17th May
The local WI is celebrating the success of its May Fair this morning. This event was our fund-raiser for the year so it is good to know that the money raised will bridge the gap between the contribution made by our subscriptions and what it costs to hire the hall for meetings and provide 8 speakers a year.We will now be able to stop worrying about our finances and, if we want, gather some money together for the Life Skills flat at the school which we promised to do in our own time.All the members worked hard for the Fair, filling jars with strange things and making craft and cakes to add to the commercial stalls who had booked tables.

14th May
Discussion evening tonight and the topic seemed a bit limiting but as usual we had a lot to contribute about "Walking". Of course walking holidays were remembered and recommended but we also discussed the medical advantages gained from the exercise and its therapeutic mental contribution to one's feeling of well-being. Many problems are diminished by just leaving the house and thinking things through as one ambles along. Even if one slammed the door on exit one returns more able to cope with whatever the immediate future holds. Also we don't need to set ourselves great challenges or actively search for an adventure to test our survival skills. Just walk.

12th May
Our craft group is making great progress with the new WI tablecloth which is being designed and worked for the WI centenary. It looks as if it will be finished by the beginning of 2015 which is our 93rd anniversary but Bucks 95th. So plenty to commemorate and the members enjoy working on something together and showing off their skills.
The national media have got hold of last year's annual report from Denman College which highlighted the financial worries of the Board of Trustees. It even made the editorial in the Daily Telegraph which was slightly patronising in recommending that the courses should be within our sphere of proven expertise ie.----you've guessed it--- craft and jam.It was rather disappointing as we were told at the Annual Council Meeting at the Waterside in Aylesbury by Jane Dixon, the Head of Denman College that things had improved and bookings had picked up .Personally I believe that the Board already knew what was necessary to improve finances: the beds had to be filled. The Trustees had already been exploring the idea of hosting weddings which may prove a bit restrictive on the number of courses being run at weekends. So did we need to spend £7000 on Counterculture to produce a financial report? It seems a pity to drop some of the "obscure" courses when the sheer variety of subjects offered has always been part of Denman's appeal.

7th May
There was a good turn-out for tonight's meeting in spite of the fact that some members never feel that a monthly meeting should be dedicated to the WI resolution procedure which takes place every year before the Annual General Meeting.These people really haven't got the message that the WI movement has aims and interests beyond the local scene and they miss a lot of what keeps the WIs alive and worth joining.Not just to cater for these non-believers, we always have a little something as well as the discussion on the resolution. This year the Headteacher from the local school for special needs came to describe the physical and educational developments in hand at the school. We were able to look at the plans and see where the LIfe Skills department was going to be built and how the funds that we hope to raise to help with this project are going to be spent. The awareness resolution on asking everyone make known her wishes about organ donation was overwhelmingly supported and several people immediately took down details on how to update their donor cards or apply to go on the national register. If this pattern of response is typical of other resolution meetings across the UK, the object of the resolution is almost achieved already.

30th April
We had to delay our Book Group meeting by a day because a coach load of the local WI members had booked to visit a chocolate factory in Brackley. Apparently they had found it very interesting and no one was sick on the bus coming home although it sounds as if rather a lot of chocolate was consumed on the visit.
Our book was "Roman Fever" a collection of short stories by Edith Wharton. Some of us are not too keen on this genre but we had to admit that the author was a master at writing intriguing stories which leave one wondering with delight about what could possibly happen next after the twist at the end.The theme was the hypocrisy of the social scene in the late 1890s and early twenties where women were never allowed to escape the stigma of divorce or of wanting to have an opinion of their own.The story about a book group was wonderfully amusing and I am glad to say not appropriate to our group---well I don't think so!

28th April
I seem to have missed several WI county events. I wish I had been around to witness our WI's triumph in the northern session of the quiz. We wish all the Bucks' teams well in the Inter-County round in the summer. The craft group is working hard at the commemorative tablecloth: several panels are now finished and we are ahead of schedule.We plan to go up probably by train to the NEC, Birmingham for the Craft Exhibition in August. One always finds inspiration there and also the exhibited items bring one back to the reality of how high the national standard is in craftwork, especially using new fabrics and techniques.