COME SINGING NEWSLETTER

sDear Everyone,

Happy Easter! Whatever the weather now, you know that the days will soon be longer and sunnier, and there'll be that very special green as the trees come into leaf...

This newsletter is full of the joys of the season (including a fair amount of chocolate!) and lots of music. We hope you'll find something to feed the mind body and spirit. Keep safe and well, and get your vocal cords moving again after the long winter - singing is the very best thing when you're full of the joys of Spring!

With love from everyone at Come Singing

Easter is the time for eggs!

Eggs are the symbol of renewal and therefore of Spring.

Real OR Chocolate

Beginning in 1885, Fabergé ultimately made 50 Imperial eggs - 7 have never been found!

This is a riddle by J.R.R. Tolkien, which appears in ‘The Hobbit, or There and Back Again’:

“A box without hinges, key or lid Yet a golden treasure inside is hid.”

Chocolate Tiffin A simple no-bake recipe. This might be an Easter treat or a way to use up chocolate after Easter! Ingredients 100g or 4 oz plain or milk or mixed chocolate or 25g or 1 oz real cocoa powder 100g or 4 oz butter 5 tbsp golden syrup 225g or 8 oz Rich Tea or digestive biscuits (gluten free biscuits will work just as well) Optional 2 tbsp chopped glacé cherries or 2 tbsp sultanas or 2 tbsp chopped nuts Method 1. Line an 8” round or 7”square tin or equivalent container, with cling film. 2. Crush the biscuits in a bag with a rolling pin or equivalent! 3. In a small pan break up the chocolate, cube the butter and add the syrup. Melt over a low heat stirring well until smooth. 4. Remove from heat and stir in the biscuits and optional ingredients. Mix well. 5. Put the mix into the prepared container pressing down well and levelling. Leave it in the fridge overnight to firm. 6. Remove the cling film and cut the tiffin into small pieces. It will keep in a fridge for up to a week..... if you can!

Two seasonal poems – composed by Judy

Robin in my Garden

Robin has a mate! Was my garden their first date? They follow one another - I really need take cover As they dive and swoop In speed- trials of daring-do: Through my legs loop the loop, Ever faster their flight must be. I hope to baby one, two - more? Then brood two with fledglings four. Will this family be friends with me? 12th March '21

Robin(s) No Longer in My Garden

The birds: robins, blue tits - all have flown.

Will they return, when the young have grown?

Each day I look, listen, wait to see

But no feathered visitors to garden tree.

Maybe it's simply not meant to be. 22nd March '21 NOW DANCE! – Part 1 of a quiz devised by Teresa (Answers at the end) 1. A song from the musical “The King and I”, when Anna and the King of Siam dance together? 2. Chris de Burgh is dancing cheek to cheek with whom? 3. An impossible part of the room to dance on? 4. The band had only one more song to play, what was it? 5. You can dance to rock’n’roll, hear the Bossa Nova, played with soul – what location is Cliff Richard singing about? (Can you spot Susan Hampshire in the video linked to the answer?) 6. Round and round and up and down we go again – what dance is Chubby Checker describing? 7. It doesn’t matter what you wear as long as you are there, to do what and where? 8. John Travolta starred and danced in this film, which was a big hit in the 1970’s? Music by the Bee Gees. 9. Chris Montez sang about doing the twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too, what is the title of the song? 10. A song from the 1937 musical “Me and My Girl”. It takes its name from a street in London?

Wild Primroses – a special memory from Jennie April 19th is Primrose Day. These dainty little flowers are one of my favourites, mainly because I have happy memories of picking them as a child. Each bunch was tied with wool. My mother and her sisters picked primroses from the lanes and ditches when they were children. These bunches were placed around the font to decorate the church at Walcott ready for Easter Sunday. On that day, the girls wore their new hats!

Flanders and Swann

During the 50s and 60s and were famous for performing their comic songs together. They had been friends from childhood even going to the same school and university. Although Michael was confined to a wheel chair after contracting polio, he delivered his monologues with wit and great skill. Donald Swann ably accompanied him on the grand piano and was also a composer in his own right. Together they wrote and performed over 100 comic songs. Their two , “” and “At the Drop of Another Hat” toured both Britain and abroad, delighting audiences everywhere.

Now perhaps you would like to try this quiz? (Answers at the end) 1. Which of the songs contain the line “His inamorata adjusted her garter”? 2. Fill in the spaces: “’Twas on a Monday morning the ______came to call”? 3. What animal is the “g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo”? 4. Which song has the lines “Have some ______, m’dear,

“It’s a-very much nicer than beer.”?

5. Which song complained

“April brings the sweet spring showers “On and on for hours and hours.”?

6. What are these lines describing: “The big six wheeler “London Transport

“Diesel engine “Ninety seven horsepower....”?

7. What is? “So artfully wound

“To give you a sound”?ANSWERS: Let’s dance quiz 1. Shall We Dance? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgVPnWmUqd4 2. The Lady in Red https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFcuN2zI3u0 3. Dancing on the Ceiling, Lionel Richie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4JUMX4VjFA 4. The Last Waltz, Engelbert Humperdinck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf4mWO06wlw 5. On the Beach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUTNr2haPhQ 6. The Twist – Let’s Twist Again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxQZQ86jJHg 7. Dancing in the Street, Martha and the Vandellas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCBXTfoVq8 8. Saturday Night Fever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op5FxEs1aR0 9. Let’s Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EjJq9c1maI 10. The Lambeth Walk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fgKn3SbCYQ

Flanders and Swann quiz 1. The Hippopotamus 2. GASMAN 3. The Gnu 4. MADEIRA 5. Song of the Weather 6. Transport of Delight 7. Mozart’s Horn Concerto Here are links to a few of the more famous of Flanders’ and Swann’s songs. The Gnu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j53z6RfFb7U Transport of Delight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miV3zk7umXM Have some Madeira m’Dear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ Mozart’s Horn Concerto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkYrj2DQlVc The Hippotamus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zpDF3Py7r8 Song of the Weather https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eT40eV7OiI The Gasman Cometh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dvAxA9ib0