We had a lovely evening. Elise gave a very interesting account of her life, travels and career. Her enthusiasm and her many activities inspired and amused us all.
Fiona talked about jury service she had undertaken during the summer and Jacque told us about her sister’s 100th birthday. The group then discussed topics for the 2024 programme.
We were delighted to have Mike Priaulx from the Islington Swift group to tell all about swifts. These are endangered birds that migrate from sub-Saharan Africa to Britain and across Northern Europe/Asia/Russia. Such interesting information also, such as when they are not nesting they are in a constant state of flight. They even sleep and mate on the wing! We were told about Swift boxes and tips in general what we can do for swifts and other birds. For further information checkout Facebook – Haringey Swifts Group / Islington Swifts Group, http://www.islingtonswifts.wordpress.com, Swift Conservation and RSPB Swift Mapper
We had a chance to learn about the history and operation of our local brewers, the Muswell Hillbilly Brewers. We also had an opportunity to taste a range of their products which brewed in small batches using locally sourced ingredients including N10 hops! This session went well an encouraged some of our members to visit their taproom in Muswell Hill, a summer pop taproom is also available in Palmers Green.
The AGM was overseen by Liz Morrell from Middlesex Federation WI. The current committee was re-elected with the same roles. Gill is also taking on the role of Vice President. Members were also encouraged to support the committee when needed.
There was a flower arranging competition with the displays presented in a jam jar with flowers picked locally (from your own garden or a friends) and not purchased. Congratulations to Ching for her winning display. We all tested our knowledge with the Cornation quiz. This was followed by some bubbly and a Cornation cake made by June.
We were very pleased that Richard Kaplan, a local beekeeper, rescued this event when the original speakers could not attend. Richard, at his first speaking event, gave a fun and informative talk on beekeeping.
June Lewis arranged for Gay and Caroline from the North London Motor Neurone Disease Association to tell us about the nature of the disease and how they help those suffering from it. Our President, Rosemary presented a cheque for £250.
Oonagh Gay gave us a fascinating talk about famous women who lived in or around Crouch End. They included politicians, musicians, entertainers, writers and many more!
Oonagh also gives guided walks to see the places related to the women she had been talking about and hear more about them in the appropriate settings. As the response from members was so positive a walk for members has been arranged for Saturday 17th June at 11:00 am. A sign-up sheet will be available at the April meeting. As the cost per person is dependent on the number of participants this will be confirmed when this is finalised.
Delicious cake from June was served with the cuppa!
At our last meeting we had an evening of light verse with Catherine Osborn. Catherine shared her observations on relationships, politics and travelling on public transport with humour and affection.
Catherine was also impressed with all the things we get up to at the WI! Perhaps she will write a light verse about us!!
It was a fun evening, and thanks to Chris for the delicious cakes!
A new year already! This month we discussed the WI resolutions. Each resolution was presented by one of our members. The resolutions were:
The resolution with the most votes was ‘Online gambling harm’
Diane and Gill also gave interesting feedback on recent Denman courses they attended. Perhaps not the best promotional feedback but did keep us amused!
The charity knitting continues to flourish and will restart on 10th January. There is also an opportunity to support premature babies at the Royal Free and Barnet Hospitals by knitting Orange hats. Patterns and yarn available for those interested.
We had a lovely evening with guessing games, quizzes, charades, a reading of The Twelve Days of Christmas as rewritten by John Julius and a raffle with wonderful prizes from local shops. Of course there was mulled wine and mince pies to round off the evening.
Many thanks to Loraine Reed for leading the craft Christmas star craft activity. There was lots of fun choosing beads to make the stars. Eliza provided an amazing selection of cakes for the evening to go with the tea. A lovely evening was had.
This was a lovely meeting hearing from two members. Jane Stevens talked about her career mainly in education both the public and private sector and the number of changes she has seen and developed over the years and continues to do so.
Nina Jewell talked about her background, working as an accountant and living in Malaysia and Vietnam for a number of years when her husband was posted to those places. A very different lifestyle from living in England!
It was an enjoyable time together and a good way to know a bit more about one another – whose turn next year?
Trip to Herne Bay
October also saw four members taking a trip to Reculver Beacon WI in Herne Bay. The group received a very warm welcome and enjoyed a lovely buffet lunch. The ‘Cobble Together’ activity kept everyone busy. More tea followed before the trip back to London.
We were delighted that Stella Dadzie, an educationalist, activist, writer and historian was able to speak at our September meeting. She sympathetically told the stories of women slaves and their struggles to make life a bit more tolerable. Seldom heard, these stories deserve to be told. Stella’s latest book title is A Kick In The Belly – Women Slavery And Resistance.
We had a delightful evening at Hornsey Bowls Club. Some members had bowled before but to most it was an introduction to a new sport with new terminology and some pretty impressive shots. Rosemary made some lovely scones (with the trimmings) which were enjoyed afterwards with tea in the evening sun.
Dawn Willey from The Handweavers in Seven Sisters gave an informative talk and demonstration on hand weaving.
We held our AGM with our WI Advisor Yvette Rathbone officiating from the Middlesex Federation along with Fiona Doyle a WI Trainee Advisor. Thanks to the committee for their work over the year and continuing to stand for another year. After the official business members were treated to a glass of prosecco and a slice of cake made by June. Members also told their stories of an experience with royalty. Congratulations to Ching for winning the make a lanyard competition. Thanks to everyone who took part, it was a fabulous evening!
Jenny Kruss was in attendance to discuss MHDHS. The society was founded in 1912 and continues to flourish with the only requirement being to love gardens or gardening. They hold three annual shows during the year, social events and day trips. There are also affiliated groups in Highgate and Finchley along with National Garden Scheme (NGS) which opens gardens for charity in London and across the country. Jenny also answered our gardening questions.
Make-up artists are often asked to solve unexpected problems when they are working. We joined Rosemarie Swinfield on a light-hearted journey through her long career working in photography, film, commercials and theatre. We heard her stories of working with top models and actors with all the challenging and often hilarious things that can happen. Rosemarie has made up many famous people but also babies, tables, plants, dummy figures and even ten fingers dressed up as people. A make-up artist’s role is often so much more than slapping on make-up so join Rosemarie and learn what the job really involves.’
Gill announced our lanyard the competition for the AGM in May.
Ching provided an update from the charity knitting group which continues to focus on making items for people with dementia. Recent donations have been made to the Homerton and Barnet Hospitals.
As requested by members the committee organised first aid training which was held in person at CUFOS. This was basic training to help us to know what to do if we are ’first at the scene’ for an accident inside or outside the home. Ben covered a range of first aid treatments.
It was decided to hold our first meeting of 2022 by Zoom. By tradition we discuss the WI resolutions every January, albeit in a pub. This meeting started with a briefing from Heulwen on the current resolution regarding cervical cancer. This was very informative and Heulwen was keen to follow up on this further. The resolutions discussed were very interesting and the different resolutions proposed covered a range of interests. Members spoke on one or more of the proposals. Diane, as a solicitor, made a number of constructive contributions based on experiences of the law. Sally made a made the point that it was important to consider how a campaign on a particular topic might work in practice. The majority vote was for ‘Appropriate sentencing of non-violent women offenders.
We had a lovely Christmas party which included a quiz (who thinks of these questions!), bingo and a raffle with great prizes from the Everyman Muswell Hill, North&Ten and WMartyn Tea & Coffee Specialist. Members enjoyed mulled wine and homemade mince tarts. A great evening and start to the festive season.
The Alexandra Women's Institute 