September 2017

Hi Everyone.....TOG spent the last 3 weeks at 'The Bridge'.....it's been a bit strange getting used to a new venue, but the staff have been fantastic....leaving us free to get on in our own sweet way.

As usual I will just get on and show some of the photographs we took this month.......ENJOY!!

Jennifer's Painting Table

......believe it was a mixture of Watercolour in week 1....Pencil Drawing in Week 2.....and Acrylics in Week 3.

The Craft Table

......Hansa helped to get all these crafts off the ground. It was great fun......A lot of people joined in, so be prepared we have lots of photos in this section.

Hand Printing

What about these two taking their prints to a higher level....good on you girls!!

Rolled Paper Art

......we made some super blackboards just like the ones in T. K. Maxx.

First job roll some straws......we made loads of them from outdated colourful magazines....No Hobbycraft ready made crafts straws here!!!!!

Dominoes

What do you do with an incomplete set of Dominoes?????......Make them into Fridge Magnets of course....Why didn't I think of that!!!!!!

Karen deep in thought here!! " What do I do next? " and good old Hansa coming to the rescue.

We were lucky enough to find an old book of beautiful patterned papers in a charity shop.

The magnets were stunning!!!!

A closer look (click on images) reveals some of the lovely patterns that were chosen.

Marilyn's Jewellery Group

Sorry didn't have anything to photograph this time but hopefully next time I can show off a bunch of stuff.....Think there was a lot of chatting going on...but hey! This is a social group too....

' UkeCan ' Lisa's Ukulele Group

....If you'd like to learn this instrument come along and have a go....you've got nothing to lose... Lisa will get you on your way before you know it.

Think Marilyn's really enjoying her 'New Baby' ( Ukulele.... in case anyone gets the wrong idea!!!! )

Yes!...we all managed to fit in this room......it was a bit like being at Paddington Station busy, busy, busy along with our very own buskers in the far corner of the room.....Great Fun!!!

I think our first month at The Bridge has been a very joyful experience. We've made some new friends and hope to meet more in the weeks to come.

We are are back on Wednesday 11th of October for more 'Fun & Games'

Patricia x

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June / July 2017

Hi Toggers,

Hope you are enjoying this very varied Summer weather.....

We ended the month of July with a Summer Party.....It was a good turn out and Jennifer treated us to a splendid 'Afternoon Tea'.

The beautiful flowers that TOG Craft Group made certainly looked very pretty on the tables....... Thanks to Hansa who taught a bunch of Crafters how to make them.

Don't Fret and UkeCan entertained with their unique 'Rock-e-oke'.........( the audience were encouraged to sing along and were given lyrics books so they could participate ).........It's always encouraging for the band members to be able to show off the musical skills........ They have worked very hard to get to this point.

I'd like to thank Ann Freeman and Jennifer Zefferman for having faith in our music projects......they have both been fantastic.

As usual I have a few photos.

Ummm....is that Debbie writing a love letter??....only joking Debs....but she's certainly engrossed in something!

Marilyn taking her weekly Jewellery class......

A 'FUNDAY' in JUNE

Jennifer was away so we decided to have a 'FUNDAY'......It was a good opportunity for the music groups to practice. We had four gigs coming up......

Christianne reading a poem for us on the day.......Can't remember what it was called but it had a really funny ending!!!!

In this photograph you might notice some long strips of paper on the tables.

We had a very long black and white landscape drawing of London....It showed sights of the North & South Bank of the river. Everyone was handed a pencil and told to write above each building, bridge or other interesting sight what it was.......It was a lot of fun getting everybody discussing London in general.

SUMMER PARTY 2017

Some pics taken at the party.....

Taking it easy before the gig!!!!

Happy Birthday to Ann......21 again!!

Anita, Hasmita & Nicola sitting down on the job.

That Diva Anita taking Stage!!!!

Clare decided to get on stage to sing along with us.....well done Clare!!

We had a guest musician......Stan came all the way from Sydney Australia to play with us today.

See you all again when TOG returns......Wednesday 13th September.

Bye for now

Patricia x

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March / April / May 2017

Hi All,

It's been a while but I haven't forgotten about y'all.

Again I am not going to write very much......because it's all about the work....here we go........

JENNIFER'S WATERCOLOUR CLASS

Anthony wanted to take a Zentangle Class........and why not!!!....... it's said that this form of art is Yoga for the brain...... We haven't done this for ages take a look at how he got on.

Another Craft Class we held was working with some old Stamp Magazines.

These mags are fabulous for decoupage...... so... that's what we did.

This one caught my eye....what a beautiful stamp!!

And the end product some really lovely decoupaged tiles...felt backed and varnished ready to use.

Another craft ( probably one of my favourites ) is working with ordinary kitchen foil.

It is so satisfying ending up with a product that really looks amazing.

FORGED METAL

And yes we are still knitting......Nicola and her team have knitted so many squares.......her colour pallet is beautiful.....take a peek at these....

GET KNITTING TEAM

Nicola and her team made more than enough squares to complete a set of four cushions......They are all in this beautiful blend of ' blues ' .......scrumptious!!!

Oh my word......I nearly forgot.....Christianne had a Plant Sale.....looks as though they really enjoyed themselves.

PLANT SALE

MARILYN'S JEWELLERY CLASS

UKECAN...the Ukelele Group

And finally we took all our stuff to The Civic Centre where we showed off all our hard work.......

TOG...UkeCan & More Than Just A Choir......took part on the day.

Trying out the display at home the day before......

The Mayor with Gaye and Peter....I hear she was very impressed.

UkeCan busking at the Civic Centre

THE POETRY GROUP

How could we forget the wonderful Poetry Group who get together very quietly every week at TOG.......We displayed some of their own work in a book.

We also had a great time at Munch & Mingle......we had a very big turn out on Friday 7th May......22 people turned up......Please come along for a chat and a bite to eat with your friends.

That is an awful lot to soak in hope you all enjoyed seeing the display of work at The Civic Centre.......and listening to the Fa..a....a...ab ukulele group showing that they could really rock it!!!!..... Well Done Lisa and ' UkeCan ' ( we are recruiting new members now )......we will show you how to play the Uke.....it's simple as ABC....anyone can join this group.....like the Choir it is open to all Adults in the community.

Love to All

Patricia

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January / February 2017

Hi Everyone......Our groups seem to be very busy these days, so finding the odd moment to update this site is getting put further down the list of ' Things I must do '........ It's a jolly good thing this site is so full of stuff that you guys have done over these years....Anyway back to business and no more trying to make excuses.

JENNIFER'S WATERCOLOUR CLASS

Jennifer's water colour classes are still a big hit!!!

I think the people who have returned week after week have gained an awful lot.

Jennifer is very patient and has a great passion for her subject.

Anthony decided to do his own thing. This type of doodling is called Zentangle.

We did this at TOG a couple of years ago. Maybe it is one of the things we should try again sometime. Thanks Anthony for reminding me how wonderful this doodling is. They say it is Yoga for the brain.

And yet some more Water Colour.......

THE CRAFT TABLE

One week we did some decoupage with stamps......will show the finished products at a later date.

We had a printing session......it was great fun.

And this week we did some Eggshell Mosaics.

It's not a easy as it looks.....it needs patience and perseverance to get a good result.

This picture of an Indian Elephant took a number of hours to do.

And a couple of years ago....A lot of people had a go at making a mosaic mirror surround.....So with plenty of enthusiasm one is able to do amazing pieces of work with a simple eggshell.

We had such fun planting pansies with Christianne. She brought in some pretty little clay pots to plant them in....We sold them to passers by at the entrance to the church. All were sold in a very short time......We will have to do it again sometime.

THE POETRY GROUP

Yes.....here they are hiding away from all the hustle and bustle of the main room.

THE UKULELE GROUP

Hey.....what's going on here Mademoiselle Christianne is having a go at the Uke....Hope she doesn't get too carried away she has to take a TAI CHI lesson is a few mins.

TAICHI WITH CHRISTIANNE

Christianne managed to put down the Ukulele and get down to some exercise with her group.

Don't forget to join us for Munch & Mingle.....This month it will be on Friday March 10th usual place and time......Hope to see you there.

Patricia x

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December 2016

We wish you a merry Christmas,

And a Happy TOG Year.

Hope everyone enjoyed the TOG party, the scrumptious food and the entertainment proudly played by our very own music groups ' Don't Fret ' & ' UkCan '.

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped to make it an enjoyable afternoon.

Bye for now and lets hope we can think of some more interesting things to do in 2017.

Patricia x

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November 2016

We have so many photographs this month that I have decided not to write anything and let you have a look at what we have done this month.

JENNIFER'S ART CLASS

MARILYN'S JEWELLERY TABLE

THE CRAFT TABLE

An afternoon of Glass Painting.

This Fabric Fish Painting was taken all the way to Karachi in Pakistan as a present. The picture doesn't do it justice. The lines are highlighted in gold which doesn't show up here.

We made 40 hand made place mats for our Christmas party next month......Everybody worked really hard to do them.

Don't believe we made loads of placemats....take a look at these......

That was one hell-of-a-long marathon......Well done guys!!!!!xxxx

UKCAN LISA'S UKULELE GROUP

One week we made some Mini Chocolate Christmas pudding cakes......Yum..Yum

Look forward to seeing everyone at the TOG Christmas Party 2016.

Patricia x

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October 2016

Hi again folks.....another month with yet more pictures.

It was a funny old month.....Jennifer and Marilyn were away the first week back so we decided to have a Fun Day, lots of eating, drinking chatting and.....

We played Bingo ( had a great prize for the winner ).

We also did some Line Dancing........will do some more of this at a later date......certainly keeps you fit......

The next two weeks we kept ourselves really busy with our usual Arts and Crafts, Poetry, Jewellery, Knitting, Ukulele and yes, you guessed it, we had a lot of fun in the process.

JENNIFER'S PAINTING CLASS

Jennifer used a splattering technique in these paintings. Think she used a toothbrush. It's very impressive.

And what about these apples.......they look scrumptious.

MARILYNS'S JEWELLERY TABLE

Gosh super stuff!!!

Thank you so much to Richard and Shafana for making me the lovely yellow neckless and bracelet...... I have been looking for something in this colour for a while.....Matches my jeans so well.

CRAFT TABLE

Still working on our fish.

Anusha finished her's it looks amazing.....Well done!!!

UKULELE GROUP

Managed to grab a picture of Dave playing along to one of their songs.

Must have been a lively number see those hands going!!!

REMINDERS

Munch & Mingle on Friday 4th November.

Saturday 29th October 'More Than Just a Choir' will be holding a fund raising event along with 'Tonic Choir'. Hope those that are able to come enjoy the evening.

TOG will be back on the 9th November.

Patricia x

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September 2016

Hi my friends,

For all those newbies looking at the TOG website for the first time I hope that you find it interesting.

Sadly we only met twice in September. Sorry to all those who really look forward to this day every week.

But....let's look on the bright side....those two afternoons were such fun.

Lets take a glimpse at some of the stuff we did.

JENNIFER'S ART CLASS

You guys are doing so well !!!!

Jennifer used a sponging technique this week.... it's so effective.

MARILYN'S JEWELLERY STATION

THE CRAFT TABLE

' Painting on cotton fabric '....it's great to work with other forms of material...we have painted on leather, wood, silk and glass before.

We fixed the cotton material onto wooden frames as one needs to have the material suspended to paint.

Just for a bit of background information....Brian kindly made the frames from wood found in a skip at The Bridge when they had a clear out. The material was an old cotton sheet.....The fabric paints and most other bits and pieces at the table were also recycled......It's great to recycle stuff.....In fact for those that don't know a lot of the stuff we use at the craft table is either given to us or bought from a Charity shop or of course those wonderful Boot Sales......It's such a buzz when you can buy something for practically nothing.....so just give us some of your junk we might just make some use of it.

Results of today's work. There is still a fair bit to do. But they are all coming on fine.

Oh No!!!! caught in the act.....this wasn't supposed to happen. I chose a nice quiet corner....and somebody snapped us......Just to say I didn't mess up her hair too badly.

Gosh !!!! It's all going on here.....Sheenal is giving our Debbie a massage.....we seem to have no end of talent in this group......Sheenal also does Mehndi....see some of her work in the Gallery.

And here we have sister Lisa with her aspiring group of musicians......When they make it they are going to treat us all to a gourmet meal at Munch & Mingle....How about that....

We seem to forget the Poetry Group as they do not work in the same room. Can't blame them as there is a lot going on. They are still going strong and hopefully they will share some of their poetry with us when we return for our ' Fun Day '.

Christianne also came and did Tai Chi.....It's very popular and a lovely bit of relaxation exercise at the end of a busy afternoon.

And there's more......we hope to start a new line dance class on the days that Christianne is unable to attend.

Look out for our brand new group ' Walk the Line '

NO ' TOG ' NEXT WEEK FOLKS........Wiseworks are having an open day.

We will be back on the 12th October with a ' Fun Day ' please come and join us.

Lastly don't forget about Munch & Mingle. We are meeting on Friday 7th October Look up the NEWS page for details.

Patricia x

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July 2016

Hi fellow Toggers,

It's been a hectic month with loads going on.

A great big thank-you to all those who have helped to keep TOG alive and kicking. Let's thank Ann the backbone of Harrow Rethink ( hope you get better soon, we all wish you a speedy recovery )...... Jennifer ( your buffets have been fantastic, thank you for feeding us so well, and your painting classes that have kept everyone focused )......... Marilyn ( your jewellery table has been so popular.....and you know everyone loves the fruit platters you bring for us. )....... Elaine, Mary and Brian what would we do without you to wash and clear up after us......just so that the rest of us can have lots of fun....... Christianne with Tai Chi and Angie with her Dance and Exercise classes have helped to keep us fit and ready to face the world....... Thanks also to Hansa who is my right hand man ( or woman as the case may be ) ready to take over the Craft table at the drop of a hat........Miguel who steadfastly keeps the website going so we are all able to see our work on show........ Lisa our Ukulele teacher who comes every week to take a music class........ and Gloria you have kept the Poetry group going with the help of Sian and Vernon it has been a real success....... Hema has also been there to help out when we need her .....Thank-you one and all.....we are so lucky to have a bunch of volunteers eager to help keep TOG going.

After all that lets take a look at what was going on at TOG in July 2016.

The first thing you will see as you walk into the room is our 'signing in' table and gifts donated for the raffle that we hold every week .

JENNIFER'S ART CLASS

Some really great pieces of work here.....

MARILYN'S JEWELLERY CLASS

Some of the jewellery here is very professional. You should be very proud.

THE CRAFT TABLE.

Getting some table decorations ready for our Summer Party at the end of the month. Decorating out ' tea light holders '.

And here we have some decorated beer bottles. Just need some flowers on the day to make them look pretty.

Who's this then ? What do you know it's Miss Lisa and her Ukulele class. Play on guys!!!!

THE SUMMER PARTY '2016'

The Summer Pizza Party was great success. About 50 people turned up. Old and new faces...After socializing and feeding our faces on some scrumptious food organized by Jennifer and Ann it was the turn of 'Don't Fret ' to entertain with music from the 60's decade right up to the present day...It was a ' Rock-e-oke '. Everyone was asked to sing along. A few found the courage to actually get up on stage to sing along with the band.

Couple of things to round up now.....'Munch and Mingle' will be held on Friday 12th August same place....same time...look forward to seeing you there.

TOG returns after a break on September 14th

Enjoy the rest of the summer......Patricia x

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June 2016

June went by in a flash......The turn out every week was very good.....There were plenty of Arts and Crafts to keep people busy....and lots of good food to keep everyone satisfied.

Talking about food.....Thought we'd take a few photo's of the buffet.

Jennifer puts out a wonderful spread every week. You won't be disappointed

We have an ' Honesty Basket ' at the table and ask everyone to contribute £2 for eats and as much tea, coffee or soft drink as you like...so it's a pretty good deal.....the best deal in Harrow....

JENNIFER'S ART CLASS

Jennifer keeps everyone engaged week after week. Below some artwork done this month.

DRAWING CLASS

CATS! CATS! CATS! Nothing more said...

Ever heard of ' Pop Cakes? ' Well we made some, take a look at the process...

They were sooooo... yummy

JEWELLERY TABLE

Managed to get a photo of some jewellery made by Marilyn and her team.

One afternoon we made some rings and pendants from Fimo Clay

POETRY CORNER

Yes...The poetry group are still here....they are so engrossed they didn't even look up to have their photo taken.

TAI CHI

And this lively lot are led by our very own Christianne..... TAI CHI at its best...go-girl!!!

Also just to remind any newcomers....UkCan are here every week....anyone who wants to learn the Ukulele please come along and join our tutor Lisa and her class.

That's all for now folks....one final thing Munch & Mingle will meet on July 8th at 2pm at The Moon and Sixpence Hatch End. See you there!!

Patricia

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