7th September
The local WI Craft group has now finished its contribution to the Federation book of samplers so that is ready to join the others from WIs in the county. I am looking forward to seeing them all together. We were a bit disappointed that the drawings submitted from our WI for the tea towels were not considered worthy of a prize but it was heartening that there had been such a large response. We are now making some Christmas tree decorations which involve lots of cutting up of scraps of material and tiny pins so that will keep us quiet for a while. Also we are off to the Alexandra Palace Knitting and Stitching Show in October with a local coach company. I hope someone will stop me buying more wool and materials for new projects before I finish what I have already stacked about the house.
6th September
The Book Group met this afternoon. We had been reading "The Return" by Victoria Hislop which was thoroughly enjoyed by most people.We had liked "The Island" by the same writer and I must admit that I thought beforehand that she was returning to Crete but it was to Spain many years after the civil war.The theme was quite topical as there has been a lot in the press about the lifting of the silence over that event; it is only recently that this silence has been broken.Some of our members had actually visited the enormous tomb which the political prisoners were forced to build. I did think that the story sometimes became a cover for the historical account but on the whole it worked. It certainly prompted a lot of discussion of the disaster that is civil war, the role of religious belief and the general ignorance of what actually happened so recently.We also talked about the Laurie Lee books about the Spanish civil war which many of us had read in the past. Good news for us is that we have gained two new members to our group and that our next book appears in talking book form as well for our member that is struggling with sight problems.
9th September
The local WI held an extra meeting this evening when Clarins Beauty firm was invited to give a make-up demonstration to members and friends.It was a pleasant evening but it did make me wonder how anyone has the time to actually go out, if they have to go to such lengths in preparation.The cost is astronomical too and so many of the products smelled to me of good old fashioned Ponds Cream which our grandmothers used to use!
10th September
The subcommittee for Education and Current Affairs met today. We spent time making final preparations for next week's repeat crossword session which is really a re-run of the successful event in the north of the county.Nearly all the people who had been disappointed in the ballot previously had applied for this one which was good plus some new people.The next event is the International Day on Holland which is taking shape and after that next year we are planning a Tudor Day. We wish our lives away, but every event has to be organised so far in advance because of demand for halls and speakers.
11th September
Ten of us travelled to Norway today on the WI holiday.We were collected from our doorstep and whisked down to Heathrow in fine style.We had been issued with electronic tickets which was a first for many of us. I wish I had had a camera to hand to photograph our group coming to terms with the machines which issued our boarding cards. We managed it with great aplomb and agreed that this was the first part of our educational process on the holiday.Since returning the media is telling us that to cut costs several airlines will only issue electronic tickets in future so if you need any advice ask us! I am not going to regale you with all our adventures, suffice it to say we had a marvellous time: we saw a lot of beautiful places, the hotels were first class, the food was great and the weather was unusually good for the time of year ie we had one misty morning.We visited museums where we learned about Vikings and the Kontiki expeditition,we shut our eyes travelling up and down amazing road passes, we marvelled at the engineering expertise of the tunnels, and we never saw a moose.We educated the Americans with whom we were travelling into the history of World War II especially the Shetland Bus, the WI beyond the Calendar Girls whom they knew about, England beyond the Cotswolds and the Health Service.No American we talked to had read the Barak Obama books, yet they had been in the UK's bestsellers lists for months.What a wonderful country Norway is and how pleasant and welcoming the people are! The cost of living makes one's eyes water and I shall never forget the face of one of our members when she was asked the equivalent of £1.90 for a small mug of boiling water and a separate teabag! But if we were asked for a knitting pattern for a traditional Aran sweater, could we produce the instructions in Norwegian or any other European language for that matter!
23rd September
I hope you all read the latest issue of WI Life because there are several mentions of Bucks in it. Congratulations to Maids Moreton for its full page spread, to the lady who won a prize for her crochet from Flackwell Heath and again in the archive column about District Nurses we have a reference. But if you are feeling depressed, please read the letter from the lady who bought the magnetic appliance to help with her menopausal symptons.I haven't laughed so much for ages.The other more serious article about the interview with the BBC was picked up by the national press in the discussions about ageism, not just in the media but also in nursing care.So you see there are people out there wanting to know what we think on very different topics.
Also some time this week the national press mentioned a Town Council that had had to move its meeting place to avoid the WI's raucous singing of Jerusalem. There must be more verses than I know. I bet the council didn't want the WI to hear the waffle from it! Actually one evening class that holds its session nextdoor to our local WI asked us to leave the door open so that they could listen and join in too!
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Friday, 4 September 2009
Get me out of here
26th August
I drove over to the chairman of our sub-committee's house to work on the long agenda for the September meeting. It is always pleasant to visit informally even though one comes away with a feeling of foreboding over the possible length of the coming meeting. I thought WI members were to expect a holiday in August but the paperwork keeps piling up! I took the opportunity to explore this part of Bucks in some detail as three of us have been walking the Bernwood Jubilee Trail and we have reached Brill. We are now into an area we know very little about. We have been using public transport as much as possible but the western fringes of the county suffer from a dearth of buses at sensible times for walkers, so the logistics are going to be a problem until we reach the Buckingham catchment zone.I can recommend the trail and the countryside is lovely, very empty; we have disturbed deer and foxes on our way. The brambles are good too.
In the evening it was the local committee meeting at which we heard all about our treasurer's battles with the Bucks County Council over the draconian rise in rent for our meeting place. Although we have found other premises willing to take us if we must move, it will make changes necessary perhaps to our night of meeting or our timing, so we hope to be able to stay put but win our case. We have strong allies in the fight and I always remember the Member of Parliament who said that if the WI protested, the Government tended to throw in the towel! I don't fancy the local force's chances of success after that.The good news is that our WI came up in the Friends Club draw so we have some more pounds in the bank account. We will keep quiet about that to the local government people.Our WI buys two tickets every year in this lottery and we have had individual members win as well as the WI official ticket. Also to raise a few more funds of a more reliable kind, we are exploring Gift Aid on our subscriptions.There is a booklet of advice on this procedure available from NFWI.
27th August
Bucks County Show and a lovely day for it too.I went down just to collect some display material for the local town show and was caught up in a long tailback of traffic. It took me 45 minutes to cover the ground I usually do in four! Then once inside the ground I couldn't find the WI, all the guides and maps had been sold and no one official seemed to know where anything was either.I was very relieved to track down some friendly faces on our pitch who managed to calm me down.It really was not a very good site but gone are the days when the WI can afford a tent of its own. Had we all known of the frustrations ahead when trying to leave the showground, I think we would have walked to the nearest pub and fed and watered while the chaos dissolved. The organisers will have to get the entrances and exits sorted out or peolpe will give up coming. I know the attendance was greater than ever before but to have 5 lanes of cars in each of two fields converging on an exit each onto a shared track leading into a major road which carries masses of traffic on a normal day is just barmy. There were drivers, children and dogs all overheated by the sunshine and the frustration.I tell you...something has got to be done for next year.
31st August
Winslow Town Show--now this is how to arrange traffic! One entrance and one exit for vehicles but only two lanes on which to approach and then alternate and filter under the control of marshals.Simple when you know how.The WI had the same site as last year which is one we like because it overlooks the horse jumping area and is next to the pig roast and the beer tent! Everyone must come by our tent. The day was very cold and blowy first thing in the morning but the sun was out by the afternoon. We had lots of visiting members from WIs in Bucks as well as farther afield.Our major display this year was on the SOS for Honeybees campaign, general promotion of the WI, the craft group and the sampler which is to form part of the Federation book and the books read by the Book Group.We think we have attracted some new members but will wait to see if they actually turn up at a meeting.
2nd September
The local WI meeting was very well attended to hear a talk on scrapbooking which was not quite what I had thought scrapbooking was.Surely it isn't just sticking photos in an album? There were lots of reports on events during the recess and masses of talk on personal adventures and holidays so it was a very friendly meeting. We hope to start a discussion group in order to highlight some of the WI campaigns as well as airing topics that are of interest in everyday situations. One never knows, a resolution may spring from one of these meetings.
I drove over to the chairman of our sub-committee's house to work on the long agenda for the September meeting. It is always pleasant to visit informally even though one comes away with a feeling of foreboding over the possible length of the coming meeting. I thought WI members were to expect a holiday in August but the paperwork keeps piling up! I took the opportunity to explore this part of Bucks in some detail as three of us have been walking the Bernwood Jubilee Trail and we have reached Brill. We are now into an area we know very little about. We have been using public transport as much as possible but the western fringes of the county suffer from a dearth of buses at sensible times for walkers, so the logistics are going to be a problem until we reach the Buckingham catchment zone.I can recommend the trail and the countryside is lovely, very empty; we have disturbed deer and foxes on our way. The brambles are good too.
In the evening it was the local committee meeting at which we heard all about our treasurer's battles with the Bucks County Council over the draconian rise in rent for our meeting place. Although we have found other premises willing to take us if we must move, it will make changes necessary perhaps to our night of meeting or our timing, so we hope to be able to stay put but win our case. We have strong allies in the fight and I always remember the Member of Parliament who said that if the WI protested, the Government tended to throw in the towel! I don't fancy the local force's chances of success after that.The good news is that our WI came up in the Friends Club draw so we have some more pounds in the bank account. We will keep quiet about that to the local government people.Our WI buys two tickets every year in this lottery and we have had individual members win as well as the WI official ticket. Also to raise a few more funds of a more reliable kind, we are exploring Gift Aid on our subscriptions.There is a booklet of advice on this procedure available from NFWI.
27th August
Bucks County Show and a lovely day for it too.I went down just to collect some display material for the local town show and was caught up in a long tailback of traffic. It took me 45 minutes to cover the ground I usually do in four! Then once inside the ground I couldn't find the WI, all the guides and maps had been sold and no one official seemed to know where anything was either.I was very relieved to track down some friendly faces on our pitch who managed to calm me down.It really was not a very good site but gone are the days when the WI can afford a tent of its own. Had we all known of the frustrations ahead when trying to leave the showground, I think we would have walked to the nearest pub and fed and watered while the chaos dissolved. The organisers will have to get the entrances and exits sorted out or peolpe will give up coming. I know the attendance was greater than ever before but to have 5 lanes of cars in each of two fields converging on an exit each onto a shared track leading into a major road which carries masses of traffic on a normal day is just barmy. There were drivers, children and dogs all overheated by the sunshine and the frustration.I tell you...something has got to be done for next year.
31st August
Winslow Town Show--now this is how to arrange traffic! One entrance and one exit for vehicles but only two lanes on which to approach and then alternate and filter under the control of marshals.Simple when you know how.The WI had the same site as last year which is one we like because it overlooks the horse jumping area and is next to the pig roast and the beer tent! Everyone must come by our tent. The day was very cold and blowy first thing in the morning but the sun was out by the afternoon. We had lots of visiting members from WIs in Bucks as well as farther afield.Our major display this year was on the SOS for Honeybees campaign, general promotion of the WI, the craft group and the sampler which is to form part of the Federation book and the books read by the Book Group.We think we have attracted some new members but will wait to see if they actually turn up at a meeting.
2nd September
The local WI meeting was very well attended to hear a talk on scrapbooking which was not quite what I had thought scrapbooking was.Surely it isn't just sticking photos in an album? There were lots of reports on events during the recess and masses of talk on personal adventures and holidays so it was a very friendly meeting. We hope to start a discussion group in order to highlight some of the WI campaigns as well as airing topics that are of interest in everyday situations. One never knows, a resolution may spring from one of these meetings.
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