Parcels and the Textile treasures of the WI

This week
A funny statistic appeared in the national press re. the WI's carbon footprint. Apparently following our eco-initiative WI members have reduced their annual amount of household rubbish to 18st instead of the national average of 152 st. They have been doing it for only 4 months so how do they know that?
I prefer the story about Charmouth WI in Dorset whose chronicle of wartime village events has become a national treasure. Accounts of knitting socks for the local regiment, caring for evacuees and providing food from gardens and hedgerows fill this scrapbook--beautifully illustrated and written with humour. No wonder it has won a national award!
12th March
As usual when one of the family moves house I approached the local branch of Country Markets (WI Markets as was) to arrange the delivery of a parcel of goodies to the new address. The parcel scheme is a wonderful national organisation which promises to deliver selected items from the local stall to the value of whatever the customer wishes, ranging from preserves to flowers, from pastries to cheeses.The person in Glamorgan that I was talking to lived previously in Drayton Parslow. The recipients will say "The WI mafia strikes again"!
13th March
A small group of WI members were invited to RAF Cottesmore in Rutland as a thank you for the parcels sent out to the forces in Afghanistan. We were welcomed by the Squadron Leader, driven around the base, given lunch and then had a conducted tour of the control tower and the aircraft hangars. We were even allowed to climb up and inspect the cockpit of a Harrier plane.The pilot has just a bit more space inside than a Formula One racing driver. All the personel were so grateful for the parcels and so appreciative of what the Bucks' WI members were doing for them. How they love the sweets, biscuits, cakes, coffee and toiletries that have been arriving out there! One Harrier pilot said that the men and women were like children opening a Christmas stocking. Westbury and District WI know of 500 boxes that have been filled and have passed through their hands but there are others going direct through Post Offices in Bucks.
So well done everyone.
14th March
Eight members of the local WI went by train as a group to the NEC in Birmingham to see the Sewing for Pleasure Exhibition. The attraction for us was the Textile Treasures of the WI. This was an excellent display, beautifully presented which made us feel very proud to be a part of such a talented organisation. Bucks Federation seemed very well represented but we may have been biassed! We went our separate ways following our interests, met up for lunch and then it was off again until we had worn our feet off.

I imagine all the WI members interested in horse racing backed DENMAN for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It may be why the odds were so short!. He won of course.
18th March
The local WI enjoyed a Soup and Sandwiches lunch at the home of a member today. This was to raise funds and also to get rid of our soup lake. We seem to lurch from mincepie mountains to soup lakes in our WI! A very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours though.
19th March
The WI where I am a dual member met today and we listened to a pair of girls from John Lewis who advised us on how to co-ordinate our wardrobes for the new season. They knew their job but the members expressed strong views on the lack of sleeved dresses, appropriate sizes and cheerful colours in clothes for women over 40 years old. We know more about "power pants" than we did before so that fulfils the educational aims of the WI.
20th March
WI Life arrived this morning. Lo and Behold our WI book group was featured as well as the Bucks Federation.In the last issue the editors gave Taplow and Hitcham WI to the Berkshire Federation and in this one they gave us to Cheshire. That'll teach us not to go seeking glory. I thought it was an excellent issue--lots to read and think about: plus the new programme for Denman College.