Just a reminder for Market Harborough WI Book Club Members:
The Book Club Zoom Quiz Night is tomorrow evening!
Make sure to get your 5 questions ready!
It’s all happening at the Allotment!
The mint tyres in front of the shed at the allotment are not the only things taking off!
Following a concerted effort by the key Gardening Girls we now have a newly laid out plot with a marvellous variety of fruit and vegetables in various stages of development. All those hard winter planning meetings in the Farndon Fields Coffee Shop are paying off, even if we had to go slightly ‘off piste’ a, because of the current ‘situation’ and b, the weather, which to say the least has been just a bit cruel: After the wet winter tempting us into action with warm sunshine and then hitting the newly planted seedlings with late frosts, a fair amount of wind and absolutely no rain at all. So things continue to evolve and we have made a note for next year to stifle impatience and ‘not to cast a clout until may is out’…
The green house nursery is now in full swing with tomatoes, cucumbers, chard and peppers all coming along nicely. We have a legume area, with runner, French and broad beans, peas and sweetcorn. Beetroot and parsnip are already planted. And this year the brassicas will be protected by the upcycled greenhouse staging that has made friends with some bamboo sticks and turned itself into a cage.
But the piece de resistance is the new pond area next to the well in the upper part of the plot. Thanks to some generous gifts from fellow WI members, the pond dug in April has now been surrounded with the first bits of planting and a garden arch – thank you so much, we really do appreciate it! And we have finally found an opportunity to upcycle the old garden gate we have been hoarding – it goes rather well with the arch and will provide much needed support for some plants. Let’s hope the wildlife will appreciate it and visit in numbers.
So despite the challenges this month has thrown at us, it has been good fun, we have learned more and for novice gardeners, we are not doing bad at all!!
Stay safe out there!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
Who says we can’t?
After their carefully planned program for the first half of this year had to be abandoned due to the Covid-19 lock down, the Market Harborough WI opted to go the technology route and hosted their first online monthly meeting yesterday.
After getting our ladies up to speed with Zoom accounts, access codes and mini training sessions by helpful fellow members, we spend an amusing quiz evening online. Our entertaining quiz host James tested us on a variety of subjects including Geography, history and Food and Drink. Great fun with plenty of banter and lots of laughter! Congratulations to Bernie, who won by a mile – just a shame that we can’t have a virtual prize. Need to work on that….
The committee members have had some great feedback already, so we’ll work on a revised monthly program using technology – watch this space for further announcements!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
Quiz Night on Wednesday, 27th May!
Make sure you have it in your diary:
MHWI Quiz Night
Wednesday, 27th May 2020 @ 7.30pm
Get ready by loading Zoom on your PC, laptop or tablet in advance. And make sure you have pen and paper to hand to participate!
Hope to see you all there!
Share this:
Virtual Book Club – now twice monthly!
The first virtual meeting of the Book Angels via Zoom worked a treat, so the group have decided to continue to hold meetings via Zoom. The next Virtual Book Club Meeting is booked for
Monday, 18th May @ 7.30 pm
Book: “The Dry” by Jane Harper
The Book Angels are also planning a quiz evening on the 1st June where all Book Club members are asked to bring five literary questions to submit to the group.
Book Angel Members will have received an email with instructions on how to join, but if any other MHWI members would like to take part, please email marketharboroughwi@gmail.com for details.
If you don’t want to join the Book Angels just now, but are looking for reading inspiration to while away those hours at home, then here are a few ideas that may help:
Free Lending Library
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries
The Leicestershire Library network offers a free on-line lending facility for e-books, audio books and newspapers as well as magazines on a whole range of hobbies and special interests. Use the link above to find the site, then click on ‘Digital Library Services’ and log in with your library card. If you do not have a card you can register on-line for free. The files can be downloaded to most digital devices. Books can usually be borrowed for 3 weeks, any magazine of newspaper publication will remain on your device until you delete it.
Project Gutenberg
The Gutenberg Project has been digitising books that are out of copyright (currently up to about the mid-1920s) and the library now includes over 60.000 books. These can be downloaded free of charge for a variety of different e-readers or in PDF form. They also offer books in a range of languages
Free Kindle Books on Amazon
Yes – there are! Select the Kindle department from the drop down menu on the left of the search box, enter 0.00 and sort the list by ‘price low-high’. You can download these just like any other Kindle book. Alternatively, download the Kindle App onto your computer or tablet and you can read the books through there. Who knows – this may just lead you to discover a new favourite author!
Online Courses
http://freeonlinecourse.org.uk/
There are a myriad of online courses available at the moment – and many of them are free. Check out these sites for offers and links to other providers.
And as always – if you have any other tips, tricks or good ideas we should post here, please email us at marketharboroughwi@gmail.com
Enjoy and stay safe!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
This Month’s Virtual Craft Club – Meet Mr Morris!
The original Craft Club program had a session on Embroidery planned for this spring. So in line with this, our Virtual Craft Club this month is all about the British Arts and Crafts Movement, textile design and it’s most famous proponent, William Morris.
Meet the Arts and Crafts Movement
The Arts and Crafts movement developed as a reaction against the perceived decline in the decorative arts in the late 19th century and flourished in Britain around 1880 to 1920. It advocated traditional craftsmanship and folk styles of decoration, but was also active in the causes of social and economic reform. Key proponents were the architects Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin as well as the designer William Morris.
There are a lot of resources online about William Morris and his fellow designers. Here is a selection of links that may lead you to further reading on the subject:
William Morris and Wallpaper Design
Closer to home, the architect Ernest Gimson was influenced by Morris and the movement. One of his projects was the design of Stoneywell Cottage in Leicestershire.
Ernest Gimson and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Leicester
If you’d rather watch some video clips, you could try these to get started:
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement
Learn new Techniques (or old ones as the case may be)
We have picked a few online videos teaching embroidery stitches for you. Try making a sampler of a range of stitches so that we can come back to the subject once we meet again in person!
Embroidery Basics and Supplies
Or if you’d rather go all out William Morris, why not try your hand at Fabric Block Printing?
Fabric Printing with Wooden Blocks
We hope this will keep you busy for a while and look forward to seeing some of your work when we meet again!
Enjoy and stay safe!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
Meanwhile at the Allotment…
The last meeting of the allotment gang in February was spent happily planning the new planting at 41A Cricket Pitch View and hoping fervently that the temporary roof cover would hold during the expected second wave of winter storms.
Little did we know then that we would not be able to get onto the plot for the next few months while our attention would be focused on supermarket queuing, finding seven new ways to wash the curtains and generally getting used to life in lock down.
However, the fantastic weather we are having is bringing the whole allotment community to life again – with social distancing of course and without the general public having access to the site, but it’s all happening again thanks to Anne, who has been clearing the winter blues (and a lot of rubbish!) off the beds, tidying the verges, re-mulching the paths, laying the slabs for the upper terrace and fitting the missing glass into the greenhouse ready for things to come and the rest of us to join in again. Which we finally did this week and yes – you CAN dig and social distance at the same time!
The first load of runner beans are in the ground and so are the first peas. Winter leeks are sprouting even if the garlic seems to have gone into hiding. A single potato survivor is hanging in there, but the strawberry plants are doing well and the cherry tree has had some promising flowers – fingers crossed.
The allotment spirit is alive and well – and is even bringing the allotment community closer together with plot holders lending helping hands to get everyone going again. The only thing we are missing right now is the afternoon tea break on our benches – but hey, as the sign on the shed says: To plant a garden is to believe in the future and we are certainly doing that.
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
Tin Can and Jerusalem
With the lock-down continuing many of us have not only found new ways to spend our time, but probably also reached the point where the back of the store cupboard is coming into view and forgotten treasures are discovered. But what to do with the odd can of pineapple or lentils? So in lieu of the monthly Bake Cub, here are a few links that may tempt you to explore store cupboard cooking further:
The Virtual WI Store Cupboard Recipes
The WI have created a virtual space on the WI website covering a number of subjects and resources – one of which is a range of store cupboard recipes:
https://www.thewi.org.uk/home/coronavirus/my-virtual-wi/food-and-craft/store-cupboard-recipes
Delia Smith Free Online Cookery School
Delia Smith is a longstanding favourite with many home cooks due to the reliability of her recipes. She is currently offering free membership in her online cookery school. Create an account and off you go:
https://www.deliaonline.com/cookery-school
Cookery Websites
Many cookery websites have picked up on the need to cook with what we have got – just google ‘store cupboard recipes’ and see where it takes you…
And finally – if you feel like belting out a bit of Jerusalem to yourself or the family while you are in the kitchen, the lyrics are right here on our site:
https://marketharboroughwi.org.uk/about-us/jerusalem/
Stay safe, enjoy the cooking and have a great weekend!
Share this:
Virtual Book Club (and other ideas…)
At this time of the month we usually post a reminder for the Book Angels Meeting. Due to the continuing lock down this can obviously not now happen in person, so the Book Angels have decided to take the technology route instead and hold their next meeting on Zoom via the internet. The meeting is scheduled for
Monday, 20th April, 7.30 pm
Book: The Secret Garden
Book Angel Members will have received an email with instructions on how to join, but if any other MHWI members would like to take part, please email marketharboroughwi@gmail.com for details.
If you don’t want to join the Book Angels just now, but are looking for reading inspiration to while away those hours at home, then here are a few ideas that may help:
Free Lending Library
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries
The Leicestershire Library network offers a free on-line lending facility for e-books, audio books and newspapers as well as magazines on a whole range of hobbies and special interests. Use the link above to find the site, then click on ‘Digital Library Services’ and log in with your library card. If you do not have a card you can register on-line for free. The files can be downloaded to most digital devices. Books can usually be borrowed for 3 weeks, any magazine of newspaper publication will remain on your device until you delete it.
Project Gutenberg
The Gutenberg Project has been digitising books that are out of copyright (currently up to about the mid-1920s) and the library now includes over 60.000 books. These can be downloaded free of charge for a variety of different e-readers or in PDF form. They also offer books in a range of languages
Free Kindle Books on Amazon
Yes – there are! Select the Kindle department from the drop down menu on the left of the search box, enter 0.00 and sort the list by ‘price low-high’. You can download these just like any other Kindle book. Alternatively, download the Kindle App onto your computer or tablet and you can read the books through there. Who knows – this may just lead you to discover a new favourite author!
Online Courses
http://freeonlinecourse.org.uk/
There are a myriad of online courses available at the moment – and many of them are free. Check out these sites for offers and links to other providers.
And as always – if you have any other tips, tricks or good ideas we should post here, please email us at marketharboroughwi@gmail.com
Enjoy and stay safe!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
Share this:
Virtual Craft Club
The first week of the month usually is Craft Club week for our members and so before you all get withdrawal symptoms here is this month’s Virtual Craft Club edition. Everyone can have a go – and we can post pictures of your efforts as we go along.
Craft Club has always been about learning new things, so this month we have compiled a list all around the theme of Knitting – the history of it, exhibits of it and links to videos teaching aspects of it:
The History of Knitting
This Golden Fleece by Esther Rutter (available from Amazon in print or kindle edition)
Esther Rutter has travelled the length and breadth of Britain to trace this country’s relationship with wool – from the manufacture of it to the crafts used in processing it. To illustrate some of the story, her book also includes information about a range of knitting techniques that have fallen out of general use – fascinating for those crafters that like to try out unusual things.
The History of the Knitting Industry in the East Midlands http://www.knittingtogether.org.uk
This website brings together the different facets of the history of knitting in our area – from hand-knitted caps and stockings to the industrial production of knitwear all the way to ‘the Marks and Spencer’ effect (you didn’t know they would come into it, did you?). The site also includes a virtual museum showing some of the collections that are not usually on view.
Learn new Techniques (or old ones as the case may be)
Some of the techniques discussed in the book and on the website are still being practiced today and enterprising knitters have put together YouTube videos showing how it’s done. Why not follow one of them and try out a new technique? Give it a shot and let us know how you get on – we’d love to post photos on our social media sites. And of course bring your projects to the first real craft club meeting once we are back up and running again.
Dentdale Knitting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c-M37brGx8
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fav78nWjyg4
Nalebinding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEJywXIluhk
Fair Isle Knitting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNtnTcE7Qjs
Historical Knitting (this is a whole series)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkPSN85kISg
Or if you rather learn some new modern knitting stitches why not have a look at the ‘100 days of knit stitches’ series on YouTube? There has to be something in there you could try to pass the time.
Enjoy and stay safe!
You have been sent this message because you are following the website of the Market Harborough Womens Institute. If you no longer wish to do so, please click here to unsubscribe.
