Who would have thought that we would discover a passion for darts during lock-down! It started as virtual darts matches via Teams with the Hoares and the Ashworths. Then once the lock-down rules were relaxed a little, we move to meeting in person every Saturday evening, to see who would win the medal and who would end up with the Ring of Shame.

We have played in sunshine and in rain (gazebos and carports saved the day).

We have marked events we would have gone to but for Covid-19, such as Henley Festival, by adjusting our attire accordingly.

We all have boys and so we have been joined on occasion by some of their lovely girlfriends, who despite never having thrown a dart in their lives, agreed gamely to give it a go.

We have laughed so much and discovered just how competitive some of the crew are – I was threatened with being subbed out by my sons, for a lack of focus (I blame the pre-match fizz for a certain wandering of attention), only for the boys to realise that there wasn’t another female to sub in!  

We added a new dimension to our meetings more recently, Giant Jenga and whereas the darts teams are comprised of family groups, the Jenga is boys v girls. Gaint Jenga by floodlight should possibly be an Olympic sport.

The holiday season is upon us and with the further relaxation of restrictions our social lives are starting to re-emerge, so we are not playing every week, but I think we will try to continue once a month until inclement weather stops play.