Beginnings and endings

7th December
A very small meeting of the local craft members at which we thought about what we would offer in the new year.It seems most likely that we shall do some more decoupage and have a go at ribboncraft.We will need to do a bit of research on projects using these skills and see what appeals to the majority.
6th December
I hope some of you watched the programme on Alan Bennett when he was speaking at a local WI in North Yorkshire. He watched the members perform a little play which he had written for them. Wow! Imagine having a playwright of that standing writing for your WI Group meeting! The documentary revealed how Alan Bennett learned his craft. He is obviously a great watcher of people but possibly more of a listener to conversations around him.No wonder he came up with such marvellous parts for Thora Hurd.
4th December
A sad day for BFWI because Jean Baldock, our Federation Chairman of the last few years, died this morning. Jean had been fighting cancer for 5 years but all the while working for the WI as a member of Executive and as a WI Adviser. This was doubly noble when you think of the mileage she had to cover getting between Lavendon and High Wycombe for meetings.She must have felt so tired so often. Jean was never a great talker but whatever she said was sensible and well thought out and she was absolutely dedicated to the WI. We all owe a lot to Jean and she will be missed by everyone as a caring, pleasant individual and a strong family person.
Then of course life must go on and in the evening we went off to Mursley to listen to the annual concert from the Bletchley Belles. This was as enjoyable as ever. It is good to hear people singing for the joy of it.The group donates its fee equally to the Mursley WI and to Willen Hospice which is where poor Jean ended her life.
3rd December
It was the town's Christmas Fayre this evening when the lights are switched on and there are all sorts of activities in the Market Square.The WI had a stall undercover in the Church Hall for which we were thankful as it was freezing cold outside.This was good for business as people came in to warm up and we did quite well.It is a family affair with dressing up and jugglers and hot chestnuts etc. Everyone seemed in a good mood and spending freely.It is a strange thing that people have two interpretations of the term "home made".It is used as a mark of approval, old values, something to be preserved but at the same time people think because it is home made it should be cheap. What about the hours taken to make items, whether it be cooking time or craft ? You can't have it both ways: so often to my mind, the WI sells itself short. I hate to hear members say "OK I'd rather sell it now than wait to try to obtain the asking price".
2nd December
The local WI meeting tonight was in party mood. We had a new president and we were celebrating a successful result from our fundraising barn dance. We had a session on giftwrapping, voted on whom we would like to put up for the award given by the Town Council to someone who had been especially community-minded in 2009 and planned various added ventures outside the printed programme.We also heard from a member how she and her husband had been evacuated from their hotel in the Cumbrian floodsThe only sore point as far as I am concerned was to hear several members when the new voting system for resolutions was discussed say they never read WI Life magazine and therefore had thrown away their voting form unseen. I ask you !!! That magazine has really improved over the year and has provided much more direct information to the members so that they can learn what the WI is doing about the issues of the day, all our campaigns. It leaves me speechless!
1st December
The members of the Book Group are struggling with Ivanhoe.The idea was to read a classic for a change and we knew the story and some could remember Errol Flynn in the film but the reading is hard work. Yet we read it as schoolchildren so perhaps we have been dumbed down as well. Anyway we went back to talking about Beyond Black and what we had thought of the Readers' Day in Chesham which we had enjoyed very much. We shall try to obtain one of the titles mentioned there for the January meeting.