Wed 27th Jan 2021 - GG VIrtual Session # 031.

 The attendees for this Wednesday's Zoom session...

Today's session started with a bit of a dog show as both Merlyn and Gizmo wanted to get in on the act. Later on, one of the above mentioned that they had previously owned a Leonberger, so for those of you are not well up on dog breeds then this is what they look like...

Not sure that I would be wanting one of those  sitting on my lap...😀. Remember that old joke "Where does your dog sit? Anywhere it wishes!

Our next topic was who had managed to get their Covid vaccination, how they were notified and attending the appointment. Two people had gone to the Carisbrooke Surgery within an an hour of each other and had totally different experiences so the advice is, go prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

The conversation then turned to more technical things including video conferencing and 3D printing. Mark was able to demonstrate a flexible 3D printed elephant prompting questions about what would happen if you accidentally hit the 1:1 scaling button before going off to make a coffee..! As three of the team had problems logging into the session this week I think that our technical prowess is very much in it's infancy.

We briefly touched on the subject of Covid transfer between pets and humans but by then the session had timed out - so back to the boredom of lockdown for another week 😏.

Take care everyone, hope to see as many as possible come next Wednesday morning, we are only one click away.

Wed 20th Jan 2021 - GG Virtual Session # 030.

 Those attending the Team GG Zoom session this week were...

Due to my carer duties, I was unable to attend this virtual session but Alison kindly took the screen shot above and contributed the editorial below.

The conversation seemed to revolve a lot around the use of the English language - jabs, vaccinations, shots and bad weather reports - which is bad?  The weather or the reports?  We moved onto discussions about exercising locally - how local is local? and the usage of the St Mary's junction where you (Bob the Blog) were missed as you have considerable knowledge about how best to get about.

Sympathies were expressed re Mark and the loss of his Dad, but he did not manage to make it to the chat.

Wed 13th Jan 2021 - GG Virtual Session # 029.

 

The Team GG members who made it along to the Zoom meeting on Wednesday were....

As one might imagine, the first topic of conversation at this meeting was CORONAVIRUS 😏. To date, only one group member is lucky enough to have actually been vaccinated so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that the rollout goes as per the government's plan. The sooner we can get our Wednesday mornings back to some sort of normality then the happier we will all be 😀. The discussion then focused on the odds of actually catching it, here on the Island, but that subject was declared too morbid so was skipped over pretty quickly..! Many of us had seen Sunday's Countryfile programme on the BBC which showcased the sort of voluntary work that GG is involved with and highlighted the mental health benefits of working outdoors, particularly in woodlands. It is a shame that this programme was shown during a lockdown period as it may well have influenced a few more people to come along to our sessions. 

As many of us are now relying on packages being delivered and collected from home, there was  some discussion about the performance of various couriers.  Not wishing to get myself sued or my Google account terminated, I won't mention  company names but there are certainly winners and losers in this competitive market.....just ask Bob the Weather. My personal gripe is those companies that refuse to mail things, using Royal Mail, because we are an "off-shore island". This subject broadened into the merits of buying locally, rather than online, and most agreed that we do (under more normal circumstances) prefer the local option.

Mark mentioned a rather strange package he had received containing a store card and I recounted the story of my over-delivery of items from Amazon.. I will bring said items along to a "real" GG session for redistribution to interested parties.

That's about all for this week, thanks for taking the time to read this and please take care, we still have difficult times ahead 😷.

Wed 6th Jan 2021 - GG Virtual Session # 028.

Members of Team GG who made it along to the first virtual session of 2021..... 

Well everyone, here we are in a new year and also a new Covid-19 lockdown...😏. It doesn't seem likely that we will be holding any outdoor sessions any time soon so Wednesday mornings will have to be Zoom conferencing for now. 

Having sorted the formalities of wishing each other a Happy New Year, it was straight into the topic of the day - Covid-19..! Fortunately, it hasn't been an issue for any of the above although several have relatives who have been unfortunate enough to catch the dreaded thing. There does seem to be some positive news about the over 80's getting the vaccination here on the Island so, fingers crossed, it might trickle down to us "youngsters" sometime soon so we can get out and about again 😀. Do I miss standing in One Horse Field on a wet, cold day in January, sad as it sounds YES...I really do. Anything to escape being stuck at home.

Much of our meeting this week revolved around the topic of bird sightings across the Island with everything from Merlin, Ibis, Short Eared Owls, Spoonbills through to some of the more common varieties found on the garden bird feeder. Mark pulled up a photo from a web page that might be of interest to bird watchers in the group, try this link  Isle of Wight Birds. When we are all out on our once a day, local to home, socially distanced exercise period it might be worthwhile looking out for some of the more unusual birds.

Well Team, that's all for session # 028 - stay safe and try to get along to the Wednesday morning Zoom sessions.... the more the merrier.