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Hinckley U3A UpBeat No.4

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13/4/20

Hello again, Hope you are all well.Just a reminder copy for future newsletters is always welcome.

Suggestions are - poetry maybe a Haiku, photographs especially of something silly, jokes,cartoons, an article about what you have been doing/making maybe with some pictures, what are

you doing to keep fit.Let's keep sharing things.

Just send to newslet@hinckleyu3a.co.ukMany thanks

Next weeks issue will include a general knowledge quiz, poetry, links to virtual tours of galleries &museums , online performances of concerts etc. So a bit more for the culture vultures amongst you,don't forget the U3A is all about expanding your horizons so don't think 'thats not for me' you might

surprise yourself.Plus ,of course, jokes, cartoons & amusing pictures.

Photograph of 'Comrade Paddington'.

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(from Janet Berrie)Note from editor - with all the things we are being told we can and can't do maybe comrade Paddington

will soon be in power!

The Third Age trust has launched some online discussion forums so you can share ideas and support one

another. You just need to visit the forum website & click the register button and fill in your details. If you

are not familiar with online forums then there is a 'how to' guide.

The forums available are -

Learning – discussions around subjects and all forms of interest and learning

Our U3A Community – discussions arounds how we support each other

This comes to mind - Life gets Tedious don’t it (Hank Williams)I suppose covid19 means the end of U3A coach trips for many months. What's a pensioner to do? I'malready brassed off with jigsaw puzzles.

Link to register on forum

How to guide

Pat Harrison

Life Is a Quilt

I expect you’ve seen many quilts – patchwork, appliquéd, mass-produced, handmade, antique,modern. Where I come from, quilts hold a valued place in folk art and cultural history. Many antiquecollectors will gladly pay a fortune for a quilt; not only are they beautiful and functional as aneveryday object, they are also metaphors of a vast cultural melting pot.

For example, the women of Pennsylvania’s Amish community will usually make a quilt for a couplethat is about to be married. The quilters employ a range of skills that have developed over manygenerations, and they are quite capable of producing a perfect quilt. However, the Amish believethat producing a perfect quilt would be an affront to God, so it is part of their tradition deliberately toplace a very tiny fault – perhaps a misplaced stitch hidden away in a seam. In the meantime,Amish men are busy constructing a barn for the couple. For the Amish, the practical skills ofquilting and barn-building are symbols of community.

Quilts also played a role in the days of slavery during the run-up to the American civil war (1861-1865). These so-called ‘slave quilts’ were essentially a coded map that hid information in plain

sight. In the 19th century, most slaves were illiterate and the only way to communicate escaperoutes was to present information in quilts that focused on the Underground Railroad. Please note -the Underground Railroad wasn’t a railroad at all. It was a network of safe houses where runawayenslaved people would be sheltered and given food and water, before continuing their journeynorth to Canada and freedom.

Another example are the millions of immigrants that came to the USA from the late 18th centuryonwards, many bringing their home country’s unique quilting traditions, colours, symbols, andpatterns. The literal joining together of different quilting traditions is a metaphor of America’smelting pot. Each constituent piece of the quilt retains its own beauty but when stitched together,the whole becomes much more than the sum of its parts.

During the economic hardships of the 1930s, handmade quilts were a necessity – an example of‘make do and mend’. Quilts were made from worn-out clothes that were too threadbare to handdown; the cloth was cut into squares and sewn together, or perhaps appliquéd onto a larger pieceof cloth. During WW2, signature quilts were made to raise money for charity. In this instance, localbusinesses paid to have their names embroidered into the quilts, which were then auctioned toraise funds for the American Red Cross.

For Native Americans, quilts are a means to keeping their diverse cultures and heritage alive.European settlers brought their quilting traditions to the new world, and Native Americansincorporated the new designs into their own tribal patterns. This is precious to me because I’mdescended from Canadian First Nation Indians.

At the risk of becoming political, all of this seems to suggest that Americans are united by traditionsand common beliefs into a cohesive whole. Tragically, the news suggests otherwise, but I believethat most Americans want to reach solutions and compromises to our many problems. That is whyI believe the humble, handmade quilt – an object that has been stitched together from contrastingparts - is a metaphor for what American life could and should be.

Janice Strand

This is a good solution to America's problems!(picture supplied by Ann Newman)

This weeks one liners from Bob Hillier >Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90%probability you'll get it wrong.

If you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to passthem. (note from editor - and they would probably be driving a BMW or Audi! )

Does curtain making have its drawbacks?

There are 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't.

This weeks video clips,

Some of us are using the internet, mobile phones & tablets more than usual at the moment maybe evenSkype, WhatsApp etc. , so are you struggling with Tech. - watch Ronnie Corbett sorting out his difficulties.

Sometimes you think your mobile is ringing but when you pick it up no one is there! Have a look at thisone

Something for those of you who like or own dogs and/or cats, while away some time watching - enemies

or friends?

It doesn't seen that long ago that newspapers were full of Brexit - oh happy days?? Now instead ofwanting to keep away from Europe we are now asked to keep away from each other!

Many thanks to Pat Harrison for the cartoon.

Poetry Corner

Home Hairdressing by Carol Stepney

I’m sitting here full of fearOn the table in front of me

A comb, thinning scissors and a cutting shearDistractedly, I reach for my mug of tea

My reflection stares back from the glassDo I start from side or top

Now’s the time to be bold as brassTo cut a shape into this unruly mop

Snip, snip, chop, chopThere now that wasn’t so bad

Ronnie Corbett's solutions to Tech. problems

Is my Mobile Ringing

Enemy or Friend

Though not the standard of the hairdressing shopFeeling good now and not at all sad

I pick up the box of hair dyeTwas the last one on the supermarket shelf I think

At least it’ll be a laugh Oh my!What do you think - the colour is bright pink!

We are all being told to support the NHS!(Picture supplied by Ann Newman)

Creative Writing Short Story Competition - Entry No.3

Secrets by Little Ted

If you have any areas of your garden that are gravelled, then you've probably experienced thisphenomenon. No matter how many bags I buy, there always appears to be bald patchessomewhere or other. So when a friend in Lutterworth shared a secret with me, I was delighted. Heinformed me that he bought his direct from the local quarry at a fraction of the price. The followingweekend, my wife and I set off with our small trailer to get ourselves a bargain. "You have checkedthe tyre pressures?" my wife enquired as we began our journey. "Of course," I lied.

A young man shovelled it into our trailer and when we came to pay, what a saving! We made it halfway up the drive before the first wheel came off. The quarry was about to close and we didn't wantto get stuck there so we continued with one wheel and a rim. We made it past the gates and thenthe other tyre came off. Now we were stranded miles from home with a tireless trailer. Other thanabandoning it, there seemed only one option: I began to shovel the gravel from the trailer into theboot of my car whilst my wife encouraged me by pointing out the benefits of checking tyre

pressures. And then it began to rain. Eventually, with the whole load in the car, we managed tosqueeze the upturned trailer into the boot as well, before limping slowly up the A5 home. Somebargain: I had to get two new tyres.

When the time came to yet again acquire yet more stones, I decided to give the quarry another go,but this time I'd put the gravel in the boot of my car. If I put the back seats down, I could get evenmore in: twice as much gravel, double the saving. Whilst driving away from the quarry, the car infront suddenly stopped. I have to say that I accomplished my emergency stop with some style,bringing the car and myself to a complete standstill in a matter of seconds. The gravel was not soaccommodating. Two huge bags worth continued their forward motion and, as I'd put the backseats down, there was nothing to restrain their progress. Like a mighty river, it poured forwards -over the back seats, over the front seats, leaving me sitting there, astonished, in a sea of gravel.After freeing the pedals, I found a layby where I began the task of shovelling gravel back into theboot. I then spent hours extracting tiny stones from every conceivable place you could imagine. Ihad to buy cleaning materials; I had to buy new mats. Any money saved was spent making the caruseable again and for months afterwards we'd hear rear seat passengers pipe up with, "I think youmight have some gravel under your seat." Here's a little secret: if you need gravel, go to a gardencentre.

When it's spring again, I'll bring again.Tulips from Amsterdam

Not sure about this bloke in the clogs though!

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Thanks to Janet Berrie for the photo. I'm not sure whether Tom knew that she had sent it ?!

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