Malago WI - November meeting

 Hello Malagowers

Last month we brought a little bit of magic to Bedminster in the form of Tony Griffith who shared his close up magic with us.  We also held our AGM were we celebrated some of the great things that we have done this year and voted in a few new committee members.

This month’s meeting on Wednesday 25^th November will be a must for all you foodies.  We are delighted that Professor Peter Barham, Emeritus Professor of Physics at University of Bristol will be taken us on a culinary journey of molecular gastronomy.  Peter, who has collaborated with Heston Blumenthal, will be sharing the mysteries of making speedy ice –cream, the physics of black forest gateau and his love of all things penguin.  You are welcome to bring a guest, but please let us know so can ensure there are enough seats.

Don’t forget that if you want to get some Christmas shopping done, Malago WI tea towels will be available to buy at the meeting.

Members will be receiving their WI Life magazine this week.   This will contain details of the WI resolution for 2016 and voting slips.  We would be grateful if you could bring your completed voting slip to the meeting.

We are still looking for volunteers for our stall at the North Street Christmas Fair on Saturday 28^th November, taking place from 10am to 5pm. If are able to make cakes or volunteer on the stand for an hour or two, please let us know.  We are grateful for any help at this festive event, but if you are planning to make and bring a cake on the day, please let us know to save the Committee having to stay up all night to make cakes. We will also be selling Christmas decorations and our signature Malago WI tea towels.

We look forward to seeing you at our last official meeting of 2015.

MWI x

Malago WI October Meeting

Well, hello Malagowers

Our next meeting is on the horizon – Wednesday October 28^th 8pm-10pm at the Methodist Church, British Road.

September's meeting saw us making clever things from paper with expert instruction from origami artist Judith Lang. This months’ photo shows a few of the fantastic folded creations from the night.

October – it’s the annual fabulousness of the Malago WI AGM where we can look back at all the great things we have done this year and celebrate our 7^th anniversary. We are going to have a twinkly ‘magic’ evening with magician Tony Griffith, with his fantastic close-up magic – so don’t be late or Tony may be tempted to pull a rabbit out of your bag!Paper Villlage have been making Maisie cats to raise money to buy things to enhance the lives of people with Dementia. For those who would like to do some knitting and craft projects, we will be talking about how you can get involved.

Then we’ll enjoy an extended break with cake and delicious autumnal savoury nibbles.

See you next Wednesday night!

MWIx

September news...

Hello Malagowers What a lovely time we had at Windmill Hill City Farm in August. Chris Lambert was such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable speaker and we had fun looking round the Farm’s growing areas, not to mention sampling the chillies! Don’t forget the Farm’s ‘Eat Local’ event this Sunday 27th September.   So after a couple of months taking Malago WI on tour over the Summer, the nights are drawing in and we are back in the hall and ‘getting crafty’ with an evening delving into the intriguing world of origami on Wednesday 30th September.    The word "origami" comes from the Japanese "oru" meaning "to fold" and "kami" or "gami" meaning paper, and a lot of its traditions, techniques and experts come from Japan.   Teaching us will be origami artist Judith Laing who has been a specialist in origami for over 25 years. She has taught all over the world and exhibited her own creations widely as well as being a long standing member of The British Origami Society.   Judith will demonstrate the various techniques involved and then teach us all how to make our own origami pieces, including some lovely Christmas decorations. She will be providing all the materials required for this crafty session, so just bring yourselves!   Priority will be given to full Malago WI members should numbers exceed our capacity.   See you on the 30th! Until Wednesday... MWI x

August news...

Well, hello Malagowers

Everyone seemed to really enjoy our lovely Summer outing last Month. The weather held for our open top bus tour, glass of fizz and photo opportunity on the Downs, followed by that scrumptious cream tea at the Avon Gorge Hotel. It was great to see so many members, guests and also friends from other WIs.

Having got a taste for the great outdoors we thought we would make the most of the last of the summer by arranging another outing for our August meeting – this time to Windmill Hill City Farm.

Please note that instead of meeting at the hall for 8pm as usual you will need to make your way to the Farm for 7.15pm prompt.
(Philip Street, Bedminster, BS3 4EA)

We will start in the  outdoor Barn Terrace where Chris Lambert, the Farm’s Gardens Manager give an introduction to the Farm and then give his expert advice and tips on how you can grow your own veg and fruit in small urban gardens, raised beds and containers and other tiny spaces.

After a break for tea and cakes Chris will give a guided tour around the Farm taking questions en route. He will show their various growing areas and also some of the allotments, giving tips  and do’s and don’ts of planting, composting, pest control and what to grow when. We will be finishing by 9.15pm as it will be starting to get dark.

You are welcome to park in the Farm car park plus there is usually on street parking nearby as well.

Also advance notice that the Crafty Women centenary celebration of arts and crafts by Avon Federation of WI members is on at M Shed over the weekend of 19 & 20 September. £5 entry (£4 for WI members)

Until Wednesday 26th.....

MWI x

Malago WI on tour...

On Wednesday 29 July, our next meeting, we are having our summer outing! We won't be in the Methodist hall, so please don't turn up there, you'll be disappointed. We'll be enjoying an open top bus tour through Bristol, a glass of Prosecco on the Downs and a cream tea at the Avon Gorge Hotel - it will be fabulous.   All places have to be pre-booked, so if you've somehow missed this you can email us at wearemalagowi@gmail.com to find out the details - you may find yourself on a waiting list at this stage, but it might be worth a try! Those that are already booked on will receive an email with details of the times and pick up point.     See you there! MWI x

June news...

Well, hello Malagowers We hope you enjoyed our little introduction to the world of burlesque last month - the hall looked like the scene of a particularly colourful pillow fight by the end of the evening, but I think we had a good time! At our meeting on Wednesday 24th June there'll be a bit more audience participation as we're having a drumming workshop.  The workshop revolves around the use of common or garden objects such as biscuit tins, food containers, pots and pans, buckets and baking trays for example; in fact anything that makes a ‘good noise’ when hit - avoiding fragile objects such as glass or pottery etc for obvious reasons! So please bring along something to hit and something to hit it with (or just your hand if you prefer). Lastly,  it's North Street Summer Fair next weekend and we need more people to help out on our stall and bake cakes to sell.  Please, give up a little time to do something for your lovely WI.  Thank you to all who've signed up to help already, but we do need more of you so please email us to let us know what you're able to do, or if you'll be at our meeting on Wednesday you'll be able to sign up then.  Please do! Until Wednesday... MWI x

May news...

Hello ladies!

I hope you all enjoyed last month’s meeting with Camilla from Stella and Dot – such a lovely selection of gems and jewels and some great tips on accessorising your outfit.  We also raised £36 in the raffle which goes in to our funds, thanks to Camilla’s prize donation.

Our meeting this month, Wednesday 27th May, also requires accessories, albeit of a slightly different kind as we’ll be having a demonstration workshop in the art of burlesque dancing.

 Mala says ‘Burlesque is for ALL women, regardless of age, shape or size and is a powerful tool in promoting well being , thus raising our levels of self confidence, self esteem and body image. Not to mention having lots of fun and a great experience of female camaraderie!’

so slip on a pair of heels and prepare to have some fun.

We mentioned the WI bulb scheme at last month’s meeting, no orders were placed then so just to remind you all that anyone who does want to place an order will need to do this at Wednesday’s meeting and payment will be required at the same time.

We have confirmed Malago WI’s presence at North Street Fair on Saturday 27^th June.  We’ll be selling cakes and our lovely Emily Ketteringham designed tea towels.  Of course, we’ll need your help with baking cakes and helping out on the day itself, so let us know what you can do to help and prepare to have sign up sheets waved in your face at the next meeting!!

While on the subject of helping out, we’re also keen to get a couple more people on to the Malago WI committee.  The 5 of us do our best, but a couple of extra pairs of hands would be a great help.  

Again, let us know if you want to know a bit more about what’s involved (nothing too arduous, I promise.)  

On a similar note, if any budding photographers among you would like to bring along your camera and take a few photo’s during our meetings for us to use on our newsletters and social media pages, it’d be great to have a more visual record of what we get up to. 

Finally, we’d like to say congratulations to 2 of our members, Gerry Prescott and Karen Bowers.  Both were awarded ‘Gold’ for their entry in to the regional heats for the Avon Federation Arts and Crafts exhibition, so their work will be on display at the exhibition itself at M-Shed on 19^th and 20th September.

So, with that said, we hope to see lots of you on Wednesday!

Until then,

MWI x

Here's what's happening in April...

Hello ladies,

As the evenings get lighter and longer and Spring continues to blossom and bloom, so does Malago WI!

We’ve seen lots of new members join us this year and are still happy to welcome more. Our new, pro-rata membership means the price for the rest of 2015 is just £27.00.

We really want Malago WI to be a place where any woman can come and expect to be welcomed, included and make friends and as our membership grows with more and more individual members it’s important that we all put in the effort to keep it that way – I hope you all agree?!

We know we have members that join seeking new friendships with like-minded, local women. Some are new to this wonderful city, some regaining their social life after starting families and others just craving new and stimulating company. Whatever the reason, coming along without knowing any other members (as we know many do) takes courage, and we’d like to ask all our members to make a special effort towards anyone they see sitting alone.

It’s easy for us longer standing members, or those that have joined up with friends, to carry on in our usual circles, but next time, just look around and see if you can get chatting to someone you’ve not really spoken to before.

Our March meeting was a great opportunity for interaction with other members as the air filled with wonderful aromas as Philippa Lovemore of Pure Scents Natural Skincare tempted us with a bewildering range of amazing scented oils to choose from, as we made up our own serum before settling down to produce some lovely bath bombs to take home.

Our April meeting will be one of style and accessories, Camilla will (among other things) show us how to make one outfit work for the day and the evening with the use of accessories. You’re invited to bring along an outfit or item of clothing for advice on how you can adapt it for different occasions – she might not be able to get through everything, but you’re sure to pick up some hints and tips.

Camilla is a stylist for jewellery and accessories specialist Stella and Dot, so she knows her stuff and is also kindly donating an item from the Stella and Dot range for us to raffle, so make sure to bring some cash along too!

We hope to see you on Wednesday,


MWI x

March newsletter...

Thank you to those that came to our February meeting, in which we welcomed Shelley, who taught us a few reflexology tips and explained some of the many benefits to this treatment.
We all came away with enough knowledge of how to perform a decent hand massage so I hope you’ve all been putting that to good use!

Now, for this month’s meeting we’ll be putting our beautifully massaged hands to good use in the making of bath bombs and a face serum with Philippa.

Philippa has been making her own skin care products for several years now. What started out as pure curiosity has turned into a lifestyle choice looking at skin care recipe alternatives to mainstream cosmetic products. Her biggest motivator to continue to explore different skin care recipes was the effect it has had on her skin.
When one of Philippa's friends was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer and set up Tash's Bashes to fund raise for Cancer Research UK, Philippa decided to help raise money by running workshops to teach people to make their own skin care setting up Pure Scents Natural Skincare. The workshops are not aimed at an academic teaching, but more a hands on experience to learn in a fun environment. All profits from these workshops go to the charity and time is given voluntarily by Philippa.

It’s sure to be a really fun evening, Philippa will provide everything for making the products but we do need everyone to bring a few pieces of equipment as Philippa doesn’t usually run workshops for so many people in one go.

The items to bring are as follows:

• Flexible ice cube trays (to use as moulds for the bath bombs, ideally you will all bring 1 or 2 as the bath bombs will be best left in them for a few hours to set properly)
• A small mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons

Apart from that, just bring your good selves and we’ll see you there!
As always, we welcome guests as well as our members, but where numbers exceed capacity, priority will be given to full members of Malago WI.

Until Wednesday,
MWI x

February news...

Malago WI 2015 got off to a fantastic start in January with Nell Gifford entertaining us with touching, warm and witty tales of her life, from rural country girl to Circus owner and director and all that happened in between.

I could happily have listened to Nell for much longer and judging by all the questions at the end of the evening, you all felt the same way!

If you missed this meeting – shame on you, but it’s not too late to become a member.  Join up at our February meeting instead, just £36.00 cash or cheque and membership for the rest of 2015 is yours.

This month we’ll be getting hands on with a demonstration in reflexology, so bring along your favourite moisturiser for a bit of tuition in hand massage.

Shelley will also be after a willing volunteer for a lovely foot massage treatment, so brush the fluff balls from between your toes and prepare to be pampered!

Don’t forget to bring your unwanted/surplus Christmas gifts to donate to our raffle, and some cash to buy some tickets for the chance to win something you want!  Money raised will go in to the Malago WI funds towards future meetings.

Finally, our committee is dwindling in numbers so if you’re interested in getting involved with the running of Malago WI, let us know and we’ll be happy to give you more information about what that entails.

See you on Wednesday

MWI x

Roll up, roll up, roll up...

The circus is coming to town!

It really is, sort of, because our first guest of 2015 is Nell Gifford.
Nell is the driving force behind the magical Gifford’s Circus and is going to talk to us about how she went from Oxford University English Graduate to Circus supremo. 
She’s written a couple of books on the subject too, they’ll be available for sale on the night, so bring your cheque book or cash so you don’t miss out.  It’s going to be a fabulous evening, behind the scenes tales of circus life - I can’t wait!

Hopefully we’ll see plenty of you next Wednesday, all refreshed after a fun and festive Christmas season and happily settled in to a bright new year.  
 Did lots of you get to Treefest at St Mary Redcliffe church and see our lovely tree, or get to Windmill Hill City Farm Christmas fayre, where we had a successful stall?  There was no meeting in December, but it was still an active month for Malago WI!

Anyway, membership is open now for new members and it’s also renewal time for our existing members.  It’s £36.00 for 2015 membership or we continue to welcome guests at £5 per meeting, if you’re undecided about joining.  Again, cash or cheque is the accepted form of currency on the night!

We’ve still got our lovely Malago WI tea towels for sale, so since you’ll be bringing cash with you, you might as well buy a tea towel too, don’t you think?

It’s very important that we have enough cake to eat next week, of course!  We’ve got a few confirmed, but another 1 or 2 would be great, so please drop us a line here if you can bring along some form of baked goods.

Looking ahead to February, we’ll be holding a raffle of unwanted/surplus/duplicate Christmas pressies , so if you’ve got anything lying around that you know isn’t going to get used (unused, in good condition), bring it along to the January meeting and we’ll hold on to it and co-ordinate the prizes for our February raffle.  The money we raise will go in to our funds so we can continue to bring in exciting and interesting guests throughout the year.

Phew, lots going on, but that's all for now.

Until Wednesday...
MWI x