10 'green' W.I. members sitting in a church hall.....

It was a bit like buses, only the other way round. One minute I had 2 speakers for September, the next minute there were none. A bit of rearranging of the programme and Kate Rowen kindly stepped in to do her talk on how easy it is to be green – thanks for that at short notice. However, this now leaves us no speaker for November! Deal with that one when the time comes.

It was a fortnight ago so apologies for the lateness of the post. We were a select group that week – small but perfectly formed (actually only 9 of us, despite the title of the piece)! Hope that meant that the rest of you were doing hugely exciting stuff and not just drowning in work and household chores.


I found out some interesting facts about which products aren’t the best to use, and now know how often my fellow W.I.-ers take their make-up off, and that not many of us fancy a hemp wedding dress!


At that time, I was still waiting for final confirmation from Waitrose who had written offering to do a cheese and wine tasting for us. We had chosen our October meeting, straight after the voting bit of the AGM. I’ve now heard that they aren’t coming after all, so for the second month in a row, we are without a speaker (this time with only 2 weeks to go).


It’s nailbiting stuff..... watch this space.


Mandy x

Glam Gran!

Congratulations to Kate S on the birth of her grandson Freddie.  Is she our youngest granny at the tender age of 43??

Midsummer (!) stroll

8 brave souls: me, Catrina, Roz, Di, Nicky, Sandy, Mary, and Jenny, decided that a bit of rain wasn't enough to deter them from taking part in the inaugural WINGs summer walk.

We met at the Lock leeper in Keynsham and set off at 7:50 in light drizzle. We walked under the bridge and along the river, past Fry's and past quite a few people fishing. The path was good and it was a nice easy, level walk. (if a bit snail and cow pat littered).

We arrived at the Lock and Weir just after 8:30 and enjoyed a drink and a sit down whilst watching a heron fishing on the weir. Unfortunately there were no other WINGs ladies waiting at the pub to greet us.

As it was getting dark and raining again, we headed back at about 9.

Thankfully some had brought torches as it was quite dark by the time we got back to the Lock Keeper.

We mostly all had very soggy wet feet but we all enjoyed it.

Next year we should go earlier in the year and remember to wear wellies if it's raining!

Kate S

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

Except in this case it was the other way round. One by one the takers for our trip round Hanham Court gardens had to drop out until by Sunday (the day of the event) it was down to me. So I went. (On Monday). And I’m jolly glad I did.

We lived in Hanham when we first moved to Bristol and I’ve always been fascinated by that gothic house. Tragically the wall is high and I am not, and I’ve never really been able to get a good look at it until this week. It had crossed my mind to contact the estate agents and present myself as prospective buyer but I had a sneaking suspicion they might suss that I didn’t have a couple of million quid in the bank. Anyway, I digress.

The house, what I saw of it, is stunning, and the grounds go on for miles. There’s a lovely central area when you first go through the archway with tons of flower beds and pots, then there are other little walkways and a 15 minute walk where you end up in the hills with fantastic views.

There’s a sweet little church, a pond and a little waterfall, a couple of gypsy caravans and 2 lush dogs – a fantastic place to live if you were either a kid or a canine I should imagine.



You have 2 more opportunities to visit – this Sunday and Monday afternoon, 2.30 – 5pm. I’d recommend it if you get a chance.

Mandy x

Ay Caramba!!

We were birthday girls on Thursday night. One whole year! A Mexican theme was chosen, mostly because I had a couple of spare Mexican hats and a blow-up cactus in the loft that wasn’t getting a lot of usage. Also, it meant there’d be loads of scope for the food for our shared supper (which everyone took advantage of). The feeding of the five thousand didn’t get a look in, I’m sure we could have fed  an entire South American country on what we all brought to eat.

And then there was the entertainment – we tried to keep it a secret, so hopefully it was a surprise to most. Claire and Anna from The Showgirl Academy came along to show us the Mexican Hat Dance. Laugh!! - I’ll let the photos do the talking.

A really fun night I thought.

The margaritas were excellent, and we had a fantastic birthday cake.

I suspect there were plenty of families eating leftover chilli and enchilladas on Friday night.

Mandy x