It's been a loooong time since the last post. But thanks to Ron for his update and photos. I've included responses from other choir members about the choir quartet in the final photo.

It's been a while since I emailed I have been back to work in September only to go back to furlough after Christmas I was at work 1 day and furloughed again, back to work Monday hurray for how long this time. 
We've both had our first vaccine waiting for second in April, both of us are OK  going for walks (see the photos). One photo not of a walk it's sometime in the 90s Christmas Concert Chester le Street apart from me do you know others? 
Hope all is well with you 
Ron

From Don: This looks like a jolly quartet but I cannot identify all of them. Soprano  - Pauline Harris, Alto - I cannot place under that disguise, Tenor - Ron Newlands, Bass - The late George Minto. My apologies to the alto!! Cheers Don.
From Sharon: Ron, George Minto, Pauline Jones and Joyce Taylor. 
From Maureen: I think the young woman bottom left is David Harris's sister Pauline, twin of Gerrie.

I’ve tried many different patterns and find this one to be the easiest, neatest and best fitting. Take the time to watch the video and good luck!
Simple Step By Step Tutorial of How to Sew the Olson Face Mask Pattern from SewCanShe.

Singing in a group is likely to be some way of  yet but there are lots of different on-line/Zoom/Youtube based virtual choirs to consider to fill that void.

This one was emailed to me today.
I've no idea if it is good/bad/indifferent but some of you may be interested as they're doing a medley from "Les Miserables" in August.
Further info is available from https://www.virtualmusicteaching.com/virtual-choir

Alos, this Friday (24th July, 5pm) they're doing Vivaldi's "Domine Fili unigenite" then next Friday (31st July, 5pm) it's Handels' Hallelujah Chorus.

If anyone has tried any other online choirs and wants to send suggestions/give feedback that would be great :)

I wondered if choir members might want to take part in this survey?
 
A team of academics and choir leaders at Brighton and Sussex Medical School is conducting research into helping choirs get back into their regular activities, following coronavirus lockdown.

They would like choir members to complete their survey available here

For anyone who might be interested in a Zoom opera workshop.
"Join us for a fun four-week series of workshops where you’ll learn all the best singing tips and tricks from a professional choral director from Opera North.

Sign up » https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on...

By the end of the course, you will be able to sing excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, as well as the rousing Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi’s Nabucco.
In the final workshop singers from all vocal parts will join together to sing as a full virtual chorus via Zoom!
When: Weekly, 20 July – 12 August
Where: Your own home
The workshop is ‘pay as you feel’ – you will have the opportunity to donate however much you like in the checkout stage and before or after each workshop.
From Couch to Chorus and our wider education programme is kindly supported by the Emerald Foundation."

Causey Arch and the Tanfield Railway
Starting at the Causey Arch Picnic Area, this delightful walk follows the line of the Tanfield Railway, along the picturesque valley of the Causey Burn, before crossing the oldest surviving railway bridge in the world along the course of an old waggonway which was used to transport coal to the river.
The Railway was opened in 1725, and is now the oldest operating railway in the world.  It was constructed to take coal from the pits around Stanley and Marley Hill to the River Tyne.  Originally, waggons, or more correctly, chaldrons, filled with coal, were hauled along a wooden track by horses before being replaced by metal rails and static winding engines in the early 1830s, and by locomotives in 1881.  (A chaldron was an English measure of dry volume, mostly used for coal; the word itself is an obsolete spelling of cauldron.)  Most of the line was closed in 1970 but it is now run by a group of steam enthusiasts.
Causey Arch is the oldest surviving single arch railway bridge in the world and spans the gorge of Causey Burn.  Constructed in 1725-6 to provide a link between collieries at Tanfield and the main waggonway to the River Tyne.  The original design of a wooden track was crude, but nevertheless, effective.
It was commissioned by a powerful group of local coal owners known as the “Grand Allies.”  The Arch was designed by Ralph Wood, a local Stonemason, has a span of 100 feet and stands 80 feet above the valley floor.  Tradition has it that Wood was very apprehensive about an earlier timber bridge which had collapsed!!  Fearing that a similar fate awaited the stone structure, he leapt to his death from the top of the Arch.
On the western side there was a Toll House, where lines to other pits branched off, the remains of which are still in evidence.
There is ample parking at the Causey Arch Picnic Area; or arrival by public transport can be achieved via Stanley.  Great care is required at all times:  the train tracks are to be crossed three times; there are tree roots, steep sections and tall steps to be negotiated, but on a lovely sunny day, it is a magical walk – walking back in time itself.
Enjoy

We're off to the theatre on Friday night - well to a Zoom theatrical event hosted by The Pantaloons.
It'll be a novel experience!


Their blurb:
"How can one interactive online show with just four actors possibly contain so much action and adventure? Elementary, my dear! The critically-acclaimed Pantaloons Theatre Company put dynamic detective duo Holmes and Watson through their paces as they tackle their most fiendish case yet in this delightfully inventive and hilarious show for all ages. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
This new adaptation of Sherlock Holmes is an interactive theatrical production designed specially for Zoom, using elements of theatre and film, both high tech and homespun!
The audience are invited to participate at key moments and are a vital part of this live experience".

P.S. I assume tickets will still be available from here.

Thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to during lockdown.This is a cross-stitch obviously of the Last Supper.
I started it in 2001 I think and it was intended to be a present for my mother-in-law. Unfortunately I hadn’t completed it in 2004 when she sadly passed away. Over the next few years I picked it up now and again so that at the start of lockdown the right half had been completed and left for years. Rather like Ian and his model car, I decided that this was the project for lockdown. The first photo shows from the pattern book the finished article.I think you can see the centre of from the fold.  I had completed from the centre to the right on picking it up again. I have worked at it regularly and have reached the stage of starting the 5th panel, out of 6. I think I will need to be in lockdown until at least Christmas to stand a chance of finishing it!!!

I send very warm wishes to all my Argus friends.  It has been lovely to hear your news via the regular newsletters – many thanks to Helen and all contributors for these.  I am fine, working and studying from home and looking forward to when we can come together again. Take care and all the best,
Anne-Marie xx

For one of my distractions during lockdown, please read on....A tomato story (with apologies to real gardeners!)