WELCOME MESSAGE
Welcome to Appleton le Moors WI’s new webpage: Pulling Together While Staying Apart.
As we enter uncharted waters and can no longer meet together, we have been considering what we can do to add to the amazing acts of kindness and support being made by our local communities and businesses. So, in line with the WI’s national resolutions on loneliness and mental health we’ve decided to look to highlight some of the positive things we can do during the restrictions the Coronavirus is going to impose on us all.
We will be posting all kinds of items on this page every Wednesday, which we hope will perhaps interest or amuse you. Do tell us what you are up to and how you are passing the time. Please bear with us as we master all the new technology this requires; we are learning all the time. We can, and will, upload photos but videos are proving more taxing.
There will be no more mention of the C word on this webpage, so go ahead, browse and enjoy. We will begin posting on Wednesday, 1st April, and no this isn't an April Fool!
Keep safe and keep smiling.
As we enter uncharted waters and can no longer meet together, we have been considering what we can do to add to the amazing acts of kindness and support being made by our local communities and businesses. So, in line with the WI’s national resolutions on loneliness and mental health we’ve decided to look to highlight some of the positive things we can do during the restrictions the Coronavirus is going to impose on us all.
We will be posting all kinds of items on this page every Wednesday, which we hope will perhaps interest or amuse you. Do tell us what you are up to and how you are passing the time. Please bear with us as we master all the new technology this requires; we are learning all the time. We can, and will, upload photos but videos are proving more taxing.
There will be no more mention of the C word on this webpage, so go ahead, browse and enjoy. We will begin posting on Wednesday, 1st April, and no this isn't an April Fool!
Keep safe and keep smiling.
8th April 2020
Happy Easter and welcome to the second week of our Pulling Together While Staying Apart initiative. As it’s been such gorgeous weather you perhaps haven’t needed to find things to keep you occupied but just in case you are at a loose end… read on and please keep the ideas rolling in to appletonlemoorswi@gmail.com or message us via our Facebook page. Photos welcome too.
Whilst I wouldn’t normally run recipes in consecutive weeks, it is Easter and although not quite on a par with a chocolate egg, you might want to give our super easy Fab Fudge a try.
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This week’s National Theatre offering is the critically acclaimed ‘Jane Eyre’. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 9th April and is free to view on YouTube. For those of you who missed ‘One Man, Two Governors’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 9th April. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
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Keep your eyes peeled for Comet Atlas, which will be visible to the naked eye throughout April. Look for the brightest object in the night sky, with a greenish tinge. Tonight (8th) there is a pink moon, which isn’t actually pink! It gets that name from the first spring flowers to bloom in North America.
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If you’re looking heavenward by day, the first swallow appeared over Appleton on the 6th April. Earlier than usual, it was probably taking advantage of the strong southerly winds! Two white tailed sea eagles have also been spotted in the area; satellite tracers have placed one in Dalby and one west of Pickering. Thanks to Chris for the ornithological info.
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How about a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums, with unlimited time to wander? Just copy this link into your browser address bar: tinyurl.com/j6zqbta Or closer to home why not peruse the Helmsley Arts Centre’s Momentum II touring exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzWibPwIaPM
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With lovely Easter weather (!) and more time to garden, here are a few jobs Gardeners’ World suggests we can be doing this month in the flower garden:
- Sow hardy annuals, such as love-in-a-mist and pot marigolds, as well as native wildflowers, into gaps in borders
- Enjoy instant colour by planting primulas and polyanthus in pots and at the front of borders
- Protect the new shoots of hostas, delphiniums, lupins and other vulnerable plants from slugs and snails
- Continue deadheading spring bulbs and bedding, so they don't waste energy setting seed
- Sow sweet peas at the base of supports, and transplant those sown in autumn into their final positions
- Spray the new leaves of disease-prone roses with fungicide to control mildew, rust and blackspot
- Take basal cuttings from clumps of perennials, such as delphiniums, campanulas and lupins
- Prune hydrangeas, cutting back the old stems to a healthy shoot lower down
- Reinvigorate mature clumps of hardy perennials, such as hostas, asters and daylilies, by dividing and replanting
- Sow sunflowers in a sunny, open site, then water regularly and protect seedlings from slugs and snails
- Check for aphids on roses and rub them off before they develop into major infestations
- Add aquatic plants, such as waterlilies and irises, to garden ponds
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils
Bear is on his lead all the way today, sheep country. As soon as we're off the lane, we start to climb into the tall pine wood. Quite high winds today, and the wood is moving. We climb up the path and gather height quite quickly. On the tops its lovely to see the sun through the trees and the far off hills.
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FAB FUDGE
If you’re missing your grandchildren and would like an easy recipe to make in tandem with them, or simply fancy an Easter treat, how about trying this easy fudge recipe? No boiling of sugar makes this quite safe for us all to have a go at and the recipe requires no fancy ingredients we don’t have or can’t get.
4oz butter
4oz brown sugar
4 level tablespoons golden syrup
2oz drinking chocolate
About 5 oz dried milk powder
3oz chocolate polka dots (these can be replaced with dried fruit, nuts, or small sweets like Smarties)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
7 inch square tin, buttered.
Melt butter, sugar and syrup until butter is melted, either in a pan or in a large bowl in the microwave. Stir in drinking chocolate and leave until cool but not completely cold. Add enough milk powder to give a stiff but malleable consistency, then stir in the polka dots and vanilla essence if using. Press into the tin. Leave to set. Cut into squares.
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Anyone read a good book, watched an enjoyable film/TV programme or listened to an interesting radio broadcast? Let me know so we can pass on recommendations. I have just finished listening to Anton Lesser reading Hilary Mantel’s ‘The Mirror and the Light’; the final part in her trilogy documenting the life of Thomas Cromwell (no, the other Cromwell!!!!). You don’t need to have any knowledge of the first two books to enjoy this and Anton Lesser reads it so well. Available on BBC Sounds for a limited time.
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And we’ll finish with Lady, who is clearly finding it difficult to relax!
1st April 2020
Welcome to the first week of our Pulling Together While Staying Apart initiative. Thanks to everyone who has sent me items for this page. I will publish them all but it will be necessary to hold quite a few back, as there may be several weeks still ahead of us and I don’t want to use up all our ideas too soon. Sadly, our Weebly account means we cannot upload videos but we can, of course, point you towards anything of interest. If you want to tell us how you’re doing, have seen something of interest locally or nationally, have a recipe, or craft idea for us, please let us have them at appletonlemoorswi@gmail.com or message us via our Facebook page or the Contact Us tab on this website. Photos welcome too.
So here are some ideas for you – most of them needed posting today as they start this week and I don’t want you to miss out on what’s coming up in the next day or two. I may have to ration you a bit more next Wednesday! Come back soon and see what else we’ve found for you.
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Not quite as much fun as the Esk Valley Theatre but the National Theatre are streaming one of their productions via YouTube every Thursday evening. As well as plays, Shakespeare and others, there will be sonnet readings, etc. This week the play is One Man Two Guvnors, a comedy with James Corben.
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
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If we get the lovely clear skies we have been having you may get a glance of the International Space Station flying overhead. Times and dates for this are:
1st April 21:33 W – SSE
2nd April 20:46 W - SSE
3rd April 21:36 SW – SW I know, I queried this but couldn’t get clarification on direction!
Comet Atlas is also due to pass by close to the earth this month. As April progresses it will become the brightest object in the night sky and will have a greenish tinge.
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If you fancy a bit of history the National Archaelogical Society are screening twelve free talks until June – you will have to register to access these:
https://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/coved-talks-weekly-webcast
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils
So today, we're heading off for another adventure, Bear and moi. I never know where we'll go, I just follow Bear. Down by the yew hedge and right down to the water by the old mill. Over the plank bridge and across the field, to the splash. Lovely little bridge. Stuck to the field and the water side and found a drop weir and a stone, water flight of steps. Noise was strong. Across the field ahead and into the little wood. Too long a walk to tell all today. I'll take you there again soon. X
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And finally…
A SUTOR SPECIAL - FEEL GOOD FLAPJACK
50g butter, plus a little extra for greasing
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 apple, peeled and grated with 3 tbsp water
250g rolled oats
85g dried apricots, chopped
100g raisins
85g mixed seed (Janet used pumpkin and sunflower)
Gently melt the first three ingredients in a pan. Add everything else. Put in an 8in (20cm) square tin. Bake at fan 140C for 50-55 minutes. Cool in tin and cut into 12 or so pieces. Good for using up ripe bananas as Janet did.
So here are some ideas for you – most of them needed posting today as they start this week and I don’t want you to miss out on what’s coming up in the next day or two. I may have to ration you a bit more next Wednesday! Come back soon and see what else we’ve found for you.
…………
Not quite as much fun as the Esk Valley Theatre but the National Theatre are streaming one of their productions via YouTube every Thursday evening. As well as plays, Shakespeare and others, there will be sonnet readings, etc. This week the play is One Man Two Guvnors, a comedy with James Corben.
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
…………
If we get the lovely clear skies we have been having you may get a glance of the International Space Station flying overhead. Times and dates for this are:
1st April 21:33 W – SSE
2nd April 20:46 W - SSE
3rd April 21:36 SW – SW I know, I queried this but couldn’t get clarification on direction!
Comet Atlas is also due to pass by close to the earth this month. As April progresses it will become the brightest object in the night sky and will have a greenish tinge.
…………
If you fancy a bit of history the National Archaelogical Society are screening twelve free talks until June – you will have to register to access these:
https://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/coved-talks-weekly-webcast
…………
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils
So today, we're heading off for another adventure, Bear and moi. I never know where we'll go, I just follow Bear. Down by the yew hedge and right down to the water by the old mill. Over the plank bridge and across the field, to the splash. Lovely little bridge. Stuck to the field and the water side and found a drop weir and a stone, water flight of steps. Noise was strong. Across the field ahead and into the little wood. Too long a walk to tell all today. I'll take you there again soon. X
…………
And finally…
A SUTOR SPECIAL - FEEL GOOD FLAPJACK
50g butter, plus a little extra for greasing
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 apple, peeled and grated with 3 tbsp water
250g rolled oats
85g dried apricots, chopped
100g raisins
85g mixed seed (Janet used pumpkin and sunflower)
Gently melt the first three ingredients in a pan. Add everything else. Put in an 8in (20cm) square tin. Bake at fan 140C for 50-55 minutes. Cool in tin and cut into 12 or so pieces. Good for using up ripe bananas as Janet did.
And in case you're wondering... here is Bear!
