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The October colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, are absolutely gorgeous! We can very much recommend a visit!

A (socially distanced) garden party was held for the lovely Beverly this week, who has been a member of Bradley Stoke WI for many years. She will be moving to Yorkshire in a few days’ time and we will all miss her very much! Bev has been our Vice President this year and has been Secretary for several years in the past. She has done a great deal for our WI and we’d like to thank her for all her hard work and friendship. Good luck in your new home, Bev and do keep in touch!

Thank you very much to Marion, who hosted the party in her pretty garden. Not quite as simple a task as it used to be prior to all the corona virus related social distancing rules(!), but the challenge was risen to admirably. Thanks too, to Janet, for making a lovely chocolate cake for us.

Here is a gallery of photos taken on the day. The sun didn’t put in much of an appearance, but at least the rain stayed away! A couple of committee members, Tina and Angela, were unfortunately not able to attend this time, as the event had had to be rearranged at short notice due to rain spoiling the intended play the day before. We missed you, girls. Hope you like the pictures.

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Do you grow fresh herbs in your garden? Now is the time that they can really start to flourish. Why not try baking some lovely, herby, savoury scones? The one in the picture has been made with thyme and marjoram, but you could try, bergamot, rosemary, basil, parsley… what ever herby delights you have in your garden and you fancy. You could add some grated cheese too, or top the scones with it, if you wish. You could also use half white and half wholemeal self-raising flour, rather than all white, as has been done for the type of scone in the picture, (you may wish to add a small pinch of baking powder too, if you do this, to ensure that they turn out light in texture).

Recipe (makes 8)

Ingredients…

250g self-raising flour white flour

50g butter or sunflower margarine

A pinch of salt

1 rounded tablespoon of finely chopped fresh herbs, (less if using rosemary, as it is strongly flavoured)

A handful of grated cheese, (optional)

175 ml of diary or plant milk

Method…

Pre-heat oven to 220 C / Gas mark 7 and grease a baking tray

Sift flour and salt into a bowl

Add the butter or margarine and rub in gently with your fingertips until thoroughly incorporated

Stir in the herbs (and grated cheese if using)

Mix in the milk with a table knife to form a soft, sticky dough, but don’t over work it

Tip the dough onto a floured surface. Bring together and pat into a circle, about 2.5 to 3 cm thick. Cut into 8 triangles.

Transfer to a baking sheet and brush with a little milk

Bake for 12 minutes

Ideally, eat on day made, still warm. (Can be frozen).

Hello All!

Hope you are well and coping with the strange and rapidly changing times. Keep focussing on those silver linings of our changed lifestyle, rather than allowing frustrations to dominate. WI ladies are made of resilient and positive stuff! Remember the suffragettes and the war time land army! 😉 Hopefully you have found some very rewarding and enjoyable positives recently and remember that you can contact us through Facebook to share them, through this website, or through the contact details provided to members in our regular Friday newsletters, if you would like to discuss anything at all, positive or concerning.

Our website has been rather quiet since the lockdown, as Facebook, newsletters and Zoom seem to have gained the lime-light in our communication methods. However, be assured that the Bradley Stoke WI website is still very much alive and kicking and its worth checking back here occasionally for posts. A link to our more active Facebook page can be found in the footer of all our main web pages.

Here is a helpful link to the national WI website, through which you can access information about using various online communication methods to keep in touch. However, you will need to log in to their website to view it: How to use and host a meeting using Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts.

Here are instructions you can download as a .pdf file, which explain how to use Zoom, without needing to access the main WI website….

Good luck, ladies, keep smiling and keep in touch 🙂

As we all head into the second week of ‘lock down’ as a result of the corona virus, I hope you are all managing to keep your spirits up. Hopefully you have now sorted out a reliable method of grocery shopping as the worst of the initial problems caused by panic buying, ease a little.

Keep communicating with your friends using the phone, email and social media and enjoy all the ‘silver linings’ of our strange situation. We now have time for doing all those hobby-ish things we always wanted to do, but which we never seemed to have time to indulge in. Resurrect those crafting skills and have a great time reading etc. Enjoy a spot of gardening when the weather’s fine, listen to music, dance around the living room and why not indulge in some extra special cooking projects?

Remember that you can always call a fellow member of your WI if you feel a bit fed up and just want a chat, or if you need a hand with something practical. Phone numbers for our WI ladies who’ve volunteered to be ‘up for a chat’ have been sent out in recent group emails and in the newsletter.

Do keep an eye on our Facebook page, which is now more active than previously. Hopefully there will be some fun posts and ideas to help make us all feel connected to the group still, despite the enforced social distancing.

Keep well and smiling!

Good afternoon ladies. I wonder what you have chosen to do today if you are practising your ‘social distancing’ following all the recent cancellations of social activities. Our lovely secretary, Janet, has been knitting hats for the Seafarers Mission recently and has sent us a picture of herself, modelling a sample of her particular brand of Haute Couture