Preheat oven to 180c (fan oven 160c). Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin. Beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then add the egg followed by the caramel. Mix flour and baking powder together and gradually fold into caramel mixture. Fold in the banana and ¾ of the chocolate chunks. Bake for 1 hour, covering loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes if it gets too dark. The cake is cooked if a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool slighty before removing from the tin.
If you haven’t yet put your name down for next month’s sushi day, there’s still time!
We’ll meet at the Murley Hall at 10am for some instruction and will then start making our sushi! Once we’ve finished, we’ll all sit down and have a sushi feast.
Don’t worry if you don’t fancy raw fish. Although we will have fish available, there will also be a load of other vegetable fillings on hand for you to use. “Sushi” is really just rolled rice with other fillings, so it needn’t be fish at all.
The cost of the workshop is £10 which includes all equipment and ingredients. It’s a workshop plus a free lunch!
To book your place, contact Lis Davies on (01736) 754146 or by email on busylissie32@yahoo.co.uk.
Despite Nick Pascoe’s alpaca-transport problems and the resulting lack of furry visitors, we had a wonderful meeting last night.
Lis Davies and Mary Venn before last night’s meeting, making sure our banner cabinet is sparkly and clean.
We welcomed back old friends Sue Eames and Susan Lockhart, both who have been absent for far too long. It was lovely to see them both again. And we welcomed guests Rosemary Western (friend of Beth Marshall) and Liz Hosking (cousin of Sue Eames). It was great to have a full house!
We also had a third guest, Sheena Thomasson of Germoe & District WI, who came along to report on her trip to the NFWI Annual General Meeting in Leeds. She gave us a full run-down about the resolutions speakers and the debate that followed, as well as an entertaining insiders’ view of the rest of the meeting and the guest speakers. We thank Sheena for taking the time to come and talk to us as well as chatting with some of our members.
We then drew a name for this year’s bursary and I’m pleased to announce that Laraine Turner was the winner! We look forward to hearing how Laraine puts her £10o to use!
Nick Pascoe, of Treslothan Alpacas, then spoke. Although we were all disappointed that he hadn’t been able to bring any alpacas with him, he was thoroughly amusing and gave us so much information about his life as an alpaca-breeder, that in the end it didn’t really matter. We could have kept him there all night asking him questions about the lovely creatures. Of particular interest was the prevalence of TB among alpacas and the tragedy that can result from it, especially for Nick’s family which is understandably very attached to their herd.
Head-to-toe alpaca!
Nick passed around some items made from alpaca wool which Alison Latham was kind enough to model for us.
Because no alpacas were able to come to Crowlas & Ludgvan WI, Crowlas & Ludgvan WI will be going to the alpacas! Nick has invited us to come and visit them in Camborne. Details to come. Watch this space!
Our June Flower of the Month winner was Shirley Battle with a spectacular rose, and Pam Smith won our alpaca limerick competition. You can read her hilarious entry (and all the others) here.
Next month’s meeting will be held on July 21st. Our guest speaker will be our own Alison Latham! Don’t miss it! July’s competitions are Flower of the Month and an American recipe.
Our June competition brought out some real poetry talent! Here are the entries from last night, beginning with Pam Smith’s first-prize-winning limerick:
An alpaca called Lucy was shy
But she caught Lothario’s eye.
They now share a bed
In their warm winter shed,
And Lucy is no longer shy.
Second prize went to Helen Kestle:
An alpaca who lived in Peru
Said, “For a holiday, I think I am due.”
He settled on Beacon
And packed for the weekend
Before bidding his friends all adieu.
Sue Knights won third prize:
Is it a camel
4 legs
Not sure about a tail
Is it a goat
big eyes
big rabbit mouth
Is it a llama
big fluffy fringe
a huaccyp or a suris
It is a camelid
also known as alpaca
we all want one
we aren’t all able
But we can all cuddle up to fluffy
alpaca jumpers or bedding
Other entries came from Alison Latham and Kathy Merrett:
Some alpacas they came just a visitin’
The ladies of Crowlas and Ludgvan.
As they gave them a pat
They chewed and they spat
To show them just what they were eatin’.
An alpaca named Joe from Peru
Said, “I’m a camelid, not a gnu.
With my three-chamber’d tum
And a very neat bum,
Be gentle, so I don’t spit at you!”
This Wednesday, the 18th, Shirley Battle will be leading a very special walk around Widemouth Bay, Bude and Bude Canal.
The drive to and from the walk is about 1 1/2 hours each way, and the walk itself will take 3 1/2 hours (approximately 5 miles), so be prepared to be out most of the day.
If you’d like to go, please contact Shirley on 741324 or by email on grumpi@tiscali.co.uk. Car sharing will be vital for this walk, so she’ll need a list of people in order to organise lifts.
Shirley will be away in July so we’re looking for someone who’d like to volunteer to lead July’s walk. If you’d like to, please let Shirley know!
Colleen Lewis, Val Puddiphatt and Kathy Merrett enjoy their work
On Friday, some of us learned the basics of fabric fusion with our own very talented Rosemary Gries.
We worked at tables with views into Rosemary’s lovely garden and were supervised by handsome Charlie-the-cat.
Wielding dangerously hot soldering irons, we worked with gossamer-fine strips of organza of every colour of the rainbow. We let our imaginations run free and created our own pictures and designs to take home with us.
Laraine Turner’s piece of fused fabric
After lunch in the sunny garden, some remained to embellish their fused pieces further, with embroidery, ribbon and sequins.
Thank you so much to Rosemary for her patient tutelage and to Lis Davies for organising the day and for bringing along her delicious chocolate cake!
Sue Badcock and Wendy Allen enjoy a little coffee break in Tavistock.
On Thursday, some of us went on a lovely CFWI outing to Tavistock and The Garden House at Buckland Monachorum.
Our coach arrived in Tavistock in the morning and we had time for coffee, some window shopping, a look around St Eustachius Church and an al fresco lunch.
We then travelled on to Buckland Monachorum for a tour of the gardens at The Garden House. Head gardener Nick walked us around the whole garden, telling us about its history, his work and future plans for the garden.
Nick, the head gardener at the Garden House
It was a full day but a very good one! And we couldn’t have asked for nicer weather!
If you’d like to see more photos of our day out, click here.
Some of you might like to pop in to Shire Hall in Bodmin next week to have a look at ‘Forty Years On’, a stunning new exhibition by the Cornwall branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild of their work over the last 40 years.
‘Forty Years On’ has been described as a rainbow of delights. What developments there have been over this 40-year period! Gone are the days of decorating useful objects with ready-made threads and designs. Today’s embroiderers can still do that – but so much more. They make their own materials: luxurious background papers of leaves and natural fibres; and pure silk paper and threads, dyed, mixed and twisted to create new textures and colours. In addition to hand stitching they machine, glue, layer and pierce, and use wood, shells, leaves and paint.
Embroidery has become textile art and several members are artists in their own right, bringing new ideas to their work. Like artists everywhere, our members draw constant inspiration from each other and their environment.
The exhibition will be held from Monday 16th June through Friday 27th June (but not on Sunday), from 10am until 5pm. Admission is free and there will also be sales of items and secondhand books.
For further information, email gilliantrewhella@hotmail.co.uk.
Just a very quick message to let you all know that the organ donation resolution passed at last week’s AGM in Leeds with a resounding 98% majority.
You can read all about it on the NFWI blog (‘Behind the Door of 104’) here.
As you probably know, our link delegate for the AGM this year was Sheena Thomasson from Germoe and District WI. Sheena will be attending our meeting on Monday evening and presenting her report on the AGM to us then.
This year’s Ludgvan Annual Horticultural Show will be held at the Community Centre on Saturday 2nd August.
Crowlas & Ludgvan WI 