November brought an exciting fashion gig for Caroline, our president. So I’m standing in for her on the blog for the next couple of months. Speaking of fashion, several of us visited the fabulous Chanel show at the Victoria and Albert museum on two dates in November. The exhibition is sold out, so thanks to Angela for arranging and pairing up V&A members with their lucky guests.

Our monthly meeting was the annual AGM to confirm the committee and vote for president, followed by a closely contested quiz. Caroline hosted craft group, and a dozen of us had a great evening at Pizza Pilgrims in Queen’s Park, with festive treats from Desi! November also saw Rebecca organising walks round Gladstone Park, Kew Gardens and Paddington Old Cemetery, while Angela led a longer walk in Surrey on a bright but chilly Saturday from Riddlesdown to Coulsdon via Happy Valley.
Lindsay

October was one of those months where everything ticked along nicely in an autumnal sort of a way. We are noticing the trees changing colour in Queen’s Park each week when we play tennis, our Chislehurst country walk was filled with mushroom-spotting and chestnut foraging, and on our resumed Friday park walks any accompanying dogs were frequently losing their tennis balls amongst all the fallen leaves.

The highlight of the month was definitely Line Dancing at our meeting – it was surprisingly energetic and took a lot of concentration so as not to get the steps muddled up. The month was rounded out by a Culture Club visit to the Kiln Theatre to see ‘Mlima’s Tale, and a good discussion of Trespasses (Louise Kennedy) at Book Club.

The highlight of this month was taking part once again in Queen’s Park Day – the closest thing we have to a village fête in our part of urban London. We were given a good location for our stall, and although it rained on us briefly (for the first time in 10 years!) the discovery that our gazebo canopy was not entirely waterproof didn’t seem to matter at all. We had a great day meeting local women, and selling our homemade cakes, cordials, and jams. Yes – we embraced the old-school WI this year and actually sold jams!

 Our meeting this month making colourful ‘seed bombs’ attracted a record attendance, there was a lovely walk – with pub lunch – in the Port Meadow area outside Oxford, Dining Club enjoyed tapas at the local Spanish restaurant ‘Canaletes’, and Culture Club had a fantastic evening at Sadlers Wells for a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

 September also saw the launch of the newest WI campaign – ‘Clean Rivers for People and Wildlife’. To kick things off in Middlesex, Sunbury Village WI hosted a ‘Riverside Dip & Dabble’ and threw the invitation open. A few of our members went along with their families and had a wonderful time. Find out more about the national campaign at: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/key-and-current-campaigns/clean-rivers-for-people-and-wildlife

Although there were no walks in August we still had a busy month; a resident of New Ground cohousing gave us a very interesting talk at our meeting, our Book Club book (Trust by Hernan Diaz) divided opinion which led to a good discussion, there was a full table at Craft Group, and weekly doubles tennis continued next to busy courts full of children’s lessons.

Other highlights included a fascinating (if damp) guided tour of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery, and a fantastic day at the seaside with wonderful hospitality from Louise.