Date: Tuesday 7th September 2021 ….
Venue: the Village Hall …
Would we remember what to do? Would we be rusty? Would anyone come?
Well, we needn’t have worried! The cooks, washer uppers, tea/coffeee makers & servers had NOT forgotten what to do after 18 months away, & loyal villagers (& new friends) turned up for a cuppa, bacon bap or tea cake & a good natter. What a lovely morning everyone.
Then the next evening, we decamped to The Shoulder of Mutton pub in Hamstall Ridware for our Skittles Night (& competition). A geat evening was had by all. The competition was stiff, but good natured & the buffet was fabulous. Hopefully, it won’t be so long till the next one!
Our September meeting was changed to the 4th Tuesday of the month – but that didn’t throw us at all! A welcome glas of fizz & cafe-style seating said ‘We’re Back!’ – & in style! That theme was carried on with our Speaker, Joanne Massey, who informed & entertained us with a wide range of stylish clothes form the 1950’s. Joanne talked about how she’d always been interested in ‘vintage’ clothing, even as a teenager… & could still get into first ‘vintage outfit’ she’d ever bought…. Envy followed – especailly concerning just how stylish & wellmade all these clothes were. A lovely evening to complete our first month back ‘in person’. The only way is forward now!
o come to fruition this summer – the weather kept dry for once! Our ‘famous’ Trade Table returned to outside the Village Hall in Hill Ridware in early August with a ‘bumper’ harvest of goodies for sale – jams, pickles & marmaalde, knitted & crocheted toys, cakes & biscuits, a variety of knitted jackets & hats, books, handmade cardsnfor all occasions – & a raffle. The Hygiene Box was there for donations – all were gratefully received. 
July 4th 2021 – national ‘Thank You Day’ to all our NHS & Key Workers, who have kept going, & kept all of us ‘going’, throughout the pandemic. They certainly deserve a whole load of ‘thanks’! The Ridwares WI had planned a picnic outside the village hall for the Sunday afternoon, in order to meet together in person & say ‘Thank You’ – but the weather had a totally different idea. It rained… & rained… & rained …. & continued to pour throughout the day. Result? A cancelled picnic… & a beautiful cake made by Amy of O’Brien Bakes.
March 17th saw the ladies of The Ridwares WI celebrating St Patricks Day via Zoom. Recipes for soda bread were shared, duly baked & then eaten ‘on the day’. Irish whiskey, or Cream liquer, depending on your individual preference, was drunk. We learnt about St Patrick & the myths associated with his life & work, aspects of Irish culture & were amazed at ‘Riverdance’, yet again. The general agreement was that we would leave this particular art form to the professionals, rather than take it up as a new ‘Lockdown activity’. We also learnt how to create a ‘nappy fold’ item, complete with shamrock to hold our ‘gold (coins) at the end of the rainbow’ in our latest ‘craft along with Gaye’ activity. Another afternoon filled with laughter & friendship.
Easter also saw the delivery of the latest ‘goody bags’ to all our ladies. At least the sun shone for a change for most of us on ‘delivery day’! The goody bags had been crafted by the Committee & contained sunflower seeds to plant, chocolate to eat & other ‘treats’. Designed to bring a smile to the face – which they duly did.
‘HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL’ – what a wonderful inspiration for Spring 2021…. at least that’s what us in The Ridwares WI & the Best Kept Village Comitteee thought! The response to this poem/theme by places like Malmesbury in Wiltshire, got us thinking. How could we ‘translate’ this to our village of HIll Ridware? Well, this is the response so far…..
The WI ‘garden’ area outside the Village Hall is a riot of colour & positivity. Thanks to Karen, Alan & Wendy, in particular, for all their hard work in making this happen. It really does bring a smile to your face.
ook hard as you wander through the village, you will spot a number of ‘Wreaths of Hope’ in windows & on doors, crafted by ladies of The Ridwares WI during one of their afternoon ‘Craft & Chatter’ sessions – a ‘craft along with Gaye’ activity via Zoom. Very colourful!
November saw us embracing Zoom… With all the changing regulations & advice, as Covid-19 continued to spread, there was no other way for us to meet up. So we experimented with a Committee meeting… then a ‘Coffee & Chat’ session… & then finally, a scheduled Zoom meeting for us all. What a giggle! It took us 45 minutes to all log in, wave & natter – well, we are a friendly lot & hadn’t seen a lot of our fellow ‘Ridware WI Ladies’ for months. There was a lot to catch up on. The focus for our get together was a ‘Craft along with Gaye’ session. Kits had been distributed & we all learnt the ‘Scrappy Strip’ technique, resulting in a handmade Christmas card. The results were very impressive.
With no ‘Tinsel & Trimmings’ community event able to take place this year, that did not mean that we were ‘forgetting’ Christmas. Christmas was not going to be ‘cancelled’ in Hill Ridware! Karen organised the donation of the Christmas tree for outside the village hall as usual. The garden area was festooned with a wonderful garland & Alan W, Bob & Alan G helped decorate the tree. Santas also formed part of the decor – part of a community initiative to display Santas in gardens, windows etc around the village for children to count as they went on their ‘daily walk’.
Our December Zoom meeting centred around Karen showing us how to decorate a wreath for our front doors, as well as creating a table centrepiece & a grave memorial. Phew! So inspiring – pens whizzed across notebooks with relish. Again, a lot of laughs ensured.
‘Lockdown mark 2’…… so our planned ‘Ridwares Remembers’ event at the Village Hall could not take place…. Wendy & Karen worked very hard to ensure that the area around ‘Tommy’ was suitably adorned with poppies as a fitting tribute to The Fallen & all who served both at home & abroad. Still, nothing could be organised that might encourage ‘mingling’!
So there is a quiz and some colouring to do … some bubbles to blow & remind us to ‘keep safe’ …. whilst having a cup of coffee & eating some biscuits…. So that’s our ladies ‘sorted’ for a while!
Homemade jams, pickles & marmalade were for sale – as were homemade cakes, knitted crafts & handmade cards. Flowers, plants & produce were also available. Thank you to everyone who contributed items for sale – & came to help out on the day.
