All posts by Angela Smith

November 2016

During November we held our lunch outing at The Wheatsheaf, Perry, where we have come to expect a warm welcome and delicious food and were not disappointed.

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In December many of our members will be meeting for a Christmas celebration lunch at The Dolphin in St Ives.

At our meeting on 16th November our past President Rosie Blencowe provided the materials and instructions for us to have a go at making decorative gift boxes. Not something we had tried before but it provided us with a useful skill, gave the opportunity for a lot of lively chatter and was great fun! Thank you Rosie.

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Our December meeting, to be held on Wednesday 21st, should help everyone get in the Christmas spirit as it will be a relaxing social evening during which we will have a Christmas quiz, a raffle, our choir will entertain us and we will join together for some carol singing, all accompanied by seasonal refreshments.

The Choir is busy rehearsing for the 12th December when they will be singing at the Bethany Francis care home in St Neots, followed on the 17th by their participation in the Papworth Hospital concert at Ely Cathedral.

The 18th January meeting will again feature Rosie as she will be completing her entertaining talk about the colourful life of Napoleon’s sister Pauline, followed by the opportunity for us all to celebrate the New Year with her delicious Panettone. Early this year she intrigued us with part 1 of her talk about Pauline so we are keen to hear ‘what happened next …..?’

October 2016

Firstly a big Thank You to Allan Moore who organised members of the Community Rehabilitation Team to plant the large number of daffodil bulbs, donated by members, around the centre of the village. It makes us think of Springtime already!

The October lunch at Slepe Hall, St Ives, provided us with the opportunity to celebrate Ruth’s 90th birthday. Ruth has been a WI member and past President over many decades and, having moved here in 2001, was one of the founder members of this Papworth WI.

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The November lunch will take place at The Wheatsheaf, Perry, on 10th November followed by a Christmas lunch at The Dolphin in St Ives on 8th December.

Geoff Heathcock, Chairman of the Cambridge branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, came to our monthly meeting to talk about their voluntary work raising funds to enable the RNLI to continue their valuable sea and flood rescue and evacuation tasks throughout the British Isles. It is thought-provoking to realise that all their equipment and the safety of those being rescued depends on a charitable organisation that does not receive a penny of help from the Government.

Geoff Heathcock
Geoff Heathcock

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Our next meeting on 16th November, organised by Rosie, is a bit of a mystery. Entitled ‘Boxes’, everyone has been asked to bring scissors, pencil and a ruler. We are not a regular ‘crafty’ branch of the WI, nor even a ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ one, but from time to time we do like to give (almost!) anything a go.

The Choir is busy rehearsing for their part in a ‘Christmas Cracker’ on 9th December in Shelford which is open to members of the Cambridge Federation of WIs. Then on 12th December they will be singing at a care home in St Neots, followed on the 17th by their contribution to the Papworth Hospital concert at Ely Cathedral. A busy time of year.

The December 21st meeting is a member’s Social Evening which should give us all the opportunity to relax before the start of the Christmas festivities.

September 2016

 

Early in the month there was a dining out evening at the Golden Ball in Boxworwth then, following on from his talk to us at the WI Group Meeting in June, a small group of us recently took Jeffery Archer up on his offer for us to visit the sculpture garden at his home in the the Old Vicarage at Grantchester.   We were warmly welcomed by the housekeeper who, to our surprise and delight, had prepared fresh coffee and a delicious coffee sponge for us.  She introduced us to the history of the Old Vicarage, which includes of course the period when Rupert Brooke was lodging there, then having been warned about some slippery locations in the gardens we were left to wander around as we wished.  

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Afterwards we strolled along to the nearby Orchard cafe on Grantchester Meadows for lunch.  A memorable day for us all.

Lunch at the Orchard Cafe
Lunch at the Orchard Cafe

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Following our summer break there was a good turnout for the monthly meeting on the 21st. After the usual welcoming refreshments and the business reports the meeting was formally closed so that our speaker, Kerry Botha, could talk to us about the background of the Forever Living company which focusses on the farming of Aloe Vera plants and the production of associated wellbeing and beauty merchandise. Several members are already keen users of some of the featured products but there seemed to be mixed feelings about actually drinking those aimed at improving inner digestive health! Kerry finished by offering members the opportunity to order items from her.

Kerry Botha
Kerry Botha

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Members have donated a large number of daffodil bulbs which will soon be planted around the centre of the village so that everyone can enjoy them next Spring. 

The October lunch will be taking place at Slepe Hall, St Ives and the next meeting will be held on 19th October when, in a change to the original programme, Geoff Heathcock will be talking about the work of the RNLI. It is hoped that Geoff Lambert will be telling us about Medical Detection Dogs at a later date.

August 2016

 

Early in the month about 20 members enjoyed meeting for a chat and a fantastic Bring-and-Share summer lunch at Jenny’s home.  There are obviously some very talented cooks among our membership!   A lot of hard work but a worthwhile outcome.  Thank you Jenny for your hospitality and thanks too to the backroom helpers setting it up, clearing away and, as ever, washing up. 

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On the 5th a group of 15 WI members were given a tour of Ely Cathedral by a local historian. The Cathedral was built in 1109 but over the centuries much has happened on the site.  Parts of the present building are 900 years old, but the original building took 300 years to fully construct and has seen sections collapse, defaced and replaced.  After the tour the group  enjoyed lunch in the Almonry Restaurant before some of the them returned to the Lady Chapel to see Dance Divine from The Octagon Studios perform their own interpretation of popular and classical music.  It was a beautiful and relaxing day and they even managed to get a glimpse of a wedding in the Cathedral before they headed for lunch.

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July 2016

A relatively quiet month compared to that for June. This time the monthly lunch was held at the George and Dragon, Elsworth, then in August we will be gathering for a bring-and-share lunch at a member’s house.

Enjoying lunch.....
Enjoying lunch…..

 

 

 

 

 

... and dessert........
… and dessert……..
... at the George and Dragon.
… at the George and Dragon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The monthly meeting in July coincided with the 9th birthday of the formation of Papworth W.I. so Pimms, soft drinks and nibbles were offered in addition to our usual teas and coffees. We were joined by visitors from other local W.I.s and were entertained by Kathleen Dogget whose talk and demonstration was entitled ‘Flowers and Fun’. While she was creating three beautiful floral arrangements she told us about her training and experiences in floral art. She emphasised the importance of pre-conditioning the foliage and flowers used for floral arrangements and gave valuable tips on what garden plants are particularly useful. Her skill and enthusiasm for her subject were self evident. To top it all she donated her floral arrangements to the raffle so three lucky members had the pleasure of enjoying them at home.

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On the 27th several of our members enjoyed the Annual Summer Garden Party organised by Yelling W.I. .  The sun shone, the birds sang and the gardens surrounding the thatched cottage were an absolute picture – no doubt after a lot of hard work!  The usual plant, book and bric-a-brac stalls were kept busy and to crown it all the teas and large selection of home-made cakes that we were served were absolutely delicious.  

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In early August there is a group visit to Ely Cathedral then, as we do not hold a meeting that month, our next meeting will be held on 21st September when Kerry Botha will be showing Forever Living beauty and wellness products that feature Aloe Vera as a key ingredient. The September ‘lunch’ will be a dining out evening at the Golden Ball in Boxworth and, following his talk to us in June, a visit to Geoffrey Archer’s sculpture garden will be taking place later in the month.

Members are being asked to bring their donations of daffodil bulbs for planting around the village to the September meeting. Those planted in the centre last year looked truly great in the Spring sunshine. If others in the village would like to donate additional bulbs we will be delighted to receive them.