Horticulture:   "GLORIOUS CANNA" 
Keith & Christine together giving a talk all about canna.   These gorgeous sub-tropical plants are very popular in our gardens.  Christine does the chatty bits and Keith does the technical bits.  Covers canna history, botany, horticultural development, cultivation, pests and diseases, and a slide show which illustrates the many garden varieties and species.   Keith and Christine are appointed NCCPG National Collection holders for cannas, and also have a business Hart Canna selling canna plants and rhizomes.  The talk includes various anecdotes about having a national collection and also a nursery business.  They are happy to donate a canna plant to your raffle!  

They have presented this talk to many garden clubs and societies, WI gardening sections, NCCPG area groups etc, throughout Hampshire, Berkshire  and Surrey (phone for a list if you wish), and are willing to travel further afield.  They come complete with projector, screen, etc, and are willing to bring some interesting varieties to sell at discount, if required.  

Don't know what a canna is?  Just click here:  www.hartcanna.com

Entertainment on a Gardening Theme

Suitable as after-dinner entertainment.  Christine entertaining you with songs, poems, readings, anecdotes and stories on a general gardening theme (see below).  

 Christine:  ENTERTAINMENT 

Christine on her own
 Most of her entertaining is just Christine on her own, and comprises songs, poems, monologues and  readings, enlivened by general conversation.  Christine has a mezzo-soprano voice and takes training from the famous Welsh tenor Wynford Evans.  Christine's concerts are mainly presented at retirement homes, day centres, nursing homes, ladies' clubs, Rotary clubs, church organisations, etc.  Each presentation usually has a "theme".   She has been presenting a monthly programme at a rather nice nursing home in Epsom each month for the past 5 years, and has never repeated her programme, and rarely repeated any pieces  - each performance is separately researched.  She has now acquired a very large repertoire of items, and can put together a show on virtually any topic.  There is no musical accompaniment unless by arrangement when an accompanist (piano, flute etc) can be provided.  There are no pop songs, and no microphone amplification unless the room is very large.

Victorian Entertainment
Christine has a special interest in the entertainment of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, which include Victorian Parlour Entertainment, The Music Hall, and the entertainment before we had TV, or even cinema, such as the Toy Theatre.   Together with her accompanist, Margaret Searle, she can present a 1 hour show on the history of the Music Hall together with songs, monologues, etc.  They have presented this concert a number of times,   several times, including one as part of an Open University course, when they presented it for students at Walton Hall, the headquarters of the Open University.  Rarely can such an academic session have required students to sing the choruses at the Music Hall!  

Christine plus friends
Together with other performers she can present bigger events such as Victorian Parlour Entertainment, and the Music Hall (together with a Chairman).  She presented her first full Music Hall at the Regency Theatre, Farnborough.  Since then she has organised and presented weekend residential courses on these topics at study centres such as Urchfont Manor in Wiltshire (several times), Denman College in Oxfordshire, home of the WI).  In December 2004 she is presenting a weekend residential course on "Victorian Home Entertainment" at Denman College, for the WI.

OTHER LECTURE TOPICS 
Keith takes the lead in these rather more serious topics, but Christine joins in.   

Faith, Belief and Certainty
A viewpoint on the meanings and implications of "faith" (religious and non-religious); "logic"; what we believe, and what we are entitled to believe for certain.  From an atheist perspective but sensitively presented with a mind to individual beliefs.  Suitable for humanist and atheist organisations, and also broadminded "faith" groups of any religious persuasion.  No fee since we're happy to have a platform (and hopefully to escape unscathed).  

The Big Idea:  Language
The "Big Idea" that separates us from the rest of the animal Kingdom.  What it is all about.  Animal language, human language, development of language in children, principles of linguistics.  Suitable for U3a groups etc.  Similarly no fee if reasonably close to Farnborough..

KEITH PLUS FRIENDS 
For this you need a seriously big room (preferably a theatre or a church).  Keith plus 80 male friends and 2 female friends comprise the Hart Male Voice Choir (the 2 females being the conductor and accompanist).   They will present for you a concert, particularly if it is in aid of some worthwhile fundraising cause; they will sing at your wedding or your funeral.  Keith honestly believes they are the best male voice choir in England or Wales, and maybe the World.  If you don't want them to sing for you, then why don't you sing for them?  New members are very welcome, the only requirement being to be male (or female in trousers with a very deep voice).  They rehearse at the Cross Barn, Odiham, on Wednesday evenings.  It has been said that a male voice choir is the best club a man can belong to.  See www.hart-mvc.org.uk  for further information.