One of the pleasures of WI is the social activities organised by various groups. On Thursday 26 October, Naunton Beauchamp held a group meeting and presented Chloe the Midnight Storyteller. Chloe was a lovely vivacious lady who continues the tradition of storytelling with stories old and new. Jo & I went and were thoroughly entertained by the telling of her tales. The ladies of Naunton Beauchamp also provided supper of soup and bread - gorgeous home made soup. We both helped ourselves to lashings of soup and bread. Oops ....... we hadn't realised that the evening was ending with coffee and a huge selection of home made chocolates. Each table had a plate of 12 chocolates - enough for 2 each on a table of 6. Did I say that Jo & I were the only ones on our table but still had a plate of 12. Well what's a girl to do? So yes, we did ... we ate all 12! But there was still loads of chocolates left and we did refuse when they came round offering more chocolates .....
Our second WITCH session was decoupage on glass. This was a lovely evening with everyone working away and creating some lovely pieces of work. Many were surprised at the effect you could get with quite simple things and the best thing is this really is a craft where you can use things you have already got at home; well perhaps you might need to buy some craft glue.
5 of us went to this year's ACM at the 3 Counties Showground.
The meeting started with an uplifting rendition of Jerusalem. Business followed then we had a short presentation by Richard Tomkinson; Richard is the owner of Rosebank Vineyard where the grapes for the WFWI Centenary wine were grown. He gave an informed account of how the wine came to be made. Bottles of the wine were on sale (& we have bought some bottles ready for our own celebrations in 2018!). The morning finished with a talk by Ben Cooper, an antique dealer who is frequently on Bargain Hunt. He gave an entertaining talk on his working life and his involvement with Bargain Hunt. During the lunch break, we had an opportunity to marvel at the fabulous entries in the various competitions and buy home made crafts and produce. Now Prue Leith had been booked as the guest speaker for the afternoon and many of us were looking forward to hear her talk; so it was such a shame that she had had to cancel at short notice! However, despite this short notice another speaker had been found to entertain us - Alison Sharman. Her CV was an impressive one including being the Controller BBC 1 Daytime. She had been instrumental in bring to our screens such delights as Masterchef, Bargain Hunt, Tipping Point to name but a few. She explained how she became interested in food and cooking, how her involvement in the various programmes came about. Her work has clearly been a mission of love and inspiration. Finally after the presentation of prizes and a singing of the National Anthem, we went along our way home. Our October meeting was a Harvest Celebration. It was a members only evening where we enjoyed a Harvest Celebration Supper prepared by Helping Hands. A delicious 2 course meal taking advantage of locally sourced seasonal produce included a seasonal vegetable filo pie, with an alternative chicken in wine dish, followed by a seasonal fruit salad and superb apple pie. All very tasty and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. After the supper, we had a knock-out conker competition; an elimination game which ultimately led to a ‘one hit showdown’. Unfortunately after several rounds of successful knock-outs, there was no final one hit champion so the competition was drawn. Here we all are waiting for our celebration to start! |
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