Steppin Stones

Well here we are in April and a lot to catch up on,so here goes....On the 23rd of Feb me and 4 members went along to the "Climate Science Fair" at the Town Hall. There were various stands promoting recycling,water conservation, etc., with facts and figures galore. there also were interactive experiments for children,guides to "your carbon footprint" and an ornithology stand-from where I learned that due to global warming, Oxford's bird population is slightly up, with birds such as herons here that weren't around 10 years ago.As we had time to spare we popped into the Museum of Oxford, which had an exhibition called "1000 faces of Oxfordshire".As you'd guess, it featured faces past and present, ordinary and renowned,all gathered to celebrate 1000 years of Oxford-so presumeably Oxford's officially been in existence for that long! I've only been here since the past millenium, so forgive me for not knowing that.
On March 1st we were visited here for a "show and tell2 by Susan, who is a community education officer attached to Oxford's museums. She brought some objects which she passed around the 11 members who took part so they could have a look/feel and try to guess what they were-being given 3 possible choices for each. It was fun and it was good to see so many members interested and the lively exchange of opinions.
Unfortunately I was away for the theatre outing on March 8thto see "Aint Mizbehavin" at the Pegasus theatre but the 7 who went(including 2 volunteers) all said in was fantastic. If you dont know, it was about the life and music of Fats Waller the jazz pianist.
On March 22nd, 5 members came with me to Bletchley Park to see the home of the Enigma machine, which argueably was where the codebreakers helped to end WW2. Half the group went off on their own as they had been before while the rest went on the guided tour.The guide was fiddling with coins in his pocket when he started his talk so one of our members politely asked him not to. The guide apologized but after a further few minutes he began again, only to stop him self and redfacedly say he hadn't realized that it must be a habit. There was lots to see, and though we stopped at certain places and had 2 experts describe the ins and outs of the various machines and early computer-type devices, sometimes it might have been good if the guide gave us 5 minutes here and there so we could look at pictures and read about things on the posters for ourselves. Still, for those who kept their ticket there is always the chance to return for free -which is what more and more places are doing-charging a bit more but allowing you to return for free within a year.
Lastly, yeaterday we had our sponsored walk,which 65 people took part in. There was one short burst of raain plus later a 8 minute drizzle but the boat trip back was sunny all the way. As the boat left earlier there wasn't time for rounders but a good time was had by all. Well done to the 2 young (under 11) children who raised nearly£250 between them. At one point I had to double back as the route along the river involved having to clamber over a log crossing some water (which might have been tricky for some to manage), but I managed to move the arrow sign before the walkers arrived there.A big thank you to all who helped and/or took part.
Finally, I'm wondering if I should carry on with this blog-if anyone is reading please leave a comment as I have no way of knowing otherwise. Am happy for positive/negative feedback,tho attaching photos to previously archived sections seems to be problematic for many other bloggers apart from myself, which is one comment I received in person. Please comment on the blog itself! ttfn(ta ta for now)....Bruce

Labels: 13/04/08