OUR April meeting was well attended and started with a thank you to Val Dalby for her lovely spring table flowers all in hues of blue and yellow.

After the usual reading of the minutes and treasurer’s update, it was on with correspondence, including a discussion about the proposed WI visit to Buckingham Palace in early June.

Pam Elliott has agreed to go on our behalf and I am sure she will have an enjoyable day.

Some more of us may go to the Highnam Gardens visit on June 16 which will include a talk on Hubert Parry.

Rowena Eccles then told us all about her visit to the AGM at Cheltenham held recently with a talk by Diana Burch in the morning and another by Kate Bliss from ‘Flog It’ in the afternoon.

Val also had more details of the five handbags, all in different materials, that are needed for the Rose Bowl Competition as part of the annual Stroud Show.

The show takes place in July, where we won first prize last year, so we will have to work hard to retain our position.

President Doreen also displayed the lovely silk ribbon embroidery she has recently completed on her bursary trip to Denman College.

The silk flowers, including fuchsias, looked really realistic.

With business concluded, we settled down to enjoy our Member’s evening, which included a buffet of cheese, crackers, grapes, crisps, celery and wine, which went down a treat.

We were also entertained with an excellent quiz masterminded by member Pam Clapp and for which we were put into small groups.

Pam even produced prizes for the winning and losing teams, which was very good of her.

In all, it was a very friendly and fun evening which I’m sure everyone enjoyed.

Our next meeting, which falls on Tuesday, May 5, will be the Resolutions one, followed by a ‘fun’ mini-auction.

This is always the place to bag some bargains, so be sure to come along.

The meeting takes place, as usual, in St Matthew’s Church Hall, Cainscross at 7.15pm when new members/visitors are always welcome.

If you can’t make this date, our next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 2, same time, same place, when Tom Price will tell us all about Orchids.

Tom is the Treasurer for Cheltenham & District Orchid Society and is a mine of information on the subject. He may also bring along a few for sale.