9th February
Today was the first real craft group meeting for our local WI because last month we combined a craft shopping expedition with a light lunch to celebrate the new year. One of our members demonstrated the art of quilling and then we experimented making flowers and decorations for greeting cards. It was all rather fiddley but we ended up with at least one reasonable card! We will return to this craft next month when we hope to progress to animal designs and more recognisable flowers. Some time was spent on the progress of our WI sampler too.It was very pleasant to get out of our houses after all the snow ---although the footpaths were still lethal for the walkers.
One of the subjects of conversation, over juggling with tiny pieces of paper, was the WI subscription book of vouchers which members receive every year. Some members think this is a waste of money but in actual fact the WI brings in funds to the organisation from the advertisers, even if individual members just bin it.So it must be worth the advertisers' while to make those offers contained in the token book. In our own WI, I have heard of people who have more than paid for their WI subscription by taking advantage of offers on holiday bookings, insurance, new sewing machines and vacuum cleaners. Also if no one in one's own family has allergy problems, there is nothing wrong with handing the token over to another member who would be glad of it.Also there are shops where one receives a discount if one shows the WI membership card from the front of the token book.
This entry is rather late because my family has been struggling with the installation of Broadband which we thought would swing us into the 21st century, seamlessly providing an all-singing-all dancing service.Don't you believe it! It has taken a good three weeks and finally ended up with my threatening to take the engineer hostage unless he had fixed it before leaving the house.He thought I was joking! In place of the extra back-up service provision subscription, I think BT should arrange something on the same lines with the Relate marriage guidance people.How the Powers that Be can say they plan to have everyone on Broadband beats me, when the willing horse to the trough cannot drink the waters there of. And then to put on the box "Just follow the easy set -up guide and you are off"... Where are Trade Descriptions when you need them?
Saturday 21 February 2009
Friday 6 February 2009
More snow, birds and glass
Yet more snow.The snow is bringing about a great communal spirit in the town. Groups of adults and children are standing around talking or building snowmen. Someone said there were so many snowmen in the Winslow Hall field that they looked like Chinese warriors! Some of the talk will be about the proposed new 3500 house development planned for the old Little Horwood airfield. It is only a proposal so far but it resulted in a huge public meeting in the town this week and this is proving another unifying agency among the locals.
Our garden was visited by two fieldfares today much to the annoyance of the regulars.They were given a poor welcome but after a while began to give as good as they got. I was so disappointed with our results from the recent Garden Bird Watch. I especially waited to start my hour until the green woodpecker alighted but he never showed up all weekend.The trotty wagtails came along, all jaunty the next day, the ring collared doves went elsewhere so I was left with a very dull tally, when the garden has a wide variety of birds normally. However, they tell you not to cheat, so I didn't but was sorely tempted.
4th February
The bad weather caused us to have a rather select meeting which was a pity as the speaker was most interesting. He was talking about glass, its uses and manufacture and he had plenty of visual aids and a pleasant relaxed manner.The meeting was taken for the first time by our new Vice-President which gave everyone a chance to judge her performance. She obviously came up to scratch and members got to know her a little better. We had changed the format of the meeting again and it was very satisfactory--- except for the events book as I mentioned last week.Plans are well afoot for our WI Health and Fitness day at the end of March and we can now open it to other organisations in the town.Our own members have had first bite of the cherry.The WI programme is going to be added to our County website entry soon. The letter about adult education cuts is written and approved so that can go to our MP to join those from other WIs across the country. The boxes for the Forces overseas are still receiving contributions and this scheme was really brought into context for me because when I returned home the News was on television.Amazingly a handsome young army major was being interviewed in Basra about the planned withdrawal and he was my son's primary schoolfriend. I wonder whether he remembers the pair of them setting off to remove the wallpaper from my son's bedroom walls using pieces of metal toy train track as scrapers. Fortunately in those days, if you clipped the ears of a near-neighbour's child, you did not receive a court summons but a box of conciliatory chocolates and a friend for life! Keep safe, lad.
Our garden was visited by two fieldfares today much to the annoyance of the regulars.They were given a poor welcome but after a while began to give as good as they got. I was so disappointed with our results from the recent Garden Bird Watch. I especially waited to start my hour until the green woodpecker alighted but he never showed up all weekend.The trotty wagtails came along, all jaunty the next day, the ring collared doves went elsewhere so I was left with a very dull tally, when the garden has a wide variety of birds normally. However, they tell you not to cheat, so I didn't but was sorely tempted.
4th February
The bad weather caused us to have a rather select meeting which was a pity as the speaker was most interesting. He was talking about glass, its uses and manufacture and he had plenty of visual aids and a pleasant relaxed manner.The meeting was taken for the first time by our new Vice-President which gave everyone a chance to judge her performance. She obviously came up to scratch and members got to know her a little better. We had changed the format of the meeting again and it was very satisfactory--- except for the events book as I mentioned last week.Plans are well afoot for our WI Health and Fitness day at the end of March and we can now open it to other organisations in the town.Our own members have had first bite of the cherry.The WI programme is going to be added to our County website entry soon. The letter about adult education cuts is written and approved so that can go to our MP to join those from other WIs across the country. The boxes for the Forces overseas are still receiving contributions and this scheme was really brought into context for me because when I returned home the News was on television.Amazingly a handsome young army major was being interviewed in Basra about the planned withdrawal and he was my son's primary schoolfriend. I wonder whether he remembers the pair of them setting off to remove the wallpaper from my son's bedroom walls using pieces of metal toy train track as scrapers. Fortunately in those days, if you clipped the ears of a near-neighbour's child, you did not receive a court summons but a box of conciliatory chocolates and a friend for life! Keep safe, lad.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Funds freeze and snow
Continuing the poetic turn with which I started the year, do any of you remember that poem which describes a classroom of children distracted by the snow falling outside, the wonder and beauty of it, which finishes with the teacher calling them to order with the words "It's only snow"? How chilling in every sense of the word.
I am always distracted by snow and spend happy minutes just watching it. I know it is inconvenient and I have come to an age when the last thing I want to do is suffer a fall on ice but all the same... Anyway, this snowy interval does provide a space in which to update the blog.
28th January
The local WI committee meeting was held in someone's cosy and warm house as usual and although we had members with seasonal colds and some away enjoying winter breaks in the sunshine, we got quite a lot done. We have received a certificate in thanks from ENCAMS for our efforts in the Big Tidy Up last September which is rather nice. We all agreed that the town needed doing again. Sadly we heard that there were no longer any funds to continue our work on the Let's Sew project in Bletchley. This tied in with a letter received from NFWI asking members and WIs to write to their MPs about the cuts in funding for adult education.The WI is an educational charity and we have our own residential college at Abingdon and the WI is a centre for the Lifelong Learning Project.Apparently CALL (the Campaign for Adult Lifelong Learning) is going to put up an Early Day Motion at the end of February and needs support. We will put the idea of a letter to our members next week.
The change of format last month was voted a success so we will try again to have the speaker's slot first, then break for refreshments and then the business. If we keep the drawing of the raffle right to the end, no one will sneak off before the business! I think we will have to think of a way to circulate the events book from the very beginning of the meeting and hope that the members will read their Monthly Letter as soon as they pick it up because any promotion of events which the President does in the business section will be ignored as everyone prepares to leave at the end of the meeting. There must be a way round this. What do you do in your WIs?
I am always distracted by snow and spend happy minutes just watching it. I know it is inconvenient and I have come to an age when the last thing I want to do is suffer a fall on ice but all the same... Anyway, this snowy interval does provide a space in which to update the blog.
28th January
The local WI committee meeting was held in someone's cosy and warm house as usual and although we had members with seasonal colds and some away enjoying winter breaks in the sunshine, we got quite a lot done. We have received a certificate in thanks from ENCAMS for our efforts in the Big Tidy Up last September which is rather nice. We all agreed that the town needed doing again. Sadly we heard that there were no longer any funds to continue our work on the Let's Sew project in Bletchley. This tied in with a letter received from NFWI asking members and WIs to write to their MPs about the cuts in funding for adult education.The WI is an educational charity and we have our own residential college at Abingdon and the WI is a centre for the Lifelong Learning Project.Apparently CALL (the Campaign for Adult Lifelong Learning) is going to put up an Early Day Motion at the end of February and needs support. We will put the idea of a letter to our members next week.
The change of format last month was voted a success so we will try again to have the speaker's slot first, then break for refreshments and then the business. If we keep the drawing of the raffle right to the end, no one will sneak off before the business! I think we will have to think of a way to circulate the events book from the very beginning of the meeting and hope that the members will read their Monthly Letter as soon as they pick it up because any promotion of events which the President does in the business section will be ignored as everyone prepares to leave at the end of the meeting. There must be a way round this. What do you do in your WIs?
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