being told I need expensive products to ‘clean off the grime of the day’. A nice warm wash with soap and water or in my case just water alone, should suffice if you do not have problem skin. Cleaners, toners, moisturisers, exfoliates, and all the pseudo-scientific babble surrounding them, are there in part to bamboozle us into thinking we need to buy a variety of products that in my opinion fall into the realms of witchery for the gullible. Just think about it…

I'm all for a little enhancement, but for myself I choose inexpensive products and apply with a light touch - less is more is a good rule for the older face. None of us wants to look as though a plasterer has been called in to fill wrinkles and lines...

If you've got them, flaunt them! Don't habitually moan and turn down your mouth. Have a ready smile and at least your crinkles and creases will chart your happiness and enhance your glowing skin and sparkling eyes.