29 October
The local WI Craft Group has come to the end of a series of sessions doing cross-stitch. There are some impressive projects still to be completed but now there is a change of subject. Six members gathered today to learn or re-discover crochet. Abilities ranged from beginners to the very proficient. There are more people interested in joining the group but half-term rather affected the numbers attending this first session.We hope to take in reading knitting patterns as well because there are quite a few knitters who can do all the stitches but have difficulty following a pattern.These meetings have a very pleasant atmosphere because one helps another and it doesn't matter if anyone comes along just to do any craft in company with others: we share in the talk and a cup of tea.
24 October
A nasty morning weatherwise so about 40 WI members from across the County were pleased to meet in Milton Keynes to learn how to start to set up a family tree. The tutors were excellent and their presentations were easy to see and understand.They talked us through from buying soft pencils and index cards to consulting census forms and deciphering parish registers.The questions were all answered and talk over lunch was all about "lost" past family members and strange family myths which were either proved absolutely wrong or had become embellished over the years.We are now capable of finding skeletons in cupboards and broad-minded enough to acknowledge them. It worries me that the present mores of society are going to make it extremely difficult for future generations to trace their families when everyone is able to play fast and loose with registering names of children and changing partners frequently.The displays of examples of family records were good too. I for one am now determined to organise the bits of paper with dates and names on which I have been storing in old envelopes in "important drawers" about the house and consult the many websites which Betty and Brian recommended to us. You never know, I might find someone famous among my ancestors...but I don't think that is very likely.You missed an enjoyable day if you weren't there!
23 October
Confusion worse confounded today! Our WI Book Group met to discuss "Started early, Took my Dog" by Kate Atkinson.This is one of her novels featuring the detective Jackson Brodie; I think my favourite sleuth. The plot is so finely woven that quite a few of us finished reading not sure how we had missed a vital link and had to start again. The fact that we wanted to do this is a compliment to the writing. The characters are well drawn and the jokes and puns are really funny. The comment on society is spot on although rather unsettling as there are crooked police officers and social workers and businessmen...At the moment, what's new? So we pooled our ideas and we think we have cracked it! It is well worth reading. The novel is set in Yorkshire with lots of references to well-known abbeys and Betty's Tearooms so a must for the Bucks WI members just returned from holiday in Skipton.
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Making oneself heard
15 October
Another busy day for the local WI because the craft group met in the afternoon and then our WI was the hostess for the Group meeting. The craft people held their final cross-stitch session before changing to crochet for a few weeks. There are quite a few ambitious tapestry projects started and we have gained a lot from our own member's excellent tuition.
The speaker at the Group meeting was Malcolm Singer who has enjoyed a long career with the BBC and still presents programmes for local radio.Luckily, in today's climate, he had few associations with television. He reminded us of the good old days when the classic comedy radio shows were going out on the air in the fifties and sixties and told us about the difficulties encountered with outside broadcasts of concerts from places like the Stables at Wavendon before its conversion to a state-of-the-arts theatre.We also enjoyed a good moan about the shutting down of much local radio and the growth of these pointless phone-in programmes.The reports from the other WIs were very interesting and it was noticeable how busy everyone had been in the village communities, doing their bit for the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics.
10 October
Today the Bucks Federation arranged an Autumn event in High Wycombe Town Hall at which Lynda Bellingham was the guest speaker. It was a sell-out because Lynda is a local girl and she has appeared in the Calendar Girls productions.She is a very gifted public speaker, never refering to notes and perfectly at ease with questions which led her into interesting digressions. I wonder whether anyone thought to tell her that at least one of the teachers she mentioned from the Aylesbury High School could have been in the audience, as she used to be a very active WI member.Lynda talked about adoption and the attitude towards young girls in the theatre in her early years when verbal and physical abuse were thought of as an easy source of laughs. She probably did more for members' awareness of the WI campaign against Violence against Women than any article in WI Life. Lynda's autobiography was selling like hot cakes afterwards and I do recommend that you read it, if you or any member of your family was about Aylesbury while she was growing up in Aston Abbots.
In the evening the local WI Discussion Group met to talk about the set theme of Driving.Love it or hate it we all have to do quite a bit of driving in our everyday lives.So we heard of experiences on driving tests,road accidents, the idiosyncrases of Sat-Nav, comparisons with practices abroad: the state of the roads also came up for comment.We discussed schemes to cut down on traffic but no one could come up with a way of crossing through Aylesbury in less than 35 minutes.
3 October
I don't know how I missed writing about our local WI's meeting when we were entertained by a lovely young lady demonstrating hula-hoop dance. She was wonderfully supple and a living example of the benefits of this type of exercise.Hula-hoop dancing is a cross between gymnastics and the dance of the seven veils! It wasn't long before people were getting up and having a go with the hoops that Janine Haynes had brought to the hall.Apparently a few minutes a day of exercising with a hoop is relaxing and burns off the calories so perhaps we should take it up in earnest.Members were also encouraged to nominate others to the committee and consider standing themselves. Our entry for the Big Walk, Little Splash competition has gone up for judging in the Bucks Federation so we are waiting to hear whether it has been successful and chosen to progress into the NFWI competition.
Another busy day for the local WI because the craft group met in the afternoon and then our WI was the hostess for the Group meeting. The craft people held their final cross-stitch session before changing to crochet for a few weeks. There are quite a few ambitious tapestry projects started and we have gained a lot from our own member's excellent tuition.
The speaker at the Group meeting was Malcolm Singer who has enjoyed a long career with the BBC and still presents programmes for local radio.Luckily, in today's climate, he had few associations with television. He reminded us of the good old days when the classic comedy radio shows were going out on the air in the fifties and sixties and told us about the difficulties encountered with outside broadcasts of concerts from places like the Stables at Wavendon before its conversion to a state-of-the-arts theatre.We also enjoyed a good moan about the shutting down of much local radio and the growth of these pointless phone-in programmes.The reports from the other WIs were very interesting and it was noticeable how busy everyone had been in the village communities, doing their bit for the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics.
10 October
Today the Bucks Federation arranged an Autumn event in High Wycombe Town Hall at which Lynda Bellingham was the guest speaker. It was a sell-out because Lynda is a local girl and she has appeared in the Calendar Girls productions.She is a very gifted public speaker, never refering to notes and perfectly at ease with questions which led her into interesting digressions. I wonder whether anyone thought to tell her that at least one of the teachers she mentioned from the Aylesbury High School could have been in the audience, as she used to be a very active WI member.Lynda talked about adoption and the attitude towards young girls in the theatre in her early years when verbal and physical abuse were thought of as an easy source of laughs. She probably did more for members' awareness of the WI campaign against Violence against Women than any article in WI Life. Lynda's autobiography was selling like hot cakes afterwards and I do recommend that you read it, if you or any member of your family was about Aylesbury while she was growing up in Aston Abbots.
In the evening the local WI Discussion Group met to talk about the set theme of Driving.Love it or hate it we all have to do quite a bit of driving in our everyday lives.So we heard of experiences on driving tests,road accidents, the idiosyncrases of Sat-Nav, comparisons with practices abroad: the state of the roads also came up for comment.We discussed schemes to cut down on traffic but no one could come up with a way of crossing through Aylesbury in less than 35 minutes.
3 October
I don't know how I missed writing about our local WI's meeting when we were entertained by a lovely young lady demonstrating hula-hoop dance. She was wonderfully supple and a living example of the benefits of this type of exercise.Hula-hoop dancing is a cross between gymnastics and the dance of the seven veils! It wasn't long before people were getting up and having a go with the hoops that Janine Haynes had brought to the hall.Apparently a few minutes a day of exercising with a hoop is relaxing and burns off the calories so perhaps we should take it up in earnest.Members were also encouraged to nominate others to the committee and consider standing themselves. Our entry for the Big Walk, Little Splash competition has gone up for judging in the Bucks Federation so we are waiting to hear whether it has been successful and chosen to progress into the NFWI competition.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Pens,jars and books
8th October
Ten apprehensive WI members met together this morning at Stuart Lodge, High Wycombe for a Writers' Workshop under the tutorship of Jan Moran Neil.We had been warned to expect writing exercises, group discussion and brainstorming as well as reading our own words so it wasn't really surprising that we were feeling nervous. The theme was to be our personal memory box and how to use it for writing not only our memoirs but also for background experience if any of us was contemplating writing a novel.With Jan's sympathetic approach to all our fears, we were soon scribbling away and listening to what others had written. It wasn't a time for in-depth literary criticism, more an opportunity to draw out thoughts that had been pushed to the back of our minds but needed organising. Where do I begin? Who am I writing for? Why do I want to write this anyway? The hours passed very quickly and although it was exceedingly tiring I think we all enjoyed the course.Jan runs courses and day schools at Missenden Abbey and in Beaconsfield so some of our October scribblers are thinking of joining in one of these.So you never know perhaps the next shades of grey bestseller might come from a Bucks WI member.
We did have time to express our indignation at the latest dictum from the EU banning the re-use of jamjars for home-made preserves for sale on stalls and Farmers' Markets.Come on National! We won on the silly ban on cakes so please make sure this is laughed out of court. Where does one buy small quantities of new jam jars? Preserving jars, yes but ordinary jars come in bulk and the average WI member doesn't deal in gross. Perhaps the EU is not aware that part of the production process for jams and marmalade is scalding the jars to sterilize them.
4th October
A lot of local endeavour this week has been spent on preparing a promotional WI display board and publicity stand to support the town players' production of Calendar Girls. This was staged for 3 nights and was a sell-out on all three. It was a really good production, very slick and well done.We were pleased to be asked to come along because it is still a wonderful advertisement for the WI even though we are often asked whether stripping is part of being a WI member. We were pleased to have also another opportunity to gather signatures for our community bid with the Town Council for an Outdoor Fitness Centre in the town.We have hundreds of signatures now and hope that we will be successful.
26th September
Another interesting meeting of the Book Group after reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Some members had seen the film too but nearly everyone had enjoyed reading the novel. The subject was distressing: the intense divide between black and white in the American South which featured in our newspapers in the 1960s but the author's treatment of it was sympathetic and witty. It is one of those books where one moment the reader is laughing out loud and the next close to tears.It was very effective to have 3 characters telling the story in their own accents which one could hear across the script.The cruelty and insensitivity exhibited so recently in that society is hard to believe but as one of the characters says "It was taught and passed down from parent to child." The lines were drawn and no one dared to cross them.
Ten apprehensive WI members met together this morning at Stuart Lodge, High Wycombe for a Writers' Workshop under the tutorship of Jan Moran Neil.We had been warned to expect writing exercises, group discussion and brainstorming as well as reading our own words so it wasn't really surprising that we were feeling nervous. The theme was to be our personal memory box and how to use it for writing not only our memoirs but also for background experience if any of us was contemplating writing a novel.With Jan's sympathetic approach to all our fears, we were soon scribbling away and listening to what others had written. It wasn't a time for in-depth literary criticism, more an opportunity to draw out thoughts that had been pushed to the back of our minds but needed organising. Where do I begin? Who am I writing for? Why do I want to write this anyway? The hours passed very quickly and although it was exceedingly tiring I think we all enjoyed the course.Jan runs courses and day schools at Missenden Abbey and in Beaconsfield so some of our October scribblers are thinking of joining in one of these.So you never know perhaps the next shades of grey bestseller might come from a Bucks WI member.
We did have time to express our indignation at the latest dictum from the EU banning the re-use of jamjars for home-made preserves for sale on stalls and Farmers' Markets.Come on National! We won on the silly ban on cakes so please make sure this is laughed out of court. Where does one buy small quantities of new jam jars? Preserving jars, yes but ordinary jars come in bulk and the average WI member doesn't deal in gross. Perhaps the EU is not aware that part of the production process for jams and marmalade is scalding the jars to sterilize them.
4th October
A lot of local endeavour this week has been spent on preparing a promotional WI display board and publicity stand to support the town players' production of Calendar Girls. This was staged for 3 nights and was a sell-out on all three. It was a really good production, very slick and well done.We were pleased to be asked to come along because it is still a wonderful advertisement for the WI even though we are often asked whether stripping is part of being a WI member. We were pleased to have also another opportunity to gather signatures for our community bid with the Town Council for an Outdoor Fitness Centre in the town.We have hundreds of signatures now and hope that we will be successful.
26th September
Another interesting meeting of the Book Group after reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Some members had seen the film too but nearly everyone had enjoyed reading the novel. The subject was distressing: the intense divide between black and white in the American South which featured in our newspapers in the 1960s but the author's treatment of it was sympathetic and witty. It is one of those books where one moment the reader is laughing out loud and the next close to tears.It was very effective to have 3 characters telling the story in their own accents which one could hear across the script.The cruelty and insensitivity exhibited so recently in that society is hard to believe but as one of the characters says "It was taught and passed down from parent to child." The lines were drawn and no one dared to cross them.
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