August
Fine summer weather dominated the month, so we were able to get the
barbecue out a couple of times, and, of course, we saw Jay in
With Roger’s birthday in mind, we had arranged a visit to Malvern’s
Festival Theatre on Wednesday 6 to see
The Pirates of
Not being a G and S buff, Roger had spent some time on YouTube before we
went, getting to know the plot and the
main melodies. Malvern Theatres are in a
beautiful setting in Priory Park, near the centre of the town and under the
shadow of the Malvern Hills – it is also the venue of the Band in the Park
concerts which we go to from time to time.
We were blessed
with good weather on the day so we were able take a picnic lunch to eat in the
park just before the matinee performance, which was by the New York Gilbert and
Sullivan Players, one of the world’s leading Gilbert and Sullivan repertory
companies. A sample of their work can be
seen here: ‘I
am a pirate king’.
The production was excellent, with some beautifully performed business
providing a humorous underscoring of the book and the music. Teresa couldn’t resist getting her phone out
for the final curtain calls.
Helen, who also had her birthday this month, came home for the weekend
of 9-10, and on Sunday 10 we spent a day in
◄ Roger
waiting to visit the special exhibition.
Among the presents Teresa brought out
for Roger and Helen’s birthday was
this rather fetching pair of hens, which light up at night: an unexpected benefit seemed to be their
effect on the pigeons, which kept well away from the lawn after the hens
appeared.
On the morning of Bank Holiday Sunday 24 we went to the near-by village of Stanton, which was holding its summer fete; unfortunately, we hadn’t realised that the attractions would be staged at different times through the day, so we saw only a selection of the stalls and activities, and missed out completely on the boules competition for which we had secretly been practising.
◄ Roger and Teresa in
The spell of fine weather was abruptly broken on
August Bank Holiday, with heavy rain most of the day. A bowls Fun Day had to be cancelled, but the
Winchcombe Show continued: Teresa had
entered for several classes, after a few years’ absence, and Jay, home for the
weekend, also put in some entries. Their
efforts were rewarded by several commendations and places, and, for Teresa, two
First Places, one for the strawberry jam class, which she had won before
several years ago, and one for photography in the Winchcombe Life category.
Jay’s Second Prize in
the Landscape category, and Teresa’s First Prizes for Strawberry Jam and
Winchcombe Life
Unfortunately, the day came to a less satisfactory
end: after collecting our entries from
the show, the car almost got bogged down in the drenched field used as a
temporary car park and we had to rev furiously to make it up the slope on the
way out. When we got out in the garage,
an ominous rushing sound alerted us to the fact that a rear tyre was rapidly
deflating. We took it to the garage the
following day, to be shown that a ¾ inch flat nail had embedded itself in the
tyre: fortunately, it was only a
puncture and soon mended.
Roger’s bowls season drew towards its close, with the final few games of
the men’s triples league and the completion of the club competitions: this year all the finals of the latter were
arranged to be played on Sunday 31, which turned out to be a warm, sunny
day. Competitors, officials and
supporters were encouraged to stay for the day, bringing and sharing lunch and
tea. Roger was lucky enough to reach one
final (which he lost), but stayed on for a restful day in the sun and some
interesting games to watch.