ASD's Fellowship Newsletter Easter Eggstravagansa Edition

EASTER AROUND THE WORLD EASTER HUNT MY MUSIC AN INTERVIEW WITH RYAN PASTELS EXPERIMENTS AND ME FANCY A MADRAS CURRY UNTANGLE YOUR KNITTING MONTHLY BOOK REVIEW A CREATIVE WRITING JOURNEY WHO INSPIRES YOU? FILM GROUP THE SHORT FILM REVIEW Cover Illustration by Barry Steel

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Message from the team To all the members and volunteers on behalf of the ASD fellowship newsletter team, we hope you are keeping well, despite these difficult times. We wish you all the best for this coming Easter and beyond!

We are all keen to get out and about for 2021, although the road map seems to be going to plan, we are all crossing our fingers to be able to meet in small groups as the restrictions allow. As this gets started, Advocacy for All will be sending out more info to you all. However, in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this Easter edition of the ASD Fellowship Newsletter.

The team would like to suggest to all members across Kent that we would love to have their input in the newsletter. We are currently looking for a representative from each of our zoom group members to submit articles for future editions. If you would like to contribute please get in touch with Annie or David.

From the Newsletter team

If you would like to get in touch with us please find contact details for Advocacy for All staff and supporters below. Perhaps you would like some information about our groups or if you would like to join a specific group and you need some support you are welcome to get in touch with us by email or phone. We look forward to hearing from you and also seeing you at the upcoming zoom meeting groups.

Carol.Detnon@advocacyforall.org.uk 07715068948 Annie.Miller@advocacyforall.org.uk 07395793762 David.Hawthorn@advocacyforall.org.uk linda.davidson@advocacyforall.org.uk To contribute to the newsletter with your own article or art submission please email Annie.Miller@advocacyforall.org.uk. The team are always on the lookout for ideas, tips and essays from our members. Perhaps you have a recipe you would like to share? You are also most welcome to join the production team, we meet once a month. Please let me know if you are interested and I can send you an invite to our next meeting.

Easter traditions and customs Welcome to our odyssey, a journey through various nuances and wonders of Easter. While investigating these historical riddles of traditions and customs, we discovered a treasure trove of knowledge that we would like to share with you, beginning with our own personal childhood memories. Surprisingly our findings led us further into the past and further across the world than we first thought. Join us on this adventure, this voyage of discovery through the ages.

this same act at some Christmases in the past to enforce the image of Santa and his sleigh just for our own sense of awe-like happiness.

Our Easter childhood experiences Memories of Yvonne Capel In my childhood years, my family and I decorated ordinary eggs with Easter-time themes. My Mum would drain out the yolk of the egg by inserting a small hole at its base until the contents were completely emptied out. My brother and I would then have the final fun of egg painting until our hearts were content.

As a traditional custom we would then be treated to an Easter Egg Hunt with all our friends. This was a time when all families in our Elham village neighbourhood would gather together.

The same festivities were repeated even where we now live until unfortunately we grew out of the children’s games but that doesn’t mean we stopped experiencing the magic of Easter. When we were a bit older we assisted other younger children when Easter Egg Hunting and kept them constantly enthusiastic the whole time. We encouraged their sense of imagination by excitedly playing along that we caught a glimmer of the Easter Bunny hopping about, who then mysteriously disappeared.

When we were little sometimes our parents would leave half-eaten carrots in certain hiding places before Easter Egg Hunting began. As an aside, they even did

No matter that the subject of the Easter Bunny is questionable; in the end all these bright family-orientated occasions over Easter became precious memories of a free and happy childhood that I would never have forgotten.

Now that there’s a baby on the horizon for my brother and his wife, I wouldn’t be surprised if we, the next generation, continue those very same celebratory traditions for their child in future times ahead. It goes to show that the wonder and awe of Easter will never die, no matter what one’s age.

Memories of Annie Miller Easter has always been about bright colours...lots of joy and smiles. From colouring piles of hard-boiled eggs to big dinners, there was plenty of adventure as a child. I especially loved egg fights, although my egg always got cracked and had to be eaten. This was everyone’s comeuppance for enjoying the egg fights.

You always had to consume that egg which had served you so badly, which I guess was the point.

My brother and I were always very competitive, and to this day I am sure he somehow superglued his egg. No idea how but he never lost a challenge and thus made me eat his egg too.

Memories of Nick Gibbons My memories of Easter are quite hazy nowadays, but I remember always being given a big chocolate egg by my parents (recent ones have been fair trade chocolate since my family is into Traidcraft and fair trade), and in later years doing an egg exchange, though we've lapsed in recent years (Mum complains we don't eat our eggs fast enough).

I also vaguely remember Easter egg hunts as a child; I think these happened in London, as well as in Edenbridge once we moved to be closer to my maternal family.

Since moving to Edenbridge in Kent, I remember decorating a model Easter garden, with flowers and moss, and a stone that was placed and then rolled away on Easter day to represent the tombstone on Jesus' grave, and flowers decorating the church windows. There was also the traditional Easter family dinner spent with my aunt, uncle and four female cousins as a child/teenager, and now as an adult, there have been their boyfriends, now husbands, and all their children.

A look at the Easter Bunny Easter! We all have fun and unique ways of celebrating this festival. We eat pancakes and hot cross buns here in England, we search for chocolate eggs that the Easter Bunny has left us. But

where did these traditions grow from?

On trying to find the answer to this question, I have found some very interesting nuggets of information to show that our cultural customs now, although on the surface so modern and contemporary, have roots a lot further into history than I first realised.

Let’s look at the idea of a rabbit. Firstly, as a Christian festival the rabbit has very little to do with the resurrection of Jesus or even the Christian faith at all.

The only mention of a rabbit in connection with Easter as we know it comes from an old pagan goddess Ostara, the goddess of spring.

She is always depicted with hares as symbols of her fertility. We, of course, can only guess why a hare is a symbol of fertility and thus connected with spring and new beginnings, although there are many more mentions of this goddess in old Germanic than any other culture.

There is a tale of the goddess walking through a forest abundant with life at the start of spring when she comes across a young bird fallen from its nest and abandoned by its mother. The goddess is said to have taken pity on the bird and to save its life she transformed the bird into a hare. In the middle of the transformation the chick/part-hare laid an egg for the goddess in gratitude. Thus the idea of an egg-bearing rabbit was created, although it was not until much later in the 1700s when German immigrants brought the tradition of nestmaking to America that the Easter Bunny began its current incarnation.

There are a few mentions of a connection of fertility, hares and the Virgin Mary in some iconography which pictures Mary and three hares as symbols of fertility. This is rather minor in

comparison to the information about the goddess of spring, and could come from an even older story. Scholars have made connections with an old Sumerian legend of Damuzi (Tammuz) and his

Nine English Easter traditions Egg painting. The egg shape symbolises new life and represents the rebirth of Jesus at Easter time. Before chocolate eggs existed, children would regularly decorate real eggs to mark this special festival.

Hot cross buns Easter egg hunts Maypole dancing Egg rolling

wife, Inanna (Ishtar), which explains the changing of seasons as the goddess follows her lover to the underworld in grief for his loss.

Without her the world begins to die and to save the earth help is asked of another god, Enki, who gifts the water of life which once delivered to the underworld allows both Damuzi and Inanna six months on Earth and six months in the underworld. The Sumerian goddess Inanna is known outside of Mesopotamia by her Babylonian name, "Ishtar". In ancient Canaan, Ishtar is known as Astarte, and her counterparts in the Greek and Roman pantheons are known as Aphrodite and Venus. The Romans also had an interesting tradition of sculpting rabbits onto headstones as symbols of rejuvenation.

The Easter Bunny has captured my imagination as it has the people of many centuries. It is an unclear and yet a rather understandable journey from illustrations of spring to a chocolatedelivering bunny. It boils down to symbolism and it has surprised me how far across the world and history the idea has travelled.

Egg tapping Pace egging Confetti eggs Morris dancing Morris dancing is a strange Easter custom that involves a group of people wearing costumes consisting of bonnet hats, clogs, bells and ribbons whilst holding sticks when acting out their folk ritual dance performance.

Egg rolling In the United Kingdom egg rolling, traditionally known as ‘pace-egging’, derived from the old English term ‘Pasch’ meaning Pesach or Passover. In the past, eggs were usually wrapped in onion skins and then boiled to achieve that mottled gold appearance. In modern times, these eggs are more painted and decorated. This game itself involved children competing to see who could roll their egg the furthest.

There’s an ancient Lancashire legend that entails broken egg shells be cautiously crushed or otherwise they would be stolen and used as boats by

witches. These eggs were meant to be consumed on Easter Sunday or then given to pace-eggers. These were a group of people who dressed up in amazing character costumes and then paraded through the streets singing custom paceegging songs whilst collecting money as a tribute before acting out traditional mumming plays. These folk plays were performed by these troupes of amateur actors, mainly all male members known as mummers or guisers.

They were mostly identified by local names which included rhymers, paceeggers, soulers, tipteerers, wrenboys and galoshins. According to history, mummers plays consisted of casual gatherings of costumed community members who called from house to house and pubs on many holidays.

Nowadays the terminology refers to a theatre production in which a number of characters are called upon stage. Two people would then battle in combat.

Depending on who the losing opponent is, they will then be aided by a doctor character during that performance act.

This mumming trend began to spread from the British Isles to a number of former British colonies.

Egg tapping Egg tapping is a traditional Easter game in which everyone collects a single hardboiled egg from a basket and a competition begins. In the tournament many opponents hit their eggs against each other, firstly lower bottom to bottom parts. When all bases are broken then it’s top to top. When a participant’s egg is cracked on all sides then that person is eliminated from the game. This activity has been known by various names amongst English folk traditions such as shackling, jarping or dumping. The subject of cheating has also been reported in this game when others had tried to secretly compete with deliberately tampered solidified eggs that had installed elements like cement, alabaster and marble centres.

Confetti eggs A cascaron or confetti egg is simply a hollowed-out, semi-large egg which is then filled with either paper confetti, trinkets or

considered an unclean animal, and this is followed in Orthodox Christian tradition, so lamb is often a main choice.

Traditionally ham has also had its historical roots, believed to symbolise good luck, and seen as a fitting meal for many religious feasts and celebrations.

Pigs would often be slaughtered in the autumn, with the meat being smoked for months, and timed just right to produce an Easter ham. In places where there are few sheep farms, pork or ham is often the main dish.

Here are some traditional foods eaten at Easter in various countries in Europe.

small toys. When the confetti egg is cracked open then it bursts out and rains all these little surprise gifts for the intended person. So it’s quite a popular hit for children and adults in celebratory association with Easter. The tradition of cascarones has its roots in Mexico. The custom was that these confetti eggs were originally supposed to bring good luck or much prosperity to the individual the egg first impacts. The important meaning of these cascarones is its religious part that symbolises the rebirth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Food traditions Easter has many interesting food traditions, so we thought we would take a look at the history of food traditions as well as look at what food people eat as meals or in general at Easter in various nations around the world.

Historically, there has often been a tradition variation in cultures over what main course is served, with the two most culturally significant dishes being lamb or ham. Lambs have been symbolic choices since ancient times, with lambs being sacrificed to God and served as an important part of the Passover feast. This has continued. Jesus' sacrifice during Passover caused him to be seen as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, as the ‘Lamb of God’. Jews will not eat pork, as the pig is

In Spain, various breads and pastries are served (Torrijas), which are a variation on French toast. They are slices of slightly stale bread soaked in milk, sugar and spices, then dipped in egg and fried in olive oil.

fastened onto its back with a toothpick.

Russia also has the traditional Easter dishes Pashka and Kulich. Pashka is made from cheese curds, and therefore has a cheesecake consistency. It comes in uncooked and cooked forms and tastes similar to a rich custard. It is pressed into a mould shaped like a pyramid, often white in colour. Pashka is usually part of an Easter basket of treats, and is usually spread on top of Kulich, a tower of bread resembling an iced panettone, with a domed top that is frosted and decorated with flowers and colourful sprinkles.

In Romania, there is Pasca, an Easter cheesecake with sweet dough for a base

Rosquillas de Semana Santas are like doughnuts, but are denser and more like cakes as a result of being made without yeast. They are either left plain or dunked in cinnamon sugar or different flavours of icing.

The Mona de Pascua cake, which originates from Catalonia, is quite decadent and often given to children by their godparents. It resembles a bread basket or doughnut topped with brightlycoloured eggs, feathers and figures.

Bakeries across cities compete to have the most extravagant Mona in their windows.

Pestinos are flaky pastries flavoured with sesame that are deep-fried and glazed with sugar or honey. These are especially popular in Andalucia but are eaten throughout the rest of Spain.

In Eastern European countries such as Russia, Slovenia and Poland there is a tradition to have a butter lamb, which is simply a hunk of butter carved and moulded into the shape of a lamb.

Peppercorns are stuck on for eyes and a white banner with a red cross will often be

and fresh cow's cheese, sugar and raisins for filling. The recipe varies in different regions and can take five to six hours to prepare and bake. Easter lamb or Drop be Miel is a meatloaf made from lamb organs, green onions, herbs and bread soaked in milk or water. This again varies from region to region and is sometimes made with chicken livers.

In Greece Tsourekei and Koulourakia are traditional Easter foods. Tsourekei is an egg-enriched bread consisting of strands of bread braided together. It contains two traditional Greek spices, mastic and mahlab, and sometimes also cardamon.

Koulourakia are buttery Easter biscuits, with a twisted shape, vanilla flavouring and a crunchy sesame seed outer shell with a golden brown glaze.

In Italy there is the traditional cake Colomba di pasqua or Easter dove, similar to hot cross buns, that is somewhere between panettone and pandoro. Fashioned into a dove shape to symbolise the bird that flew back to Noah, it's usually favoured with candied peel, topped with sugar and almonds, but more modern varieties are often topped with chocolate chips and fudge.

A more savoury dish is Pizza Chena, an Easter pie filled with Italian meats, cheese and eggs and encased in a buttery, flaky pastry crust.

given you all an insight into the varying cultures of this celebration. Perhaps it has even tempted you to try out a new dish or even inspired an art project. We have only mentioned a few pastimes of this holiday and we hope this information was as interesting and intriguing for you as it was for us.

I started using pastels at about the age of twelve, when my eldest sister bought me a small box of oil pastels. Since then I have been hooked. I have tried chalk pastels, oil pastels and pastel pencils.

In Portugal, chocolate and sugar almonds are popular and often given to children by godparents. An essential part of Easter celebrations in Portugal is Folar, a bread that is either sweet or salty. The sweet version is made with cinnamon sugar and anise, and served with eggs. The savoury version is often served with various cold meats, which can include veal, chicken, ham, sausage and pepperoni. It is traditional for children to visit their godparents and ask for Folar.

In Austria ham is often traditional, with various cooking methods, but one of the most popular is osterschinken im brotteig, which is a cooked ham baked into bread dough and often stewed with sauerkraut to impart the tangy flavour of the pickled cabbage into the ham.

Another traditional food is reindling, which traditionally is a sweet dish but doesn't need to be and is sometimes served with the customary meal of ham, spiced smoked sausages and eggs. The sweet version is baked with cocoa powder, cinnamon and even a splash of rum, and has a colourful swirl.

The dough is rolled up and baked in a round.

Passion for Pastels

Classic chocolate Easter nest cake recipe links Easy Chocolate Rice Krispie Nests to cook with children - rainydaymum.co.uk Chocolate Rice Krispie Easter Nests www.mygorgeousrecipes.com

Music group A new zoom meeting every Sunday

This new Zoom group meets every Sunday from 3-4.30pm and However, since joining Facebook, I have learnt about will appeal to anyone who loves a relatively new form of the medium, which is Pan pas- music. Each session has a differtels. I have found these extremely versatile. And it has ent theme and you’re invited to bring along the names of two now become my preferred art material. songs on that theme that you I like to paint people (from photos), and also still life's would like to share with the group.

In the spring, I hope to try seascapes, as I live by the It’s like Desert Island Discs.

There’s also the chance to play a sea. musical instrument yourself or My favourite artists are Modigliani, Georgia O'Keeffe sing if you want to. And we finish with a short quiz on that week’s and Van Gogh. theme.

Since lockdown, I spend most my time painting and Upcoming themes are: going for walks. The scenery is Thanet is stunning, and hope, very soon, to combine the two.

Sun 28 March:Female singers Sun 4 April:Film music

By Steph Sun 11 April: The 1960s Sun 18 April:Duets Sun 25 April:British singer-songwriters You are all invited to join the group and I hope to see you at one of the sessions.

David

Easy Easter Nests Recipe BBC Good Food www.bbcgoodfood.com

Conclusion We are now at the end of our endeavour in exploring the different realms of Easter. We hope you have all enjoyed this journey and that it has

By Ryan

My passion for music David interviewed Ryan Rooprai about his interest in music and how his song-writing has developed.

How did you become interested in music?

As a child I used to play an Indian instrument called the dhol and listened to a lot of Bhangra music that my dad used to collect on cassette tapes. My uncle had several electric guitars and they intrigued me. I later became interested in playing electric guitar and got a Gibson SG knock-off, which I got for my 13th birthday during 2010.

Do you remember the first piece of music you heard that made a real impact on you?

There were two songs. There was the song ‘Freak on a Leash’ by Korn, which I saw on TV at my gran’s house in 2011. I bought their album ‘Follow the Leader’ in the same year. During late 2009, I was again watching TV at my gran’s when I heard ‘My Own Summer’ by Deftones.

These songs made me think about music more. I became interested in different musical structures and genres.

When did you first start creating your own music?

Once I had my own electric guitar I started experimenting with different sounds. I wrote my first song in 2013. It was called ‘Believe Me’ and was about a girl I liked who it didn’t work out with. It wasn’t very good. After that I had a kind of mental block about writing music. I felt under pressure with school work and was struggling to have a positive frame of mind. I moved out of my mum’s house in 2016 and that was a difficult transition. Then in 2017 I started reading more. I read a lot of Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle and also classic novels like Dracula (written by Bram Stoker). I started having lots of ideas and when the pandemic broke out in early 2020 I started writing music about the experiences we were all having during lockdown. I write songs in different ways. Sometimes, I get the opening line or the title and build around that, other times a melody comes into my head. On other occasions the song just develops organically with the tune and the words together.

Which singers or bands have most influenced your own music?

There are a few albums that have probably had a big influence: ‘Back in Black’

by AC/DC, ‘The Black Album’ by Metallica, ‘Never mind’ by Nirvana and ‘Appetite for Destruction’ by Guns N’ Roses. I was into heavy metal music initially but later I started listening more to rock music. In 2016 I started listening to Tool and they have been a big influence, and I rediscovered Pink Floyd during early 2017, a band that I first discovered during 2012.

Nowadays, I listen to more rock bands like Helmet, Alice in Chains, Korn, Deftones, Sepultura and Californian gangsta rappers such as Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and N.W.A.

How did you learn to play guitar?

My uncle taught me to navigate the fretboard but then he was away for years at university so I taught myself to play by ear. I’d listen closely to the style of guitarists like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Stephen Carpenter from Deftones, Billy Howerdel from A Perfect Circle and James Hatfield from Metallica. Then I’d try to learn riffs from them. In 2014 I tried to play in a band but it didn’t work for me.

I’m a perfectionist so I find it easier to write and perform on my own as I have a clear vision of what I’m trying to achieve.

I hear you’ve just finished your second album, ‘Active Listening’. Is it different in style to ‘Pandemia’?

Do you play any other instruments?

I have a keyboard, which I use for drums and percussion. I do not have a drum kit since it takes too much space in my room.

How would you describe your musical style?

It’s really a fusion of different influences – alternative metal, nu metal, hip-hop, progressive rock and some experimental stuff. But my style is evolving and changing, a bit like how Pink Floyd changed their music as they became more original. That first song I wrote, ‘Believe Me’, was just based on one idea and was very much in the style of Nirvana. I tend to combine different influences now. I’d be interested to know what listeners hear in my music. Let’s remember that the musical styles I’ve pointed out are simply tags and categories, not actual musical genres. The best way I can describe my music is simply ‘rock’.

Can you tell me about your first album, ‘Pandemia’?

I recorded it back in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic and released it in June 2020. It was really inspired by what we were all going through during lockdown. It includes a song called ‘Critical’ about my fears of losing my grandparents. There’s also a song about racism titled ‘Emerald’. Other tracks are more abstract instrumentals. I produce music quite spontaneously and just try to be open to new ideas.

Yes, the songs are less abstract and tell different stories. The theme of the album is what it’s like to live with autism. I was influenced a lot by a musical course I was attending, which inspired me to try out new songwriting techniques. I wrote new songs exploring rock influences like Television and Siouxsie & The Banshees. The songs are stronger and there are more lyrics.

Some songs are about dreams and guidance, others are about how people struggle with addiction and loneliness.

This is a more personal album. It’s based on my own life experiences. I’d also discovered hip-hop so I had a wider range of influences. So yeah, I mean, ‘Active Listening’ is pretty much the best album I’ve ever created.

Which songs are you most proud of?

There’s a song on the new album called ‘Danger’, which was a more imaginative style of writing. It was based on a dream I had about being chased through a wood by a wolf. Another song I’m particularly pleased with is Privet Song, which is a very personal, acoustic song about loneliness. And I’m also proud of Unriddled, which is about autism and tries to give the message that people with autism have value. I also like Overanalyse, which is about the pandemic itself.

Where can people listen to your music?

You can listen to my music through Soundcloud. This is where you can find the songs I’ve released in advance of releasing the full albums. However, you can get access to the full albums on my Bandcamp, which includes the link in the description on my Soundcloud.

Film group, Fridays 1-2pm In Film group, each week we watch and discuss some of the best short films on Youtube. Here are seven of the best films we’ve watched in recent weeks.

Why not watch them and, if you like them, think about joining us every Friday from 1-2pm. The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/ 81990118044?pwd=VVdpUGZJTmJpSHhMSWRUOWx0RzBUdz09 Meeting ID: 819 9011 8044 Passcode: 494430 To find the film, search Youtube with the text on the first line or else click on the link.

Seven outstanding films to watch on YouTube 1. The wayfarer – tavern brawl fantasy short film Fantasy. Concept short film for a live action fantasy series (16 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=sP91eJ4MUZ4 2. The silent child - Oscar winning short film Drama. A deaf 6-year-old girl named Libby lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker gives her the gift of communication (20 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2GbxFIVQv8c 3. The jigsaw (one of the best horror films of 2017) Horror. A man buys a jigsaw despite warnings from the seller that he will regret doing so (8 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=gs5zQBBOXrA

4. Prism (2015) Sci-fi thriller. Dan is a desaturator, tasked with sapping beauty from the world in a future where colour is used as energy (15 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=lRK5roxWRc4 5. Whiteout single take t Thriller short film Thriller. A couple don’t know how to react when a man blocks the road on their journey home (12 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PPwlOpwqnWs 6. The Alpha Invention award-winning short sci-fi film Sci-fi thriller. After applying an ingenious method to create artificial intelligence on his home computer, a reclusive programmer is contacted one rainy evening by a suspicious dealer looking to buy the technology from him. However, as the call progresses it becomes clear that neither man is who or what they claim to be (15 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dwpZdPwaSpo 7. Lila short film Drama. A young artist transforms all she sees through her artistic gift (9 mins). https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=sUy6WJL7wV8 David

Recipe for Madras curry Ingredients

Method

Large onion

1.

2 Madras curry paste pots (I get mine form the Co-op and use the Pataks brand; you can get any that is handy though) Tin of chopped tomatoes 2 tablespoons of olive oil 100g of chicken breast (or thereabouts as you prefer) 150ml water

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a pan/wok. Set heat to high.

2. Dice the onions and add to the pan.

3. Add a pot of madras curry paste and stir.

4. Add 50ml of water.

5. Stir until water has evaporated.

6. Cut the chicken into cubes. Add the cubed chicken to the heat.

7. Stir until the chicken is tender.

8. Add tin of chopped tomatoes with 100ml of water.

9. Add second pot of madras curry paste.

10. Stir and let cook for 20mins.

Sit back and enjoy with a bowl of rice.

By Jason

Learning to knit I’ve only started learning how to knit in the past few months. I was looking for something to do with my eightyear old great niece in the time between collecting her from school and her mother returning home. I thought it would be fun to learn something together.

When I was a child it seemed that most women learnt how to knit at school and as adults would knit clothes for children and grandchildren. With the advent of television and computer games, children have become less active. When I was a child, girls would often practise skills such as knitting, embroidery and lace-making. Boys would do woodwork, metalwork and make things.

Sadly these seem to be dying arts. I decided to learn to knit with my great-niece so that we would at least be continuing one traditional art.

I didn’t have any wool or knitting needles to get started with so I made use of Next door, the Neighbourhood app I have downloaded on my tablet.

It links you together with other people in your area. I posted a message that I wanted to start knitting but didn’t have any materials. Two people then donated me everything I needed to get started.

It is a good way to begin if you don’t have much money.

My great-niece and I have only been knitting for half an hour three times a week so our progress has been gradual. Sessions that are short and frequent seem to work well for us. I can only knit two or three rows at a time as then my hands start to cramp up. I don’t have very good coordination and have to watch what my hands are doing. So far I have found the most difficult aspect of knitting is not the stitches themselves but keeping the tension of the wool consistent while you are knitting.

I have found watching Youtube videos on knitting a very good way of beginning as I learn best when I can watch other people doing something and then imitate them. I watch the video first and then show it later to my great-niece. That way I can try to answer any questions she may have.

There are Youtube videos on every task involved in knitting – how to cast on, how to knit a normal stitch, how to unpick stitches, how to do a pearl stitch, different sized needles, how to join two balls of wool, how to knit with two colours, how to cast off and so on. At the moment, we are keeping things simple and just aiming to make squares that could later

be made into a blanket. Before knitting other items like clothes, we will have to learn how to read knitting patterns. I have a nice piece of wool that reminds me of tinsel and I hope one day to be able to use it to make a scarf.

go along. One tip I would offer is that there are different methods for some tasks such as casting on and off. If, like me, you are just starting off, look for the easiest method. You can always go back later and learn the other methods.

I find it mentally relaxing to have a regular, repetitive activity that doesn’t require much thinking and keeps my hands occupied. Since giving up smoking some years ago, I have used some finger fidget spinners to keep my hands occupied but I wanted to do something more useful.

Kim Farrant

If you are interested in learning how to knit, I recommend Youtube videos as a good place to start. If you have a local wool shop, they will be able to help you as well. If you know someone who knits who you can knit with, that will help as you can learn from them and ask questions as you A Book Review of H is for Hawk

by Helen Macdonald This book is a memoir account of a personal journey surrounding the author whilst undergoing her own process of grief after the sudden loss of her father in 2007. He was a well respected photojournalist as well as an experienced falconer. In her past they both raised a northern goshawk together as well as gone on plenty of walks through their magical like woodland tracking the trails and signs of other goshawks.

In the beginning she describes the layout of the woods in a poetical way. In order too carry on coping with her bereavement, Helen decides too raise and train another goshawk from a chick independently by herself guided by her father’s shared knowledge of falconry and goshawk behaviour. She had all the right tools too begin the training yet as time passes an extraordinary close bond starts developing between two very different individuals. This challenging and unlikely friendship starts too change her life in more unexpected therapeutic ways than she could ever have imagine. In the end she begins too accept her father’s passing with a final sense of closure and inner peace. This is a story I’d immensely recommend for all too read for the content is deeply intriguing, engrossing and has many twists and turns in the tale. From my own experience I’d discovered that this book was certainly one of those types that one can’t seem too put down and get enough of.

By Yvonne Caple

Easter Egg Hunt There are : 12 eggs 5 carrots 2 bunnies 1 chick 1 key Answers are at the end of the newsletter

https://nanowrimo.org/

Creative writing David interviewed Nick Gibbons about his interest in creative writing and the fantasy novel he’s writing.

As a child were you inspired by any books you read?

I’ve always been interested in fantasy stories. I remember when I was about 6 or 7 my teacher read a story to the class about unicorns from a book called Little Red Fox. Then when I was a teenager I read a lot of role-play game fantasy books.

Online, Path of Exile and Star Trek Online.

We welcome ideas for new games we could try. They need to be pc games that have a multiplayer option. There are currently five of us in the group and we’d love to have some more members so that we have more options for the games we can play.

Computer Games group, Mondays 2-4pm In Computer Games group, each week we try out an online game. So far we have only played free games as we want the games to be accessible to everyone. Games we’ve tried are Valorant, Rocket League, StarCraft II and The Wolf Among Us. Games we will probably try in the coming weeks and months are Eve

If you’re interested, email me so that I can tell you how to download the game we’ll be playing in the next session. david.hawthorn@advocacyforall.org.uk

When did you first start writing stories?

I wrote some stories about unicorns when I was at school but it wasn’t until my teens that I really started writing just for fun. I read books like Black Beauty about horses and started writing my own unicorn version of Black Beauty. I probably wrote every week. I became interested in horses around that time. My mum had tried to get me interested in riding when we lived in London as she thought it would help my co-ordination but it was when we moved to Edenbridge when I was 11 that I began to really get into horses. I'd visit horses, and I started doing a lot of riding in my late teens. I just like being around horses and before

lockdown I used to volunteer to help in the stables.

What do you tend to write about?

In my teens I started writing fantasy stories. I’m very interested in Greek, Roman and Norse mythology and I would draw on this in my stories.

Also I’ve always been interested in stories about wildlife and animals, such as Watership Down and the Animals of Farthing Wood series. I still love mythology stories to this day, with Rick Riordan, who writes mythology stores in modern urban settings, being a current favourite.

Then I read the Firebringer Trilogy by an American author named Meredith Ann Pierce … I read one of them, Dark Moon as a teenager but the first book, Birth of the Firebringer, was never published in the UK and the third had yet to be written so I had to track them down on the Internet when I was in my twenties. I really liked these stories and started leaving reviews of the books on various websites. I was aged 22 and just finishing as an undergraduate at university when I met another fan of the books. We got together to set up a fan society, IFAS. It is a very niche series of books.

The author writes stories about uni-

corns and vampires. I like the way she uses language. She has a very distinct style and enjoys playing around with words, making up her own descriptive terms.

We started out as an IRC channel called # firebringer on the Dalnet IRC Network in 1997, then after three years the need for a more stable, permanent base caused me to look at other places, and we set up home on the MSN groups network from 2000-08, at a site called Unicorns of the Vale. Then a friend, Skywater Blue, showed me a Role Playing Group based on the Pern Series, and I realised a forum-based website would be a better place for people to talk and chat about the books, and write role play stories. In those stories I would take turns with other writers to develop the stories.

Then when we got word that MSN groups was closing down in February 2009, a friend, Scylla, set up a customised website for the society at unicornsofthevale .com which we moved to in December 2008 and is our current home. At its peak, the society had around 3040 active members but the author hasn’t written a new book since 2004 so interest has subsided somewhat.

We now have around 10 members and during lockdown interest has revived.

We started out by writing stories based around the books but as time has passed members have started writing stories with their own characters. I haven’t met the author but two of the members interviewed her a few years ago. She indicated she might start work on a new novel. Over the years I've diversified a bit by also joining other groups in various fantasy and sci-fi settings set up by friends, my

latest being writing some role play game stories based around the X-Men universe.

Over the past 15 years I’ve invented my own fantasy world, partly inspired by the Firebringer Trilogy. I haven’t published many of the stories but have put a few of them on the Deviant Art website, where I have my own webpage. I published a few of my teenage unicorn stories on the Elfwood fantasy website.

What inspired you to try writing a novel?

Basically, I’d been building a fantasy world in my stories but most of my writing had been with others. I liked the challenge of writing on my own. I’d started some stories but not finished them and reading back through these stories I found a character I’d created for an RPG story. I made some notes on her background to flesh out her character and saw that I could build a novel around her. I'd known about National Novel Writing Week for a while, before deciding to sign up in 2020.

In November each year thousands of people challenge themselves to write the first draft of a 50,000word novel within one month. It works out at an average of 1,600 words a day for a month. The official NaNoWriMo website gives advice about plotting and writing story outlines, plus I had some friends who had tried it in previous years. In the past I didn’t think I was writing consistently well enough to attempt a novel but I felt my writing had been improving recently so I decided last November to give it a try. I managed to complete the target of 50,000 words within the

month, though I still have work to do to complete my first draft as my novel will be well over that length. I was a bit daunted at the start as writing fan fiction is easier than creating original characters but I wanted to give it a go.

What is your novel about?

It’s a fantasy story mostly concerned with one of my race of fantasy equines, who are elemental in nature and have cold-based powers. One young mare, Aufeisia, is devoted to her family and herd, who live in the tundra regions of her world but she is intrigued by legends and tales of adventure that might take her to new lands. She meets a stallion, Eisrindin, who wants to settle down with her and start a family but she feels torn as she’s attracted by the idea of travelling, particularly when a visitor from another tribe, based in the forest, reveals she is gifted and invites her to join them. There are considerable pressures on her to conform from the stallion courting her and elders in her herd who feel she's being rebellious and foolish, as they have old-fashioned, sexist ideas about society roles. The novel is about whether she will settle down or embark on a new life.

What do you like about writing?

I enjoy exploring concepts and using my imagination to create fantasy worlds, and I like developing mythologies. I can lose myself in the excitement of developing ideas and creating new worlds. But getting my ideas down on paper can be difficult. I sometimes struggle to find the right words. If my writing is going well and I’m feeling good in myself I write more easily. If I’m stressed, it’s harder to motivate myself to write.

Talking to friends during National Novel Writing Week helped as I was

able to talk through my ideas with them.

Will you try to get your novel published?

I’d like to. If it was published, I have ideas for some other stories set in the same fantasy world, which would continue the story of my main character. I have several equine races in my world that I could write about too. I’m a bit cautious about committing myself while I'm in the middle of writing this novel but I'd like to write a sequel, maybe a second novel or a novella or perhaps an anthology.

Would you like to write novels in any other genres?

I’m a big sci-fi fan so maybe a science fiction book or a story about animals. I might try that if I had a good idea that inspired me.

Call for submissions for the ASD Fellowship newsletter The AFA newsletter is made by our members for our members.

The production team are constantly on the lookout for articles written by members on a big variety of topics and personal experiences that members would like to share. We are very excited to hear from you on one particular topic for the summer edition.

‘Who inspires you and why’ Please send your submissions to us by July 10th 2021, you can email your entry to : Annie.Miller@advocacyforall.org.uk or David.Hawthorn@advocacyforall.org.uk