Tag: monthly meetings

Despite it being such a hot and steamy night, we had a great turnout for our meeting last night.

Our own Alison Latham gave the talk – a highly entertaining and informative look at her time spent working at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. We heard all about the various departments and how they work as well as anecdotes about the royals, the Rolling Stones and Richard Branson (who forgot his passport when he attempted to balloon across the Atlantic!). Alison also passed around a 1967 letter from Edward VIII to the then Ambassador, Sir Patrick Dean, informing the embassy that he and the Duchess of Windsor would be arriving in America.

Our sales table looked wonderful with rhubarb, currants and more! Remember, if you have any surplus produce you’d like to sell, please bring it along to our next meeting.

And the book stall was laden with tempting titles. I came home with the very appropriately named Instructions for a Heatwave!

It was wonderful to see such a full competition table overflowing with lovely blooms! Our Flower of the Month winner was Jane Twose. There were also lots of great recipes for American dishes, along with some samples. Sue Knights was our recipe competition winner for her scrumptious cornbread. Second prize went to Helen Kestle and third to Rona Cowls.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s blog entry for all the American recipes which were part of the competition!

Despite Nick Pascoe’s alpaca-transport problems and the resulting lack of furry visitors, we had a wonderful meeting last night.

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.

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 first meeting of the 2014-15 season got us all off to a great start. We had a nearly full house and also welcomed five lovely guests whom we all hope to see again soon.

We’ve now created a one-stop table for you to sign up for all of our events, outings and craft days, as well as for all CFWI events. This was a really busy spot last night! In addition, on the table were samples on display of the lovely buttons we’ll be making at this Friday’s button workshop, and some samples of our Rag Dolls’ fabulous rag rugging work.

We’ve also given a boost to our Sales Table and hope it’ll continue to thrive. Rona brought some delicious-looking homemade jam last night which went very quickly! If you’d like to sell anything from garden produce to baked goods to craft items to things you just no longer need, please bring them along. You’ll keep 90% of the money you make, with 10% going to Crowlas & Ludgvan WI funds. Please remember that you are responsible for pricing your items. If you have any questions about the Sales Table, please see Sue Badcock.

Our speaker last night, John Richards, regaled us with tales of his childhood and youth in old Penzance. Who would have thought Penzance was once home to 14 butcher shops, countless sweet shops and four cinemas?! John had us all giggling with his wonderful sense of humour – in particular a joke about a zebra who escaped from the zoo.

It was wonderful to see such a full Competition Table this month! Flower of the Month was won by Helen Kestle. Our other competition was to bring a photograph of Penzance, and some of the entries were fascinating. The winner was Margaret Walton, with Wendy Larkin second and Kathy Merrett third.

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.