WI Ball

Ok, am officially exhausted. The ball is over for another year and hopefully I might be able to make it through the entire night without dreaming in lists and waking up wondering what I had forgotten to do.

I think it was a success. Certainly on the part of the organisers and the smooth running side of things the night evolved without too many noticable disasters. I didn't get much chance to relax but I did enjoy the night and I have been told by many people how much they enjoyed it. We are still going through our final takings and paying all of our bills but it looks like we made some money for the charity as well as covering our costs. A good job all round I feel.

This & That

Hopefully I will have some more time next week. The Fulham WI Ball which I have been mentioning all year is this Saturday evening - the past week or so has been manic trying to tie up all the loose ends but I think we are winning and it should be a good night and raise lots of money for our chosen charity at the same time.

Also this week I have been writing for ETPMagazine where my article about ethical jewellers Ingle & Rhode was published on Monday. My second article for the current affairs section should be published on 12 December.

Oh, and if you are looking for a beautiful Christmas present or simply a chic treat for yourself, have a look at Eric Bompard cashmere, cashmere all the way from Mongolia, styled in Paris. They are, apparently, the number one cashmere supplier/designer in France and will deliver items free to the UK. And, if you order before the 1 December they will deduct 20% off your bill. I have a beautiful pumpkin coloured set of hat and gloves which are very soft - even on the tube my head did not itch - and just right for an English winter (warm and cheerful). Something to smile about on a rather dull London Friday.

WI & Country Life Magazine

Some rather unreliable journalism here courtesy of Country Life Magazine and Melanie Cable-Alexandra (an editor of the magazine and, according to Wikipedia and other sources, the mother of Antony Armstrong-Jones's illigitimate son Jasper).

This article is about the 'new' face of the WI and mentions Fulham WI despite the fact that to the best of my knowledge the group had not been approached by the magazine and much of the content seems rather similiar to the article which followed an interview with the Sunday Telegraph.

I feel it also rather unfairly misrepresents the ladies of the Fulham WI as dismissive of the older and more established WI groups and portrays us as a bunch of career women shunning the traditional skills and hobbies enjoyed by women of an older generation. I hardly think this could be further from the truth; at Fulham WI we celebrate the traditional within the modern - how we can apply traditional skills, crafts and hobbies into our own busy lives and within the spectrum of living as a modern woman. We may meet in a pub and hear talks about nuclear power but there was also a queue for places on the chutney making day next week.

Fulham WI in Stella Magazine

Attended the May meeting of the Fulham WI last night. Was an interesting mix of speakers - a couple of 'modern day pilgrims' who told us about some of the journeys that they have completed following old pilgrim trails in Europe and what they have got out of the trips - followed by Marcus from the London Kaballah centre. He was an interesting and compelling speaker who drew you into his arguments rather successfully. To my mind though, he set up many questions for which he never managed to provide answers.

And, if you were so inclined, you could read a little more about the Women's Institute and it's more modern, urban, London face here, in the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine. There is also a small mention of Marmaladya as well. The article features my branch of the WI, Fulham, as well as the Islington branch. They have their photo tags wrong though, as the picture above is of some of my friends from the Fulham branch, not the Islington one as they claim.