We had a great Fireworks night as usual due to our resident pyrotechnic, Howard,
who puts on a spectacular show here at Blackthorns. Many members invite friends and
family to join in the fun of the fire and mulled wine as well as the fantastic firework
display. It gives them a chance to see us as a mixed group of people rather than
just naturists and they realise we are a fun bunch from various backgrounds. Some
even decide to join us!!
We had a pleasant evening social early December that we call “A Bit of a Do” as we
really go to town on dressing smartly and dancing the night away in style!
Our Sunday lunch time get together before Christmas was attended by many, especially
as we expected a visit from Father Christmas. It’s amazing how many believe in him
still and promise they will be good all year!
New Year saw us all back for another festive feast and dancing until the early hours
of 2007.
We soon had to get back into the work routine required to maintain the woods and
grounds that we share with the wildlife and whilst it sometimes seems a bit drastic
it is amazing how soon the new growth will appear and reap the benefits of winter
pruning.
We celebrated the Chinese New Year with appropriate cuisine and more of Howard’s
firecrackers and then St. Patrick’s Day with an Irish themed social.
We had to save some energy for our Spring Cleaning Weekend when almost all members
join in sprucing up the club buildings and grounds in readiness for the summer months
when we hope to be too busy lazing in some Global Warming by the pool to be doing
anything more strenuous!
We now have the Easter weekend to look forward to, which will include a table tennis
tournament. I hear it will also involve some dressing up as bunnies, so it sounds
like we are in for some fun! There will then follow some serious Petanque practise
in readiness for the Derek Brown Trophy in early May.
it's all go here at Blackthorns! Do come and see for yourselves.
Our annual fun week held at the start of Aug. already seems a long time ago but the fun goes on! It is always well worth belonging to our club even through the colder months as we ensure there is always reason to meet and enjoy life. We are open all year and to keep us together we enjoy Halloween, Guy Fawkes and Christmas celebrations as well as the occasional Dinner Dance and the regular Saturday night gathering around our glorious log burning stove when we drink and talk the night away! Sunday morning is coffee time and there is always someone to chat with. We are so lucky to be in such a relaxed setting as Pippin Wood and it is our haven from the outside world.
Of course there is always lots of work to be done and we are a club proud of our members’ voluntary efforts which results in a close knit community and more money to spend on the things that are beyond our talents! It keeps the running costs down so we can offer value for money.
You can learn the art of hedge laying and tree management if you wish, become a tractor driver, do a spot of bird watching, wild flower spotting or even practise your culinary skills on willing hungry mouths returning from a morning of outdoor activities including tree felling, ditch digging, painting and general tidying. There is no need to pay extortionate fees at a gym! You can play miniten, volley ball, table tennis and petanque all year round. Of course if you think Sundays are for playing golf; we can still cater for you and our crazy golf course has expanded to 11 holes. Our golf club founder is working his way up to 19……we hope!
There is something for everyone here at Blackthorns and with the sauna on its way into place there will soon be more to do than ever whilst awaiting the return of the summer sun. Ring 07974303151 for an informal visit with a view to joining.
The month of April provided us with early summer sunshine that meant we got the club’s Spring Cleaning done in record time hoping to be ready for the rest of the summer but of course we had the rainy June to follow like most of the country. What a muddle the weather is in!
But our Irish eyes were smiling when we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day along with birthday celebrations for two surprised members.
We followed this up with a “Dragons & Knights” social – another of Blackthorn’s fun nights for dressing up, (but always entirely optional).
Most people took part in the next birthday celebration with the theme of “What you were wearing when the boat went down”. We had everything from the Captain and the ship’s entertainer right down to the engine room mechanic and even the odd pirate trying to take over the boat!!
We were invaded with “Cowboys & Indians” during the weekend the Suntreckers stayed with us and I’m afraid we have to take all blame for the ensuing wet weather following a few wrong steps when the Indians were attempting a Sun Dance. We are now calling them the Raintreckers with obvious reason! (Don’t fret; we will still welcome them back in August as they are great company).
The weather was much kinder to us for the street party we held to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Unfortunately Her Majesty was unable to attend due to our “No Dogs” policy, not even for Corgis……sorry Ma’am!
We’ve witnessed some great table tennis, miniten and petanque playing recently with our own teams taking part in E.R. tournaments. There is always chance to play sports for pleasure or competition at Blackthorns. The Volley Ball got rained off as the ground was more suited to Water Polo but it will get played once the court is dry.
Our annual “Family Week” was everything we planned it to be with more sports, quiz nights, horse racing and communal barbeques together with a Pyjama Party at the start of the week and ending with a “Cops & Robbers” night. Calvero the great acrobatic and dance teacher and Charlie Chaplin mime artiste paid us another visit and we are very grateful for his time and contribution; only requesting a collection in aid of “Save the Children”. He is highly recommended by all.
We are hoping that at the time of you reading this we are enjoying an “Indian Summer” courtesy of the Suntreckers getting the dance steps right this time!
The photo is of Deane; Blackthorns very own “Big Chief Sitting Bare” and winner of the fancy dress competition that night!
I hope you all have as much fun at your clubs as we do at ours…..if not……come and join us!!