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Jazz pianist Roger Brown joined members at the September Monthly Meeting and entertained with tunes and tales from his musical life, from singing Al Jolson songs in talent contests aged four, to his performance in the musical Camelot and tours with his Jazz Band. Anne and Sally made rainbow cupcakes to join in with the WI’s Pride Season Celebrations and Wendie read a poem about Love by Mariepam198 from Power Poetry Online. Read the poem here https://powerpoetry.org/poems/love-everybody-who-they-are

 

 

 

 

Camera Club headed east for their September Meeting, to the beautiful tranquility of The Japanese Garden at St Mawgan. With the leaves starting to turn, the colours of the foliage were a particular highlight. Following the meandering paths around the gardens the interest of each section changed, with pretty waterfalls, ponds with carp and Japanese style statues all offering great photo opportunities.

After watching a television program about the Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, I had the idea of growing my own Phalaenopsis Orchids (the most common indoor Orchids) an indoor plant. In my sun lounge I have a large avocado tree that I have grown from a discarded stone. This is supported by a moss pole that seemed to be the perfect thing to grow my Orchids on. In the wild Orchids grow on trees by using nooks and crannies in bark to attach themselves. They are not a parasitic plant, as they take no nutrients from the tree; just use them as a growing ledge to give them the perfect spot for light and moisture. At Kew they exploit this property by attaching the Orchids to all sorts of trees and growing frames including pergolas and arches.

I was not so ambitious but I am pleased to say that after a month or so all three of the orchids I attached came into flower. I water the roots with a bottle and the excess water will also water the avocado  and both benefit from an occasional spray with orchid fertiliser. I used hessian ribbon to tie loosely around the roots and sphagnum moss, they already had around their roots, and bit by bit the roots are escaping and finding their way around the tree and the moss pole. I love how the orchids have added colour to my avocado tree and moving them there has freed up space on the window sills for more plants.

President Wendie was up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to set up the fantastic Crowlas and Ludgvan WI craft stall on Penzance Promenade, close to the start of the 2021 Tour of Britain Cycle Race. Members had been busy during lockdown making knitting bags, beach bags, jewellery, aprons for both adults and children plus gardening aprons, pincushions, needlecases……the list goes on. All the hard work paid off, as teams of members manned the stall, chatting to locals and visitors to the town, including members of other WIs from around the country. Sales were good, particularly in the morning and helped to raise money for WI funds. (PHOTO: PETER PUDDIPHATT)

Winifred Watson’s 1938 novel ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day’ was the chosen book for August’s Book Club Meeting. New members Genie, Irene and Hazel were welcomed to the group, which, this month met for lunch at Brew Cafe, Trereife. Several members enjoyed the most delicious locally caught crab sandwiches. The book was proclaimed a good read, and especially ‘a good laugh’. The following excerpt gives a flavour of the book:

“They led her (Miss Pettigrew) into the bedroom.   She had a quick bath while Miss Dubarry and Miss LeFosse concentrated on Miss LeFosse’s wardrobe.   She put on silk underclothes laid out for her by Miss LeFosse.  She had never worn real silk underclothes in her life.   At once they made her feel different.  She felt wicked, daring, ready for anything.   She left her hesitations behind with her home-made woollens.  They psychology of silk underclothes has not yet been fully considered mused Miss Pettigrew happily.   She came back into the bedroom like a debutante.  Even her legs quite uncovered below the last short frill of lace, caused her no blushes”.

We planned to walk from Ludgvan to Trencrom but for various reasons we failed to achieve our goal!.  Despite that we enjoyed the walk, the sunny weather, the views across the countryside and especially catching up with friends.
Rosie’s puppy Mist joined us for the first time.  We were all very impressed by her speed and obedience . 
We eventually returned to Ludgvan to eat our picnic in the Community Garden, where we made use of the bench donated by Crowlas and Ludgvan WI. (Shirley) (Photo: Mary)

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With the sun chasing away the drizzle, the sweet sounds of a Jazz Trio playing ‘When You’re Smiling’ filled the air. Crowlas and Ludgvan WI were delighted to welcome ‘Winter Sunshine’ for their Jazz Picnic fundraising afternoon in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. The elegant surroundings of Trereife House proved a fitting venue, and Sophie from Brew Cafe (set in the grounds of the manor house) provided a delicious picnic box for everyone. The music flowed with a fantastic range of tunes, ending with a rousing singalong rendition of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’.

It was a great turnout for the August Monthly Meeting at The Murley Hall. Members were delighted to welcome Nicky Collins, Community Fundraising Manager from the Hall for Cornwall, to talk about the history of the Hall and it’s upcoming re-opening after it’s refurbishment. Nicky explained about the improvements that have been made, with the aid of some fantastic graphics and gave members a taste of some of the vast range of performances that will be coming to the Hall when it re-opens next month. You can read more HERE. Many members are excited that they will see the improvements for themselves at the Cornwall Federation of WI’s Annual Council Meeting in October.

After seventeen months away, it was with delight that members of Crowlas and Ludgvan WI, along with people from the local community, met again at The Murley Hall for an afternoon of fun and board games. Mexican Train, played with dominoes, was the game of choice and everyone was soon into the swing of it. Jenny and her helpers were on hand to supply tea and cake and the smiles and chatter flowed.

Members of Book Club spent a delightful sunny afternoon discussing their latest read ‘Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand’ by Helen Simonson, and enjoying food and drink in Colleen’s beautiful garden. The book scored highly with everyone enjoying what is essentially a love story between older people amid the prejudices of an English village. Colleen found notes from a Book Club Meeting many years ago where the same book had been read (and scored just as well then!). Next month’s book is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson.