24th May
On perhaps the hottest day of the year so far the Home and Garden sub-committee had organised an outing to Woburn Abbey gardens. Even the deer in the park were standing in the lake or basking on the moist mud around its edges.The rhododendrons were in full flower and looked marvellous against a blue sky.Some people had visited the Abbey in the morning before joining the rest of the party to view the gardens.Members and friends enjoyed a brief introduction to the history of the estate and then a guided tour of the historic gardens.The staff were very accomplished speakers quite able to cope with a large group even in the open air. We could all hear and ask questions as we strolled among the ancient trees and beautiful flowers. Gradually the Duke and Duchess of Bedford are planning a return to the original lay-out of the gardens as designed by Humphrey Repton. We admired the re-vamped Chinese style dairy which was blissfully cool and then the camelia house. We discussed the modern sculptures showcased around the lawns.Everything looked wonderful in the sunshine and I think we all took advantage of a short rest in the shaded restaurant area with an iced drink or ice-cream to hand.It was a very enjoyable and informative day and we are now looking forward to another outing to the beautiful gardens at Upton House in October when the asters will be in full bloom.
22nd May
The local WI book group gathered together to discuss a selection of novels by Charles Dickens and some by a modern author Lesley Pearce. The reason why we were all reading something different was because there had been a slight hic-cup in the supply chain from the library.In some ways this was a good thing because it meant everyone had to introduce her own book.Dickens came off well as some members had been slightly put off reading other titles after studying a novel for examinations but now thought it worth having a go at another and one reader had downloaded many on to her kindle for holiday reading! Amongst the random selection was a biography of Phiz the illustrator for a lot of Dickens novels whose life story was a rags to riches and back again Victorian tale of its own.The novels by Lesley Pearce were enjoyed by those who read them although as they talked there was a recognisable theme, and plot sometimes, running through the stories.An interesting session but we are all back to the same title next month.
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Different menus
2nd May
A busy local WI day today. The rain held off for our morning sponsored walk on behalf of ACWW. Thirty members walked just under 4 miles around Winslow enjoying some historical details from our guide. Our numbers were swelled by 12 ladies from neighbouring WIs who joined us. We do not know yet how much money we have raised but it should be several hundred pounds to help this worthy group improve the lives of women all over the world.
In the evening Winslow WI celebrated 90 years of continuous existence with a special cake and wine. Of course we also discussed the resolution chosen to go up to the Albert Hall at the end of the month and we were pleased to welcome our delegate to the meeting.It was a close vote on whether we wanted to urge H.M. Government to increase the spending on training midwives because of the current and predicted rise in births in UK. It was thought that as cuts in the health service were unavoidable it was perhaps better to educate mothers away from the proposed scheme of 1:1 attention by midwives throughout labour which is beyond the reach of the midwives available---especially when nowadays they expect to have a family companion present at the birth who can call for help if needed.Aftercare was more important now when the stay in hospital was so short and this type of help need not be done by a trained midwife but by someone who could call on the hospital staff if difficulties arose.Nor was it thought necessary for midwives to be university graduates.
We spent quite a bit of time coming to grips with our new booking system for events and listened to a favourable report of the Annual Council Meeting. Plans for the dinner at the Players production on the Jubilee weekend are well advanced.The WI reputation for catering is at stake so we need to pull out all the stops for the occasion.
27th April
The Leisure and Performing Arts sub-committee hosted a Tapas Evening at Winslow which was very well attended.The Spanish food was provided by the local delicatessen and there were 4 sherries to taste in the course of the meal.In the background there was live guitar music and several members had made the effort to look suitably Spanish in their dress. I liked the printed explanations of what we were eating and information on the sherries.It was also appreciated that the event had come "up North" for a change---after all we have a good hall with a reasonable kitchen.
24th April
The Book Group met today We have been reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson which was very amusing and a witty novel.
It was a love story where the main characters were above the usual age for a romantic novel and cross cultures too. Everyone enjoyed the book and admitted that they would never have chosen it for themselves if it hadn't been presented at the group. We often find this and I think it is an important reason for setting up a book group.Some of the ironic throwaway comments about modern life made us laugh out loud and the characters were all completely believable. I hope we can find another title by the same author.
A busy local WI day today. The rain held off for our morning sponsored walk on behalf of ACWW. Thirty members walked just under 4 miles around Winslow enjoying some historical details from our guide. Our numbers were swelled by 12 ladies from neighbouring WIs who joined us. We do not know yet how much money we have raised but it should be several hundred pounds to help this worthy group improve the lives of women all over the world.
In the evening Winslow WI celebrated 90 years of continuous existence with a special cake and wine. Of course we also discussed the resolution chosen to go up to the Albert Hall at the end of the month and we were pleased to welcome our delegate to the meeting.It was a close vote on whether we wanted to urge H.M. Government to increase the spending on training midwives because of the current and predicted rise in births in UK. It was thought that as cuts in the health service were unavoidable it was perhaps better to educate mothers away from the proposed scheme of 1:1 attention by midwives throughout labour which is beyond the reach of the midwives available---especially when nowadays they expect to have a family companion present at the birth who can call for help if needed.Aftercare was more important now when the stay in hospital was so short and this type of help need not be done by a trained midwife but by someone who could call on the hospital staff if difficulties arose.Nor was it thought necessary for midwives to be university graduates.
We spent quite a bit of time coming to grips with our new booking system for events and listened to a favourable report of the Annual Council Meeting. Plans for the dinner at the Players production on the Jubilee weekend are well advanced.The WI reputation for catering is at stake so we need to pull out all the stops for the occasion.
27th April
The Leisure and Performing Arts sub-committee hosted a Tapas Evening at Winslow which was very well attended.The Spanish food was provided by the local delicatessen and there were 4 sherries to taste in the course of the meal.In the background there was live guitar music and several members had made the effort to look suitably Spanish in their dress. I liked the printed explanations of what we were eating and information on the sherries.It was also appreciated that the event had come "up North" for a change---after all we have a good hall with a reasonable kitchen.
24th April
The Book Group met today We have been reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson which was very amusing and a witty novel.
It was a love story where the main characters were above the usual age for a romantic novel and cross cultures too. Everyone enjoyed the book and admitted that they would never have chosen it for themselves if it hadn't been presented at the group. We often find this and I think it is an important reason for setting up a book group.Some of the ironic throwaway comments about modern life made us laugh out loud and the characters were all completely believable. I hope we can find another title by the same author.
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