The President's Evening

Another wet evening! At least this year we didn't even try to call it a garden party!

We had a great time! Lots of chat and lovely food to share. We watched the film of the Group Olympics warm up and could really see why the Real Olympics were such a success of human endeavour and friendliness - all thanks to our preparations and lead! Caroline is just checking her in-box for the note of recognition from Lord Coe; we had asked him not to mention us in his closing speech on Sunday, not wanting to take all the credit!  We congratulated our medal winners, Jane (gold, with Sue R) and Gill (silver).  Nunney were the China of our awards table, we were more, well, Australia? Next time, we'll co-opt Mo as an honorary member!

The video of our Synchronised Tea Drinking is on You Tube, just do a search for that or Leigh on Mendip WI. Be sure to hit the 'like' button! We'll show the DVD of the whole event at one of our meetings in the Autumn!

September promises to be a busy month, beginning with lunch at The Bell on the first Friday at 12.15. It's also our programme planning month, so start racking your brains for good ideas for speakers and activities.

Ladies who lunch....

.......  had a lovely time today at The Bell Inn! Lunch was good and the conversation covered just about every topic you can think of, well, perhaps we didn't mention religion?
We all walked there, too, so can clock up the miles on our Big Walk Little Splash effort!
Next date Friday 7 September at The Bell Inn. 12.15

We've had information about the next Real Jam Festival to be held at Denman  College; so I have two thoughts on this! One, we must organise another alternative Jam Festival for Leigh, because it was good fun last time! And Two, the one at Denman is on 1 & 2 December and incorporates a Christmas market as well. How about going up there for one of those days? It would be a good chance to visit Denman and look, with wonder and awe at the skill of the real jam makers and do a spot of Christmas shopping. Sounds like a good plan to me. Have a look in your diary to see if you are free on Saturday 1 December and let me know if you want to come!

Calling all WI film buffs!

The cinema in Wells is offering special rates for WI members at specific times! It was mentioned in a recent issue of County News and yesterday Eileen mentioned that she and her husband had turned up to the first event... And was surprised to find that she was the only WI member there!

She said the next date planned is Friday 10 August; day time and shared with U3A at the moment. You  need your WI membership card to get the discount. I shall contact Eileen for a few more details, in case any Leigh members would like to go along.

ACWW day at Binegar

What a fabulous day! Marguerite, Sue V and I went to Eileen Hurd's day at Binegar village hall which she organised to celebrate the Association of Country Women of the World. The speakers in the morning were excellent, so passionate about the work they do; one is a UN delegate and has visited many ACWW projects since she joined in 2007 (at the age of 75!) she gave such an insight into the lives of the women who live in Belarus. Next came Kay, who has been actively involved with the Wells charity to aid the children of Chernobyl. She has welcomed 6 children into her home over the years and has visited Belarus to help run a play scheme in the summer holidays. Both of their talks were entertaining, amusing and very touching.
We are so very lucky to live where we do and to  have the freedom we have.

In the afternoon an Oxford geologist gave a very interesting description of Iceland with photos he had taken during a recent holiday.

A very interesting and thought provoking day, very well organised by Eileen, well attended and well hosted by Binegar W.I.  thank you all.

Record breaking July!

What a stunning month we've had so far! On the starting blocks was a very civilised lunch at two cafes in Mells.... Swiftly followed by one of the most entertaining and amusing speakers we've enjoyed at our Monday meeting, culminating in last night's Frome Group Olympic Warm-Up. What a fantastic evening! It began with a parade around the lovely field at Beckington village hall. The team of honed athletes walked in their Institutes behind their banners. (Congratulations to Nunney on having such a beautiful and expertly created banner), waving to the spectators with 'Chariots of Fire' playing in the background! Then the events began! We were treated to a Gold Medal performance of synchronised swimming by Nunney. They were pioneering the new greener way of demonstrating their skills on grass instead of requiring the high cost option of a pool. Wellie throwing, bash the rat and the egg and spoon race were all hotly contested. athletes could be seen limbering up, making their own personal preparations in order to give a peak performance. The bronze medal winner of the crochet event was a late entry, only learned the technique very recently by reading about it in a library book and borrowing a crochet hook. All very testing and challenging these athletes to the very limits of endurance. The final race was the dressing up relay where the super-star sports women were required to walk a course, putting on various items of clothing and then removing them on the return journey. Very testing indeed for the second player who had to unravel the clothes before they could don them! Here we had two heats and a fiercely contested final, with some very competitive teams! Before the athletes adjourned for a much needed meal, 5 ladies from Leigh on Mendip gave a demonstration of the new sport which will doubtless be included in the 2016 Olympics: Synchronised Tea Drinking, accompanied by the Tommy Dorsey Band playing the Tea for Two cha cha cha. Following a lovely ploughman's meal, we were treated to the awards ceremony. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded amid much applause and the sound of many camera shutters! Every participant was awarded a union flag chocolate lolly as a memento of the games! What a wonderful evening! Thank you very much to Caroline and Mary for organising the whole event, to Beckington Berkely and Standerwick for being such marvellous hosts and to the Nunney member who kindly made all of the medals - and to everyone who came up with the ideas and the enthusiasm! It was fun!

We know how to live.....

Four of us turned up in Mells today for a delicious lunch at the cafe which adjoins the post office in Mells. Once we had finished our meal we decided to wander up the road to the cafe in the garden nursery, situated next to Mells Barn. What a delightful setting, beautifully arranged and laid out along the 'up-cycling', vintage themes with lovely flowers and both indoor and outside seating for those wishing to partake of the cafe facilities. (which, of course, we did!) Next month we'll have lunch together at The Bell in our village, as the new chef has arrived! 12.30, Friday 3 August. Looking forward to it!

Antiques supper at Standerwick

Last evening Val and I went along to Standerwick for an unusual and very entertaining evening. I was expecting to eat a meal and then listen to a speaker describing his life in the antiques business. Wrong! We did indeed have a lovely meal (pork chop & veg, all locally sourced and a scrummy pavlova or chocolate torte) and we enjoyed the very good company of 6 members from Chewton Mendip WI around our table. The speaker provided antiques for us to look at and we had a series of questions to answer about each one. (work to do, indeed!) it was absolutely fascinating, and what a privilege to be able to handle so many old, interesting and valuable items! One table had the cheapest and the most expensive puzzles to solve! Their marrow spoon (not for scooping the vegetable type of marrow, it was for bone marrow!) was old but worth only £6. The brooch, very small, just a thin gold strip with 3 white stones turned out to be worth £6,000, (I observed two things at this point: one, all the doors were closed and two, he didn't divulge the value until he had that brooch back in his possession!) It was very interesting, we learnt a great deal about antiques along the way and had great fun! Well worth the ticket price indeed!