17th April

What a full and interesting April Council Meeting Bucks WI members and friends enjoyed today at the Waterside Theatre! We were all extremely worried that Michael Portillo would not be able to get out of London in time to speak but he arrived just five minutes late looking immaculate in mourning suit. He is an entertaining speaker and has a large following from his TV series on great train journeys.The morning speaker was inspiring: May Kidd the World President of ACWW to which the WI is affiliated. May has a completely different style of presentation to Michael Portillo. She appears rather homely and slightly unprofessional but she gets her message across very cleverly. I am sure that those who heard her describing her work around the globe will dip deep in future when asked to contribute to Coins for Friendship.May acknowledged the contribution made to Bucks WIs' latest ACWW project by members and advertised the Women Walk the World scheme for 29th April.

The business side of the meeting went smoothly and we enjoyed listening to the Joyful Divas choir. The new website was launched and we were all encouraged to advance our techniques not only for WI activities but also in private, getting the best out of our own computers.If you have never been to one of these council meetings I would recommend that you try in the future because you learn that there is so much more to the WI than the monthly meeting.

16th April

Today the local WI book group was discussing the Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn. We have been reading quite a lot of historical fiction recently, mostly about the Tudors. I am afraid that Hilary Mantell and Philippa Gregory must have spoilt us for appreciating this novel.Several members thought it little better than a Mills&Boon title but one brave soul stood up in its defence.No one liked the manner in which the author had used modern language and phrases such as "in your face" in the text instead of something even slightly more Tudor. I know we don't know exactly how they spoke in those times but I bet it wasn't like that! We are growing in numbers in the reading group and will soon be having to sit cross-legged on the floor. Fortunately (in a way) there is rarely a full house and so far we have been able to share the books and still finish them in time for the next session.

3rd April

A representative from the Air Ambulance was invited to be our speaker at the monthly meeting.We were very pleased that she was talking about the local service and not the distant branch which inundates our homes with plastic bags requesting old clothes. Our local area air ambulance also is reliant on donations from the public but uses different methods.It is always difficult to explain why the WI cannot be seen to pay money into another charity but we fall foul of the Charity Commission if we do and this ruling is built into our constitution because the WI is itself an educational charity. However, if the charity could be of benefit to the local community then it is acceptable to make a donation. In this case although we all hope we will never have to call the air ambulance, it might just happen that one of us does need its services.

We were delighted to hear that our quiz team had done very well at the county event in Buckingham.

2nd April

Did you manage to watch the new sewing programme on the TV tonight? I thought it was very interesting and good publicity for the WI because Mary Martin has been one of Denman College's instructors for many years. Some time ago the NFWI was encouraging members to volunteer to teach sewing and knitting in schools so perhaps that was the springboard for this initiative. The WI has been bemoaning the dropping of Home Economics from the curriculum which has resulted in a generation that doesn't know how to fit a zip or make a sponge cake.Of course the BBC has to introduce the competitive element but it does in a way increase audience participation as we begin to identify with the contestants. It must be awful having the judges with cameras breathing down your neck as you race against the clock to fit a sleeve or level a hem. I really felt for that girl wrestling with two slippery fabrics when she tried to attach them together!

26th March

Two teams of the local WI members met to play skittles this evening in one of the town's pubs. It was very competitive and noisy but great fun.I think something quieter is planned for next time: something to do with pigs. The mind boggles!