Thursday, 12 April 2012

Small isn't always beautiful

11th April
A very small group of local WI members met this evening for the monthly discussion. This time the subject was "gadgets": what constitutes something termed a gadget? Do gadgets become items of universal usage and therefore just tools or equipment? Women's gadgets seem to be in the kitchen whereas those that appeal to males revolve around the car or they are electronic devices or executive toys.A lot of fun was had describing gadgets which actually caused more hassle than the simple method used for years.There is something derogatory in the word gadget. Of course we digressed into the causes of domestic friction when the males presumed control of the remote for the TV--inborn technical superiority---and in the car when perhaps the coming of satnav systems will reinforce the refusal to wind down the window and ask directions.

6th-9th April
The WI had been invited to have a stall at the Love Food, Hate Waste Chiltern Food Fair at Great Missenden. It was a pity we were not to enjoy the earlier good weather: it was wet and cold even under canvas but still people turned out to graze their way around the stalls. The WI was promoting the new range of WI foods and the latest recipe books published in 2012.The public still think of the WI as jam and cake makers.We were out to attract new members too.It is always pleasant to talk to others but is quite difficult to smile and appear enthusiastic when one's lost contact with one's feet and is beginning to hallucinate about cups of tea from a proper cup or a hot rum toddy.There will have to be better publicity about WI foods because no one knew anything about it and no one had seen it on sale in the few Waitrose stores which actually stock it.Such a pity! The jams are gorgeous but the labelling is so embracing that the colour cannot be seen; the flours are good but are unable to compete for price with in-store brands.If we are trading on the WI's reputation for good food, we need to hype up the product, be more aggressive in the market or we will be ignored.WI members need to buy the stuff themselves and demand it from the stores which do not offer it on their shelves.It is good stuff but we as members must buy it and promote it to create a platform for its sale outside the WI, otherwise it will fail. It's war out there on the shop floor.

22nd March
One member of the local WI Book Group pointed out this afternoon that we had never before spent so long discussing a book as we did today. The novel under scrutiny was "Room" by Sue Donaghue which is not a factual account of a real event but is vaguely based on those horrifying stories of women abducted and kept prisoner for years in the power of some perverted individual. However, this story was told through the eyes of a five year old child born under these circumstances into a world which was just one small room.One approached this novel with some apprehension thinking it was going to be too distressing but although one couldn't say one enjoyed it, it was an unforgettable book to read---so well written, so original and so thought-provoking. We requested the set through the County Library with little hope of getting it because it was so recently published but it arrived very quickly.All credit to the library for spotting a title which would be in demand. If you are part of a reading group, we all recommend it to you.

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