28th September
We enjoyed a really amusing Book Group meeting this afternoon. It helps if the novel read is very funny which "We are all made of glue" by Marina Lewyncka certainly is.It contains all sorts of humour: that of embarrassing situations, the almost Chaplin humour of ridiculous physical situations, the wit of the choice of names of the characters, the fun of misunderstandings through broken English or garbled messages left on phones and the reactions of the characters. Even the cats have strong personalities! But beneath all this the author has serious concerns about the modern fabric of society where there are so many breaks in the material.She discusses the treatment of the elderly by the Welfare State and the threat of the worldwide web to youngsters suffering from family breakdown and looking for somewhere to belong again. We need glue of different kinds because if the bonding breaks down in ourselves, all the threads that were stuck together to make us what we are ruptured. We are stuck with the early beliefs instilled in us by our early family life.Nationalism, patriotism, class and religion hold us all in bondage.A marvellously well constructed book with a good ending and such fun! Members, a piece of borrowed advice; if you are looking for a man, try B&Q because he will come with a complete toolkit!
Not everyone liked the book which made for some good discussion and of course, we went off track on other topics.
25th September
Did you catch up on the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign report in the national press? Apparently this campaign which the National WI helped to run has resulted in a cut of food waste by more than 250,000 tons over the past year. You remember we were asked to use up leftovers in intelligent ways, not to buy too much food and to ignore some best before dates. There was also a 4% reduction in packaging waste per food item according to WRAP another scheme supported by WI. So we are not crying in the wilderness. Let's see how the swishing sessions work in this programme to act sensibly with our resources and reduce landfill too.
23rd September
A group of us from the Bucks WIs' subcommittees met this morning to be introduced to the new Bucks Website and to learn how to publish information on it.We need to be able to update items about forthcoming events organised by our committee members and keep the WIs informed on what has happened too. We also need to attract outsiders to come to some meeting and be drawn in to become a member.However it is not just the non-member we need to inspire but also the member who has not bothered to consult the website and has not felt she wants to communicate with other members electronically. Yet these same people are quite happy to join Facebook, blog or Twitter and many use Scype to keep in touch with relatives at a distance. Why not exchange views and ideas with fellow WI members? So let's hope, when this new website is launched very soon, there will be a surge of interest.
Our Web-mistress has set up an attractive home page and established many links which are easy to contact. We certainly enjoyed finding our way around the site and you cannot wreck the thing by experimenting. Actually one has to be very knowledgeable to be able to cause lasting damage to a website. Please, when this is launched, spend some time during the bad weather months looking at it and we can all learn together. It might be amusing to write up your adventures with modern technology because I think there is a rich vein of humour in some of the situations in which these clever machines throw us.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
September sorties
18 September
Did you pick up that article in the national press about the WI singers called The Harmonies who are releasing their first album at the end of October? They are obviously wanting to catch the Christmas market and need the support of the WI members. The singers are also featured in the M&S campaign promoting tea and cakes to play lip service to our image, while branching out into the pop music world.
16 September
It was lovely to be able to spend the evening celebrating a tenth birthday with one of our Bucks WIs. I remember when Fairford Leys WI was formed; the new members had to paddle across muddy ground to a portacabin but now they meet in a lovely hall with all mod. cons.The community has grown to about 5000 people and it is establishing a strong community identity which acknowledges the part the WI has taken in bonding the place together. It was the WI that was a prime mover in setting up the annual Fair on the Square which has become an important date in the calendar for the village.
There was a good atmosphere with music and tasty food and a chance to look back on the photographic record of the ten years the members had spent together. This WI is gaining members and keeping the founder members too. Congratulations!
15 September
After spending the morning wrestling with the technology of a new laptop, it was pleasant to come home to a gathering of the local WI play-readers. There were not many of us but we read two plays and enjoyed talking of past dramatic occasions when drama took a much greater role in our own WI and at NFWI level also. Next time when we meet we are going to read the play which our WI took to the Regional Contest in Cambridgeshire many years ago.That is if we can remember where we each put our copy. We were ever so disappointed that the NFWI pulled the plug on that competition at that stage, never holding a final. Apparently the money ran out which doesn't stop us bearing a grudge---we almost certainly would not have won but think of the glory in taking part.I shall never forget telling two rather startled policemen at 11.30pm somewhere near Baldock that we had just come first in a drama festival. Well they were the only other people in the service station at the time!
14 September
It was up early and away to Hampton Court Palace today on the outing arranged by the Education and Current Affairs sub-committee. Sixty members and friends spent a very busy day exploring the palace and gardens with two excellent guides.We learned a great deal about the Tudors which followed on nicely from the Henry VIII and All That day last June. Then the icing on the cake was for a small group of us to tour the Royal School of Needlework. We admired the conservation work going on there, as well as the exhibition of past masterpieces made by the students. I think we would all like to have been able to touch the lovely things on show and the bookshop held wonderful books which were very tempting too.The rain kept away until the journey home, the coaches were dead on time and the traffic reasonable. We returned exhausted and vowing to return to see what we hadn't had time to view in the few hours we had there today.
9 September
The Education and Current Affairs sub-committee met today and were faced by a long agenda.We spent the major part of the meeting deciding on our programme for the next year and some events for the one to follow. One always has to think so far ahead with the WI. Plans are well advanced for the Alternative Christmas lunch in aid of ACWW in November. Every year the WIs pay out a donation to ACWW in the Coins for Friendship scheme but few members really know what this organisation does. So this is a chance to hear all about it and also listen to an Oxfordshire member's efforts to raise money by cycling in Peru. We are aware of members' feelings and concerns about the planned disappearance of cheques in 2016 and also their worries about the new high speed train due to carve its way across Bucks.We are planning a BFWI response on grounds which will not set one parish council against another. A NIMBY approach is not the answer. Then where shall we go next for an educational outing next year and who can we persuade to speak at our Tree event in March? Everyone has a job to do before the next meeting in November.
8 September
At the local WI Discussion Group this evening we had set ourselves the topic of "climate".Well, the British are supposed to talk a lot about the weather so it seemed a safe choice. And so it proved:there was never a real gap in talk. We learned about the danger facing our islands if the Gulf Stream or the Atlantic Conveyor, as it is more scientifically known, becomes cooler. Then there are the problems of flooding and the effect of enforced migration which is extremely topical at the moment.There are those who have too little water and those who have too much, problems whci already cause friction in international relations. Was our weather really changing or do we just remember childhood experiences of seasonal extremes? What effect does the weather have on our mood? Don't we just talk about the weather because it is a safe common factor? It was in past times but now we have the shared topic of health and sex according to the media. Great subject, good wine, the chance to laugh together and the opportunity to get to know each other better.Why don't you encourage your WI to form a discussion group?
Did you pick up that article in the national press about the WI singers called The Harmonies who are releasing their first album at the end of October? They are obviously wanting to catch the Christmas market and need the support of the WI members. The singers are also featured in the M&S campaign promoting tea and cakes to play lip service to our image, while branching out into the pop music world.
16 September
It was lovely to be able to spend the evening celebrating a tenth birthday with one of our Bucks WIs. I remember when Fairford Leys WI was formed; the new members had to paddle across muddy ground to a portacabin but now they meet in a lovely hall with all mod. cons.The community has grown to about 5000 people and it is establishing a strong community identity which acknowledges the part the WI has taken in bonding the place together. It was the WI that was a prime mover in setting up the annual Fair on the Square which has become an important date in the calendar for the village.
There was a good atmosphere with music and tasty food and a chance to look back on the photographic record of the ten years the members had spent together. This WI is gaining members and keeping the founder members too. Congratulations!
15 September
After spending the morning wrestling with the technology of a new laptop, it was pleasant to come home to a gathering of the local WI play-readers. There were not many of us but we read two plays and enjoyed talking of past dramatic occasions when drama took a much greater role in our own WI and at NFWI level also. Next time when we meet we are going to read the play which our WI took to the Regional Contest in Cambridgeshire many years ago.That is if we can remember where we each put our copy. We were ever so disappointed that the NFWI pulled the plug on that competition at that stage, never holding a final. Apparently the money ran out which doesn't stop us bearing a grudge---we almost certainly would not have won but think of the glory in taking part.I shall never forget telling two rather startled policemen at 11.30pm somewhere near Baldock that we had just come first in a drama festival. Well they were the only other people in the service station at the time!
14 September
It was up early and away to Hampton Court Palace today on the outing arranged by the Education and Current Affairs sub-committee. Sixty members and friends spent a very busy day exploring the palace and gardens with two excellent guides.We learned a great deal about the Tudors which followed on nicely from the Henry VIII and All That day last June. Then the icing on the cake was for a small group of us to tour the Royal School of Needlework. We admired the conservation work going on there, as well as the exhibition of past masterpieces made by the students. I think we would all like to have been able to touch the lovely things on show and the bookshop held wonderful books which were very tempting too.The rain kept away until the journey home, the coaches were dead on time and the traffic reasonable. We returned exhausted and vowing to return to see what we hadn't had time to view in the few hours we had there today.
9 September
The Education and Current Affairs sub-committee met today and were faced by a long agenda.We spent the major part of the meeting deciding on our programme for the next year and some events for the one to follow. One always has to think so far ahead with the WI. Plans are well advanced for the Alternative Christmas lunch in aid of ACWW in November. Every year the WIs pay out a donation to ACWW in the Coins for Friendship scheme but few members really know what this organisation does. So this is a chance to hear all about it and also listen to an Oxfordshire member's efforts to raise money by cycling in Peru. We are aware of members' feelings and concerns about the planned disappearance of cheques in 2016 and also their worries about the new high speed train due to carve its way across Bucks.We are planning a BFWI response on grounds which will not set one parish council against another. A NIMBY approach is not the answer. Then where shall we go next for an educational outing next year and who can we persuade to speak at our Tree event in March? Everyone has a job to do before the next meeting in November.
8 September
At the local WI Discussion Group this evening we had set ourselves the topic of "climate".Well, the British are supposed to talk a lot about the weather so it seemed a safe choice. And so it proved:there was never a real gap in talk. We learned about the danger facing our islands if the Gulf Stream or the Atlantic Conveyor, as it is more scientifically known, becomes cooler. Then there are the problems of flooding and the effect of enforced migration which is extremely topical at the moment.There are those who have too little water and those who have too much, problems whci already cause friction in international relations. Was our weather really changing or do we just remember childhood experiences of seasonal extremes? What effect does the weather have on our mood? Don't we just talk about the weather because it is a safe common factor? It was in past times but now we have the shared topic of health and sex according to the media. Great subject, good wine, the chance to laugh together and the opportunity to get to know each other better.Why don't you encourage your WI to form a discussion group?
Monday, 6 September 2010
Autumn is here
5th September
Throughout the best part of 2010 BFWI to celebrate its 90 year history has been granted a room in the High Wycombe Museum.It is a lovely display and many people have commented favourably on it.Also during the summer holidays the WI has held small craft groups for children in the same room and on the first Sunday of the summer months there have been craft demonstrations too.Today the subject was the gentle art of crochet and two BFWI committee members and a couple of WI members went down to demonstrate their skills.Surrounded by lots of items of crochet we immediately found ourselves with nine visitors who wanted to learn to crochet. It was great fun because several of them had never held a hook in their lives and others could do a bit or had forgotten how to start.These people had picked up the notice in the local press and were not WI members. However I shouldn't be surprised if they don't become members in the future. They all said how much they had enjoyed themselves and thought it a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.They all went home proudly clutching mis-shapen pieces of work! I felt a bit guilty about the ordinary museum visitors who followed the sound of chatter and walked into a room full of people trailing wool and wielding hooks but curiosity usually got the better of them and they completed their tour.
1st September
It was agreed to write to suggest that BFWI makes a contribution to the discussions on the new High Speed Railway and that members should keep an eye on labelling of country of origin on meat, fish and poultry in supermarkets following the mandate at the AGM in June.We also want to make ourselves heard in defence of the cheque which is threatened with extinction.Although we had not done very well with our exhibit at the County Show, one of our members had come first in the county competition for a piece of original writing for the Lady Denman Cup. The sound in our new premises goes up to somewhere in the ceiling so some of us suggested we should enquire into buying a small microphone system. Our speaker spoke clearly but her tone was rather expressionless and became lost in the roof.It is difficult for the officers as well sometimes.Perhaps we could put some of our funds towards a lapel mike or apply for a grant.All the group activities which the WI hold are up and running for the autumn so we should be out of mischief for at least 3 months.
31st August
What a lot of reading has been going on this month! We started with discussion about Katharine McMahon's novel The Crimson Rooms which everyone had enjoyed.The plot was good, the location fairly local, the period within our parents' memory and the writing was atmospheric.We are still not sure of the endings of this author's novels as we tend to interpret them in different ways so we shall have to ask her about them when she comes to speak at the BFWI Literary Lunch next June.We also resumed talk about Wolf Hall which is so long that it takes everyone time to read but I think our group deserve praise for completing the book: an article in the Telegraph reported that only two out of 35 readers questioned had managed to do this! I don't know how they could stop reading and now we hear there is to be a sequel. Obviously the author is planning to kill Thomas Cromwell off after all. I thought she would never be able to release him. The book which we had all been supposed to have been reading was the Olive Readers by Aziz which is one of these post Armageddon sort of novels.Here opinion was divided between those who were fascinated by it and those that thought it was absolutely ridiculous. The general theme was that the possession or lack of water would define the world of the future which is probably true but all the submarine rocket ships and bubbly globes and flashing lights was too much for some of us. We had also read The Glass Room by Simon Mawer which was about a house in Czechoslovakia built for an artistic rich family with Jewish connections and what befell the building and the family through the World Wars up to the present day. It was beautifully written and well researched.Another recent publication was The Angel's Game by Zafon which is a Gothic novel, very dark and powerful and complicated but a real page-turner of a novel.
26th August
No wonder this county is famous for ducks! The County Show suffered the same fate as the BFWI did for the Stowe Garden Party except the mud was worse. The WI had a reasonable amount of room this year and the competition for a Celebration entry was eye-catching. There was plenty to see and do in the marquee. Our WI won no prizes but at least we did better than the 100 other WIs who never even tried. Unfortunately for the organising committee the attendance was only half that of last year but one presumes the losses can be set against other years.The Bucks County Show is said to be one of the best nationally so it would be a pity to lose it.
Throughout the best part of 2010 BFWI to celebrate its 90 year history has been granted a room in the High Wycombe Museum.It is a lovely display and many people have commented favourably on it.Also during the summer holidays the WI has held small craft groups for children in the same room and on the first Sunday of the summer months there have been craft demonstrations too.Today the subject was the gentle art of crochet and two BFWI committee members and a couple of WI members went down to demonstrate their skills.Surrounded by lots of items of crochet we immediately found ourselves with nine visitors who wanted to learn to crochet. It was great fun because several of them had never held a hook in their lives and others could do a bit or had forgotten how to start.These people had picked up the notice in the local press and were not WI members. However I shouldn't be surprised if they don't become members in the future. They all said how much they had enjoyed themselves and thought it a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.They all went home proudly clutching mis-shapen pieces of work! I felt a bit guilty about the ordinary museum visitors who followed the sound of chatter and walked into a room full of people trailing wool and wielding hooks but curiosity usually got the better of them and they completed their tour.
1st September
It was agreed to write to suggest that BFWI makes a contribution to the discussions on the new High Speed Railway and that members should keep an eye on labelling of country of origin on meat, fish and poultry in supermarkets following the mandate at the AGM in June.We also want to make ourselves heard in defence of the cheque which is threatened with extinction.Although we had not done very well with our exhibit at the County Show, one of our members had come first in the county competition for a piece of original writing for the Lady Denman Cup. The sound in our new premises goes up to somewhere in the ceiling so some of us suggested we should enquire into buying a small microphone system. Our speaker spoke clearly but her tone was rather expressionless and became lost in the roof.It is difficult for the officers as well sometimes.Perhaps we could put some of our funds towards a lapel mike or apply for a grant.All the group activities which the WI hold are up and running for the autumn so we should be out of mischief for at least 3 months.
31st August
What a lot of reading has been going on this month! We started with discussion about Katharine McMahon's novel The Crimson Rooms which everyone had enjoyed.The plot was good, the location fairly local, the period within our parents' memory and the writing was atmospheric.We are still not sure of the endings of this author's novels as we tend to interpret them in different ways so we shall have to ask her about them when she comes to speak at the BFWI Literary Lunch next June.We also resumed talk about Wolf Hall which is so long that it takes everyone time to read but I think our group deserve praise for completing the book: an article in the Telegraph reported that only two out of 35 readers questioned had managed to do this! I don't know how they could stop reading and now we hear there is to be a sequel. Obviously the author is planning to kill Thomas Cromwell off after all. I thought she would never be able to release him. The book which we had all been supposed to have been reading was the Olive Readers by Aziz which is one of these post Armageddon sort of novels.Here opinion was divided between those who were fascinated by it and those that thought it was absolutely ridiculous. The general theme was that the possession or lack of water would define the world of the future which is probably true but all the submarine rocket ships and bubbly globes and flashing lights was too much for some of us. We had also read The Glass Room by Simon Mawer which was about a house in Czechoslovakia built for an artistic rich family with Jewish connections and what befell the building and the family through the World Wars up to the present day. It was beautifully written and well researched.Another recent publication was The Angel's Game by Zafon which is a Gothic novel, very dark and powerful and complicated but a real page-turner of a novel.
26th August
No wonder this county is famous for ducks! The County Show suffered the same fate as the BFWI did for the Stowe Garden Party except the mud was worse. The WI had a reasonable amount of room this year and the competition for a Celebration entry was eye-catching. There was plenty to see and do in the marquee. Our WI won no prizes but at least we did better than the 100 other WIs who never even tried. Unfortunately for the organising committee the attendance was only half that of last year but one presumes the losses can be set against other years.The Bucks County Show is said to be one of the best nationally so it would be a pity to lose it.
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