263rd Post

Under the Government Level 5 Plan for living for the rest of October and all November we will not be meeting up for group boules in St. Anne's Park.  

If you wish to practice yourself or with one other that may be okay.  The following are a couple of photos from our play last Wednesday 21st Oct 2020 before the announcement of Level 5 restrictions.

The pistes are becoming worse by the day and while challenging they are almost not fit for purpose.

I'll re-send the letter to D.C.C. to try to elicit a response for the long delayed upgrade.

Bye for now!!

262nd Post

 

The following photos are courtesy of Nigel.  We are continuing to play wearing masks and distancing.  Yvonne kindly supplies coffee and treats at the bench afterwards.  We used the remaining funds to support her coffee purchasing. Being social and active outdoors brings its benefits despite the terrible condition of the pistes.  Some manage the conditions better than others but the mud/water at the end of two pistes affect play badly.  

Tony and Mike have met with the new park supervisor and Tom has e-mailed the relevant city engineer to check on the status of the promised upgrade of the facility.  Fingers crossed.

Nigel and his wife, Vivienne, and Eileen and Tom Donnellan were involved in a semi-final match in Alden Park.  Nigel and Vivienne overcame Eileen and Tom in a keenly contested game to progress to the final.

Hoping all the members of the Wednesday Group are staying safe and well and keeping spirits up.

261st Post

Despite the Coronavirus threat we are continuing to play on the Wednesdays with reduced but steady numbers.  Most are wearing masks and all are distancing as much as possible. 

Great to be out in the air and not entirely confined.  The pistes have not been maintained this year as Tom, who annually weeded the edges, has not been in a position to do so yet this year.  Hopefully later in the year.  

I propose to e-mail the Parks Dept., in the absence of retired Mick Harford what is the status of the proposed redevelopment of the Boules Area.  I know that the proposal for the Coffee Kiosk and developments near the Playground have gone to planning but I'm not sure if our proposal was included.

Mike is bringing the gear each week and doing the draw.  Please assist him by arriving 15 mins before start of play.  Late arrivals expect to be accommodated but make the distribution of teams awkward for the organiser, though he may not mention it.

Don't forget the pistes are raked clear of leaves early and scoreboards and rings set out by other players each Wednesday to allow for smooth and timely running of the group.

Our thanks to Yvonne for bringing coffee and treats each week since coffee at Olive's Room was compromised for us.  Not expected but most welcome Yvonne.  In the absence of a collection for competitions this past while I propose to present Yvonne with some of last years collection by way of thanks.

260th Post

 

The intrepid warriors, masked up and braved the elements and the Covid conditions to play our adopted sport.

We had thirteen to start and two brothers came later to try out the game.  We accommodated them after the first game completed on Piste 1 as they were late arriving but if our numbers recover to pre-Covid levels we may have to reconsider as we had 28 on the books.  The current restriction of 15 in an outdoor setting might be a concern going forward.

Almost everyone was wearing cloth masks or face guards to protect themselves and others.  The games were enjoyable and competitive.

259th Post

Thirteen arrived for play today including Colm and Maureen who hadn't played in a number of weeks on account of the Covid pandemic.  About half of us wore masks today, despite the discomfort, to reduce the possibility of transmission especially when we forget the social distancing regime.

We had good games and we're grateful for the group on piste 4 for including Yvonne who was unavoidably delayed despite having started their game.

Out thanks to Yvonne, who has supplied us with coffee and biscuits for the past few weeks after the games. 

Gerry not alone raked the pistes before we arrived at all but came to watch and walk about during the session.  Sheila also arrived to view proceedings.  She hopes top be back playing shortly.  We won't be playing 'competition' until September [ virus permitting! ] but the games today were very competitive nonetheless.

Maureen and Gerry back again.

Now there's a cluster....

The Raiders of the Marked Ark......

Mike....beyond the Pale.

Gerry practicing in Alden Park before lunch and on to St. Anne's after lunch.....

258th Post

Twelve today on a morning that started out damp but finished off breezy and sunny.  Judy and Brogan are back playing regularly, thankfully.  Masks / visors are not obligatory outdoors but some of our members are wearing them and the onus is on each of us to maintain social distance especially when gathering, leaving and collecting your boules after each end.  Moving them away with your feet to a free area before picking them up is workable.  Please don't take offence if another player ask you to move away a little if they're feeling uncomfortable.  Usual hygiene practices should be adhered to.

Gerry paid us a welcome visit while in recuperation....

Now there's a right cluster......

This is called rubbing it in!!....that blue peg never got a chance to move.....

Now that's proper Social Distancing....

The Evergreens.......

257th Post

Eleven made it to St. Anne's on Wednesday for the Boules.  We had some bunting up to mark yesterday's French National Holiday.  There is still the strange spectre of Covid-19 over proceedings but we all enjoyed our games and the noticeably larger numbers in the park on weekdays meant we had many spectators.  We won't be playing competition until September probably, providing there isn't another 'lockdown' caused by another 'Wave'.
It was great to have Brogan and Judy back playing again.

Brogan gave us a rendition of 'La Marseillaise' and Happy Birthday for the Alden Park crew.

Taking a break from watching oul' films on TV...!!!

Some of the interested spectators....

Some of the St. Anne's crew made it to Alden Park yesterday where we had a French-Themed day with a game of boules first, followed by whatever 'goodies' people brought for themselves and we closed off proceedings with four individual competitions testing Shooting and Pointing skills. The weather was kind to us and the forecast rain stayed away till we had finished at noon.  Below are a few photos from the morning of the 14th.  The first four photos are of the individual winners.

Honestly we were socially distant except for the photo of the group....

Gerry and Nigel winners of the team competition.

Gerry and Agnes getting into the spirit of things.


Hard not to notice the Wildflower Garden just inside the car park entrance to St. Anne's.

Eileen and Tom doing a bit of maintenance on the Pistes on the 12th July.....an alternative to Marching!

[ from - Enjoying St. Anne's Facebook Page]  

Some proposed additions to the Red Stables/Playground area of the park. 

When Tony and Mike met were the Park Supervisor and Dublin City Council Chief Engineer in 2019

these were mentioned, as was the redevelopment of the Boules Area......Hopefully they haven't forgotten us!

256th Post

Some photos from Lockdown....

No competition today but nine players arrived on a treacherous morning that proved playable, unlike some of the pistes!  A few have braved the conditions to play the last two Wednesdays.  We socially distance when playing and enjoyed the games.  We played all four pistes to make for easier social distancing. 

Our thanks to Yvonne for supplying coffee to avoid queuing at Olives.

At Mike's request!!!!

Back playing.

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Hats off to the boys....

At Maeve's request....

At Shay's request.....revenge is sweet...