​Happy Christmas and a healthy prosperous New Year to all the Blog readers!
13th December
It was a rather select group of members who met this evening to discuss Humanitarian Aid. It wasn’t the choice of topic that kept people away, more the condition of the local roads and pavements after the weekend’s snowfall. Several of us had done some diligent research and reading in advance of the meeting. Unfortunately, we learned from each other just how unsatisfactory and corrupt a lot of the aid organisations are. It came as a surprise that so little that is raised for victims of natural disasters ever reaches where it is needed. Administration seems to swallow up a lot of it and then what is sent abroad is often going into the pockets of corrupt officials or worse still being used to provide arms for militia, either official or breakaway forces. We decided that the work of the ACWW was a better solution where not money but tools, equipment and education is sent abroad to teach the locals how to help themselves. We then moved on to the work of the WI with the homeless and abused in Women’s Refuges.
6th December
The December monthly WI is a festive affair with plates of food and wine and a musical entertainment. Of course, there is always a business side to cover as well. The new committee was introduced and the programme for 2018 revealed. Members were encouraged to think about the proposed resolutions to go to NFWI for the Annual General Meeting in June and to bring their voting forms with them to the next meeting when some time would be given to considering them together. Di Kemp showed off her certificate from the National Croquet Association for services to the game over the years.
28th November
“The Flying Man” by Roopa Farooki had been allocated to the WI Book Group when the organiser and the County Library had between them left a blank between choices of book. We were lucky really as most of us enjoyed reading the novel, although we couldn’t warm to the hero---probably anti-hero best describes him. He travelled across the world in his long life, changing his identity at the drop of a hat, leaving emotional baggage behind and always hoping that his luck would rescue him from the consequences of his actions. There was humour there and the background cities and countries were well described and their history was accurately fitted into the plot. I think we can say it was a happy accidental find and who knows, we may read another by the same author. To discover new writers is really what book groups are all about.

21st June
Was there ever such a hot day for a WI outing as today? Winslow WI was celebrating its annual group excursion and had chosen to visit Windsor where fortunately it had booked a cruise up the river lasting for most of the afternoon. This was a little cooler than on the riverbank and was very enjoyable and ---guess what?--- I saw a kingfisher for the first time in my life. There was a lot of bird life to be seen and the commentator on the launch was very knowledgeable. The coach driver went a long way round to avoid the usual traffic jams in Aylesbury but the passengers didn’t mind how we reached home provided we could be reasonably cool. The members were grateful for the work of the committee in arranging the day.
19th June
Happy Stitchers were suffering from the heat so attendance was down but a few stalwarts managed a few stitches and quite a bit of chat.
7th June
The National Federation’s Annual General Meeting in Liverpool and I was halfway up a mountain in The Lakes but I was willing the Ashley Green WI resolution to go well. Without one of these ultra-modern gadgets I had to wait to be told by text what the outcome had been. What a vote! Now we will need to lead the way in getting things done about the pollution caused by plastic fibres in the ocean and also, from the home front, to tackle loneliness in the community.
I am looking forward to hearing all about the meeting and reading about it in WI Life. I don’t think I have ever written in my blog so little about this the most important day in the WI calendar so I am hoping someone else will cover it on the Bucks website.
30th May
The book discussed by the local WI Book Group this month was not a novel but the autobiographical account of Joe Simpson’s survival story “Touching the Void”. We all learned a lot of new words to do with ice and mountains and knots used in climbing but what most impressed us was the sheer courage and determination demonstrated by both the mountaineers in extreme conditions. The decisions they both had to make with as much detachment as they could muster facing the almost certain outcome of death were mind-blowing. They were up against frostbite and broken limbs in blizzard conditions but never once did they blame anyone but themselves although both began to think of the mountain as a malevolent force against which they were fighting. We admired the book and the endeavour but still Joe Simpson couldn’t really explain why people like him have to challenge themselves to climb up these peaks and put themselves in such peril.
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4th May
Somehow or other the Bucks Annual Council Meeting seems to occur on a momentous day such as that of Maggie Thatcher’s funeral or when Prince Philip announces his retirement---events which impact on our main speakers. The morning agenda dealt with the business side of the Federation, announcements of forthcoming events and a preview of the Bucks resolution going up for discussion at the NFWI Annual General Meeting in Liverpool in June. There was also a presentation from Johnny Walker of Taylors Bulbs who told us how great a contribution the members’ orders bring to the finances of the BFWI and he managed to be amusing as well. Mr Walker certainly knows his audience. This was followed by a thought-provoking talk from Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive of FareShare whose work is very relevant to the NFWI’s concern about food waste. It was also timely for the campaign which should hit the headlines at the end of this month. Lyndsay thinks big with 5 warehouses already working full time in London.  He is planning others in major cities across the country. The ridiculous reasons given for stores and factories to throw out food border on being criminal. This is a sphere in which the WI members can make a difference by challenging the perpetrators.
In the afternoon, Judge Francis Sheridan gave the WI members an update on his campaign to assist the NFWI in keeping people with mental disabilities out of jail for criminal offences and for injecting more speed and compassion into the family courts, especially in relation to children and domestic abuse. We have a strong ally on the county circuit. Then it was Giles Brandreth to talk about the seven sources of happiness. Actually, the audience didn’t know that was his chosen topic until almost the end of his very entertaining talk. He has become something of an authority on the Duke of Edinburgh so it was natural that he talked about the Prince’s life following the day’s announcement. Giles was very amusing and involved the BOT members in his presentation: I thought our Vice-Chair Pat Poole and Tracy Girdler-Rogers did very well in what at times became an unrehearsed double act. At the end, he did define happiness as being a leaf on a living and growing tree which tied in neatly with the WI member’s part in the WI and in the community.
3rd may
Tonight, the local WI held its Resolution meeting. Both subjects were covered by members using the presentations available on the NFWI website. This means that the facts and figures can be seen on the screen and are not difficult to take in from someone talking and reading at the same time. It will be interesting to hear what the members thought of this method. We instructed our delegate from a neighbouring WI to vote in favour of both resolutions but we only gave her discretion on the Loneliness vote, not the Plastic Soup. A longstanding member then talked about her experiences over the years as a member of Winslow WI from the age of fourteen. All the scrapbooks were on display and it was interesting and rather sad to see the shift away from drama and music which has taken place in our WI and indeed right across the WI movement.
25th April
The local WI book group met this afternoon to talk over “The Shadow of the Wind” by Zafon. This thriller set in Spain around the civil war was popular with the readers, much more so than the previous title, Salmon Rushdie’s “Midnight Children”. There was a bit too much blood and gore in the Zafon for me but I was definitely in the minority: the author covered nearly every means of a violent death in some detail. The others enjoyed the almost Dickensian melodrama and the descriptions of terrible poverty and hardship. There was humour too and the descriptions of the squalor were good. There was certainly plenty of action and frequent flashbacks covered by letters and interviews with those just hanging on to life long enough to tell their story. We are off to Peru with the next title for a bit of mountain-climbing.
24th April
The Happy Stitchers are busy knitting, crocheting, making patchwork and generally wielding their needles---the only needles we are not prepared to accept are those used for tattoos. We also looked at what the members had made at the rag rug session in Padbury and wondered whether we might travel down to Stuart Lodge one Tuesday to visit its craft shop and perhaps go to the next Craft Fair at the NEC.
 
 
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1st March
This evening the WI members listened to a talk about Calibre, the talking books library for the blind in Weston Turville. I think we were surprised at the size of the organisation which answers the needs of people of all ages across the whole of the UK. There were 3 visitors and a good attendance and everyone had mastered the new security gate. A presentation was made to a member who had joined 60 years ago as soon as she was allowed to do so. Arrangements are going ahead for all the events that have banked up for the end of March and plans are in hand for an outing to Alexandra Palace for the WI Fair and our WI bursary expedition on midsummer day. Members were pleased to hear that the Bucks’ resolution was going to be put forward at the NFWI meeting in Liverpool.
28th February
Almost a full house at the Book group this afternoon when we discussed “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd. Everyone had enjoyed reading this novel which was both amusing and thought-provoking. It was set in South Carolina in the time of civil unrest when the USA was trying to eradicate the colour bars in its society. We learned a lot about bee-keeping as we followed a young girl’s recovery from feelings of guilt about her mother’s death. The characters were all wonderfully described and totally believable.
The members of the group had enjoyed a celebratory tea at the local garden centre on St. Valentine’s Day.
20th February
The Happy Stitchers gathered together to sew and crochet. The learners are making progress and some are attempting real projects now,  using the stitches which they have been practising. A single bedcover is nearing completion and one member is on to her second crocheted hat. Flowers for accessories and a matinee jacket are all under construction. People who want to do other things with needles are welcome but at the moment the most popular activity seems to be crochet.
8th February
The discussed topic for the group this month was the re-introduction of species that had either become extinct or were severely endangered. Living in Bucks we are reminded daily of the growth of the red kite population and enjoy watching them gliding across the sky. Again locally, we have muntjacs in our gardens and on the roadsides. These were introduced according to plan. Great Bustards, wild boar and mink are now living in certain areas of the UK. Parakeets in London parks and the rise of the grey squirrel were unplanned or accidental. We also considered that there were many opportunities for the law of unintended consequences to kick in and we thought about the dangers to other species when the ecosystem is altered. It was an interesting discussion which was far-ranging, taking in the damage from Himalayan balsam plants to bison and the possibility of recreating mammoths into the highlands of Scotland.
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6th February
The re-vitalised WI craft group met in its new leader’s house with a healthy attendance of ten amongst whom there were four first-timers. We are calling ourselves the Happy Stitchers because we plan to spend time doing any craft work involving needles: to happily swap ideas and expertise and to sort out craft problems together. The crochet group has been assimilated into the craft section so that there will be a meeting every fortnight alternating between two venues. There was a happy atmosphere today so I have great hopes for the success of this re-shuffle.
1st February
The members arriving by car this evening were  thrown by the electronics of the new security gate but once that was mastered they enjoyed the monthly meeting when two ladies from the local fashion shop came and talked about rejuvenating our wardrobes ready for Spring. We were shown different ways of tying scarves which had people in the audience immediately experimenting with theirs and was very welcome to me because I always seem to look as if I am treating a sore throat rather than embellishing my outfit. The result of the resolution vote was for the one on Women’s Refuges but our secretary had received only 21 votes which was rather low, even considering our reduced membership this year. A member volunteered to take over the revised craft group following the unilateral declaration of independence from any WI of the former one. More people were needed to go to Alexandra Palace for the NFWI Fair but we have a quiz team and delegates for the Annual Council Meeting and the Resolution meeting ready and waiting. We enjoyed hearing about the course at Denman College which a member had taken on the WI bursary. Dee had studied portrait drawing and we were impressed by her achievements when they were circulated. Dee herself had been so taken with her experiences at Denman that she has booked herself in for another course: she encouraged everyone to go on a course if possible.
31st January
Having missed a meeting of the Book Group in December, the members had to report on two titles this afternoon. We had read the classic novel by Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” written in 1859 and “Revolutionary Road” by Richard Yates written in the 1960s which was billed as another classic of its time. Both novels wanted to get a message across to the reader about upheavals in society and about its ills and injustices. Nowadays the style of Dickens seems unbelievably florid but what a story in spite of the melodrama! The dashing Charles Darnay , the martyr Sydney Carton and the brave little Victorian wife and mother are lively characters set against the blood and gore of the Defarges of the Revolution and the badly used powers of the English Establishment. Then it was off to America in the 1960s for some dark comedy at the expense of a couple living in suburbia but thinking they are capable of greatness and rising above the social level of those around them. Here again the author was rebelling against society, against the treadmill of earning a living and the politics of the World. It was funny but very, very sad too. It is a tragedy because all hope is extinguished for all the characters even if the reader can feel no affection for any of them. The reader too is left in despair.
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