Tales of the Lockdown – Episode 17 …

 

   Well, the sun shone for St George & for us in The Ridwares WI as we met together, via Zoom, to celebrate.  Some of us invited friends to share the afternoon with us in the back garden – so sunglasses were in evidence! We listened to rousing Shakespeare  speech (Henry V) & were cheering for ‘Harry, England & St George!’ at the end.  A Mummers play retold the story of St George & the Dragon, we watched some morris dancing & crafted a ‘tent fold box’ in another ‘craft along with Gaye’.  Gin, tea, or prosecco was drunk – scones & cake eaten.  The afternoon finished with the goose-bump raising of ‘Jerusalem’ sang at the WI centenary at the Royal Albert Hall.  This brought back many happy memories for our President, Karen Wakefield, who also attended the Royal Garden Party that week.  A lovely afternoon full of fun & friendship.

Our April meeting itself was jam-packed as we had 2 Speakers.  Beth came from ‘The Hygiene Bank’ in Cannock to tell us more about why our support is so needed & invaluable.  Unfortunately, the pandemic has only plunged more people into dire need, facng the heart-breaking choice between buying shower gel (for example) or food for your family.  We agree that ‘everyone has the right to feel & be clean’ so will be busy back collecting toiletries to donate with renewed energy & insight.  Emma then talked about how she creates the most amazing flowers to decorate her cakes & how her business (‘Ridware Cakes’) has operated during the pandemic.  She showed us numerous creations & talked about the latest fashion in cakes (transparent layers apparently) – you really did believe that the flowers were ‘real’, rather than fondant.  Amazing!

Preparations are ahead for our AGM next month – it’ll be ‘with a difference’ for certain!