Published at 13:40, Thursday, 28 February 2008

President Mrs M Bell opened the February meeting and welcomed the guest speaker Ajas Hussain who gave a very informative talk on trading standards scams. Joan Blamire welcomed ten members to the February meeting of Aikton WI. A most enjoyable members evening was spent at the February meeting of Causewayhead WI.The February meeting of Gamblesby WI began when the president asked members to remember their friend and neighbour Susan Mason. Then Eileen Cure read a suitable poem. Mary Lawley, our president welcomed members and guests from Lowry Hill and Great Orton at Belah Community Centre on Tuesday, February 19 for our birthday party. The February meeting of the Kirklinton and District WI took place this month at Scaleby Hall.President Gillian Harris welcomed 22 members to the meeting. The president welcomed members to the meeting held on Thursday, February 14, at the Taylor Institute, Low Row. Although there was no music, members sang Jerusalem with gusto.In January our members enjoyed delicious shepherd pies followed by mouth-watering sweets and mince pies. From the County News we were told about a healthy lifestyle competition which is looking for a picnic menu including recipes and 10 top tips for leading a healthy lifestyle. We were out and about again for our February meeting when we visited the studio/workshop of Michael King at Curthwaite. Penny Coulthard welcomed members and one visitor to the February meeting held in the village hall.

He talked about his work in the East End of London where there are a lot more trading scams going on than up here in Cumbria.

A scam is when people con you out of your cash and there are hundreds of different types of ways to try and persuade you to part with your money.

Be very wary of doorstep sales and don’t part with money until you receive the goods.

Is it likely that someone you don’t know, who has contacted you out of the blue will give you something for nothing? Keeping in touch with your local Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator who will let you know if there is anything suspicious going on in your local area.

And, if you think you have been the victim of a scam, Mr Hussain advised us to call Consumer Direct for advice.

Mrs Bell thanked Mr Hussain for his talk which gave us all reasons to beware.

Refreshments were served and then the meeting continued.

The minutes of the December and January meetings were read out.

A team was entered for the WI Team Darts which was being held at Lorton on Tuesday, February 26.

Members who will be abseiling down Rowrah Quarry met members of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team at the Great Escape Coffee Shop at Moota on Saturday, February 9 for a briefing.

It was decided to hold an afternoon tea on April 18 with cake stall etc.

Votes were taken for the County Federation executive committee.

The competition for a bowl of bulbs was won by Janie Bewick.

The minutes of the January meeting were read and signed.

Relevant items from the County News were noted. We then voted for members of the executive committee.

The group meeting will be held on April 21 in Thursby Village Hall. Aikton is in charge of the competition.

The date of our bingo night has been changed to April 9. Our speaker for the evening, tax consultant Elizabeth Bainbridge was then introduced.

She gave us an expert insight into the changing world of taxation.

The subject of wills and inheritance tax which affects everyone, whatever their age, was discussed. The talk was very enlightening to all our members and Karen Rudd then thanked Elizabeth.

The competition for a pen was won by Julia Graham and the drawing by Fiona Graham.

Congratulations were in order for the Wombles lead by our president, P Bell. They were one of four teams from Causewayhead WI who entered a local quiz competition and came out clear winners.

Well done to them.

Two teams of six members were to be taking part in the regional WI annual darts competition and good luck was wished to both of them.

Members were informed that a beach clean had been arranged for Thursday, February 14.

The birthday party for Causewayhead is to be held on Wednesday, May 7 and it was proposed that this should be at the Gin Case, Mawbray.

After the official business had been concluded, the members were divided into teams of four to play dominoes under the skilful guidance of Diane Shaw.

This proved not only entertaining, but also created much fun and laughter as many members were not familiar with the rules. The overall winner was president, Pat Bell.

For the social half-hour, a quiz and guess the parcels was presented by J Day and M Dockeray. The winners of guess the parcels were: White Parcel, G Hunter; Yellow Parcel, P Nixon.

Hostesses for the evening were: R Brooks, M Irving and M Wise.

Competition winners were: Smallest domino: 1, P Froggatt; 2, J Wilson. Flower: 1, R Brooks; 2, J Day.

Raffle prizes: 1, J Gibson; 2, A Dunbar. Grocery parcels: D Ross and M Wise.

The County News was read and discussed.

Members were reminded about the midnight walk on June 20 in support of the hospice.

The members were also pleased to hear that the Gamblesby A team had played darts at Wigton and now go through to the final on April 4.

The evening was an open meeting when the speaker was Robin Davis. His talk and film show was about his expedition to Greenland.

Along with eight other people Robin spent three weeks climbing in glorious weather. They climbed at night because there was a threat of avalanches through the day. GPS equipment was vital on the trip.

The members and guests thoroughly enjoyed the talk and asked many questions.

Raffle prizes were won by Peter Dowson, Vicki Everatt, Stanley Burn, Cath Allen, Alan Cure and three visitors.

The competition results were: 1, Vicki Everatt; 2, Dorothy Burn; 3, Sandra Clifford.

We were entertained by the choir from the University of Cumbria/Institute of the Arts who provided a variety of music and great solo singing by quite a few of the choir. An evening enjoyed by all.

Thank you was expressed by the guests for the lovely supper.

The competition for a paperweight was won by 1, I Sheddon (visitor); 1, M Reeves (member); 2, U Barratt; 3, E Hodgson.

Raffle prizes were won by K Stuart, M Cross, D Dewhirst and many more.

Twenty-five members and one guest were present, Marie Grieves read the minutes of the last meeting and there were no apologies for absence.

All were welcomed by our president, Kathleen Clubbs, who read the County News and reminded everyone that the annual spring council meeting was to be held in the Shepherds Inn, Rosehill, Carlisle, on April 5 with a delegate to be nominated.

The venue for the summer outing was selected by members with the result to be announced at the next meeting.

Elizabeth Wallace gave an interesting and lively talk about her visit to China.

She travelled in a group of 28 people, mostly from the antipodes, for one month.

Knowing no-one she quickly integrated into the group and together they visited Beijing, the great wall of China and Xian with its Terracotta Army.

Then a cruise on the Yangtse amid dreadfully wet weather.

She also got to grips with the food, enjoying the diverse cuisine but steadfastly refusing the bean curd.

The exiting holiday culminated in Shanghai amid the towering skyscrapers.

Appropriately the competition was for a tea caddy which was won by Marie Grieves, runner up Frances Graham.

Entertainment was laid on by the Fordsyke Group who prepared a very tricky page of proverbs to solve.

She especially welcomed Bunty Cranston back who is feeling a lot better.

Apologies were received. The minutes were read, approved and signed.

Gillian thanked everyone involved with The Soup Lunch on January 23, whichit made just over £100 for WI funds. The excellent raffle gave it a boost.

The County News was read.

Gillian Harris will be attending the Spring Council meeting in the Shepherds Inn, Carlisle, on Saturday, April 5.

The Spring Group Meeting is on Monday, April 7 in the United Reformed Church, Lowther Street, Penrith when Cedric Robinson will be the speaker.

Thank-you to a kind gentleman living in Lazonby, who wishes to remain anonymous. He has given Lazonby WI some store saving cards.

He wants us to spend them on giving someone a bit extra at this time of year.

At the next meeting we will have a vote on who to donate them to, giving the recipients a nice surprise.

Gillian Harris introduced David Brass whose talk and slide show was called From Joystick to Egg Flip.

David, a Stainton man born and bred, chose a Royal Air Force career as a young man rather than the family farm.

After the necessary training he was assigned the prestigious job of piloting Harrier jump jets and tornados which he enjoyed tremendously.

David flew all over the world with the RAF but sadly at the age of 28 he had to stop flying because he started suffering from diabetes.

He was offered ground work with the air force but decided to return home and become a farmer on the family’s traditional beef and sheep farm.

David and his wife Helen started producing free range eggs in 1988 with 200 hens.

The business grew until, in 1992 they had 9,000 hens.

Ten years after the start of egg production the beef herd and sheep flock were sold.

Their free range egg production is still growing; they supply McDonald’s and major supermarkets Morrisons, Tesco, Aldi & Somerfield as well as local people and shops.

They have 48,000 free range hens now, 35,000 on 40 different farms and the Lakes Free Range Egg Company Ltd is the fifth biggest egg packer in the country now with a £10 million turnover.

Gillian thanked David Brass for giving us two interesting talks about very different times in his life. It was evident from his enthusiasm that he is passionate about both.

The competition for a small piece of silver, judged by our speaker, was won by Joan Griffiths with a silver Kudu. Second was Nancy Pickthall with a silver jug.

Before dealing with business matters, Enid Bell introduced our speaker; Dianne Horn from Slack House Farm, who was going to take us through the various stages of cheese-making, and who required to start the process by adding culture and rennet to milk to allow the mixture to “set”.

This process needed about an hour to reach the state whereby the whey could be drained from the curd.

Apologies for absence were received from Carolyn Todd, Maureen Chipchase and Joanna Coyle.

Minutes of the previous month’s meeting were read and approved.

The Christmas Dinner, which was held at the Fairways Golf Club, was a success and very enjoyable evening. The new venue received full approval.

Items of interest and announcements from the County News were brought to the notice of members and they were reminded that Fairtrade Fortnight runs from February 25 until March 9.

The cheese-making then continued. Usually, taking warm, raw milk straight from their Ayrshire cows – temperature and acidity is very important in the cheese process – the milk is placed in a “bain marie” where the temperature remains constant and the culture and rennet is added to it, gently stirred and left to separate.

Once this stage is reached, the curd is “sliced” with special cutters and then the whey is drained.

The curd is then broken up into even smaller pieces and pressed in to a muslin-lined mould.

This is then removed and wrapped for storage.

Having been stored in special conditions to mature, for approximately six months, the cheese is then sold direct from the farm and at local farmers’ markets.

The total process is a very delicate and time-consuming one. Apart from making cheese every week, Dianne and her husband run a working organic farm, using milk from their 30 Ayrshire dairy cows for the cheese, sell milk wholesale and keep a flock of 40 sheep.

They also run a B&B, have “walk the farm” trails and are keen to encourage wildlife by planting new hedgerows and leaving wide margins alongside the streams and becks.

The cheese-making process can be seen from a viewing gallery in the visitors’ barn. To support the business in the early stages, especially after FMD, Dianne taught maths at local schools but has given up teaching as the business has become a full-time occupation and is now self-supporting.

Enid Bell gave the vote of thanks, thanked Dianne for a very informative talk and demonstration.

Dianne Horn then judged the two competitions and the winners of a tea pot were: 1, Mary Mitchinson with a V&A miniature teapot; 2, Muriel Dodd with a Spode teapot; 3; Pauline Hall with a B&G teapot. Flower of the month winners were: 1, Jean Parker, snowdrops; 2, Enid Bell, aconite; 3, Eleanor Wallace, ruby hellebore.

The raffle winners were: 1, Dorothy Hedley, cheese, compliments of Dianne Horn; 2, Jean Parker; 3, Shirley Wilson. Entertainment was a quiz on cheese organised by Joanna Coyle. Winner was Pauline Hall, followed by Laura Jackson in second place and Jean Parker in third.

The meeting closed at 10.30pm.

The winners of the raffle were; Margaret Threlkeld and Christine Baty. Ruth Cassa organised a competition on flowers. Mary Johnson and Doreen Robinson were the winners.

The Rev Colin Harbach was the speaker for our February meeting. He is a retired Methodist minister living in Longtown and was accompanied by his wife, Pat.

In 1991 they went to Sierra Leone to do missionary work. The Rev Harbach told us about the great poverty of the people and the dire conditions they were living in.

Although very interesting and entertaining it was a sad account of how, due to corruption and other issues, the couple were unable to do the work they had set out to do.

One has to admire their great courage in going to such a trouble-torn country which after all these years has not improved.

Eighteen members were present.

The competition for shortbread biscuits was won by Nancy Graham with Mary Johnson second. The raffle was won by Tricia Charlesworth and Jennifer Imrie.

A list of candidates for the County Federation executive committee was read out and the required number voted for.

Arrangements for the group meeting to be hosted by Nicholforest on April 15 were discussed.

Our social time was “linkwords” organised by Doreen Robinson and Mary Young. The winners were Christine Baty and Jennifer Imrie.

Our next meeting will be held on March 12 when the speaker will be Mr Cruikshank from Hotter Shoes.

Plumbland WI

Michael and his small team make jewellery from an enormous range of precious metals and are happy to make pieces from customers’ designs.

He was fortunate to work under a famous jeweller who made the most amazing pieces for Saudi Arabian aristocracy.

One example of this was two palm trees to stand either side of a front door: the segments of the trees slotted together and were made of gold.

The cases, containing a vast array of jewellery, were scrutinised and admired by members.

It was heartening to know that the skills of gold and silver smiths were being nurtured in Cumbria.

After feasting our eyes on such beautiful objects we needed sustenance from the Royal Oak Inn at Curthwaite. The food was delicious and beautifully presented.

We had a quick business meeting to finalise the arrangements for our pudding night and to make a note in our diaries for Monday, September 1, when we are providing tea for members of Age Concern.

The aforementioned Pudding Night then took place on Saturday, February 16. The theme was Romance (it being so near Valentine’s Day) so the hall was decorated with red balloons, red roses and red tablecloths.

The lights were dimmed, the candles lit, the music played and the puddings looked delicious!

Our only problem was fitting them all on the table.

The guests arrived and samples of different desserts were squeezed into dishes before being refilled. Judging by the chatter and laughter a good night was enjoyed by all.

The minutes of the January meeting were read by secretary Linda and signed.

It was agreed that a donation be made to the county WI to contribute to the flower rota in WI House.

Penny read the County News.

Attention was drawn to the Spring Council meeting to be held on Saturday, April 5 to which Elizabeth Roberts will be our delegate.

The members agreed to make tea in the village hall for an Age Concern outing to be held on May 12.

Jan Massey will captain our darts team of Yvonne, Linda, Sally, Liz Potts and Penny. Good luck wishes were expressed to the team.

The speaker for the evening was Joyce Corrieri who gave the members many good ideas of craft things to make such as cushions, coasters, cards, scarves and boxes. They also learned what a ‘fat quarter’ and ‘ladder wool’ were.

She had a colourful range of items which she and her staff had made.

Linda proposed the vote of thanks.

The competition for a scarf was 1, Sally Threlkeld; 2, Pat Cherry; 3, Linda Riley. Jennifer Johnston was tea hostess,

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk