Wythit WI Activities/Meetings in 2017:
We hope you enjoy looking at our pictures and event details below. For other years please select the following links:
January 2017
Pasta Making by Gavin McGregor - local chef and owner of The Dales Hog Roast Company
Thanks to Bev and Heather for bringing their pasta making machines. A very enjoyable and hands on evening. Initially Gavin did a demonstration on how to make pasta and then make it into different types e.g ravioli, cannelloni, tagliatelle and linguine. He brought along pasta dough (already made), a basic tomato sauce and shared the recipe and also a filling of ricotta and spinach. He then made ravioli which we all tasted and cannelloni. The group then made their own pasta if desired or made own type of pasta to take home. Big thank you to Annabel and Gavin for a very enjoyable evening.
February 2015
AGM and Speaker Snippets
February saw us hold our AGM at which we summarised the year's activities, discussed future ideas and activities, and an update was given re National WI campaigns and resolutions. We then went on to the following speaker snippets: 1) Penny brought in her husband's Military MBE, awarded for work done in Afghanistan, and answered questions from the group about his work in Army medical corps. Also brought photos of presentation ceremony by Prince Charles. Very interesting to hear about the work and training done. Penny and Fletch must be very proud. 2) Powerpoint presentation on Osteoporosis, causes, risk factors, prevention, health education and current treatments by Sheila (Osteoporosis specialist nurse). A very interesting and informative talk. 3) Pat involved the group in an exercise routine that she uses for her over 50s classes. Sitting down exercises (Extend) to music - helping to use all core muscle groups. Enjoyed by all. A very big thankyou to Penny, Sheila and Pat for volunteering. Thoroughly enjoyed by all present.
March 2017
Chocolate making demo and tasting
Another yummy visit from Andrew Twaite, the Chocolatier, who gave us a short talk and updated us on his professional status since his last visit. He then gave an interesting demonstration on the process that goes into making his lovely chocolates. Then the best part - the tasting. He also answered lots of questions asked by members. Each member was given a gift of some chocolates paid for from Wythit funds. There were also some gift boxes of his yummy wares for us to buy.
April 2017
Bee keeping, talk by Di Fearnside
A very interesting and informative talk by Di who is a member of Northallerton, Thirsk and district Bee Keepers Association. They meet monthly during the Winter at Borrowby Village Hall and during summer months they meet at different apiaries. She has been keeping bees for 15 years and also works with people with learning disabilities. She keeps 2 hives at a school in Northallerton and gets pupils involved in their care and production of honey. She talked about the different bees, how they work, how honey is produced, how different plants and flowers alter the taste of honey and potential problems with keeping bees. Thanks to Di. We were not aware of the complexity of keeping bees.
May 2017
Embellishing a jute bag
Loads of great creativity saw us decorating jute shopping bags and cloth tote bags with all kinds of different things. There were flowers, whales, bunting, stripes, houses with gardens, fish, toadstools, cut out letters, and even an octopus! We used ribbons, off-cuts of curtains, felt, bows, embroidered flowers, netting, buttons, beads, lace and lots of other resources. The outcome was a fab diversity of designs and patterns. It never ceases to amaze us how each and everyone's project is unique. Even the least creative of the ladies were able to make a lovely shopping bag to take home.
June 2017
Pudding Club
June's Chinese Evening couldn't go ahead due to the speaker becoming unavailable so we had a "Pudding Club" evening. This is where each person brings along a yummy Pudding, whether it be homemade or shop bought, and we all try out the different desserts and discuss how they are made, swap recipes and generally drool over the yumminess if each other's handiwork! We had Strawberry and raspberry Fool, Limoncello, biscuit and meringue fool, orange drizzle cake, raspberry and blackberry Eton Mess, Viennetta and Fruity Chocolate Orange Gin- marinaded Brioche. Wow is all I can say! We had a fab time and got to have a natter about the desserts, our cookery habits, as well as loads of other different topics. A good night all in all despite the absence of quite a few ladies due to it being Father's Day.
July 2017
Visit to Equestrian Centre
The original arrangement was that Tina, the owner of the Equestrian Centre, would give us a guided tour of the centre, but as it happens, there had been a big dressage event taking place and it was just coming to an end thus Tina was extremely busy. So she had asked Katy to show us round instead. Katy owns KL Pony Therapies and has about 12 horses at the Equestrian Centre and also lives there herself. Katy proceeded to show us the dressage fields and indoor arena, jumps, the equipment used, the stables where many horses lived and tell us about the events and the work of the centre generally. She then told us of her work taking ponies and horses (small ones) to Care Homes, Schools, Centres for Special Needs Children and Adults etc etc in order for many people to feel the benefit of the horses' lovely nature and learn about these beautiful, graceful and understanding animals. We got to go round the stables and meet lots of horses and ponies and even saw a tiny foal that had been born a couple of days earlier! Katy is very passionate about what she does and about her horses and the benefits they can bring to everyone. We were able to ask her lots of questions and learn about the world of horses. We finished off the visit with a visit to Annie's house (also within the Centre's grounds) for a coffee and to discuss business etc.
August 2017
Hula Hooping
On a cloudy August Sunday evening, the Wythit WI group gathered in Bedale park to learn how to master the art of hula hooping. We figured the larger the area the less chance of breaking something !
Becky AKA Carman Havealook from Newcastle was going to teach us the correct hula hoping technique required and also a few tricks to impress our families with. We also had the added benefit of burning some calories off and toning our tummies as well.
Becky started us off with 'Waist Hooping', which is basically keeping the hula hoop up around our waists. Our coordination gave us plenty to laugh about but we all entered into the spirit of the activity.
We quickly progressed onto learning the 'Hula Hoop Hand Toss', where we learnt how to throw and catch a spinning hula hoop and perform a 'Twisting Figure of 8' around our bodies.
To remove the hoop from our bodies a 'Step Through and Up' and a 'Back lift' allowed us to get the hula hoop gracefully up and over our heads.
To finish off our repertoire we learnt how to 'Foot twirl'. This is where the benefit of having a large area came in useful as many of the hula hoops were flung into the far corners of the park to be retrieved by whoever was passing at the time.
With the expert tuition of Becky we went from absolute uncoordinated beginners to hip wiggling, foot tossing hula hooping experts. We had a lot of laughs along the way and left eager to show off to our children / grandchildren that we were still "Wythit"
September 2017
Thorpe Perrow Arboretum
Wythit ladies were treated to an early evening guided tour with Faith Douglas, Curator at Thorpe Perror Arboretum. Starting with a warm cuppa in the tea room we were shown around the 100 acres, enjoying the expertese of Faith informing us about the Champion Trees, the development of the Arboretum and exploring the different areas such as the bog garden and different avenues.
October 2017
Tin Can Jewellery Making
We had Kathryn Guy, a local artist and jewellery maker to teach us how to make a necklace and a bracelet in a flower or butterfly theme made from drinks cans. They were decorated using ink stampers and accessorised too. We had great fun making them, so simple and yet so effective.
November 2017
Tarot Cards by Lisa Hutton
Lisa gave a brief introduction to tarot / oracle card reading and how she started. She also gave us an insight into the history. Lisa brought lots of different types and packs of cards and talked us all through how to read each other's cards, concentrating on the positive aspects of the cards. This was interesting and good fun. A few of the group also chose to have a personal reading. This session was enjoyed by all who attended and helped to stem any apprehensions about card readings. Big thank you to Lisa, and to Christine for organising this.
December 2017
Festive Social Gathering
Mason's Gin were not able to accommodate us due to moving premises so we had a Christmas “get together” along with three short group activities. All members and guests supplied some nibbles. We got chance for a lovely chat and get to know everyone better.
