Enjoyable talk by local author
PRESIDENT, Sue Wainwright, welcomed everyone to the July meeting of the Thorpe Acre WI that was held at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall on Tuesday the 9th. Four birthday cards were handed out this week, one of which went to Linda L., our Secretary.
As it was Linda’s actual birthday and a ‘milestone’ one at that, all the members gave an extra loud rendition of Happy Birthday. She did, however, decline the offer of ‘bumps’ as 21 would be a tad too many these days!
Linda read out an email from Anne Allison, a WI Advisor, thanking us for giving her a warm welcome at her last visit. After chatting with several members she went away a few ideas on what makes us a successful WI. She wished our Institute well in the future.
With only nine members at this month’s coffee morning at Acacia’s there was only a modicum of furniture rearrangement.
The coffee was delicious and one or two succumbed to a piece of cake. Hopefully, we’ll be going al fresco at the end of July when it’ll be Coffee in the Park.
The day of Sue W’s Strawberry Tea finally arrived. The weather was glorious with only the occasional wisp of a cloud coming between the sun and a tan. The scrumptious sandwiches and cakes were followed by mouth-watering bowls of strawberries and cream, all accompanied by copious amounts of tea.
The quiz entitled ‘Our Feathered Friends’ kept everyone scratching their heads. On the day, everyone thanked Sue for such a wonderful afternoon and this was reiterated at the meeting. We’re looking forward to the next one!
Two teams took part in this year’s Federation Quiz. Although neither team got into the first three both teams’ scores were in the mid-sixties. There were lots of groans and tuts as its funny how many answers you knew once told. Still the cakes made up for it!
Both Barbara and Gill enjoyed their visit to the Mosque in Leicester. They were made very welcome and learnt a lot about the religion. On the whole most people enjoyed their visit to Long Whatton Gardens.
With the details of our other jaunts finalised, Carole G. asked for names for the now annual trip to The Greyhound Racing in Nottingham sometime in September.
Those attending Lucy Worsley’s history of Queen Victoria at the Loughborough Town Hall thanked Julie D, our Culture Club organiser, for organising the visit. No-one was interested in any productions being offered at the Curve. She had prepared a list of upcoming productions at the Town Hall and would book tickets for any productions of interest. One or two were interested in Benjamin Zephaniah’s show, so tickets will be got for this.
Sue W. brought in further copies of a knitting pattern for making Christmas stockings, the theme for decorating our entrant into this year’s Christmas Tree Festival. Anne D. brought along a very pretty example she had prepared earlier.
The next 3W Workshop will be at the end of July. Linda L. reminded everyone that pins, hooks and needles will be rested until September.
Sue Y. gave an update on our progress in this year’s Federation Darts Competition. We won our last two matches against Barsby and Nanpantan WI’s, 5:2 and 7:0 respectively. On both occasions there were lots of laughs accompanied by cries of frustration as darts always seemed to go the wrong side of the wire! The next two matches are scheduled for the end of July.
Correspondence from WI House and National was placed at the front of the table for perusal during tea time. One of the items on offer was a session on Goldwork Techniques. To illustrate this, Sue W. brought in an example of goldwork that her late mother had made. It was absolutely stunning.
The Speaker for this evening was local author, David Bell. He gave a short introduction on how he became a full time writer after leaving teaching before going on to tell us about some of the ‘Ladies of Leicestershire’.
He took his subjects from all walks of life e.g Jane Flowers, one of the witches of Belvoir and the Lady Florence Dixie from Bosworth Hall and throughout time e.g. Lady Jane Grey, the nine day Queen from the 1500’s and Knighton’s Clare Hollingworth OBE, the war correspondent, who died in 2017 at the age of 105. Perhaps the most pertinent being the suffragette, Alice Hawkins.
It was a most enjoyable and informative hour. Sue Y. gave the vote of thanks saying that she had a personal interest in Clare Hollingworth as she was instrumental in getting her parents out of Germany during the Second World War.
Refreshments were served by Rosemary and Janet. The raffle prize was won by Pauline and Stefanie’s Sugarcraft table arrangement was won by Janet. Janice N. won the competition, with Jacqui coming 2nd and Sue Y., 3rd.
The next meeting will be on August 13, at 7.30pm at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall. Chris Watkins will be talking about ‘Embroidery with Prisoners’, a most intriguing title. I don’t think a sewing kit will be required but, as always, there will be a cuppa and a biscuit waiting just for you.