And the new Skittles Champions for 2023 are ….

..Team 3! …aka  Gaye, John, Carrie-Anne, Ann, Robert, Jean, Jackie & Graham….

Now, what was the secret of Team 3’s success? Who was their secret weapon?

Was it John, the overall points winner?  OR was it Ann who just happened to be o the winning team last year?????  OR was it down to alcohol (or not), laughter & ‘having a go’???

Anyway, they all had fun, as did everyone else!

It was a lovely summer evening for our annual Skittles meet at The Shoulder of Mutton public house n Hamstall Ridware.  The good weather held – as did the light – & the atmosphere was friendly.  Knocked them all down?  Then you were greeted with a cheer & a clap, no matter which team you were playing for!

But competition was fierce, make no mistake, with only a few points in it all told!

Thanks to The Shoulder of Mutton team for a fabulous Buffet & for hosting us all in the Beer Garden.

Thanks also to Alan & Karen for organising the teams, prizes, medals & winners cup & especially to Alan for keeping score – although he did knock off a number of  points from Team 3 at one point … only to remedy his mistake by another announcement a few minutes later….  That’s what comes of being a retired maths teacher (to paraphrase Karen)!

Thanks also to Bob & Kent, ably assisted by Kath & Graham, for the putting up of all those skittles… & finding those that made their way into the hedge whilst also diving from the ‘bouncing bombs’….!  Thanks also to Chris Ewing, our ever-helpful ‘ball boy’!

And the proud winner of the wooden spoon?  Well that was Meryl!

A great evening – full of fun & friendship!

 

 

What’s next for us in this busy summer?

Learning about the history of Gin (‘Mothers Ruin’ ) with BYO Gin ..& tonic/mixer ( & special glass etc) for our June monthly meeting….

Supporting the Village Fete – stall & ‘Guess the Number of Balloons in a car’, with the chance to win a mega hamper! …

Tractor tour of Fisherwick Farm – a lovely evening out compete with buffet..

‘Tasting Summer’ at our July monthly meeting – doing the taste tests , so you don’t have to  ….

Supporting Menafest with our fabulous, & famous, Jarbola stall ….

Interested in joining us?  Then contact Karen Wakefield (01543 492136) for further information.  New members always welcome!

Summer & Strawberries….

Our Summer Afternoon Tea was earlier this year, partly  due to a busy month (or two) ahead! But the sun did come out (although wasn’t too hot) so the strawberries were rippened & ready for us all to eat.  This Afternoon Tea is always a popular event in the village calendar & so proved to be yet again. It was lovely to see the Village Hall full of happy smiling faces & to welcome friends old & new.

Everyone enjoyed our Summer Menu of 2 sandwiches & crisps, followed by a strawberry cream scone & cake (all homemade) … & bottomless tea & coffee throughout the afternoon.  The Hall looked amazing as ever – particular thanks to Alan W, Bob T, Chris E, John, Martin & John for their invaluable help in the morning to get all the bunting up … & then for their help in getting it down again at the end!  No mean feat…

Wendy & Kath P manned the Trade Table which included homemade jams & pickles as well as some more cake if you needed to take some home!  And then there was our famous Raffle – over 40 prizes were up for grabs, with an amazing choice of items to choose from. Phew!

 

And then there was the clearing up to do after an amazing afternoon, full of fun & friendship…  which the WI ladies still managed to find joy & laughter in!

 

 

 

What’s next for us in this busy summer?

Skittles evening at The Shoulder of Mutton Public House, Hamstall Ridware …

Learning about the history of Gin (‘Mother’s Ruin) with BYO gin & tonic/mixer etc at our June monthly meeting…

Supporting the Village Fete – stall & ‘Guess the Number of Balloons in the Car’ with a chance to win a mega hamper!

Tractor tour of Fisherwick Farm – a lovely evening out complete with buffet….

‘Tasting Summer’ at our July monthly meeting – doing all the taste-tests so you don’t have to!

Supporting Menafest with our fabulous Jarbola stall ….

 

INTERESTED IN JOINING US?  CONTACT Karen Wakefield.  New members always welcome!

 

Let’s get crafty!

October  is ‘Have a go craft month’ for The Ridwares WI – a chance to sit , craft & natter – or just sit & natter!  This is in preparation for World Kindness Day in November (where we distribute small gifts of kindness throughout the village) & our Tinsel & Trimmings event in December  (to create items for the craft stall).  Marrianne also was inviting members to create poppies out of the ends of plastic bottles for display in our garden outside the village hall for Remembrance Sunday.  So our ladies also had the opportunity to knit/crochet Christmas trees & Santas – to ‘hide’ a chocolate orange…. with Wendy & Meryl – or to make felt birds with Carrie-Anne.  Gaye was leading the card making efforts & Christine S was encouraging the budding artists to paint as many stones as possible….

Phew!  We always say that we have a lot of talent amongst our members, but also the willingness to ‘have a go’ & ‘try something new/different’ from those ladies who don’t consider themselves crafty at all!

AND is Alan, trying to make a point? – along with all the other WI husbands/partners, who work so hard to help us with events …????

‘Say Cheez’ & other news …..

‘SAY CHEEZ’ ……. An extremely popular community event in September was our Cheese tasting evening. The hall was packed with members, family and friends all enjoying the delicious range of cheeses provided by ORSOM hand-made cheeses.  Hannah, from The British Food Box’, worked very hard all night explaining how each cheese was made and ensuring each person had a taste of no less than14 different cheeses.

People were encouraged to bring their own drinks to help cleanse the palate between each tasting… at least that’s what we thought the copious bottles of wine adorning each table were for.
Members had worked hard decorating the hall,  & laying tables with fresh flowers, crackers and grapes. The harvest festival themed raffle went down a real treat.

‘When’s the next one?’ was the retort from a number of villagers, some of whom had not attended a community event in the Village Hall before.  |So we’ve got to put our thinking caps on now …..

‘WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS’ was another proud cry from us in The Ridwares WI, as we won not 1 but 2 awards from SFWI this year!  The first was the Press Report Shield which was won by our Press Officer, Kath Parson, who also collected these awards on our behalf.  The Ridwares WI were joint first for this award along with Haughton W I.
The Judge’s comments for The Ridwares submission: –
“Well-written, with a good flow, and plenty of photos showing what is clearly a very lively and active group. The way the words flow around the photographs creates a nice, easy
read. And its lovely to see so many different age groups represented in the photographs, as well. A really decent effort and very pleasant to look at.
The second award was the Freda Houldcroft Trophy for the best WI programme. The Judge’s comments: –
“There was a good use of colour and the photos added and extra dimension to explaining the speakers’ subjects. Perfect size for the handbag and robust enough to last a year with clear information on how to contact the president.”
Both awards came as a complete surprise – a lot to live up to for 2023!

A new Champ is crowned ……

… a new Ridwares WI Skittles Champ that is…. – Kath Parson!  Congratulations Kath!  Chris Ewing was awarded the wooden spoon – both were fiercely contested awards on the night!  The winning team was captained by June Ewing & included Jackie L, Kent P, Ann A, Betty H & Angela L.  Well done all!

So many amazing individual  (& team) performances – what a laugh.  A lovely way to catch up with eachother.  The sun didn’t come out for us, so thoughts of playing skittles on a warm, balmy summer evening in a pub garden, were quickly banished.  Fleeces & multiple layers were the order of the night.

Thanks to Kate B for booking the event, & to Alan & Karen W for all the organisation on the night.  A big thank you also to the team at The Shoulder of Mutton, Hamstall Ridware, who warmly welcomed us & set everything up for the evening.  The BBQ was wonderful as well!  Thanks also to Bob, Kath & Kent who were on ‘skittles’ duty at the far end  – all that bending to put all those skittles upright must have done them some good.

Another lovely, enjoyable evening, full of fun & friendship.

’70 Glorious years’ – the Platinum Jubilee!

Our Platinum Jubilee celebrations got off to a cracking start this on Thursday 2nd June with a fabulous Jubilee Tea. We were all assigned tasks by our President who had earlier that day masterminded the decoration of the hall – thanks to Alan W, Bob T & Chris E for all their hard work in making this happen ! The hall & garden looked simply magnificent. Members got to work ensuring the afternoon was a memorable one for the 70+ local residents who attended.

Behind the scene members plated up a scrumptious tea for everyone whilst others prepared our fantastic and much anticipated huge raffle, and trade tables.

  After our friends and neighbours had enjoyed their tea we all enjoyed a rousing sing along before ending the day with us all standing to sing God Save our Queen.

 

On Saturday 4th June our members played a key role in our village Jubilee Fun Day. This was a joint community effort.  Our main role was to organise a host of competitions for all ages to enjoy. For this we hired a huge marquee, a team of ladies decorated this in red, white and blue rosettes and bunting. On the morning of the event entries began to flood in for competitions all with a Jubilee theme. Everyone had worked very hard to produce entries of a very high standard indeed. We also organised the street party, crafts for the children and made jellies for the Teddy Bears Picnic.

Our ladies also contributed to the event in other ways – notably as members of the local Art Class, whose display of Jubilee themed paintings in the Village Hall was amazing!

In the WI Marquee we had fantastic stories, posters, gardens on trays and some incredible robots made with up-cycled material from local children. Adults entered cup cakes, Jubilee decorated Hats and flower arrangements worthy of county standards.

You can see the absolute delight on the faces of some of the children who won, pictured with their winning entries.  All the winners were presented with a commemorative Jubilee crown.

During the afternoon children enjoyed making a range of crafts with some of our very talented members.  Throughout the day we were royally entertained with some fabulous music and enjoyed a picnic street party. The day rounded off nicely with a challenging quiz.

 

 

The Glitter Ball beckons …. Cheese & Wine ….. & de-cluttering tips …..

  The Strictly theme tune was like an ear-worm for the Ridwares WI ladies as they travelled to Birmingham for an evening of glorious dance, glitz & glamour with ‘Strictly – The Professionals’.  Oh, the spray tans…. the sequins …. the passion … & the incredible expertise of the dancers!  An amazing afternoon was had by all.  Watch out for inspired Latin moves at the next party or dancing occasion!!! … you have been warned ….

The AGM was an enjoyable occasion – well, there was cheese, wine & nibbles!  The meeting was zoomed so that post-operative members (i.e. Gaye) could also attend – although she had to provide her own refreshments!  This was our first ‘back to normal’ AGM in 3 years; ‘correct proceedures’ were not fogotten.  For both the Treasuerer (Anthea Smith) & Secretary (Karen Parsons), it was their first time in presenting their all important reports to the ladies – an excellent job from both of them.  Karen Wakefield stood down as President – & was promptly re-elected!  Particular thanks were expressed to Angela Robbins & Viv Adams who stood down as members of the Committee, as they have given invaluable & indefatigable service to our WI over many years.  We are also very fortunate to welcome 4 new volunteers to the Committee for 2022/2023: Carrie-Anne, Chris Gates, Chris Seward & Kath Parson. Precise roles & responsibilities will be discussed at the next Committee meeting, which in future, will have to be held in the Village Hall Lounge.  A new WI year beckons….

What do you do when your OH states that YOU need to declutter your clothes …… well, if you’re Kath P, then you apply the tips that Katherine Blackler passed on during her Zoom talk to HIS clothes! …. & then, apply them to your own ….  Katherine Blackler is a professional De-Clutterer & organiser who makes ‘sorting things out’ FUN!  Her mantra is: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” (William Morris).  Katherine began by asking us if we ‘suffered from PILES?’ – not too personal a question, when it’s PILES of paperwork, toys/craft & clothes…. – & then gave us lots of ideas on how to deal with each of these.

Useful tip 1: PILES of paperwork – remove the bulk & then flip the sstack upside down.  This measn that the oldest stuff is now at the top …. Divide the PILE into 2 simple ‘keep’ or ‘ditch’ stacks…..

Useful Tip 2: Organise PILES of toys/craft etc into shallow storage buckets with picture labels, so you know where everything goes back to.  Keep the categories broad!

Useful Tip 3: Put all your  clothes onto the bed & categorise into PILES – deal with 1 category at a time.  Divide into ‘keep’, ‘donate’, or ‘ditch’…

Useful Tip 4: Roll tops up & file them, rather than piling them up one on top of the other – this is what Kath P did (see photograph).  Save the ring pulls off drinks cans & use them over the hanger so you can then ‘hang’ another item/hanger onto it (see photo).

Katherine then gave us plenty of advice when it came to ‘ditching’ & ‘donating’ items – the PDF has been circulated to members.  Kath P is not alone in tackling ‘PILES’ … we have been inspired to action!

 

Afternoon Tea… & papercrafting …..

…. although not necessarily at the same time!  A small group of ladies met at The Deer Park for Afternoon Tea in April & had an enjoyable time.  It felt quite odd to not be serving teas, but we coped! The savoury items were varied & something different, but the main talking point were the ‘Earl Grey scones’ – they were huge yet very delicate, so we all got very messy eating them.  A cake selection followed, with resulting full stomachs. Doggy bags were taken home!  A huge ‘thank you’ to Kate B for organising this afternoon out.

Debbie, Chris G, Chris L, Yvonne & Mary met up to ‘craft along with Gaye’ in the village hall creating cards using the ‘In the moment’ stamp set.  They stamped, embossed, coloured in, blended & used 2 masking techniques to create amazing cards. Well done ladies!

Next requests?  Papercrafting wreaths for the Jubilee … & then ‘Christmas cards’!

How do you show solidarity with all those in Ukraine who are suffering as a result of the invasion of their country by Russia?  Our President, Karen Wakefield, changed our display at the WI garden outside the Village Hall.  The ‘Hope Springs Eternal’message, still relevant today.

Bee Happy …..

February was ‘Show the Love’ month for us in The Ridwares WI – hence the green hearts display by the WI garden area outside the Village Hall.  WI’s throughout the country focused their attention on environmental issues during the month, & we are no exception.

Green hearts were worn by many ladies to our February meeting where Gavin Cordon came to talk to us about ‘For the Love of Bees’.

Did you know that it’s the female worker bees who do all the work?  Neither did we in The Ridwares WI, but, according to Gavin, it’s true.  Drone bees, however, are all male and their sole responsibility is to fly out of the hive to mate with the queen. Their role ends when they are are no longer fertile.  Fascinating …. & the honey tasting wasn’t bad either!  Needless to say, Gavin’s local honey was the best tasting.  Another very enjoyable, & informative evening.

Our monthly competition encouraged us all to produce something from recycled materials – quite a range of ideas!  Bees were also the focus for more crafting endeavours when some of our ladies got together to craft door & window hangers with Gaye – ‘SOS for Bees’ is one of our WI resolutions that we continually come back to & keep in mind.  So do look out for these crafty bits & pieces around the village!  What would be your ‘green heart climate pledge’?

February is also Quiz Time! ….. with the annual SFWI County Quiz at the Showground.  The competition is fierce – some teams have been through a selection process prior to the evening itself, whilst others have practiced a lot!  The Ridwares WI team – aka Jeanette, Angela, Tina, & Gaye – well, we take it seriously, but are also there to have a good time.  The colour theme was ‘NHS blue’, so our picnic table decor was colour co-ordinated accordingly & Gaye had made some nurses hats for us to wear.  Angela, being the only ex-nurse on the team wasn’t too sure about their authenticity, but gave an ‘A’ for effort!

And as for the results? We didn’t win…. but came in the top 10!

Deck the Halls ….

It’s Christmas time… which for The Ridwares WI means our annual ‘Tinsel & Trimmings’ event.  Thursday morning , 25th November, saw a number of ladies & our special ‘WI Husbands’, meet in the Village Hall, complete with bags of greenery from various gardens.  Under the expert tutorlage of Karen Wakefield, our President, garlands were strung, wreaths made & the hall was suitably bedecked ready for the festive season.

Friday afternoon saw us back to set up the stalls & raffle table .. & to get the mulled wine on the go ….

The rain held off so ‘Plan A’ could go ahead – with everyone able to go outside & witness the official switching on of the Christmas tree lights by Ashley, from The Chadwick Arms.  The Lea Hall Brass Band played throughout the evening  – I think they enjoyed being back with us ‘in person’, almost as much as we did having them there! Mulled wine was drunk… & drunk … & drunk … with supplies having to be regularly replenished. Mince pies were eaten – thanks to Morrisons for donating them – Jarbola items won, & cakes, crafts & raffle tickets brought.  It was such a thrill to see so many villagers come together for the evening– a superb time was had by all.

… & then it snowed!!!