Education, flora and fauna

17 January
It was the day for the final meeting of a series of four when the Bucks WI members are gathered to select the resolutions which they think are worthy to go forward to the Annual General Meeting of NFWI in June 2008.There must have been about 100 people present to hear the resolutions outlined by the members of the Member Services Committee.No one represents her WI at these meetings: she makes her own decision. We had six resolutions to choose from which all mirrored some aspect of the interests and campaigns of the WI movement.We thought about artificial additives in children's medicines, the dangers of Group B Streptococcus infection in infants and inappropriate imprisonment of the severely mentally ill. For education we discussed fairer funding for schools and for the environment we considered safer routes for pedestrians and a ban on sea bottom trawling. The last topic was presented by a local WI member whose WI had sent up this resolution.
It will be interesting to discover whether our choice as a county federation is the same as the one from the country as a whole.
30 January
Our local WI committee tonight was very busy as not only our WI but the County Federation and National gird up their loins for the new year activities after the Christmas break.There is always so much forward planning to do, scrabbling for dates which do not clash with other events and weighing up ideas for fundraising. We think we know what we will suggest to the meeting next week but one never knows what the reaction will be. Sometimes one wishes one didn't need to be democratic--it would certainly speed things up!
4th February-8th February
At home I have been without my computer so this blog has been in limbo for weeks, stored somewhere in the ether because my machine decided to break off communications with my provider.What a palaver! Why on earth would a machine suddenly think of that? And the helplines talk pure jargon so that in the end it is better to hand the whole thing over to a professional and hope he isn't losing your life's work in some black hole.It is also rather unsettling to realise how dependent one has become on a computer. This little room seemed quite heart-less!
Anyway I went off on the WI winter break to Cricket St Thomas where I didn't need to think of electronics at all.
Forty two of us joined the holiday. We visited Lyme Regis, the Donkey Sanctuary and Sidmouth. The seas were impressive as it was very windy. Even so some brave souls were speeding among the waves on sailboards.During the showers we were able to take coffee before walking along the Cobb and remembering Jane Austen's heroine being blown off the top.
The sun shone while we talked to the donkeys.It is an amazing story how that enterprise developed from one woman's vocation into a national concern which will provide speakers all over the country. The work done for special needs children on the site is impressive too. Sidmouth is a lovely little town with lots of old fashioned shops which are a delight and proved a mecca for our party.(Actually that isn't a good word to use as the members didn't remove their shoes but came out with more pairs than they had when they went in!)
Next day we explored the little safari park and went for walks and on the last day we visited Exeter.The embroideries in the cathedral are magnificent and it is heartwarming to hear of a group carrying on the traditions of hundreds of years in making beautiful objects for their church just for the joy of their creation.On the way home we spent some time at the Butterfly Farm at Studley Grange so we studied flora and fauna during our travels in the West Country.
These holidays do us all good providing a chance to meet and talk to others and speed us through the dark months of winter.
While we were away the BBC did another showing of Calendar Girls. Thank Goodness it did, as it proved a great antidote to that ghastly Jam and Jerusalem series which people have had to endure during the past weeks.