crowlasludgvanwi

Pies, Puds and Aunt Sarah Anne

January 22, 2013November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

Last night was our annual Feast meeting and what a great time it was.

Julia and Janet raise their (empty?) glasses!

For those of you who were under the weather and missed it, we hope you’re feeling better.

We welcomed two new members as well as Advisor Liz Anderson, guests from Gulval W.I. and a few visiting friends.

Margaret, Liz Anderson and Colleen enjoy their evening.

Hilda Bolitho, Hilda Burnett, Rona, Di and Niamh enjoy their meals.

After a delicious meal of chicken or homity pie and peas, we were all tempted by a mouth-watering array of desserts.

The clean-up crew in the kitchen was working non-stop during the evening, and they deserve a big thank you!

Once we’d had our fill of trifle, cheesecake and treacle tart, we were treated to some Cornish stories and poems by the delightful Liz Harman. Liz read from her book Now ‘Ark to Me and regaled us with her hilarious version of a W.I. committee meeting, as well as tales of Aunt Sarah Jane trying to buy a blue bag in Penzance.

Liz Harman kept us all laughing with her Cornish tales and poems.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. We can’t wait for next year’s Feast!

Chicken scratching!

January 15, 2013November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

A group of us attended a mini-workshop today at the home of Charlotte Robinson to learn a bit of chicken scratch embroidery.

Diane, Irene, Polly, Lis and Jane all concentrate on their stitching.

For those of you who are curious, chicken scratch embroidery (also known as Depression lace or Amish embroidery) originated in early America and is meant to look like lace for people who couldn’t afford the real thing.

Under the expert tutelage of Gail Allen and Charlotte, we all stitched away at our bits of gingham, learning a basic but lovely star pattern. With a quick break for lunch and some delicious cake courtesy of Lis Davies, we were back at it again very quickly in the afternoon!

Gail helps Jane with the complicated bits.

Pat and Shirley are all smiles after mastering the double cross-stitch.

We hope this will be the first in a series of mini-workshops. Stay tuned for details of our next one!

Christmas lunch!

December 4, 2012November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

The Carbis Bay Hotel was the site of today’s jovial and sometimes raucous Christmas lunch. With food, drink, laughter and plenty of balloons, we all had a great time.

See lots more photos here.

Willow Weaving!

October 3, 2012November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

Today a group of us learned how to make our own willow baskets. We were taught by Lin Lovekin, a Cornish basketmaker, who brought some of her beautiful baskets with her – our efforts weren’t quite as good, but we did all have a great day.

Genie and Diane get started on their baskets.

Lis and Rona gave each other some pointers.

In the end, we were all quite pleased with our baskets!

Thanks so much to Lis for organising the workshop, as well as providing delicious cake for everyone!

We hope to bring our baskets to the meeting on 15 October for everyone to look at!

What’s going on!

August 22, 2012 crowlasludgvanwi

We had a great meeting on Monday evening with a talk by Suzy from Cornwall Air Ambulance. She had us all laughing and really did a wonderful job of sharing her enthusiasm for the Air Ambulance with us. I think we all left with even more respect and admiration for the work they do.

Just a reminder that the County Annual Council Meeting will be held at the Hall for Cornwall on Tuesday 16th October. Tickets are £6 per person and Helen needs your name and money by 10th September at the absolute latest. As this is before our September meeting, please get your cheque in the post as soon as possible.

For anyone interested, Gulval W.I. have invited us to join them on a trip to Plymouth to see a matinee performace of The Mousetrap at the Theatre Royale. The cost is £26 which includes both theatre ticket and coach transport. The contact for this outing is Gill.

If anyone wants to take part in Lis’s willow weaving workshop on Wednesday 3rd October, I believe there are one or two places left. The cost is £25 +£5 due on the day for extra materials. The workshop will take place at the Murley Hall and promises to be a really exciting day! See Lis to book or for more information.

Earlier this month, a group of our members went to the Wayside Museum in Zennor where they had a tour and saw some milling. Here they are enjoying a post-museum cup of tea:

Congratulations to Pam!

July 2, 2012July 2, 2012 crowlasludgvanwi

Congratulations to our own Pam Smith who was recently awarded The Queens Award for Voluntary Service for her hard work running the charity shop at The Centre in Newlyn.

The Newlyn Centre was one of only 112 volunteering groups across the UK to be honoured this year.

The Award was created to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and is given for “outstanding achievement by groups of volunteers who regularly devote their time to helping others in the community, improving the quality of life and opportunity for others and providing an outstanding service.”

Well done, Pam. You deserve it!

(The Award is commonly known as the MBE for volunteer groups … should we all curtsey next time we see Pam?)

Mazey Day

June 23, 2012November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

Thanks to Julia’s hard work for Golowan, we were given a Mazey Day stall right on Market Jew Street in the thick of things!

We shared the stall with some lovely ladies from Germoe & District W.I. and, I must say, it all looked most impressive.

So many of us were busy baking during the week and we wound up with an incredible assortment of cakes, biscuits, brownies, muffins, flapjacks, macaroons and sausage rolls!

In spite of the early start and the hard work, there was still time for some laughs:

It was all hands on deck, with pairs of ladies staffing the stall throughout the day from 7am until the bitter end. (Apologies for not having any photos of those of you who worked later in the afternoon, but I’d gone home by then!)

By the end, we’d completely sold out of everything and we made £112! Now that’s a good day!

June meeting

June 20, 2012November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

On Monday, we were all treated to an informative and very amusing talk by Jan Shearn, who spoke to us about her experiences as a volunteer with the Tall Ships Youth Trust.

We also welcomed three new members – Diane, Pamela and Rona – as well as a guest, Margaret, whom we hope will become a future member.

A Day at the Royal Cornwall Show

June 8, 2012November 28, 2015 crowlasludgvanwi

Gill Gowland and Helen Kestle set off today to work as stewards at the Royal Cornwall Show, with a kind lift from Dorothy Oliver and her husband, Alan.

The W.I. tent was easy to spot …

… and our Crowlas & Ludgvan pennant looked lovely displayed with the others from all over the county:

Beth Marshall and Mary Venn were there too, wearing their CFWI hats, and County Chairman Kathy Reed manned the Chairman’s Table:

Before our first shift, we had time to have a look around at the Royal Cornwall’s flower show and were particularly taken with this cauliflower sheep: