On Tuesday 16th October Wendy, Margaret, Marje and Ann attended the Lancashire Federation Lunch followed by a talk entitled The Road to Chelsea given by Nick Bailey who won Silver Gilt with his first Chelsea garden.  To get a Gold Medal you have to 70 points. Nick and his team had 69!!

It was so interesting: we were amazed at the cost, the number of people involved, the travelling involved to choose and purchase the trees and plants.

It was interesting to learn how poor the soil is at Chelsea and topsoil has to be brought in.  The plants are put in situ in their pots.  They have special knives to remove the lips of the pots before they are put in place.

The Hotel at Leyland was really good, the room we had was beautifully presented with excellent food and service.

We also managed to win some Raffle prizes, plus the table arrangement which was beautiful.

It would be great if more WOW ladies participated in these Lancashire days: they are so enjoyable and very good value too.

Ann.

What a fabulous meeting we had on Tuesday 3rd October.! First off we heard from Caroline telling us about Project Linus, a charity which supplies blankets and quilts to children in distress or are sick. She spoke briefly and our sewing group presented her with a number of quilts they have made for the charity. They also raffled a large quilt and gave her £50 to buy more fabris for quilts which she was delighted with.. The rest of the proceeds from the raffle will go towards buying fabric for charitable sewing projects eg Linus quilts and Pyjama Fairies.
Next up we heard from Ray Roukin from Southport Flower Show. He spoke to us about the history of the show and how it is going from strength to strength since it was taken over by a consortium of volunteer businessmen some years ago- in fact it is the largest independent flower show in the country.. It will be celebrating its 90th year in 2019 having stopped during the war years. The next theme will be "The Garden Party". He promised us favourable rates if we would like to take a group there next year - summer outing perhaps? It will be on 17th - 19th August 2019 at Victoria Park.
Dates for our diaries came next
Walk - Wed October 10th. Margaret has details
Fairy Workshop - Thursday October 18th (fully booked)
Christmas Garland workshop November 29th (now fully booked)
Next meeting - Tuesday 6th November
Christmas NIght Out at Crowne Plaza Speke - Friday December 14th
Regular activities
Table Tennis - a new venture at SFX each Monday 7 - 7.40. Bring pound coins for the light meter
Quiz - at SFX 3rd Tuesday 7.30
Sewing group - Friday mornings at Woolton Community Centre 9,30 - 11.30

OUr last speaker was Mike Carney from St Peter's Church who told us about the charity Encontro com Deus in Brazil. A group from the church will visit a community in Brazil to support families who live amongst violence, gun crime and drugs. They hope to raise £20,000 by 2019 to complete many projects eg repair leaking roof in a community centre, provide rainproof covers for a rooftop football pitch and families' washing lines. Two of our members are going on this visit in February - Sue and Morfa.

Members were told that Woolton in Bloom calendars will be available at the next meeting. 

​Ladies were buzzing after the evening and all seemed to have enjoyed the great variety of information we heard about. A great atmosphere!

....WOW WOolton Wi made a big impression at this year's Lancs Show. We had 90 exhibits from 30 ladies which was a tremendous effort from our WI. Jan congratulated everybody at our members' meeting on October 3rd, with a special thanks, in her absence, to Judy who cajoled and encouraged everyone and then co-ordinated the whole venture. Many ladies helped to take exhibits up to Garstang on two occasions and retrieve them all afterwards. 21 members went to the County Show dinner in Garstang and viewed the exhibits - all of us agreed there was a fantastic display of talent from all over the county. 
We had considerable success with 4 x 1st awards, 1 x 2nd and 10 x 3rds! On top of all that, Sandra was awarded a Silver Salva for her African mask! WOW has really done ourselves proud. 
​We learned a lot by taking part and will be a little more 'savvy' next year............. get ready ladies! Let's have even more exhibits next year!
Take a look at the fabulous entries from our winners.

Two successful walks but with different weather conditions! The first September walk to Chester was a lovely sunny day. The group went to Chester by train and walked by the river and on the Roman walls. After lunch in Debenhams (it was a large group and needed plenty of space!), some ladies did a bit of shopping before getting the train back to Liverpool. The 2nd September walk in West Kirby was a different story weather-wise. It was a wild and windy day and some ladies thought they had been treated to an exfoliation after walking on the sand! A lovely lunch and good company. Look out for the next walk in October. Thanks to Margaret who organises all the walks.

What a fabulous evening we all had! Faye Kitching from Leagram Organic Dairy in Chipping, near Preston, Lancashire came to talk to us about her cheese-making dairy and to demonstrate how cheese is made. It was fascinating to watch and Faye was great to listen to - she didn't need a microphone and she was funny and very entertaining as well as being informative. Her mu Christine came too and worked continuously setting up a table of samples of cheese and items we could buy later. 
We learned some interesting facts - it takes 1 gallon of milk to make 1lb of cheese, cheese can be frozen successfully but should be brought to room temperature slowly ie in a fridge, sheep and goats cheese causes less cholesterol problems than cows, a cheese maker and cheese judge uses their sense of smell first before tasting.
Faye herself is a cheese judge at the Nantwich British Cheese Awards (the biggest in the country)
​They had brought many types of chees for us to buy - after tasting samples first! Many ladies went home with a mini paper carrier bag of cheese and home made biscuits!
You can find out more about this small family run business online. Just google Leagram Organic Dairy or look on Facebook.

On a sunny Saturday in August, a coach full of WOW ladies set off for York. By all accounts everyone had a brilliant time, enhanced by the beautiful weather. Many thanks to Janet for organising the day.
​Smiling faces below on the trip to York!
​

On a glorious Friday afternoon, 6th July 2018, WOW Woolton WI held a wonderful Afternoon Tea event at Woolton Youth and Community Centre(aka The Boysie!). Our marvellous committee must have worked all day to prepare and set up. When we arrived there were tables outside on the grassy area, beautifully arranged with cloths and flowers, pretty tea cups, saucers and plates. We were waited on by members of the committee with tea, coffee and juice ...... and fantastic cakes stands filled with delicate sandwiches, cakes, and strawberry tarts plus a plate of scones, jam and cream. All home made of course! What a feast! Some ladies brought alternative liquid refreshment with them which they kindly shared on their tables.
Two members had prepared a great quiz based on Woolton, including naming 8 Woolton pubs. Everyone enjoyed this activity and thanked the two quizmasters very much. The winning table got some flowers each which was a lovely surprise.
Liz S gave a vote of thanks to the committee for all their hard work, which we all endorsed and after helping to clear tables, we drifted away. A wonderful event!

A needle felting workshop was held recently and participating ladies brought their miniature teddies to show everyone at the July meeting. They were so appealing! Sore fingers were mentioned but the results looked fabulous!

We met at a different venue this week - at the Gateacre Institute. It was very pleasant there and some favourable comments were heard.

Strawberry Fields
First we heard from some ladies who work for the Salvation Army on the exciting Strawberry Fields renovation and Steps to Work projects. Lauren and Kelly spoke very clearly and kept us up to date with what is planned. Eventually here will be a visitors centre, a coffee shop and a training centre for young people with learning difficulties for whom employment is hard to find. The young people will receive training and learn skills to use when on placements which the Salvation Army will find for them with local businesses. Volunteers will be sought and any members who might be interested are invited to give their names to Jan. There will be various roles for volunteers to fill, including working side by side with trainees. Jan will keep in touch with Kelly and Lauren.

Minutes of last meeting
These will soon be circulated. Jan apologised for the delay.

Groups
Craft and Chatter - weekly Monday evenings at The Quarry
Line Dancing - Tuesday 10th July at The Quarry
Quiz - Tuesday 17th July at The Quarry
Tai Chi - finishes on July 18th and re-starts in September
Art Class has now finished
Walking Group - Wed 18th July. Walk to Princes Park

Notices
Summer social Afternoon Tea Friday 6th July 5pm. Must have booked before the day.
Ambleside stay - all monies should now have been paid. Contact Janet
Summer day out to York Saturday 4th August. Few places still available - contact Janet G
WI Sports Week - 17th - 22nd September. Angela will have details in September meeting.
Lancs County Show is 26th and 27th September in Garstang. Pre-show dinner is 25th September - pay Margaret £23 if you want to go.
Workshops - Creative writing rescheduled from January 10th September at the Arncliffe Centre. Few places available - contact Glenys.
Woolton Open Gardens Sunday 8th July - programme is £5 for all gardens. Available from Viv, Brown's newsagents or any garden in the scheme. WI helpers and cake makers needed for refreshments in Bishop's Garden. Contact Jan.
Calendars and diaries should have been ordered on Tuesday. Try contacting Margaret for late requests.

Lancashire Show
Judy and Brenda spoke to us to encourage many to submit some entries for the show. Judy had prepared an easy guide to the show schedule which she passed round, alongside slips of paper for members to write down what they might try to make - not binding! There will be a cooperative entry too. Members have to submit entries by August 7th to Judy but actual items do not have to be ready till September. An encouraging number of members will try to make things for the show - WOW want to be on the map at the Lancashire Show!

A very enjoyable evening was then completed by us learning some napkin folding techniques. Glenys showed us how to make 2 different roses with cloth napkins (we had been asked to bring one along) and Jan finished by showing us how to make a hilarious chicken!

The Next WI walk will be on Wed 30th May to Freshfield. Meet at Hunts Cross station at 10am for the Southport train or pick up along the line in the first carriage. Contact Margaret for any more info.