Plympton

Fun with Words

Point of Contact:- Gabrielle Stook.

Tel No:- 344534. Email:- gabriellestook@btinternet.com

Tuesday, Week 1.
10.30 - 12.00 p.m.

SEPTEMBER

though a bit low on numbers this month we had fun.

The starter looked at people's favourite starter and why. It became apparent that many found a three course meal a bit much and several of us adapted our choices. There was a recipe for stuffed mushrooms, making us all hungry. There were fans of prawn cocktail, others preferred sharing starters or bar snacks.

The main of favourite picture and artist provoked discussion about portraits, paid work, representative as against abstract art. We discussed a number of art styles, We talked of Lowry who influenced Fred Yates, there was reminiscence about the Laughing Cavalier, we were chgallenged by the abstract Happy Holiday, and enlightened about Klimt. There was talk about watercolours and what motivated artists.

Next time we'll look at adverbs for movement eg he walked slowly, carefully, enthusiastically, reluctantly, possibly narrowing your choices down to ten or so.

For main we decided to look at fireworks, their names, manufacture, descriptors in literature and poetry and the positive/negative emotions they engender.

JULY
The weather this time, didn't allow for a garden meet. We'll try again next month, Sept 5, when the starter will be Trees (take and individual tree or type) and the main will be Autumn Activities.

Trees:-how the blossom and fruit affect wildlife, eg lime and oak; useful trees eg pine, willow, beech; ornamental trees eg flamingo, tulip. Other ideas, how the spindle tree got its name; the baobab; the locust tree.

Autumn activities:- preparation for winter eg replacing the thresh; making cider; jams, pickles; bringing beasts in off the hill, ensuring next years youngstock; setting aside seeds, starting new plants; learning new skills, evening classes, hobby groups; wildfowling, hunting.

This month we opened by sharing our discoveries about cheese. We discovered how Gloucester, and Gloucester cows were important to several types of cheese; how the wealthy influenced cheese development, and gave special cheeses as diplomatic gifts; a number of cheese related idioms and sayings.

We looked in more depth at a range of Summer Activities and their vocabulary:- Morris dancing, its various types and steps, the influence of Cecil Sharp and modern Morris. We were fortunate to have a brief display. Our attention was drawn to the butterfly count and conservation, local butterflies include silver fritilleraries in cann woods, and Jersey Tiger moths in the St Mary's area. The Proms and how they began as classical music outreach and have developed to include music from the musicals, Sci-Fi and Sinatra. Much laughter was caused by the explanation of the rules of cricket, especially aimed at Americans. Cowes Week and its attempts to include all even novices, skipper coming from the Dutch for boat. The development of tennis, and how the name might come from the French tenez, racquet possibly comes from ancient languages meaning the palm of the hand, the courts developed from croquet lawns, and balls and racquets having a long development. The Boat races had a long list of technical terms including, they aren't boats, they're shells.

May 2023
Our first action was a sampling of fluids, blue, pink, green, amber, brown and to attempt to describe them with the taste terms we'd been collecting. This was interesting with some surprises, for example the identification of 'pea' taste, which was the colourant for the blue sample, the one described as 'orrible, was rose flavoured.

We then moved on to examining what we had found out about birds. The nightingale, from the old English 'galan' to sing, and its Latin name meaning 'big bill' was remembered by many for the duet with a cellist. Wading birds were examined with a view to their unusual names, whimbrel, phalerope, godwit, knot, stint, turnstone. Other unusual birds discussed included the hoatzin, the shoebill ( the elephant man of the stork family) the frogmouth and the shoveller. We thought about oddities such as brown pigeons, known as red, and other chromosomal oddities. This led to the ideas of normal distribution and colour rarities in humans. Some birds of course, are mythical and we looked at the Roc and how enormous it was supposed to be. Many countries have mythical birds, Japan = Itsumade; Philippines=Minokawa; Norse = Hugin and Munin; China = Shangyang.

In June if the weather is kind, we'll hope to move outside. The starter will be a look at biscuits and how they are named and differentiated. The main discussion will be on gardens, for example members could chose Chelsea and show gardens, water gardens, gardens opened for charity, garden cities, historical gardens, botanical gardens among others.

My thanks to all contributors.

Gabrielle