Mixing It Up

The women’s group wasn’t terribly exciting, but at least it was familiar. . .

I’M going to make my chocolate cake for next week,” Maisie said. “Oh, I love your chocolate cake,” Myra gushed. “You’re the best baker I know.”

Maisie flushed with pride. Everyone in the Women’s Guild loved her cakes. She produced one for their meeting every Tuesday.

“Don’t tell anyone I said this,” Myra confided, “but often the only reason I turn up is for your cakes. Some of the speakers are dire.”

Maisie had to agree, but the group was small and it was difficult to attract new members, and speakers were hard to come by.

Anyway, most of the members were happy with the way things were and didn’t want to change.

So it was a bit of a shock when Clare, their chairman, called them back to order after tea and cake and made an announcement.

“Ladies, next week we’ll be welcoming the women from Holiness Church to join us. Their building is going to be out of order for the next couple of months and there’s nowhere else they can meet.

“As their group meets on Tuesdays, I thought it made sense to invite them along.”

“I don’t know about that,” Connie Wilson said. “They’re God botherers, aren’t they? I go to church, but some of the stuff they get up to! They’re a completely different culture, too.”

“I think you’ll find they’re British,” Clare said drily.

“You know what I mean.” Connie flushed.

“You mean they have a West Indian heritage? Well, my background is German and I know Hetty’s father was Dutch.”

“I’m not racist,” Connie protested.

“I know you’re not,” Clare said gently. “It’s just that we’re being asked to change and we don’t really like to. Let’s just see how we get on, shall we?”

Although Maisie kept quiet, she had some misgivings, too. She liked the predictability of their meetings, seeing the same people and sharing the same experiences.

It wasn’t that she had anything against the women of Holiness Church, but she didn’t want to be shaken out of her oasis of calm.

She was wary of people who were enthusiastic about church. Church was meant to be conducted with decorum and propriety.

Maisie told her husband when she got home.

“It will be good for you,” he said from behind the clock he was stripping, parts strewn all over the table. “It’ll put a bit of go into all of you.”

She wasn’t too sure about that.

The following Tuesday Maisie turned up at the Guild feeling apprehensive.

It was louder than usual when she walked in, but that was because there were so many more people. The visiting women looked cheerful and colourful, and one by one they began to introduce themselves.

Clare called them to order then welcomed the group from the church.

“Now, ladies, I’m not sure how you usually begin your meetings –”

“We like to sing,” one of them piped up.

“Er, we start with the weekly notices, then Helen is going to speak to us about her trip to Norway.”

The church ladies didn’t seem too upset that they couldn’t begin with a song. Nor did they look bored with Helen’s talk, and Helen could go on a bit, Maisie reflected.

Afterwards they all had tea and cake.

“This cake is amazing,” one of the visitors said. “Who made it?”

“Maisie did.” Myra pointed her out.

“Hello, I’m Clemmie,” the woman said. “Can I have the recipe?”

“Of course.” Maisie was taken aback and pleased with the compliment.

“I like to bake, but my thing is quilting, really,” Clemmie said.

“I love quilting!” Connie exclaimed and she and Clemmie got caught up in a conversation about their hobby.

“Before we all leave,” Clare said at the end, “the ladies of Holiness Church would like to sing a closing prayer. I think it’s only fair, as they’ve done what we normally do all afternoon.”

The Guild members were silent as the visitors stood up and sang, clapped, danced and generally had a good time.

“Well, that was different,” Myra said as they were drifting away at the end. “I hope they’re not going to try to convert us. I go to my church and I’m perfectly happy with it.”

The Holiness Church ladies sang again the next week, at the beginning as well as at the end.

It was very nice, but it wasn’t Guild as they knew it. It required effort to get to know a batch of new people, although they were nice enough, and Maisie suspected some of the new women were finding it just as difficult to mix.

“What if they try to take over?” Myra echoed her concerns as they listened to the singing. “They’re so exuberant they might overwhelm us.”

“Look at Connie.” Maisie nudged Myra.

Connie was on her feet dancing and clapping along with the church women. A lot of the Guild members had smiles on their faces.

Maisie felt even more concerned as Clare made an

announcement that the following week Clemmie would be giving a demonstration and a talk on West Indian cooking.

“Beats tea towels of the county,” Connie said to Maisie as she twirled out of the room.

“I don’t know how I feel about Guild tomorrow,” Maisie confided in her husband again as she set out the ingredients to bake a coffee and walnut sponge along with a batch of muffins. “It’s changing.”

“For the better?” Jack asked.

That was just it. She couldn’t say she hated the changes, but it was hard sometimes to let go of the familiar for something new.

She shrugged, unable to answer sensibly.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “Those women sound like a breath of fresh air.”

“But can we really mix together?”

Maisie tied on her apron and put her ingredients into the mixing bowl. She turned on the food processor, but nothing happened.

“Jack, why isn’t this working?” she asked.

He examined the mixer, took the fuse out of the plug and replaced it. Still nothing.

“It’s very old. You’ve had it for years. It must be broken,” he said finally. Maisie sighed.

“I guess I’ll have to do it by hand.” She looked for a spoon to start creaming the butter and sugar.

Something happened as she mixed the ingredients together. She was really mixing it up instead of leaving it to a machine, connecting with making a cake in a way she hadn’t done for ages. It was deeply satisfying.

“You’ve gone very quiet,” Jack said after a while. “I’m thinking.” Ingredients were all edible alone, but better when they were mixed together to make something delicious.

“I’m looking forward to Clemmie’s talk tomorrow,” she finally said with a smile. Who knows, she might even join in the singing. n