theWI Adderbury & District WI – Cropredy Battlefield Walk – Thursday, 30th July 2015
Dear Ladies, Mary reported they had a lovely walk and were very luck with a beautiful sunny evening and here are her photos – Chris and I were most unfortunately unable to join fellow members for this walk and now we are very much hoping it may perhaps be repeated at some not-too-distant future date? I occasionally drive thru’ Cropredy after visiting friends and this week decided to explore the village and take a few photos for myself – I do hope the weekend’s musical festivities are not being rained-off…. Happy-walking summer days to everybody ! Margaret...
Read MoretheWI Adderbury & District WI Grow Wild Seed Garden at Katharine House Hospice – Tuesday, 4th August 2015
We are now half-way through week 13 of our GWS wild flower garden at Katharine House Hospice and “We Have Poppies”. You can see them as you drive into their grounds for the poppies are blooming brilliantly…. Our poppies were first on the scene at week 12 along with corn chamomile, our one self-heal, meadow buttercups, a few tiny myosotis blooms and one very tall yellow flowered plant which I only discovered a week later was groundsel. We cleared out all plants and threw them onto the bonfire; now I’m seeing groundsel everywhere! It’s constituent parts are mildly toxic to both man and beast but, happily, you would need to ingest a great amount of this material and over a long period for any real hurt to the body. Groundsel can be found everywhere in gardens, waste ground land crop fields. It was our flower of the week for week 13, last Thursday, when I wrote about it quite extensively on our website and that of KHH. Our dear Moley Mole has not returned to tunnel our garden and this is probably due to Mr. Sykes warning against over-watering the garden, creating a mole-easy dig and neither have we been visited by any of the rabbit family. Half-way through week 11 we noticed a great confusion of hoverflies and such like activity about our garden, as well as some bees, so the word must be out about the opportunities to be found at our new patch of wild flowers, which is very exciting…. Our sited bee boxes have not so far attracted any homeless solitary bee as yet but we’re hoping for new neighbours soon. In week 10, our tallest seedlings had reached a height of 15.1/2 and some of our id seedlings were transplanted into individual flower pots. Now in week 13 most of these seedlings have been planted into our second garden and are doing quite well. I posted a message on Twitter about out GWSeedkit garden that weekend and have had some interested response. There is much more Facebook posting activity from a wide variety of GWSeed Kit groups and it’s good to see what they are achieving. As well as hoicking out the groundsel, a few other “weeds” are being removed and we’re checking for their status against removal of the wrong weeds. Yesterday, Monday, 3rd August, I found our “cultivated” poppies had burst into bloom which, from a distance, gave our garden a blue-hue which looked rather exciting. Mr. Sykes explained these seedling seeds had probably been added to the bare area when used as a dumping ground from other parts of the garden. However, they came to be in our garden I’m glad we have them, for they do look very good. Harcourt Arboretum at Nuneham Courtney grow wild flowers which we’re hoping to visit to photo-pick their collection and view their trees. We had not anticipated any flowering of our garden until mid-August so to have poppies blooming now is very exciting. Margaret Halstgead ...
Read MoretheWI Adderbury & District WI – Bursaries for Attending Denman 2015/16 – Thursday 2nd July 2015
Dear Members, here is a brief note about Denman Bursaries with reference to the notice seen at our 2nd July WI Meeting for which the closing date is this Friday, 17th July – Apply directly to Denman for Bursaries for attending Denman 2015/16. Here is the list of Bursaries Allocated by Denman – these are in addition to the bursaries awarded by own WIs and OFWI. BURSARIES ALLOCATED BY DENMAN DENMAN FIRST-TIME BURSARIES DENMAN WI MEMBER BURSARIES DENMAN CARER BURSARIES DENMAN ‘SPRING FLING’ BURSARIES GWEN GARNER BURSARY LOIS PARKER BURSARY HOW TO APPLY FOR BURSARIES: To apply for any of the Denman bursaries detailed above, please send a short letter in support of your application to: Therese Greenhalgh, Denman, Marcham, OXON OX13 6NW or email it to her at – [email protected] In your letter or email please give the following details: Your full name, contact details, WI & Federation; the name of the bursary you would like to apply for; how you would benefit from attending the course; whether you have received a bursary from Denman in the past; the number and title of the course byou would like to attend if your application for a bursary is successful plus a second and third choice. Your WI Secretary will have a programme brochure or visit the website – www.denman.org.uk ; any accommodation or dietary needs, should your application be successful. The closing date for applications is Friday 17th July 2015. Successful applicants will be contacted in writing by Friday 31st July 2015. Regrettably it will not be possible to notify unsuccessful applicants. NOTES: All bursaries awarded must be used on residential courses taking place before the end of September 2016. For WI individual members only. Only one bursary may be applied for per individual. A bursary cannot be awarded to anyone who has been awarded a Denman bursary in the past three years. Denman Bursaries are open to WI members only, for residential open courses and cannot be applied to a course arranged via a federation or a small group booking. Denman Bursaries cannot be applied to courses already booked with the exception of travel bursaries. Please refer to Diane or Gill for further information or help. Margaret Halstead....
Read MoretheWI Adderbury & District WI – OFWI Computer Training at Tackley – Tuesday, 7th July 2015
Here is my report of my day at Tackley last week when I attended OFWI Go Online training day with four other Oxfordshire WI members. Our day began at 10.30 with a brief personal introduction by each member to the class for our tutor, Penny Marsh, to know just what each wanted and hoped to gain from our day’s course. It seemed that safety and security were high on our collective wish-list, ease of opening techniques, easier usage for basic computer tools, shopping online ideas, how to acquire an email address and confidence in using the computer as a tool for everyday usage, communication with the wider world of family connections plus usage of Face Book, emailing with word and photo attachments. In fact, emailing was the one subject Penny barely touched on because of all the spontaneous questions which kept popping up all day, furthering our acquisition of knowledge and confidence. From my point of view, the course was basic instruction for beginners and those more advanced in basics with a smattering of gained usage from use of slightly more complicated tools and applications using Word and shopping sites. We each had a computer set-up for our use to sign into the BBC website, to send emails to Penny and to work alongside her, viewing all her hand movements and moves on a large wall screen. We had a short coffee break squeezed into a busy morning, stopped for lunch for about 25 minutes, followed by an afternoon session of approximately 2 hours’ duration. Penny’s tuition put all at their ease, allowing a flow of questions throughout a full day, made even busier as confidence grew, prompting even more questions which continued with coffee and lunch. Increased confidence was definitely felt by all course members, the member who needed an email address certainly went away with the desired article and security about what information not to provide for Face Book and how to stay secure online was received. Personally, I left confident in my basic understanding and usage of the computer and reinforced knowledge about other more complicated issues. I had wanted to know how Tackley’s courses were organised and at what level they were pitched and also to have my basic knowledge confirmed and this is what I took away with me at the end of the day. One other interesting gain I came away with was a photo taken of the 70th Anniversary Tapestry made in 1989 for OFWI 70th Anniversary celebrations for 1989 and here is my photo of a part of the tapestry… The tapestry was exquisitely stitched and obviously made by very skilled needle women. It was a delight to behold. Here is a smaller photo which looks better… Margaret...
Read MoretheWI Adderbury & District WI – Cropredy Battlefield Walk – Thursday, 30th July 2015
Mary has asked Bernice to forward the details of our next walk which she is kindly organising for us. Let’s hope for a fine evening! And here are Mary’s walk details passed on by Bernice for all members to read on our own website. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to another smashing walk and pub supper afterwards. Margaret…. The walk will be in the evening of Thursday 30 July (not Monday 27th as I had stated at the last walk). It is called The Cropredy Battlefield Walk, and is 4½ miles long. It is a lovely walk which includes 2 stretches of canal, the pretty village of Williamscot, one hill, some views and one stile (which dogs would be able to negotiate). There are a couple of points where there are notices to keep dogs on leads, but otherwise I would think it would be suitable for dogs. There is one stretch of road. As sunset is around 9pm by then, we will need to start walking by 6pm at the latest, as I think it will take 2½ hours. I suggest people arrive in Cropredy by 5.50pm, and park either outside the Brasenose Arms, or in the pub car park. I think that people would need to gather either at the Institute in Adderbury at 5.15pm, or at my house at 44 Waller Drive, Banbury (off the Bloxham Road) at 5.25pm. I will book a meal at the Brasenose Arms for 8.30pm, for those who would like to stay on for the meal. I was told that if there are more than 10 people they would like orders in advance. Could anyone wishing to join us please contact Mary Walker, on 01295 257109 or 07932 711516 or email [email protected], stating also if you would like to stay for the meal, and where you will meet. Friends would be welcome. Can I suggest people bring torches, just in case it turns out to be a dark evening, as I don’t want to have to rescue anyone from the canal if they trip on a mooring rope! Could I also suggest a bottle of water, as we really needed it when we did the walk. Hope to see many of you then. Best wishes....
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