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.
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 July 2020
Well here is our last weekly offering – sigh – but we will still keep you company for a little while longer on this journey but now at monthly rather than weekly intervals. So keep popping back! Thanks to everyone who has read, enjoyed and shared this webpage far and wide, and to members who have sent me photographs. A big pat to Bear for his blog, which I know is the highlight of this page! There is a bag of treats waiting for you young man.
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Terence Rattigan’s play ‘The Deep Blue Sea’ is this week’s offering from the National Theatre. Starring Helen McCrory in the title role, the 2016 production is set in the drab, post-war period and captures the struggles of a married woman who has turned her back on a respectable life as the wife of a judge, to pursue a fractious relationship with a former test pilot. There is still time to watch ‘Les Blancs’ if you missed it. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
If you enjoyed the National Theatre’s production of Andrea Levy’s ‘Small Island’ there is another opportunity to see the televised version of her later novel, ‘The Long Song’, which has been reshown on BBC1 this week and is now available on BBC iPlayer. Coincidentally the leading character in The Long Song is called Miss July!
English National Ballet bring their Watch Party series to a close with Christopher Wheeldon’s production of Prokofiev’s ‘Cinderella’. Filmed in the round at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019, this ballet features more than 90 dancers and stars Alina Cooper and Isaac Hernández in the title roles. ballet.org.uk
The BBC marks the 125th anniversary of the Proms with 8 weeks of world class performances beginning on the 17th July: billed as ‘not the Proms as we know them, the Proms as we need them’. Complete archive concerts will be available live on BBC Radio 3 and on demand on BBC Sounds. A selection of archive concerts will also be available on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The Proms on Radio 3 launches with the debut performance by the BBC Grand Virtual Orchestra, comprising over 350 musicians from the BBC orchestras and choirs. A 19th century genius, Beethoven was groomed by his alcoholic father to be the new Mozart. At the premier of his ninth symphony in 1824, Beethoven, who had been profoundly deaf since his early forties, elected to conduct the orchestra alongside conductor Michael Umlauf. As the final chords drifted away Beethoven was so lost in the moment that he was unaware of the wild applause all around him. On being turned around to face the audience by young contralto, Carolina Unger and witnessing the ecstatic reception for his new work, Beethoven described it as ‘one of the saddest and most triumphant moments’ of his life. He died three years later in 1827 aged 56.
This week was also pivotal in the history of modern music, as it was on the 6th July 1957 that a very young Paul McCartney met John Lennon for the first time, when Lennon’s skiffle group, the Quarrymen played at the St Peter’s Church fete in Woolton, Liverpool. The performance took place on a stage in a field behind the church and the rest is history.
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If you enjoyed the Hay Festival online there are several more literary festivals you might like:
- The Islay Book Festival for children and adults. islaybookfestival.org.uk
- The Chiddingstone Castle Festival, featuring pre-recorded podcasts with Michael Morpurgo and Maggie O’Farrell amongst others. Chiddingstonecastle.org.uk/literary_festival/
- For the budding authors amongst us, The Writers’ Weekend is also going virtual and speakers will include Eoin Colfer. Writersweekend.uk/programme
- The Stratford Literary Festival has also recorded interviews with many of the event’s scheduled speakers, including Michael Frayn and Felicity Cloake. Stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk/article/slf-goes-virtual
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The Stillness of Life is an exhibition of 60 black and white photographs by renowned war photographer, Sir Don McCullin CBE. Including scenes from his beloved Somerset countryside, where he was evacuated as a small boy during the Blitz, there are also stunning photos from Europe and further afield. A short video of an interview with McCullin, is featured on the website. Well worth viewing. https://www.vip-hauserwirth.com
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins
What a grand day. Real wet stuff for the garden. It pours, lets it sink in and has another go, and another and another.......you get my drift. Bear and I dodged out between downpours. Smelled lovely and everything twinkled with drops. Ahhh...... Gone dark again so hoping for more thunder. Fingers crossed it lasts until dark, then I'll be able to see the lightning. X
And just time for another look at the little blogger himself!
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins
What a grand day. Real wet stuff for the garden. It pours, lets it sink in and has another go, and another and another.......you get my drift. Bear and I dodged out between downpours. Smelled lovely and everything twinkled with drops. Ahhh...... Gone dark again so hoping for more thunder. Fingers crossed it lasts until dark, then I'll be able to see the lightning. X
And just time for another look at the little blogger himself!
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Chef Janet & assistant (mainly sommelier!) Carolyn have cooked up a Korean feast this week with the Denman At Home weekly cook-a-long: delicious pear inspired beef Bulgogi, with sriracha and kimchi, wrapped with jasmine rice in allotment lettuce, followed by a ginger, pear and elderflower dessert. Watch out Tommy Banks, Yorkshire’s finest chef is back from retirement, inspired by Cook Bristol’s Peter Lien!!
PETER LIEN’S, GINGER, PEAR AND ELDERFLOWER DESSERT
110g pear halves from tin of pear halves in fruit juice not syrup (about half a tin)
1tbsp elderflower cordial
2 ginger snap biscuits
4tbsp meringue, crushed into small pieces
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
Roughly chop the pears and place in the bottom of the tin they came from, along with the elderflower cordial. Using a stick blender, blend to a smooth purée. Break up the ginger snaps into small pieces with a rolling pin. Place half the pear purée in the bottom of a serving bowl. Scatter most of the ginger and meringue pieces over the top of the purée. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of the purée, then some more crumbs on top of the ice cream.
And finally… the definition of sommelier is ‘wine steward’, one who makes food pairing recommendations. The sommelier doesn’t actually join the customer in drinking a glass or two. Will you tell her, or shall I?!!!
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1st July 2020
July 4th is of course, American Independence Day but the good people of Breckenridge, Colorado had to wait an extra day to celebrate in 1920. And they certainly knew how to party: rock drilling, ore shovelling and a grand red, white and blue ball. Makes the Ryedale Show seem quite tame! I love the paper’s strapline – ‘something doing every minute’. It’s also worthy of note that the Summit County Journal prided itself on its impartiality, proclaiming only that it was ‘the Top of the World’ and had been ‘the old home paper for forty-one years without a kick or a miss’. No partiality there then!
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This Thursday’s National Theatre Live at Home will be ‘Les Blancs’, starring Sian Phillips and Danny Sapani. Yaël Farber directs Lorraine Hansberry’s final play: a brave, illuminating and powerful work, this production confronts the hope and tragedy of revolution in an unnamed African country as colonialism ends. There is still time to watch ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ if you missed it. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
The third National Theatre Quiz is now available online. Featuring Julie Walters, Adrian Lester, Ben Power, Simon Russell Beal, Ben Miles, Adam Godley, Tamsin Grieg, Meera Syal, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Gatiss, the quiz is introduced by Emma Freud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw6uPyjoYQk&feature=youtu.be
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‘Talking Heads’, continues Tuesday - Thursday on BBC 1 from 9 pm. All the ‘Talking Heads’ series will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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Meanwhile, on Thursday 2nd July at 3 pm Julie Walters is busy again, this time on Radio 4, reminiscing about a rare green space, Warley Woods, 10 minutes from her childhood home in Smethwick near Birmingham. Also on Radio 4 Extra on Friday 3rd July at 10 am, 3 pm, and 3am for insomniacs, is Ronald Frame’s Victorian thriller ‘Greyfriars’, set in Edinburgh with a canine hero, a Skye terrier called Greyfriars Bobby. This little dog spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner before dying himself on the 14th January 1872. There is a prominent commemorative statue at the entrance to Greyfriars Cemetery in Edinburgh, which is well worth a visit.
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On Friday 17th July there is the chance to see ‘North York Moors: A Wild Year’ on BBC 2 at 9 pm. The programme features work by Andrew Oxby, a local photographer for the North York Moors National Park, who was trained in time lapse photography by top BBC Blue Planet cameramen in 2018. You can see more of his work on the Andrew Oxby Photography Facebook page. First in this series of three programmes is Pembrokeshire on the 3rd July, and The Fens on the 10th.
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No news of the white-tailed sea eagles, although they are still being seen in the National Park, but the house martins have finally moved into our nest and are currently back and forth feeding chicks. Our bird bath continues to be popular – the collared doves have still to work out how to land on it without emptying the entire contents – but here is a lovely short video of what happens when a tawny owl is in need of a bath. https://www.facebook.com/BBCSpringwatch/videos/639540813585085/
Whilst it’s largely quiet on the ornithological front, save for a Red Kite over Skipster Hagg, the butterflies and moths are more than making up for it. This week the Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Ringlet butterfly and Cinnabar moth have all been spotted on Appleton Common.
………….
This Thursday’s National Theatre Live at Home will be ‘Les Blancs’, starring Sian Phillips and Danny Sapani. Yaël Farber directs Lorraine Hansberry’s final play: a brave, illuminating and powerful work, this production confronts the hope and tragedy of revolution in an unnamed African country as colonialism ends. There is still time to watch ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ if you missed it. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
The third National Theatre Quiz is now available online. Featuring Julie Walters, Adrian Lester, Ben Power, Simon Russell Beal, Ben Miles, Adam Godley, Tamsin Grieg, Meera Syal, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Gatiss, the quiz is introduced by Emma Freud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw6uPyjoYQk&feature=youtu.be
………….
‘Talking Heads’, continues Tuesday - Thursday on BBC 1 from 9 pm. All the ‘Talking Heads’ series will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
………….
Meanwhile, on Thursday 2nd July at 3 pm Julie Walters is busy again, this time on Radio 4, reminiscing about a rare green space, Warley Woods, 10 minutes from her childhood home in Smethwick near Birmingham. Also on Radio 4 Extra on Friday 3rd July at 10 am, 3 pm, and 3am for insomniacs, is Ronald Frame’s Victorian thriller ‘Greyfriars’, set in Edinburgh with a canine hero, a Skye terrier called Greyfriars Bobby. This little dog spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner before dying himself on the 14th January 1872. There is a prominent commemorative statue at the entrance to Greyfriars Cemetery in Edinburgh, which is well worth a visit.
………….
On Friday 17th July there is the chance to see ‘North York Moors: A Wild Year’ on BBC 2 at 9 pm. The programme features work by Andrew Oxby, a local photographer for the North York Moors National Park, who was trained in time lapse photography by top BBC Blue Planet cameramen in 2018. You can see more of his work on the Andrew Oxby Photography Facebook page. First in this series of three programmes is Pembrokeshire on the 3rd July, and The Fens on the 10th.
………….
No news of the white-tailed sea eagles, although they are still being seen in the National Park, but the house martins have finally moved into our nest and are currently back and forth feeding chicks. Our bird bath continues to be popular – the collared doves have still to work out how to land on it without emptying the entire contents – but here is a lovely short video of what happens when a tawny owl is in need of a bath. https://www.facebook.com/BBCSpringwatch/videos/639540813585085/
Whilst it’s largely quiet on the ornithological front, save for a Red Kite over Skipster Hagg, the butterflies and moths are more than making up for it. This week the Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Ringlet butterfly and Cinnabar moth have all been spotted on Appleton Common.
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins Brae walks...... Aye well, (in a Scottish accent) it's been too hot for my wee beastie. Bear would run until he dropped, but I have been so aware for him, that our forays have had to be in the woods and shorter than usual. The excitement mounts, the boots are going on, sprung loaded dog leaps up and down and brings favourite balls, putting them by my feet, constantly running and retrieving whilst I try to lace those boots. Harness on and woohoo, away. Up into the high wood hoping the air will be cooler, it is lovely. The shade is easier on us both, but there is no breeze. The plodge up the hill, even in shade, has left me with a red face. I didn't move north for heat! I came for the fun of snow, the sound of rain, the excitement of high winds. I sound ungrateful, the spring sun was lovely, but this isn't what I signed up for. However, when that time comes again, I guess I'll change my tune, and being a lady, I can use that prerogative. Bear tugs me out of my thoughts and onwards. The birds are quiet, it's like moving through a living painting. Everything too hot to move, waiting for the cooler evening to come. We come back home along the foresters’ tracks, elderflower cordial in a long glass, I think. Through the door and the cottage is so cool. Harness off, Bear darts for his water. Boots off and I plunge my hot chops into a basin of cold water. Shock then bliss. My colour will calm down in an hour or so...
EDITOR'S NOTE: I see I saved this photo as Bear Woods. Does he play golf too, I wonder!
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Appleton traditionally do spectacularly badly in the annual federation quiz round on the WI, so here are a few facts about the organisation we probably wouldn’t get right!
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And finally… I came across rather an apt quote in a book I have just finished reading called ‘Small Great Things’ by Jodi Piccoult: ‘If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way’. Credited originally to American theologian James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888) in 1902, it was often quoted by Martin Luther King, jnr and seems quite a good way to look at life. Happy 244th American Independence Day!
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins Brae walks...... Aye well, (in a Scottish accent) it's been too hot for my wee beastie. Bear would run until he dropped, but I have been so aware for him, that our forays have had to be in the woods and shorter than usual. The excitement mounts, the boots are going on, sprung loaded dog leaps up and down and brings favourite balls, putting them by my feet, constantly running and retrieving whilst I try to lace those boots. Harness on and woohoo, away. Up into the high wood hoping the air will be cooler, it is lovely. The shade is easier on us both, but there is no breeze. The plodge up the hill, even in shade, has left me with a red face. I didn't move north for heat! I came for the fun of snow, the sound of rain, the excitement of high winds. I sound ungrateful, the spring sun was lovely, but this isn't what I signed up for. However, when that time comes again, I guess I'll change my tune, and being a lady, I can use that prerogative. Bear tugs me out of my thoughts and onwards. The birds are quiet, it's like moving through a living painting. Everything too hot to move, waiting for the cooler evening to come. We come back home along the foresters’ tracks, elderflower cordial in a long glass, I think. Through the door and the cottage is so cool. Harness off, Bear darts for his water. Boots off and I plunge my hot chops into a basin of cold water. Shock then bliss. My colour will calm down in an hour or so...
EDITOR'S NOTE: I see I saved this photo as Bear Woods. Does he play golf too, I wonder!
…………
Appleton traditionally do spectacularly badly in the annual federation quiz round on the WI, so here are a few facts about the organisation we probably wouldn’t get right!
- The first WI was set up in Canada in 1897, reaching British shores in 1915, with the inaugural group in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Anglesey. I’m glad I don’t have to embroider that one onto a tablecloth!
- Four years later there were 1,400 WIs in England and Wales, campaigning for free school milk for children, extra women police officers and more midwives for rural communities.
- Mrs Margaret Winteringham, a prominent member of the WI, became the first English born female Member of Parliament in 1921.
- ‘Jerusalem’, words by William Blake and music by Hubert Parry, was first sung at the WI AGM at Queen’s Hall, London in 1924. It had originally been adopted by the National Union of Suffrage Societies in 1918.
- A NFWI survey of WI members in 1941, ‘Town Children through Country Eyes’, dealt with the issues housing evacuees from the war in the countryside and led to the provision of family allowances.
- In 1943, at their first Annual General Meeting after WW2, the WI instigated discussion about gender equality throughout the country, in the education system as well as in the workplace.
- The Keep Britain Tidy campaign was originally set up by a conference of 26 organisations in 1955. The conference was initiated by the WI, after an anti-litter resolution was passed at its 1954 AGM.
- The WI celebrated their Golden Jubilee in 1965 and the Poet Laureate of the time, C Day Lewis wrote a poem named The WIs to commemorate the occasion. Catchy title!
- Keeping up with their reputation of being ahead of their time, in 1986 the WI was one of the first groups in the country to raise the issue of AIDS.
- Angela Baker and her friends from Rylstone WI, better known as the Calendar Girls, released a nude calendar in 1999 to raise money to buy a new sofa for Settle Hospital… the rest is history.
- The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and the AGM was attended by three of its royal members: HM the Queen, HRH The Princess Royal, and HRH the Duchess of Wessex. The Queen famously struggled to cut the celebratory cake, made by North Yorkshire West Federation, and needed help from her daughter – all in jest... I think! The WI now has over 200,000 members and around 6,500 groups.
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And finally… I came across rather an apt quote in a book I have just finished reading called ‘Small Great Things’ by Jodi Piccoult: ‘If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way’. Credited originally to American theologian James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888) in 1902, it was often quoted by Martin Luther King, jnr and seems quite a good way to look at life. Happy 244th American Independence Day!
24th June 2020
This weekend would have been the 50th Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm. I’m sure with a little ingenuity we could all create a Glastonbury type experience, recreating the sights and sounds, if not smells, which would probably be a health and safety issue should you try this. So grab your wellies, cut off denims, flip flops, warm bottles of G & T, wet wipes, fairy lights, mobile phone and you’re good to go. Apparently, it’s traditional to stand in the field yelling ‘I’ll meet you at the 28th tent on the right’ rather than actually ringing anyone! Phones are strictly for after dark waving along with the set purposes only. Highlights of the last 50 years will be on BBC iPlayer’s pop up Glastonbury channel, and BBC 2 and BBC 4 will be screening headline performances over the weekend from David Bowie (2000), Beyoncé (2011) and Adele (2016). As well as all the things we traditionally associate with Glastonbury, largely mud, it is easy to overlook that this event actually raises in excess of £3 million for charity.
In 2015 Somerset Federation and Cambridgeshire Federation, marshalled by the amazing Joanne Croxford, ran a cake stall at Glastonbury for the first time in the history of either organisation. It was fantastic PR for the WI. I know from personal experience that Joanne is an absolute master of this. When we went to lay a wreath at the memorial in Whitehall to the women of WW2 in the early hours of a June morning in 2015, I was stood next to Joanne as she rang Chris Evans live on BBC2 breakfast. We also got a wave from David Cameron, who came out of No 10 as a result of the broadcast. The Glastonbury cake stall sparked a great deal of media interest and many younger members were recruited to the WI as a result. Profits from the cake stall were given to charity.
On a slightly smaller scale, the Unofficial WI’s very successful Tea and Tents event has been resurrected in an online format. All your favourite things are there: the craft marquee, bake off, sewing bee, speakers’ corner, etc. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=tea%20and%20tents&epa=SEARCH_BOX
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This Thursday’s National Theatre Live at Home will be ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ starring Gwendoline Christie and Hammed Animashaun and will be streamed on YouTube from 7 pm on the 25th June. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, this production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy saw the Bridge Theatre, London, transformed into a forest surrounded by a roving audience following the action on foot, as indeed would have happened in the bard’s time. For those of you who missed the fabulous ‘Small Island’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
………….
2020 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven and a performance of his ninth symphony by the Geneva Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, took place in the beautiful Victoria Hall, London, recently: conductor, Jonathan Nott, was at an enlarged central podium, the violins were strewn around the stalls, French horns in the gallery boxes, the soprano soloist on the balcony and two choruses in the amphitheatre. An ingenuous solution which produced a memorable concert with a difference! This performance is available for the next six months and you can find it at youtube.com/OSR1918
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He may not be to everyone’s taste but there is still the chance to virtually visit the exhibition ‘Picasso and Paper’ at the Royal Academy. www.royalacademy.org.uk As you might expect there is nothing conventional about this - Picasso ripped, slashed, burnt, folded, crumpled and sliced his material to produce what we might now call multimedia! I did something similar at Denman once with the marvellous Marilyn Pipe but, unfortunately, I think I have to be dead before I will get shown at the Royal Academy, as clearly my efforts have been largely misunderstood by today’s audience and Ryedale Show judges. If you want some craft inspiration take a look at Marilyn’s website. https://marilynpipe.co.uk
………….
This week sees the return of ‘Talking Heads’, a series of twelve dramatic kitchen table monologues written by Alan Bennett. I am secretly rather pleased that my favourite ‘A cream cracker under the settee’, known in my house for some obscure reason as ‘The digestive under the sofa’ (it’s close!), starring Thora Hird and first broadcast in 1988, is not being revisited. There are some classic performances that simply cannot be remade. However, the new series comes with a host of stars: Martin Freeman recreates ‘A Chip in the Sugar’ (a role originated by Bennett himself); Jodie Comer plays an aspiring actress in ‘Her Big Chance’ (originated by Julie Walters); Tamsin Greig takes on ‘Nights in the Garden of Spain’ (originated by Penelope Wilton); and The Crown’s Imelda Staunton stars in ‘A Lady of Letters’ (originated by Patricia Routledge). Monica Dolan, Sarah Lancashire, Lesley Manville, Lucian Msamati, Maxine Peake, Rochenda Sandall, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Harriet Walter also feature. All the monologues will be broadcast on BBC 1 from 9 pm, and started with a double bill on Tuesday 23rd June. All the ‘Talking Heads’ series will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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I was rather amused to catch Home School History on Radio 4 recently and hear Greg Jenner mention that Neolithic times could be measured in generational terms as 170 grandmas away. I rather like this concept. I have a friend for whom grandpas are the standard measure. You do have to be a little careful with grandpas, as hers is 6ft 1 in and mine was 5 ft! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hmmf/episodes/downloads
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins A walk into the village earlier has worn my legs to even shorter stumps. Too hot for me, Bear could just go all day, I think. Roadworks prohibited use of the car. I got back into the cottage and 3 minutes later it absolutely pelted down with thick, soaking rain. Thunder too, exciting. One of those 'just in time' moments.
…………
Here is a recipe suitable for festivals, concerts, picnics, walks with Bears, etc, and should most definitely NOT be measured in grandpas:
CHEESE STRAWS
200g mature Cheddar grated
100g grated Parmesan
200g plain flour
200g butter cut into cubes cold
2 egg yolks
Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Grease baking sheets and cover with baking parchment. Put cheeses in mixing bowl with flour. Mix to a crumb with butter. Bind to a dough with egg yolks. Roll out not too thinly and cut into strips then across to make straws about 3-5cm long. Bake 10 – 12 minutes until golden
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And finally…
…on the subject of cooking, mother and daughter members, Janet and Carolyn Frank, have been cooking Mexican style, courtesy of Denman College and Tutor Peter Lien. Looks scrummy!
In 2015 Somerset Federation and Cambridgeshire Federation, marshalled by the amazing Joanne Croxford, ran a cake stall at Glastonbury for the first time in the history of either organisation. It was fantastic PR for the WI. I know from personal experience that Joanne is an absolute master of this. When we went to lay a wreath at the memorial in Whitehall to the women of WW2 in the early hours of a June morning in 2015, I was stood next to Joanne as she rang Chris Evans live on BBC2 breakfast. We also got a wave from David Cameron, who came out of No 10 as a result of the broadcast. The Glastonbury cake stall sparked a great deal of media interest and many younger members were recruited to the WI as a result. Profits from the cake stall were given to charity.
On a slightly smaller scale, the Unofficial WI’s very successful Tea and Tents event has been resurrected in an online format. All your favourite things are there: the craft marquee, bake off, sewing bee, speakers’ corner, etc. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=tea%20and%20tents&epa=SEARCH_BOX
………….
This Thursday’s National Theatre Live at Home will be ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ starring Gwendoline Christie and Hammed Animashaun and will be streamed on YouTube from 7 pm on the 25th June. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, this production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy saw the Bridge Theatre, London, transformed into a forest surrounded by a roving audience following the action on foot, as indeed would have happened in the bard’s time. For those of you who missed the fabulous ‘Small Island’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
………….
2020 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven and a performance of his ninth symphony by the Geneva Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, took place in the beautiful Victoria Hall, London, recently: conductor, Jonathan Nott, was at an enlarged central podium, the violins were strewn around the stalls, French horns in the gallery boxes, the soprano soloist on the balcony and two choruses in the amphitheatre. An ingenuous solution which produced a memorable concert with a difference! This performance is available for the next six months and you can find it at youtube.com/OSR1918
………….
He may not be to everyone’s taste but there is still the chance to virtually visit the exhibition ‘Picasso and Paper’ at the Royal Academy. www.royalacademy.org.uk As you might expect there is nothing conventional about this - Picasso ripped, slashed, burnt, folded, crumpled and sliced his material to produce what we might now call multimedia! I did something similar at Denman once with the marvellous Marilyn Pipe but, unfortunately, I think I have to be dead before I will get shown at the Royal Academy, as clearly my efforts have been largely misunderstood by today’s audience and Ryedale Show judges. If you want some craft inspiration take a look at Marilyn’s website. https://marilynpipe.co.uk
………….
This week sees the return of ‘Talking Heads’, a series of twelve dramatic kitchen table monologues written by Alan Bennett. I am secretly rather pleased that my favourite ‘A cream cracker under the settee’, known in my house for some obscure reason as ‘The digestive under the sofa’ (it’s close!), starring Thora Hird and first broadcast in 1988, is not being revisited. There are some classic performances that simply cannot be remade. However, the new series comes with a host of stars: Martin Freeman recreates ‘A Chip in the Sugar’ (a role originated by Bennett himself); Jodie Comer plays an aspiring actress in ‘Her Big Chance’ (originated by Julie Walters); Tamsin Greig takes on ‘Nights in the Garden of Spain’ (originated by Penelope Wilton); and The Crown’s Imelda Staunton stars in ‘A Lady of Letters’ (originated by Patricia Routledge). Monica Dolan, Sarah Lancashire, Lesley Manville, Lucian Msamati, Maxine Peake, Rochenda Sandall, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Harriet Walter also feature. All the monologues will be broadcast on BBC 1 from 9 pm, and started with a double bill on Tuesday 23rd June. All the ‘Talking Heads’ series will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
………….
I was rather amused to catch Home School History on Radio 4 recently and hear Greg Jenner mention that Neolithic times could be measured in generational terms as 170 grandmas away. I rather like this concept. I have a friend for whom grandpas are the standard measure. You do have to be a little careful with grandpas, as hers is 6ft 1 in and mine was 5 ft! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hmmf/episodes/downloads
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins A walk into the village earlier has worn my legs to even shorter stumps. Too hot for me, Bear could just go all day, I think. Roadworks prohibited use of the car. I got back into the cottage and 3 minutes later it absolutely pelted down with thick, soaking rain. Thunder too, exciting. One of those 'just in time' moments.
…………
Here is a recipe suitable for festivals, concerts, picnics, walks with Bears, etc, and should most definitely NOT be measured in grandpas:
CHEESE STRAWS
200g mature Cheddar grated
100g grated Parmesan
200g plain flour
200g butter cut into cubes cold
2 egg yolks
Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Grease baking sheets and cover with baking parchment. Put cheeses in mixing bowl with flour. Mix to a crumb with butter. Bind to a dough with egg yolks. Roll out not too thinly and cut into strips then across to make straws about 3-5cm long. Bake 10 – 12 minutes until golden
………….
And finally…
…on the subject of cooking, mother and daughter members, Janet and Carolyn Frank, have been cooking Mexican style, courtesy of Denman College and Tutor Peter Lien. Looks scrummy!
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17th June 2020
Saturday, June 20th is the summer solstice, when the UK will enjoy 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight. The sun will rise at 4.43am and set at 9.21pm. Alaskans celebrate the solstice with a midnight baseball game, whilst Icelanders reach for their putters and irons for a game of midnight golf! Unfortunately, more sunlight doesn’t necessarily mean more heat… keep your jumper and brolly handy.
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Timed to coincide with Windrush Day on the 22nd June, this week’s National Theatre Live at Home production is ‘Small Island’, an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s epic novel. Told through three intricately connected stories of Hortense, Gilbert and Queenie, ‘Small Island’ traces the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK through WW2 until 1948, when HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. Of the passengers who disembarked there, 86 of them were children. HMT Empire Windrush sank in the Mediterranean in 1954, after an onboard fire, and efforts are currently underway to raise the anchor from the wreck and mount it as a symbol of hope and reconciliation in time for the 75th anniversary in 2023.
The Guardian praised Helen Edmundson’s production of ‘Small Island’ as ‘one of the most important plays of the year. Superb production. Outstanding performances. Andrea Levy’s epic makes momentous theatre’. It will be streamed on Thursday 18th June at 7 pm. For those of you who missed ‘The Madness of King George III’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
Grange Park Opera, Surrey, are screening 15 performances online, released over six weeks from 4th June. As they essentially lost their 2020 season this is described as their ‘Found Season’ and includes both music and dance. Just to disprove the stereotype of stuffiness surrounding our opera houses, the ‘Found Season’ is kicked off by Joanna Lumley and also features Wynne Evans – Mr Go Compare. Picnics are positively encouraged! https://grangeparkopera.co.uk/whats-on/
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If we’re going to be picnicking in our gardens maybe there is time for a quick tidy up. Here is the RHS guide to what to ‘prune in June’:
- Cut back tender shrubs such as Penstemon, Caryopteris and hardy fuchsias
- Prune deciduous magnolias once the plant is in full leaf
- Clip evergreen hedges such as privet (Ligustrum), box (Buxus) and Lonicera nitida
- Prune flowering shrubs such as Deutzia, Kolkwitzia, Weigela and Philadelphus after flowering
- Evergreens such as Viburnum tinus can also still be trimmed this month
- Rhododendrons can be lightly pruned after flowering
- Prune overcrowded, dead or diseased stems of Clematis Montana once it has finished flowering
- Prune wall-trained pyracanthas, removing any shoots coming out from the wall, and shortening other new growth to about 8cm (3in)
And while you’re out there:
- Twining climbers (such as honeysuckle and Clematis) need regular tying in and twining around their supports. Climbing and rambling roses could also do with tying in this month.
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If the weather isn’t conducive to gardening, how about trying an online course from Denman College, the WI’s Further Education arm? I know I have mentioned this before but new cooking, craft and history courses are being added all the time and whilst there is a small charge, they are worth every penny. https://www.denman.org.uk/whats-on/ And if you would simply like to sit and browse, how about ‘Sights of Wonder’, a collection of photographs taking during Prince Albert Edward’s tour of Egypt, the Holy Land and Greece in 1862. A dutiful son, he was sent on tour by his mother! https://sightsofwonder.barber.org.uk/
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Hawkins A gardening day yesterday, rain brought weeds. Today is raining. Woohoo, not ferocious rain, gentle and wetting the already wet ground, I guess it rained in the night or early doors. Tails up, jackets on and we're off. Bear pulls me along on his quest for adventure and new smells. Huge leaves and a great place to rummage for Bear. Just his tail sticking out, wagging... he's a good dog and comes out if I ask politely. The 'butlers house', now the potting shed, looking pretty in green livery. We'll go down to the gate but not into the field, the beasts have been moved there. Wouldn't want to upset the beasties. Tug back up the hill and a promise of a better walk later. There's a coffee cup calling me, and no doubt, a dog biscuit for the Bear. See you soon.
Editor’s Note: Bear’s Blog this week came via email with the rather intriguing subject line ‘Beer Walks’. Not quite yet, Bear, but soon… maybe!
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As this is the month that thoughts turn to strawberries at Wimbledon and Pimm’s at Royal Ascot, how about combining the two in a refreshing and rather special jelly for that picnic?
5 small leaves of gelatin or vegetarian/vegan substitute
115g/4oz caster sugar
100ml/3½fl oz water
100ml/3½fl oz lemonade
175ml/6fl oz Pimm’s
250g/9oz strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
¼ water melon, finely diced
1 handful of mint leaves, sliced
Soak the gelatin leaves in cold tap water, leaving it for a few minutes to soften. Dissolve sugar in water over a medium-low heat, stirring all the time. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the softened gelatin leaves. Transfer mixture to a bowl and add lemonade and Pimm’s. Leave to set, stirring occasionally. Once the jelly starts to set, add the strawberries, watermelon and a little mint. Transfer into small glasses or a jelly mould and leave to set for at least four hours in a refrigerator. Once set, garnish with the remaining mint and serve. However it tastes, it looks very pretty!
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And finally…
… two pictures sent in by Janet Frank of her gorgeous garden, which prove that sometimes the best things happen by chance – the hardy geranium seeded itself amongst the Hosta. How lovely.
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10th June 2020
We’ve taken on a very regal look this week, which is quite appropriate as we approach what would have been the Trooping of the Colour, marking the well-known member of Sandringham WI’s official birthday. And on the subject of birthdays… our lovely, long standing member, Christine Field, was treated to a rabble rousing, socially distanced and bedraggled rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ last Saturday on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Many congratulations, Christine!
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This week’s offering from the National Theatre Live at Home is an absolute cracker: The Madness of King George III, written by one of Britain’s best-loved playwrights, Alan Bennett. The cast of this new production includes Olivier Award-winners Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Wolf Hall, NT Live Coriolanus) in the title role, and Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey, Upstairs Downstairs, After the Dance) and was filmed at the Nottingham Playhouse. This will be streamed on Thursday 11th June at 7 pm. For those of you who missed ‘Coriolanus’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
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For those who have missed the Yorkshire Open Studio event, Nunnington studios have published a very short film of a walk in the environ of the gallery. https://www.nunningtongalleries.co.uk/blogs/news/a-lovely-walk-to-nunnington-galleries-a-short-film
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I have some news on the white-tailed sea eagles. G393 has explored widely this spring, travelling over 1000 miles in a six-week period between 20th March and 30th April. At 11.45 on the morning of the 30th April he was traced flying north of York at a very low altitude of 66 metres. The female, G318, first arrived in the North York Moors on the 5th April and after an initial meeting with G393 it wasn’t until 27th May that the two birds began spending time together. White-tailed sea eagles often perch for prolonged periods and the satellite data has confirmed this is how G393 and G318 spent much of May. An abundance of rabbits in their chosen location means the birds had no need to venture far!
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We have knitted many things at Appleton le Moors WI but I don’t think any of us have knitted Charles I but here’s our chance! The 14th June is the 375th anniversary of the Battle of Naseby, a decisive engagement of the First English Civil War, between the Royalist army of King Charles 1 – he of knitted fame – and the Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. I am sure with a bit of tweaking we could knit them too. In fact, why not knit the whole battle…
http://nationalcivilwarcentre.com/media/civilwarcentre/documents/leaflets/Knit%20your%20Own%20Charles%20I.pdf
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Bear's walks have been short and sweet in consideration of the weather. This morning we'd had enough of tootles, so boots and macs on, we struck out up the bank. We walked up through the wood. There were lots of leaves, twigs and branches down, the odd tree too. Yesterday morning’s wind was strong. It's still raining quite nicely and the wind still making the trees wave and chatter. Through the open gate and the rain and wind have full benefit of the wide-open space, the space Bear and I are walking through. Quite funny really as the specs dot over with rain, it makes Bear blink a lot. He's so happy to be out on a proper walk. We walk on through the water meadow that skirts the hill. It smells wonderful and everything is so green. When home, we took off wet gear, dried Bears legs and face and it's a cuppa for me and a chewy for Bear. Ain't life sweet?
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Fast forward two hundred years - and ten monarchs - from the battlefields of Naseby and Charles I’s royal ancestor, Queen Victoria, has turned her thoughts to baking, not battling. Sponge cakes had been around since 1615 and the time of Charles I’s father, James I, but they were more biscuit like. The invention of baking powder in 1843 and self-raising flour in 1845, allowed the addition of butter which gave rise (couldn’t resist that one) to the sponge cake we know and love. Interestingly Appleton le Moors has a very strong connection to the McDougall fine flour dynasty and there is a property in the village named McDougalls, where the daughters of John (grandson of the founder of McDougall’s flour) and Ellen McDougall lived for many years. Ellen was related to the Shepherd family of Appleton Hall and her father, George Lidgett, inherited the imposing property. Here is the official Buckingham Palace recipe for the classic Victoria sponge.
For the sponge
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
150g sieved self-raising flour
1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
100g jam (strawberry or raspberry)
For the buttercream
150g softened unsalted butter
220g sieved icing sugar
1/3 vanilla pod or vanilla essence
Preheat the oven to 180°C (375F, gas mark 4). Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins (if you only own one tin, you can bake the sponge and slice in half). Cream the caster sugar, vanilla essence and softened unsalted butter until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs. Gradually add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, to avoid the mixture curdling. Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture. Divide the cake mix between the two cake tins and smooth. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the cake appears golden brown. Insert a skewer and ensure it comes out clean. Remove the sponges from their tins and leave to cool. Cream the softened butter with the sieved icing sugar and seeds from the vanilla pod (or vanilla essence). Ensure that both sponges are completely cold before spreading a layer of jam onto the surface of one sponge. Spread a thick layer of buttercream on top of the jam (if you prefer this can be done first). Gently place the second sponge on top and gently press down. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
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And finally…
… Bear found a rather lovely tree on his walks this week and so did I! The trees in Spaunton Quarry were looking absolutely lovely, even in the rain. And talking of lovely, here is Bear in a rather fetching waterproof.
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3rd June 2020
Well May certainly surpassed itself and after a variable start, turned out a real scorcher. Whilst the lovely hot weather is great for life outdoors, I’m sure gardeners and farmers are praying for rain. I feel myself responsible for this very dry spell, as I purchased my first ever pair of adult wellingtons in March. They stand in the hall way, as yet unworn. Waiting no doubt for August…
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This week’s offering from the National Theatre Live at Home is ‘Coriolanus’ starring Tom Hiddleston in the title role of Shakespeare’s searing revenge tragedy. Filmed live at the Donmar Warehouse in 2014, Time Out gave the production a four-star review describing Hiddleston’s interpretation as ‘a complex, compelling central performance’. This will be streamed on Thursday 4th June at 7 pm. For those of you who missed ‘This House’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
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It’s time to raise our eyes to the skies again with not one, but two, eclipses this month: a lunar eclipse on the 5th June, which will be a strawberry moon (so named by Native Americans as it occurs at strawberry picking time, not because it is strawberry coloured, although sometimes it is!), and a solar eclipse on the 21st June. It is extremely rare to have two visible eclipses in the same month and the solar eclipse promises to be an unusually spectacular ‘ring of fire’ eclipse which will look like a dark planet surrounded by a glowing band. https://goodlivingguide.com/solar-and-lunar-eclipse-will-be-visible-in-june-2020/
Also on the 5th June, around 30 minutes after sunset and low on the western horizon, it should be possible to spot a very bright Mercury. Fingers crossed for clear skies.
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Anyone who caught the Hay Festival online may have heard the talk by Sandi Toksvig. It seems she believes the country would be better run by the ladies of the WI. Well, who could argue with that!
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I am delighted to report some nest viewings – a few house martins have been taking a fly by so maybe they will nest after all. I was lucky enough to see a magnificent red kite at Lowna last weekend and was able to observe it for some time. It’s quite quiet on the ornithological front as Chris is busy trapping and cataloguing moths. Not being a lepidopterist myself (!) I am quietly intrigued by some of the names given to the moths: bee moth, small square spot, silver ground carpet, flame shoulder and my favourite, scorched carpet, maybe as a result of an encounter with the flame shoulder?
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We haven’t had any crafting on here for a while so here’s a plug for Felicity Jennings, President of Spa Sweethearts WI, just up the road in Harrogate. Felicity has produced a whole series of short videos of easy crafts, suitable for adults and children, and she most certainly doesn’t take herself too seriously – look out for a falling backdrop in one of her demos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW2AspZeItE
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If you have 10 minutes to spare you might want to catch Fiona Alderton, from the National Gallery. She has recorded a virtual tour of some of the paintings executed by women in the collection in celebration of National Women’s Day and for me, this follows on quite neatly from a recent Denman College online talk in similar vein. Artists featured in this presentation include: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, who painted portraits of Marie Antoinette and fled the French Revolution; Rosa Bonheur, who obtained the French authorities' permission to wear men's clothes so she could paint without harassment; and Rachel Ruysch, whose Dutch still life masterpieces often sold for more in her lifetime than Rembrandt's did in his! Now there’s an interesting fact… https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=VO4I8zVrOIQ
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A cooler day today and Bear has his legs and is away. We walk at a good pace down the bank and past the splash. Left towards the little stream, the same stream that took out bridges and flooded Hawnby some years ago. Hardly seems possible looking at the gentle meandering, smooth ribbon of water here today. I have great respect for water, bringer of life and sometimes disaster. When I'm lucky, the heron is here, fishing the waters. He is Henry christened by my grandchildren, and probably in his eighth generation, still Henry though. It's fresh and delightful here by the water, Bear sits and I close my eyes and listen to the water, the birds. What time is it, don't know, don't care.......?
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RAW BROWNIES
This is a great recipe for older children to have a go at as there is no cooking but do supervise the food processor. This mixture can also be rolled into truffles or ‘powerballs’. This is an adaptation by Kelly Mauger, baking tutor from Denman College, of an Ella Woodward recipe. You might remember Kelly, and fellow Denman tutor Katie, flew the flag for the WI in the Bake-Off Professionals series in 2018 - their main claim to fame being that they dropped their show stopper as they carried it to the judging table! https://www.denman.org.uk/blog/bake-off-the-professionals-by-kelly-mauger/
150g pecan nuts
400g pitted medjool dates
1 orange rind - optional
100ml maple syrup or honey
6 tbsp cocoa powder
Pulse the pecan nuts in a food processor until crumbed. Add the medjool dates and orange rind and blend together until they have been blitzed to a paste. Lastly add the cocoa powder and maple syrup to taste and blend again until the mixture is fully incorporated. Prepare a 2lb loaf tin with clingfilm. Using a spatula, remove the mixture from the food processor and press into the tin. If making powerballs or truffles, roll into shape and coat in cocoa powder at this stage. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, the brownies will solidify and easily cut once hard. Store in the fridge for up to 7 days.
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And finally…
…President Sue’s gorgeous twin grandsons doing their nature homework and Archie also al fresco, enjoying his dinner. Hope you didn’t eat all three bowlfuls, Archie? I know a dog who would have…
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This week’s offering from the National Theatre Live at Home is ‘Coriolanus’ starring Tom Hiddleston in the title role of Shakespeare’s searing revenge tragedy. Filmed live at the Donmar Warehouse in 2014, Time Out gave the production a four-star review describing Hiddleston’s interpretation as ‘a complex, compelling central performance’. This will be streamed on Thursday 4th June at 7 pm. For those of you who missed ‘This House’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
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It’s time to raise our eyes to the skies again with not one, but two, eclipses this month: a lunar eclipse on the 5th June, which will be a strawberry moon (so named by Native Americans as it occurs at strawberry picking time, not because it is strawberry coloured, although sometimes it is!), and a solar eclipse on the 21st June. It is extremely rare to have two visible eclipses in the same month and the solar eclipse promises to be an unusually spectacular ‘ring of fire’ eclipse which will look like a dark planet surrounded by a glowing band. https://goodlivingguide.com/solar-and-lunar-eclipse-will-be-visible-in-june-2020/
Also on the 5th June, around 30 minutes after sunset and low on the western horizon, it should be possible to spot a very bright Mercury. Fingers crossed for clear skies.
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Anyone who caught the Hay Festival online may have heard the talk by Sandi Toksvig. It seems she believes the country would be better run by the ladies of the WI. Well, who could argue with that!
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I am delighted to report some nest viewings – a few house martins have been taking a fly by so maybe they will nest after all. I was lucky enough to see a magnificent red kite at Lowna last weekend and was able to observe it for some time. It’s quite quiet on the ornithological front as Chris is busy trapping and cataloguing moths. Not being a lepidopterist myself (!) I am quietly intrigued by some of the names given to the moths: bee moth, small square spot, silver ground carpet, flame shoulder and my favourite, scorched carpet, maybe as a result of an encounter with the flame shoulder?
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We haven’t had any crafting on here for a while so here’s a plug for Felicity Jennings, President of Spa Sweethearts WI, just up the road in Harrogate. Felicity has produced a whole series of short videos of easy crafts, suitable for adults and children, and she most certainly doesn’t take herself too seriously – look out for a falling backdrop in one of her demos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW2AspZeItE
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If you have 10 minutes to spare you might want to catch Fiona Alderton, from the National Gallery. She has recorded a virtual tour of some of the paintings executed by women in the collection in celebration of National Women’s Day and for me, this follows on quite neatly from a recent Denman College online talk in similar vein. Artists featured in this presentation include: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, who painted portraits of Marie Antoinette and fled the French Revolution; Rosa Bonheur, who obtained the French authorities' permission to wear men's clothes so she could paint without harassment; and Rachel Ruysch, whose Dutch still life masterpieces often sold for more in her lifetime than Rembrandt's did in his! Now there’s an interesting fact… https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=VO4I8zVrOIQ
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A cooler day today and Bear has his legs and is away. We walk at a good pace down the bank and past the splash. Left towards the little stream, the same stream that took out bridges and flooded Hawnby some years ago. Hardly seems possible looking at the gentle meandering, smooth ribbon of water here today. I have great respect for water, bringer of life and sometimes disaster. When I'm lucky, the heron is here, fishing the waters. He is Henry christened by my grandchildren, and probably in his eighth generation, still Henry though. It's fresh and delightful here by the water, Bear sits and I close my eyes and listen to the water, the birds. What time is it, don't know, don't care.......?
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RAW BROWNIES
This is a great recipe for older children to have a go at as there is no cooking but do supervise the food processor. This mixture can also be rolled into truffles or ‘powerballs’. This is an adaptation by Kelly Mauger, baking tutor from Denman College, of an Ella Woodward recipe. You might remember Kelly, and fellow Denman tutor Katie, flew the flag for the WI in the Bake-Off Professionals series in 2018 - their main claim to fame being that they dropped their show stopper as they carried it to the judging table! https://www.denman.org.uk/blog/bake-off-the-professionals-by-kelly-mauger/
150g pecan nuts
400g pitted medjool dates
1 orange rind - optional
100ml maple syrup or honey
6 tbsp cocoa powder
Pulse the pecan nuts in a food processor until crumbed. Add the medjool dates and orange rind and blend together until they have been blitzed to a paste. Lastly add the cocoa powder and maple syrup to taste and blend again until the mixture is fully incorporated. Prepare a 2lb loaf tin with clingfilm. Using a spatula, remove the mixture from the food processor and press into the tin. If making powerballs or truffles, roll into shape and coat in cocoa powder at this stage. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, the brownies will solidify and easily cut once hard. Store in the fridge for up to 7 days.
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And finally…
…President Sue’s gorgeous twin grandsons doing their nature homework and Archie also al fresco, enjoying his dinner. Hope you didn’t eat all three bowlfuls, Archie? I know a dog who would have…
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27th May 2020
Whilst technology of all kinds affords us lots of ways to keep in touch it is lovely to be able to actually SEE friends at Appleton le Moors WI’s virtual coffee mornings, which are still proving an absolute riot. Talking in turns is proving quite challenging though, as we all have so much to tell each other!
I’ve enjoyed three fabulous online talks, hosted by Denman College tutors. First up was a talk from Nicola McCartney about women in the art world, then Simon Gregor took me on a history of London experience (came in handy during the landmarks round of the family’s weekly quiz) and this week he’s taking us on a guided tour of Berlin. I’m also hoping to get a chance to join Simon’s WW1 and D Day talks too. Several members have been doing cookalongs with Denman tutors and I’m looking forward to getting my pinny on to take part in a low sugar baking session with
Kelly Mauger soon. All the courses are advertised on Denman’s Facebook page or on MyWI on the NFWI website. Why not take a look?
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North Yorkshire Open Studios is always eagerly anticipated and this year NYOS will be launching more than 60 films made by artists, featuring their studios and work, showing over the first two weekends of June: 6th and 7th, and 13th and 14th. Advanced warning! The films will start at 10 am each day and are scheduled for 20 minutes each. During the films you will get the opportunity to discover secret studio spaces, watch artist demonstrations, listen to talks about art practice and browse beautiful collections. More information about this initiative can be found at: https://www.nyos.org.uk/
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We at Appleton le Moors WI have very fond memories of visits to Penny Piece, in Kirkbymoorside, a garden that opens its doors as part of the National Garden Scheme. We had a fabulous cream tea there too, I remember. This year we may have to make our own scones but we can still take virtual visits to open gardens, including that of Alan Titchmarsh. https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits/
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I may not have any house martins to keep me amused but I have been enjoying video clips of nesting seabirds from Coquet Island, which is set just of the Northumberland coast near Amble: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/coquet-island-seabird-sanctuary/
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This week’s production from the National Theatre is ‘This House’ which is described as a timely, moving and funny insight into the workings of 1970s British politics, written by James Graham. This will be streamed on Thursday 28th May at 7 pm. For those of you who missed ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
If you enjoyed the ballet last week, how about tuning in to the classic Swan Lake. This English National Ballet production from 2018 is described as being ‘unfussy, with no modern insights’ and it is screened on YouYube on the 27th May where it will be available for 48 hours only. Don’t miss it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfTvtIHSkeQ
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And now for something completely different, as someone very famous once said… better known for his comedy than his classical leanings, it turns out that Frank Skinner is a keen fan of poetry. Who knew? His 30-minute poetry podcasts for Planet Radio highlight an eclectic taste in all genres, including Hull poet Philip Larkin, who was the subject of a most entertaining play WI members saw at the Esk Valley Theatre in 2017 – Larkin With Women! https://planetradio.co.uk/podcasts/frank-skinner-poetry-podcast/
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Another celebrity in a different guise is Clare Balding. She can been heard on Radio 4, on the 28th May at 3 pm, digging deep into the archives of her series Ramblings and coming up with a compilation of her best bits from favourite on air walks. This week Clare takes us from the Sands of Forvie in Aberdeenshire to the Wicklow Mountains in the Republic of Ireland via a moonlit night walk across the South Downs to the unique landscape of Alderney. And you don’t need to move a muscle! I hope Bear will be tuning in, as Clare is often accompanied by a canine companion: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jggb
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils It started off a bit grey, but the sun is shining and the boots went on. Pine trees have such showy new needles. They sing out citrus green against last year’s dark green growth. The lane is looking gentle and green. We pass the sheep with their lambs in the field and get to the bridle way that tugs us up through the wooded slope. Crunchy underfoot from the cob shells, Bear tiptoes through, they're prickly on his paws. There's the gate and we pull up together. The beasts are in the field today and we won't go in. They look young and the other gate would be too far if they saw us and ran. So no high wood today. I still have the walk to myself and Bear. No humans around. We head off home for tea. Bliss.
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With our woods currently full of wild garlic it seems a shame not to make use of it, so how about a wild garlic pesto, courtesy of Jamie Oliver? Jamie makes his wild garlic pesto in a pestle and mortar but frankly, it works just as well in a food processor! I am a heathen, I know.
30g wild garlic
100g nuts, such as pine, almonds, hazelnuts
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
50g hard cheese, such as Parmesan, pecorino, Cheddar
½ a lemon
Pick and wash the leaves from the garlic. Place in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt and bash to a coarse paste. Add the nuts to the pestle and mortar and bash again. Muddle in the extra virgin olive oil, and pound until smooth. Finely grate and stir in the cheese and squeeze in the juice of the lemon.
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And finally…
…as sleepy dogs are so appealing, here is Lady lording it at home, readying herself for some perfect wildlife biscuits perhaps whilst sleeping through an unusual visitor, a cinnabar, most often seen at night but here a daytime glimpse.
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20th May 2020
May has turned out to be an aptly named month… it may be hot, it may be cold, you may need a coat, you may wear your shorts! What a month of contrasts it’s been. This week we’ll take a look into a few gardens to inspire us, followed by some things we can relax in front of when all the work outdoors is done. Is it ever done?
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The annual Chelsea Flower Show has gone virtual and will be available to visit from the 18th – 23rd May at https://facebook.com/events/s/virtual-rhs-chelsea-flower-sho/666188407557808/?ti=icl so there is still time to catch it. The RHS promise all the buzz of Chelsea (but a little bit different)! Closer to home, Harlow Carr are running virtual tours of their woodland and kitchen garden: https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr/social-media
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Whilst Bear carries on his rambles with owner Hils, how about going on a virtual walk with the Surrey Wildlife Trust through Cucknell’s Wood near Guildford to view the glorious bluebell woods. https://bit.ly/3cephjN
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Low-maintenance plants are difficult to kill, I am reliable informed by the experts at www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk. They claim their choices will look good in your garden for a long time, and won’t require complicated pruning or feeding. Here are their favourites. Don’t agree? Perhaps you’ve got some tips on your own low-maintenance plants?
- Topiary
- Lavender
- Hydrangeas
- Asters and symphytricom
- Ornamental grasses
- Geums
- Geraniums
- Dahlias (because I don’t dig them up for winter, says the expert!)
- Day lilies
- Most shade-loving shrubs
Sadly I have to report that we have no house martins in our nest this year and have seen very few round abouts. High winds in Greece were thought to have thrown the birds off course and many have been found dead around the Athens area. However, I’m reliably informed – thank you Chris – that our birds fly over Spain and Italy to get to us, so maybe there is another reason why my house martins haven’t returned. Satellite tracking continues to provide information on the two white tailed sea eagles, G393 (the male) and G318 (the female). G393 is proving to be the least adventurous of the two, although the pair did meet up north of Beverley in April before G318 moved on to North Grimston, finally roosting in the North York Moors National Park. G318 is flying the greater distance, recently clocking up 263 km in a day. Also spotted over the edge of the village this week were red kite and a hobby. So eyes to the skies!
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This week’s production from the National Theatre is ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, streaming from 7 pm on Thursday 21st May. This critically acclaimed production features Gillian Anderson playing Blanche DuBois and was described by the Daily Telegraph as ‘an absolute knockout’. For those of you who missed ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
Why not have a go at the next National Theatre Quiz? Join hosts Imelda Staunton, Jim Carter, Lucian Msamati, Meera Syal, Simo Callow, Tamsin Greig, and Jessie Buckley at 7 pm on Monday 25th May. There will be questions on topics such as maths, science and nature, literature and arts. Hone up your quiz skills! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJQ160k_VN4
For fans of dance, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan are screening Moon Water, a show first brought to London 20 years ago, until the 22nd May: youtube.com/sadlerswells. Or how about The Winter’s Tale, a dance adaptation of the Shakespeare play? If you don’t have time to view the whole ballet there is a 100 second taster available too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-114fab_TUs
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For the literary amongst you the Hay Festival is not to be outdone either. Hay Festival Digital will be free to view and runs from the 18th to 31st May 2020. Festival organisers have worked hard to ensure their virtual doors are open. https://www.hayfestival.com
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If you are a fan of Labradors, or even if you’re not, have a look at the antics of sports reporter Andrew Cotter’s two dogs Olive and Mabel. With time on his hands Andrew has turned his commentating skills to the canine world. His short video clips have gone down very well in our house. We recognise an awful lot of Olive and Mabel in Maggie and Nell: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_x8KKHsFBiA
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BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Well that's summer over with then. Much cooler today and cloudy. Just hope we get some good rain. Up the bank and down the steep lane. Loud bleatings from the ewes and their lambs in the field. I really like the little old buildings and walls. The white tree in the field looks less white now the trees are greening up. Primroses all along the side, still shining brightly, even on a dull day. She just keeps giving. Have you noticed how strong the forget-me-nots are this year?
…………
As promised, I have tracked down a lovage soup recipe:
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1kg potatoes, cleaned and cubed
750ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you prefer)
500ml milk
4-5 good handfuls of chopped lovage
salt and pepper to season
In a large pan, melt the butter and sauté the chopped onion followed by the potato and mix well. Add the stock and milk to the pan and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add the lovage and puree the soup. Thin out with stock if necessary. Return to the pan, add salt and pepper, and serve.
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And finally… Bear is finding his new stardom exhausting. Time for one of Katie’s scones, perhaps? Or a biscuit from my lovely contributor who sent this photo just to prove that if at first you don’t succeed… and by the way, the assistant gardener is hiding again!
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13th May 2020
I hope you all managed to commemorate VE Day in some way or other and have got over the shock that Bank Holiday Monday was actually a Friday! In Appleton the village has been bedecked with bunting and flags, a two minutes’ silence was observed, afternoon tea enjoyed, and a 1940s singsong ended our day. All activities conducted under prevailing guidelines, I hasten to add! Our WI spent much of the war as other groups did: baking, knitting ‘comforts’ for the troops and fundraising. Our certificate of special achievement in the Wings For Victory National Savings Campaign, awarded to Appleton le Moors WI in 1943, is a treasured archive item. We in Appleton le Moors WI are very proud of the ladies who went before us and hope that are current endeavours are in the spirit of all that went before.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is the sell out ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’, a never before seen archive recording of Inua Ellams’ smash hit play with the original cast, about the places where banter is barbed, and the truth is telling. Described by The Independent in 2018 when it premiered at the National as “Joyous. Brilliantly acted. Life-affirming”. Streaming from 7 pm on Thursday 14th May. For those of you who missed ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
………….
If you fancy curling up on the sofa with a mug of tea, a peanut butter cookie (see recipe following) and a classic film look no further than Brief Encounter on Friday 15th May, BBC2 at 3 pm. You can explore one of the film’s locations with George Pollen, who presents a short tour of Carnforth station on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBmqWO6798&t=67s. The building used in the 1945 film was designed by architect Sir William Tite, probably best known for rebuilding the Royal Exchange in London in 1844.
………….
I decided to brush up my sign language skills and I am sure if we ever have any visitors to WI who are hearing impaired they will be impressed with my learning, as I know our members were when I demonstrated my progress, singing and signing “My dog’s a good dog, yes he is” during one of our many Zoom meetings. Seriously there is a great series of signed songs on YouTube, which would be great fun for grandparents to sing and sign with littlies over the internet perhaps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki5aBXEEdRU
………….
Great excitement from ornithologist, Chris, this week; his first spotting of a tree pipit in the ten years he’s lived in the Appleton area. He’s also seen flycatcher and garden warblers this week, along with the more usual species of cuckoo, green woodpecker, nuthatch, tree creeper, goldcrest and whitethroat, plus a black cap has been heard singing up at The Hall in Appleton. I’ve been watching a sparrow family nesting in the gutter of the house opposite me – I do hope my lovely neighbour does not think we’ve turned into Peeping Toms if she sees us training binoculars on her property - and I am eagerly awaiting the return of the house martins. Several have inspected last year’s nest but clearly, they have the wrong address. A swallow was spotted flying south, which seemed a bit odd but Chris assures us that they do, on occasion, over shoot. Perhaps our house martins have done the same!
I have twice encountered a very large deer on my walks through nearby woods this week, which has left me pondering how does such a large animal move so silently? I am not very well up on deer species but it is a rusty brown and is easily as tall as me.
………….
Garden wildlife jobs to do, or in some cases not do, this week as suggested by Gardeners’ World online include:
* Avoid trimming hedges. If you must do this then please use hand tools so as not to disturb nesting birds. If you can, wait until September.
* Leave out live or dried mealworms for blackbirds and robins. Nesting birds like blue tits and sparrow may also take them if caterpillars are scarce. Take care if you have visiting hedgehogs though – mealworms are toxic to them.
* Create wildlife habitats. Leave heaps of stones and twigs, or create a wood pile for centipedes, ground beetles, amphibians and small mammals who will return the favour by eating slugs.
* Grow plants for pollinators: sow borage, chives, lavender, rosemary and oregano in sunny spots.
* Leave a few weeds to provide food for wildlife (this is my personal favourite tip and one I enthusiastically follow!)
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A bit of a nip in the air and a very needed hard shower of rain. It has brought out the burgeoning buds into leaf, kick started the garden into a fuller mood. The fields and woods are all looking fresher and so much greener. Bear pulled up the bank and turned right towards the new walk/bridleway I found. Well, new to me. Through the top gate and a bit of a puff up the long grassy slope. The gate at the top leads into the woods. Deep hoof prints in the mud here, a sure sign of activity since my last visit. Riders will have come after the rain had softened the ground here. The sun through the new green leaves is sharp and refreshing. And lots and lots of bluebells. I love the blue haze they create. Life's good isn't it?
………….
The Sewing Summit is offering 25 free classes for all abilities, novice through to expert, screening from the 1st – 5th June. https://www.thesewingsummit.com. If you can’t wait until June, how about joining in the You Sew Social, every Thursday evening at 7 pm? I had the pleasure of watching Kim Suleman demonstrating at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate last year and she and others will be available to chat about all things crafty. This is a Zoom workshop and you will need to have downloaded the app and completed the registration form. It’s very simple. Then all you do is follow the instructions.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvfumsqDoiH92NDdUlrk0b1CBKMWl4t9lw?fbclid=IwAR1FbKvDLeTR_ZlMPADXG9bTj1oJYl8Evyoywej0GhCLSRWFxS2wyl0nMfY
………….
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
200g crunchy peanut butter
150g sugar
1 egg beaten
Combine the peanut butter and sugar, adding a little salt if the peanut butter is unsalted. Add the egg and mix to a dough. Take golf ball sized chunks and spread over two lined baking sheets, pressing them down with the back of a fork. Bake at 180C/gas 4 for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, if you can resist, and transfer to a wire rack any that you didn’t eat warm!
………….
And finally…
Here is the gardener’s assistant (did you spot her last week?) eagerly awaiting her cream scone on VE Day. I do hope you got one, Katie. And her is our very own land girl, with what looks like scrumptious lovage soup and homemade bread. I think we need that lovage soup recipe, Janet. Garden to plate in 15 minutes!
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is the sell out ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’, a never before seen archive recording of Inua Ellams’ smash hit play with the original cast, about the places where banter is barbed, and the truth is telling. Described by The Independent in 2018 when it premiered at the National as “Joyous. Brilliantly acted. Life-affirming”. Streaming from 7 pm on Thursday 14th May. For those of you who missed ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home.
………….
If you fancy curling up on the sofa with a mug of tea, a peanut butter cookie (see recipe following) and a classic film look no further than Brief Encounter on Friday 15th May, BBC2 at 3 pm. You can explore one of the film’s locations with George Pollen, who presents a short tour of Carnforth station on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBmqWO6798&t=67s. The building used in the 1945 film was designed by architect Sir William Tite, probably best known for rebuilding the Royal Exchange in London in 1844.
………….
I decided to brush up my sign language skills and I am sure if we ever have any visitors to WI who are hearing impaired they will be impressed with my learning, as I know our members were when I demonstrated my progress, singing and signing “My dog’s a good dog, yes he is” during one of our many Zoom meetings. Seriously there is a great series of signed songs on YouTube, which would be great fun for grandparents to sing and sign with littlies over the internet perhaps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki5aBXEEdRU
………….
Great excitement from ornithologist, Chris, this week; his first spotting of a tree pipit in the ten years he’s lived in the Appleton area. He’s also seen flycatcher and garden warblers this week, along with the more usual species of cuckoo, green woodpecker, nuthatch, tree creeper, goldcrest and whitethroat, plus a black cap has been heard singing up at The Hall in Appleton. I’ve been watching a sparrow family nesting in the gutter of the house opposite me – I do hope my lovely neighbour does not think we’ve turned into Peeping Toms if she sees us training binoculars on her property - and I am eagerly awaiting the return of the house martins. Several have inspected last year’s nest but clearly, they have the wrong address. A swallow was spotted flying south, which seemed a bit odd but Chris assures us that they do, on occasion, over shoot. Perhaps our house martins have done the same!
I have twice encountered a very large deer on my walks through nearby woods this week, which has left me pondering how does such a large animal move so silently? I am not very well up on deer species but it is a rusty brown and is easily as tall as me.
………….
Garden wildlife jobs to do, or in some cases not do, this week as suggested by Gardeners’ World online include:
* Avoid trimming hedges. If you must do this then please use hand tools so as not to disturb nesting birds. If you can, wait until September.
* Leave out live or dried mealworms for blackbirds and robins. Nesting birds like blue tits and sparrow may also take them if caterpillars are scarce. Take care if you have visiting hedgehogs though – mealworms are toxic to them.
* Create wildlife habitats. Leave heaps of stones and twigs, or create a wood pile for centipedes, ground beetles, amphibians and small mammals who will return the favour by eating slugs.
* Grow plants for pollinators: sow borage, chives, lavender, rosemary and oregano in sunny spots.
* Leave a few weeds to provide food for wildlife (this is my personal favourite tip and one I enthusiastically follow!)
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A bit of a nip in the air and a very needed hard shower of rain. It has brought out the burgeoning buds into leaf, kick started the garden into a fuller mood. The fields and woods are all looking fresher and so much greener. Bear pulled up the bank and turned right towards the new walk/bridleway I found. Well, new to me. Through the top gate and a bit of a puff up the long grassy slope. The gate at the top leads into the woods. Deep hoof prints in the mud here, a sure sign of activity since my last visit. Riders will have come after the rain had softened the ground here. The sun through the new green leaves is sharp and refreshing. And lots and lots of bluebells. I love the blue haze they create. Life's good isn't it?
………….
The Sewing Summit is offering 25 free classes for all abilities, novice through to expert, screening from the 1st – 5th June. https://www.thesewingsummit.com. If you can’t wait until June, how about joining in the You Sew Social, every Thursday evening at 7 pm? I had the pleasure of watching Kim Suleman demonstrating at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate last year and she and others will be available to chat about all things crafty. This is a Zoom workshop and you will need to have downloaded the app and completed the registration form. It’s very simple. Then all you do is follow the instructions.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvfumsqDoiH92NDdUlrk0b1CBKMWl4t9lw?fbclid=IwAR1FbKvDLeTR_ZlMPADXG9bTj1oJYl8Evyoywej0GhCLSRWFxS2wyl0nMfY
………….
PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
200g crunchy peanut butter
150g sugar
1 egg beaten
Combine the peanut butter and sugar, adding a little salt if the peanut butter is unsalted. Add the egg and mix to a dough. Take golf ball sized chunks and spread over two lined baking sheets, pressing them down with the back of a fork. Bake at 180C/gas 4 for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, if you can resist, and transfer to a wire rack any that you didn’t eat warm!
………….
And finally…
Here is the gardener’s assistant (did you spot her last week?) eagerly awaiting her cream scone on VE Day. I do hope you got one, Katie. And her is our very own land girl, with what looks like scrumptious lovage soup and homemade bread. I think we need that lovage soup recipe, Janet. Garden to plate in 15 minutes!
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6th May 2020
The bunting is up in Appleton and the WI’s poppy wreath is once again on the war memorial as we get ready to celebrate VE Day on the 8th May. For those who are planning an afternoon tea in the garden, why not try the Australian scone recipe? Do let us know how you get on!
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is the highly acclaimed ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-antony-and-cleopatra. There is also the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how the costumes for Cleopatra were designed and made, interesting even if you don’t fancy the play: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/file/how-we-made-it-antony-and-cleopatra-dressing-queen. Streaming of this production starts at 7 pm on the 7th May and is free to view. For those of you who missed ‘Frankenstein’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick; it’s online until the 8th May. Having watched this amazing performance I am not in the slightest bit surprised that the two lead actors had to swap roles; the monster was an amazing physically brilliant performance, which must have been utterly exhausting and certainly not one that could be repeated night after night.
Closer to home, Helmsley Arts Centre are broadcasting Musical Memories every day, also on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZ_pYvhJUg. I had the very great pleasure of attending an intimate performance of WW1 songs and readings at HAC a few years ago, with Jessa Liversidge. She also has a series of singing workshops, Singing Live, on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7ZeJD2olY&t=47s. Just don’t watch with your pets – our two dogs get wildly excited during Jessa’s warm up exercises! They quite like Gareth Malone’s too for the Great British Home Chorus. For more details on this go to: https://decca.com/greatbritishhomechorus/.
………….
Still on the theme of song… ‘A Nightingale sang…’ no, not in Berkeley Square but much closer to home, in the garden of The Hall, at Appleton le Moors. We are very excited about this visitor. Not sure what a nightingale sounds like? Well have a listen to the ten most common birdsong stored in the British Library’s Language of Birds archive: https://www.bl.uk/the-language-of-birds/articles/the-top-10-british-birdsongs. Lovely to listen to, I must admit I had no idea this came under the remit of the British Library. We are learning every day!
………….
Museums in Quarantine is a BBC4 series with each episode focusing on one of four museums: the British Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the Ashmolean in Oxford. There is something for everyone here from Rembrandt to Warhol and we get to be guided around all the treasures by an expert each time!https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hqmn/episodes/player.
In a hurry? How about a quick scamper through the Courtauld in London with Bill Nighy, being… well Bill Nighy: Tinyurl.com/yd6osrqn.
………….
Here are some tips for May in the garden, courtesy of You Garden:
• Tidy up tulips in beds and pots by snipping off fading heads. Lift out the bulbs, dry on sheets of newspaper and store in a cool, dry place before planting again in autumn.
• Tidy up worn out hellebores. Dead head the many varieties of Lenten rose.
• Many perennials flop by mid-summer, so make sturdier plants by giving them the Chelsea chop – plants, such as rudbeckia, helenium, sedum and solidago, can be cut back by half, resulting in bushier plants that will flower slightly later.
• If you have been extra cautious with exotic or tender plants, now is the time to remove their frost protection. Bananas, tree ferns and palms are now actively growing and fleece or other insulating material will hamper new growth.
• Thin crowded delphiniums, leaving 5-7 shoots on established plants to improve final flowers.
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Morning all, a wonderful day for a walk in the wood with small dog. We went to the big wood today, no sheep, so Bear can run his sockies off. It's a favourite for him, masses of good ripe smells, new dead things to nibble on, eughh! He runs and runs, up and down through the wood and along by the river. Plenty to drink, just huge fun. Up at the lake there were wild violet and primrose in palest yellow. A sit by the water to watch the ripples and Bear, intrepid and brave.....until a duck takes off and half scares us both to death. Haha. Back homeward and a wide-open field and a very pretty sky. I pick off all the fir twigs from Bears coat and he stands patiently because he knows he gets treats for ....well for being Bear, such a good little dog. A lifeline in a lovely but solitary world.
………….
Australian scones anyone?
525 gm self-raising flour
250 ml whipping cream
250 ml lemonade
Dried fruit/cherries optional
Preheat oven to 200C/390F (180C fan). Line tray with baking/parchment paper. Combine all ingredients and mix until flour is mostly combined but don’t over mix. The dough should be soft and sticky. Turn onto a floured surface and knead gently just 3 – 5 times to bring the dough together. Gently pat into a disc shape about 1” thick. Cut into rounds with a floured cutter – straight up and down (don’t twist the cutter). Use a knife or spatula to scoop rounds up and place on baking tray, slightly touching (they help each other to rise). Brush the tops lightly with milk. Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Cool and serve with jam and cream. Can anybody enlighten us as to whether the Aussies are jam and cream or cream and jam?
………….
And finally…
Here’s a great photo of Janet Frank’s trauma ted. What a lovely, smiley face! And just to prove that things don’t always go to plan, I was sent a photo of a baking disaster! I’m going to spare the member’s blushes and comfort her with the thought that even experienced chefs get it wrong. Anyone else see John Torode set fire to a tea towel during a live demo on This Morning? And then there was the wartime jam incident, when a nameless WI decided to reboil a rhubarb and fig jam which had not set sufficiently well. The kitchen was engulfed with bees and the organiser was later heard to ponder whether any buyers found some very strange looking figs in their jam. So disasters happen to the great and the good! Take heart.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is the highly acclaimed ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-antony-and-cleopatra. There is also the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how the costumes for Cleopatra were designed and made, interesting even if you don’t fancy the play: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/file/how-we-made-it-antony-and-cleopatra-dressing-queen. Streaming of this production starts at 7 pm on the 7th May and is free to view. For those of you who missed ‘Frankenstein’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick; it’s online until the 8th May. Having watched this amazing performance I am not in the slightest bit surprised that the two lead actors had to swap roles; the monster was an amazing physically brilliant performance, which must have been utterly exhausting and certainly not one that could be repeated night after night.
Closer to home, Helmsley Arts Centre are broadcasting Musical Memories every day, also on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZ_pYvhJUg. I had the very great pleasure of attending an intimate performance of WW1 songs and readings at HAC a few years ago, with Jessa Liversidge. She also has a series of singing workshops, Singing Live, on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7ZeJD2olY&t=47s. Just don’t watch with your pets – our two dogs get wildly excited during Jessa’s warm up exercises! They quite like Gareth Malone’s too for the Great British Home Chorus. For more details on this go to: https://decca.com/greatbritishhomechorus/.
………….
Still on the theme of song… ‘A Nightingale sang…’ no, not in Berkeley Square but much closer to home, in the garden of The Hall, at Appleton le Moors. We are very excited about this visitor. Not sure what a nightingale sounds like? Well have a listen to the ten most common birdsong stored in the British Library’s Language of Birds archive: https://www.bl.uk/the-language-of-birds/articles/the-top-10-british-birdsongs. Lovely to listen to, I must admit I had no idea this came under the remit of the British Library. We are learning every day!
………….
Museums in Quarantine is a BBC4 series with each episode focusing on one of four museums: the British Museum, Tate Modern, Tate Britain and the Ashmolean in Oxford. There is something for everyone here from Rembrandt to Warhol and we get to be guided around all the treasures by an expert each time!https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hqmn/episodes/player.
In a hurry? How about a quick scamper through the Courtauld in London with Bill Nighy, being… well Bill Nighy: Tinyurl.com/yd6osrqn.
………….
Here are some tips for May in the garden, courtesy of You Garden:
• Tidy up tulips in beds and pots by snipping off fading heads. Lift out the bulbs, dry on sheets of newspaper and store in a cool, dry place before planting again in autumn.
• Tidy up worn out hellebores. Dead head the many varieties of Lenten rose.
• Many perennials flop by mid-summer, so make sturdier plants by giving them the Chelsea chop – plants, such as rudbeckia, helenium, sedum and solidago, can be cut back by half, resulting in bushier plants that will flower slightly later.
• If you have been extra cautious with exotic or tender plants, now is the time to remove their frost protection. Bananas, tree ferns and palms are now actively growing and fleece or other insulating material will hamper new growth.
• Thin crowded delphiniums, leaving 5-7 shoots on established plants to improve final flowers.
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Morning all, a wonderful day for a walk in the wood with small dog. We went to the big wood today, no sheep, so Bear can run his sockies off. It's a favourite for him, masses of good ripe smells, new dead things to nibble on, eughh! He runs and runs, up and down through the wood and along by the river. Plenty to drink, just huge fun. Up at the lake there were wild violet and primrose in palest yellow. A sit by the water to watch the ripples and Bear, intrepid and brave.....until a duck takes off and half scares us both to death. Haha. Back homeward and a wide-open field and a very pretty sky. I pick off all the fir twigs from Bears coat and he stands patiently because he knows he gets treats for ....well for being Bear, such a good little dog. A lifeline in a lovely but solitary world.
………….
Australian scones anyone?
525 gm self-raising flour
250 ml whipping cream
250 ml lemonade
Dried fruit/cherries optional
Preheat oven to 200C/390F (180C fan). Line tray with baking/parchment paper. Combine all ingredients and mix until flour is mostly combined but don’t over mix. The dough should be soft and sticky. Turn onto a floured surface and knead gently just 3 – 5 times to bring the dough together. Gently pat into a disc shape about 1” thick. Cut into rounds with a floured cutter – straight up and down (don’t twist the cutter). Use a knife or spatula to scoop rounds up and place on baking tray, slightly touching (they help each other to rise). Brush the tops lightly with milk. Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Cool and serve with jam and cream. Can anybody enlighten us as to whether the Aussies are jam and cream or cream and jam?
………….
And finally…
Here’s a great photo of Janet Frank’s trauma ted. What a lovely, smiley face! And just to prove that things don’t always go to plan, I was sent a photo of a baking disaster! I’m going to spare the member’s blushes and comfort her with the thought that even experienced chefs get it wrong. Anyone else see John Torode set fire to a tea towel during a live demo on This Morning? And then there was the wartime jam incident, when a nameless WI decided to reboil a rhubarb and fig jam which had not set sufficiently well. The kitchen was engulfed with bees and the organiser was later heard to ponder whether any buyers found some very strange looking figs in their jam. So disasters happen to the great and the good! Take heart.
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29th April 2020
We have to start the week by wishing our stalwart member and very dear friend, Margaret Strickland, a happy 90th birthday. Margaret was treated (subjected) to a sing out of Happy Birthday, to the accompaniment of an accordion on her big day and it is testament to her that so many people, WI and non WI, turned out to wish her well. I have no doubt that great celebrations will follow later. Appleton le Moors WI owes Margaret a very great debt. At a time when membership was in single figures, she (along with others, including Heather Fox, Marjorie Ingleby and Christine Field, I know she will modestly say) kept the group going until the cavalry arrived! Margaret has been hugely supportive of all our WI initiatives, even our more madcap ones, and if you’ve rolled your eyes in horror, Mrs S, we didn’t notice! From all of us… thank you.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Frankenstein’, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, and hailed a ‘monster hit’ (not my pun but I rather like it) by theatre critics. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 30th April and is free to view on YouTube. For this production the two leading actors shared the title roles and, on Friday 1st May you can watch the production again, this time with Cumberbatch playing the monster and Miller, Dr Frankenstein. For those of you who missed ‘Twelfth Night’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 30th April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
………….
The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane is a captivating book if you like words. Twenty spells conjure the names of common animals and plants back into our language accompanied by gorgeous paintings by Jackie Morris. Don’t miss this fascinating conversation with the author of one of the books of the year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9WrlGZirPs&fbclid=IwAR2-cTbyFJBJITMEht3Yx2trzwNOERaNIa7OnKc0HYaH9991hyzcwp4NHs4&app=desktop If you have an hour to spare, Robert’s lecture entitled Landscape and the Human Heart is also well worth a listen. It’s very thought provoking and moving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q1IK-O5Ypg&t=2434s
………….
Working on the premis that it’s never too late to learn something new, how about an online course? Future Learn offers 492 free courses on a huge range of topics including: business & management, creative arts & media, Nature & environment, politics & society, Literature, Healthcare & medicine, Science, engineering & maths, law, history, IT & computer science, teaching, language, study skills, psychology & mental health. Something for everyone there I think. http://www.futurelearn.com/
………….
Chris Blakeley has been busy recording some local birdsong of the whitethroat, lesser whitethroat and willow warbler (fresh in from Sub Saharan Africa), which you can hear if you go to the Appleton Community Group Facebook page. House martins and swallows are returning in number now and cuckoos have been heard to the north and south of the village. There are also butterflies in abundance: the pearl bordered fritillary spotted last week. Interestingly my niece on the Isle of Wight (we have visitors to this page from far and wide!) has directed me to further information on the white tailed sea eagles, G393 and G318, who visited our area a few weeks back. Two of the juvenile white tailed sea eagles from the Isle of Wight have continued to make impressive flights: G393 flying from Suffolk to the northern Peak District, while G274 completed a 4-day tour of the south-west before returning to the Isle of Wight. G318 and G324 are settled in the North York Moors and Isle of Wight respectively.
The latest update is here: http://www.roydennis.org/2020/04/23/eagle-explorations/
………….
How about a trip to see the tomb of Queen Meresanth III in Giza? No jostling with other eager tourists, you will have the place all to yourself. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=d42fuVA21To
.………….
Like him or loathe him, Grayson Perry has a new series, Grayson’s Art Club, which is being broadcast every Monday, starting on the 27th April, so you will need to find the first episode on catch up, on C4. He will be making new works and hosting masterclasses set to ‘unleash our collective creativity’. For those of you who would like to learn to paint, or brush up your skills (that was my pun, sorry!) Bob Ross’ 1980 programme ‘The Joy of Painting’ is being repeated on BBC4 on Tuesday nights at 7 pm or for the insomniacs amongst us, Wednesday mornings at 2.00 am.
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A beautiful evening, sun still strong at 5.30pm. Through the gate and into the wood to tree bathe again, why wouldn't I? The water burbles away and glitters with the sun. Was this little tree copiced, sprouting from near the base. The buds on some of the trees have burst open in the warm sun. The world and its troubles seem so far away.
(Bear has been making guest appearances at our virtual monthly meetings and coffee mornings.)
………….
IF LIFE SENDS YOU LEMONS… MAKE LEMONADE!
Remove the zest of the lemons with a peeler, avoiding the white pith, then juice the lemons. Place the zest in a medium saucepan with the sugar and 400ml water. Place on a low heat and bring to the boil slowly, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the syrup is boiling, add the lemon juice and immediately remove from the heat. Leave until completely cool, then strain into a bottle or clean jug and chill until needed. To serve, mix with chilled soda or sparkling water and serve over ice with extra lemon slices, if liked.
………….
And finally…
… Joseph, in his amazing technicolour fleece of many colours, courtesy of Sue Hook, and spot the gardener’s assistant, thanks to Janet Frank. Look very closely, she’s in deep cover… not Janet, her assistant!
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Frankenstein’, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, and hailed a ‘monster hit’ (not my pun but I rather like it) by theatre critics. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 30th April and is free to view on YouTube. For this production the two leading actors shared the title roles and, on Friday 1st May you can watch the production again, this time with Cumberbatch playing the monster and Miller, Dr Frankenstein. For those of you who missed ‘Twelfth Night’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 30th April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home
………….
The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane is a captivating book if you like words. Twenty spells conjure the names of common animals and plants back into our language accompanied by gorgeous paintings by Jackie Morris. Don’t miss this fascinating conversation with the author of one of the books of the year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9WrlGZirPs&fbclid=IwAR2-cTbyFJBJITMEht3Yx2trzwNOERaNIa7OnKc0HYaH9991hyzcwp4NHs4&app=desktop If you have an hour to spare, Robert’s lecture entitled Landscape and the Human Heart is also well worth a listen. It’s very thought provoking and moving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q1IK-O5Ypg&t=2434s
………….
Working on the premis that it’s never too late to learn something new, how about an online course? Future Learn offers 492 free courses on a huge range of topics including: business & management, creative arts & media, Nature & environment, politics & society, Literature, Healthcare & medicine, Science, engineering & maths, law, history, IT & computer science, teaching, language, study skills, psychology & mental health. Something for everyone there I think. http://www.futurelearn.com/
………….
Chris Blakeley has been busy recording some local birdsong of the whitethroat, lesser whitethroat and willow warbler (fresh in from Sub Saharan Africa), which you can hear if you go to the Appleton Community Group Facebook page. House martins and swallows are returning in number now and cuckoos have been heard to the north and south of the village. There are also butterflies in abundance: the pearl bordered fritillary spotted last week. Interestingly my niece on the Isle of Wight (we have visitors to this page from far and wide!) has directed me to further information on the white tailed sea eagles, G393 and G318, who visited our area a few weeks back. Two of the juvenile white tailed sea eagles from the Isle of Wight have continued to make impressive flights: G393 flying from Suffolk to the northern Peak District, while G274 completed a 4-day tour of the south-west before returning to the Isle of Wight. G318 and G324 are settled in the North York Moors and Isle of Wight respectively.
The latest update is here: http://www.roydennis.org/2020/04/23/eagle-explorations/
………….
How about a trip to see the tomb of Queen Meresanth III in Giza? No jostling with other eager tourists, you will have the place all to yourself. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=d42fuVA21To
.………….
Like him or loathe him, Grayson Perry has a new series, Grayson’s Art Club, which is being broadcast every Monday, starting on the 27th April, so you will need to find the first episode on catch up, on C4. He will be making new works and hosting masterclasses set to ‘unleash our collective creativity’. For those of you who would like to learn to paint, or brush up your skills (that was my pun, sorry!) Bob Ross’ 1980 programme ‘The Joy of Painting’ is being repeated on BBC4 on Tuesday nights at 7 pm or for the insomniacs amongst us, Wednesday mornings at 2.00 am.
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils A beautiful evening, sun still strong at 5.30pm. Through the gate and into the wood to tree bathe again, why wouldn't I? The water burbles away and glitters with the sun. Was this little tree copiced, sprouting from near the base. The buds on some of the trees have burst open in the warm sun. The world and its troubles seem so far away.
(Bear has been making guest appearances at our virtual monthly meetings and coffee mornings.)
………….
IF LIFE SENDS YOU LEMONS… MAKE LEMONADE!
- 6 unwaxed lemons, washed, plus extra slices to serve (optional)
- 125g granulated sugar
- 1 ltr soda or sparkling water, chilled
- ice cubes
Remove the zest of the lemons with a peeler, avoiding the white pith, then juice the lemons. Place the zest in a medium saucepan with the sugar and 400ml water. Place on a low heat and bring to the boil slowly, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the syrup is boiling, add the lemon juice and immediately remove from the heat. Leave until completely cool, then strain into a bottle or clean jug and chill until needed. To serve, mix with chilled soda or sparkling water and serve over ice with extra lemon slices, if liked.
………….
And finally…
… Joseph, in his amazing technicolour fleece of many colours, courtesy of Sue Hook, and spot the gardener’s assistant, thanks to Janet Frank. Look very closely, she’s in deep cover… not Janet, her assistant!
|
|
22nd April 2020
Welcome to the PTWSA webpage and four weeks on there are so many interesting and exciting things being offered to us both online and off that it’s hard to know where to begin…
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Twelfth Night’, starring Tamsin Greig as Malvolio. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 23rd April and is free to view on YouTube. For those of you who missed ‘Treasure Island’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 23rd April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home There are many theatre companies streaming productions online. Have you enjoyed one? Why not tell us about it?
Children in Need and Comic Relief are combining for ‘A Big Night In’ charity fundraiser on Thursday 23rd April on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer.
………….
We have one White Tailed Sea Eagle still in the National Park. G318 has remained in the North Yorkshire Moors since arriving on 5th April. She visited the coast with G393 on 7th April but then frequented a relatively small area in the northern part of the National Park for the next week, with a longer flight across the moors on 15th April.
Eyes to the skies for a Lyrid meteor shower visible from tonight.
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18383548.lyrid-meteor-shower-will-visible-uk-tonight---see/
………….
In honour of VE Day, Bletchley Park are appealing for people to make red, white and blue bunting for them to display when they get to celebrate this event later in the year. They need 1,945 metres of it! So if you would like to help go to https://bletchleypark.org.uk/blog/how-to-make-ve-day-bunting for details. If you don’t have access to the internet but would like to make some bunting, just let us know. Whilst you’re on the Bletchley Park website you might want to take a look at the podcasts made by those who worked there during WW2, many of whom were women. There are also some brilliant clips on YouTube, just search for Bletchley Park. Here’s one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNdPmBqMh_Y
………….
The 15th April marked a year since the devastating fire at Notre Dame in Paris. As the painstaking restoration gets underway, French experts have sought the help of craftspeople and experts from York Minster. Entente Cordiale in action! This BBC programme about the restoration of Notre Dame is absolutely fascinating and available now on iPlayer and catch up: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hbdq
………….
And with the sun out and the spring flowers looking gorgeous how about taking a trip to the Keukenhof bulb fields? https://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=emb_title&v=8iomUN9o4r0&fbclid=IwAR06HDfjI2g2455GyrAKJsUD_RqMbGmtJRhxVEeJyxlCVP1oDc-o_r1TsHs&app=desktop
Or maybe get on with a few jobs in the fruit garden as suggested by Thompson and Morgan:
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Up the bank and turning right are we Bear? This is the old Kepwick road. Steep uphill left and just as steeply down on our right. That's where the cottage is. High pines and silver birch. Again some casualties to the wind. A lovely bit of moss and a small cave. Out of the wood and up past the sandstone quarry. On the top now and the landscape throws itself open, big skies and a grassy top. Hares run forward of me along by the low wall, and curlews call. Bliss. The silence is beautiful. Home now Bear, we've walked far enough.
………….
Did you recognise our members from the anagrams below?
1. Ailina scarpers Clarissa Napier
2. Archie turned wooden Catherine Lockwood
3. Fertilised inch Christine Field
4. Hellish Grumpy Gill Humphreys
5. Interim pic, Zaria? Tricia Mainprize
6. Joan utters Janet Sutor
7. Josie hand wrote Janet Isherwood
8. Kent far, Jan? Janet Frank
9. Korean Import Monika Porter
10. Loading snoods Alison Dodgson
11. Oh ok, use Sue Hook
12. Rank falconry Carolyn Frank
13. Rash art, rabbi! Barbara Hirst
14. Rather costly Tracy Hostler
15. Shall Adrian? No! Alison Harland
16. Shot zonal hemp Hazel Thompson
17. Startling card maker Margaret Strickland
18. Wash his kiln Hils Hawkins
………….
DENMAN SHORTBREAD
If you’ve been to Denman College you will know what a fabulous experience it is. You will also know how mouthwatering the coffee break shortbread is, so I’m going to squeeze in the chef’s recipe. Normally his recipe is 6lbs, 4lbs, and 2lbs but I’ve scaled it down as I have a wedding outfit to get into later in the year (hopefully):
6ozs plain flour, 4ozs unsalted butter, 2 ozs castor sugar.
Cream the butter and sugar together until combined and the butter is soft. Add the flour slowly and combine until the mixture turns into a soft dough. Roll into clingfilm/shape and then chill in the fridge. Cook at 170ºC for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown and slightly firm to the touch.
And finally…
… if you are wondering if a White Tailed Sea Eagle has visited your bird table here is a photo, courtesy of Laurie Campbell. Your bird table will almost certainly have fallen over if either G318 or G393 has landed on it! The second is courtesy of Carolyn and Mary Berry – definitely a Ryedale Show category for the future, I think.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Twelfth Night’, starring Tamsin Greig as Malvolio. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 23rd April and is free to view on YouTube. For those of you who missed ‘Treasure Island’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 23rd April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home There are many theatre companies streaming productions online. Have you enjoyed one? Why not tell us about it?
Children in Need and Comic Relief are combining for ‘A Big Night In’ charity fundraiser on Thursday 23rd April on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer.
………….
We have one White Tailed Sea Eagle still in the National Park. G318 has remained in the North Yorkshire Moors since arriving on 5th April. She visited the coast with G393 on 7th April but then frequented a relatively small area in the northern part of the National Park for the next week, with a longer flight across the moors on 15th April.
Eyes to the skies for a Lyrid meteor shower visible from tonight.
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18383548.lyrid-meteor-shower-will-visible-uk-tonight---see/
………….
In honour of VE Day, Bletchley Park are appealing for people to make red, white and blue bunting for them to display when they get to celebrate this event later in the year. They need 1,945 metres of it! So if you would like to help go to https://bletchleypark.org.uk/blog/how-to-make-ve-day-bunting for details. If you don’t have access to the internet but would like to make some bunting, just let us know. Whilst you’re on the Bletchley Park website you might want to take a look at the podcasts made by those who worked there during WW2, many of whom were women. There are also some brilliant clips on YouTube, just search for Bletchley Park. Here’s one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNdPmBqMh_Y
………….
The 15th April marked a year since the devastating fire at Notre Dame in Paris. As the painstaking restoration gets underway, French experts have sought the help of craftspeople and experts from York Minster. Entente Cordiale in action! This BBC programme about the restoration of Notre Dame is absolutely fascinating and available now on iPlayer and catch up: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hbdq
………….
And with the sun out and the spring flowers looking gorgeous how about taking a trip to the Keukenhof bulb fields? https://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=emb_title&v=8iomUN9o4r0&fbclid=IwAR06HDfjI2g2455GyrAKJsUD_RqMbGmtJRhxVEeJyxlCVP1oDc-o_r1TsHs&app=desktop
Or maybe get on with a few jobs in the fruit garden as suggested by Thompson and Morgan:
- Protect fruit blossom from late frosts by covering them with fleece on cold nights.
- Spray the emerging leaves of peach and nectarine trees to prevent peach leaf curl. Sheltering your plants from the rain will also help reduce the risk of peach leaf curl.
- Mulch fruit trees with well-rotted manure or garden compost, taking care not to mound mulch up around the trunk.
- Top dress patio fruit-trees with fresh compost and a slow-release fertiliser
- Feed raspberry canes, fruit bushes and fruit trees to encourage good crops this season. Apply a slow-release fertiliser around their base.•
- Try hand pollinating peaches and nectarines with a soft-bristled paint brush for better crops this year.
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils Up the bank and turning right are we Bear? This is the old Kepwick road. Steep uphill left and just as steeply down on our right. That's where the cottage is. High pines and silver birch. Again some casualties to the wind. A lovely bit of moss and a small cave. Out of the wood and up past the sandstone quarry. On the top now and the landscape throws itself open, big skies and a grassy top. Hares run forward of me along by the low wall, and curlews call. Bliss. The silence is beautiful. Home now Bear, we've walked far enough.
………….
Did you recognise our members from the anagrams below?
1. Ailina scarpers Clarissa Napier
2. Archie turned wooden Catherine Lockwood
3. Fertilised inch Christine Field
4. Hellish Grumpy Gill Humphreys
5. Interim pic, Zaria? Tricia Mainprize
6. Joan utters Janet Sutor
7. Josie hand wrote Janet Isherwood
8. Kent far, Jan? Janet Frank
9. Korean Import Monika Porter
10. Loading snoods Alison Dodgson
11. Oh ok, use Sue Hook
12. Rank falconry Carolyn Frank
13. Rash art, rabbi! Barbara Hirst
14. Rather costly Tracy Hostler
15. Shall Adrian? No! Alison Harland
16. Shot zonal hemp Hazel Thompson
17. Startling card maker Margaret Strickland
18. Wash his kiln Hils Hawkins
………….
DENMAN SHORTBREAD
If you’ve been to Denman College you will know what a fabulous experience it is. You will also know how mouthwatering the coffee break shortbread is, so I’m going to squeeze in the chef’s recipe. Normally his recipe is 6lbs, 4lbs, and 2lbs but I’ve scaled it down as I have a wedding outfit to get into later in the year (hopefully):
6ozs plain flour, 4ozs unsalted butter, 2 ozs castor sugar.
Cream the butter and sugar together until combined and the butter is soft. Add the flour slowly and combine until the mixture turns into a soft dough. Roll into clingfilm/shape and then chill in the fridge. Cook at 170ºC for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown and slightly firm to the touch.
And finally…
… if you are wondering if a White Tailed Sea Eagle has visited your bird table here is a photo, courtesy of Laurie Campbell. Your bird table will almost certainly have fallen over if either G318 or G393 has landed on it! The second is courtesy of Carolyn and Mary Berry – definitely a Ryedale Show category for the future, I think.
|
|
15th April 2020
Not ones to sit on our hands members have been experimenting with virtual meetings and coffee mornings and finding our way round the new technologies. Whilst I’m learning all the time, it’s amazing what can be done. Having been asked to show a friend some crochet stitches, I recently found myself leaning round my iPad trying to film myself crocheting from the perspective of the crocheter (or should that be crocheteer!) – I managed it but decided it would have been so much easier if I had longer arms!
Don’t forget to take photos of your Trauma Teds and email them to us. We will be featuring the finished Teds on this page soon and don’t forget we would love to hear from you with any tips, tricks, recipes, craft ideas or things of interest.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Treasure Island’. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 16th April and is free to view on YouTube. For those of you who missed the mesmerising ‘Jane Eyre’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 16th April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home For those of you who remember recent visits to our village hall from the Other Lives Theatre Company, you might be interested in their 30 minute radio play, ‘Epiphany’ about two firewatchers during the London Blitz, which is also being broadcast via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzNiIzKIv5Y&feature=youtu.be
………….
Well the two white tailed sea eagles let us down – they went to Whitby! Rotters. This week Chris has reported Oystercatchers, Red Kite, Buzzards and a large flock of Common Scoter. A Red Kite was circling in the thermals above the common with four Buzzards last weekend, and three other Red Kites were spotted flying North in single file, purposefully heading somewhere. Probably Whitby. And more good n-ewes (sorry, couldn’t resist it…) we have lots of newborn lambs being proudly shown off by their mums on the moor, the fields are full of cowslips and the woods will soon be a mass of bluebells. Just waiting for my House Martins and spring will definitely have sprung! Spotted Comet Atlas yet? In our night sky until the end of April.
………….
Missing visits to the sea? How about watching a few breaking waves live streamed by webcam from Llangrannog in West Wales? Keep a keen eye out to sea – we were watching dolphins, including a family of four and a calf, from the shore here two years ago. https://pentrearms.co.uk/llangrannog-live-webcam/
………….
Here are a few jobs Suttons suggests we can be doing this month in the vegetable garden:
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils
Rambling again with the Bear dog. Some little oddities today. We were down in the little wood again. There's a fallen tree, or three. So many down. Huge uprooted trees. The bluebells are gathering strength and next in the list for flowering. Bear likes to walk round the trees, sometimes he takes the different route. This entails a check on the lead and me walking round the tree to sort out the tangled lead. He keeps the lead taut......pulling away, not helpful Bear. But his English is getting better...
………….
What could be nicer than being read to? Leading actors have recorded some short stories, first up is Hugh Bonneville (and storytellers don’t come much better than Lord Grantham/Paddington). The stories are being added to every day and can be found at https://www.onceuponaquarantine.com
On the subject of reading, did you know that our libraries offer an amazing collection of online resources, from eBooks and eAudiobooks, to Newspapers, Magazines, Comics, the whole range of Encyclopaedia Britannica, and guides on who to read next? Have a read of the handy guide to online resources at: www.northyorks.gov.uk/you-follow-guidance-stay-home-see-what-our-online-library-offers
………….
Particularly pertinent to the ladies of the WI perhaps but Sandi Toksvig is broadcasting a series of 10 minute videos, called Vox Tox, about forgotten women in history, amongst other things! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC0GbbF9TrE
………….
Can you recognise our members from the anagrams below? Answers next week. You’re on your WI honour not to cheat with technology!
And finally…
…this week I’ll leave you with TWO lovely photos - Janet Frank’s beautiful garden and Carolyn’s
mouth-watering baking – and the words of poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon (Never heard of her? No, me neither until now)… ‘Tis in such troubled times the few, Find they have powers they never knew’. Hope you’re finding your powers!
Not ones to sit on our hands members have been experimenting with virtual meetings and coffee mornings and finding our way round the new technologies. Whilst I’m learning all the time, it’s amazing what can be done. Having been asked to show a friend some crochet stitches, I recently found myself leaning round my iPad trying to film myself crocheting from the perspective of the crocheter (or should that be crocheteer!) – I managed it but decided it would have been so much easier if I had longer arms!
Don’t forget to take photos of your Trauma Teds and email them to us. We will be featuring the finished Teds on this page soon and don’t forget we would love to hear from you with any tips, tricks, recipes, craft ideas or things of interest.
………….
This week’s National Theatre offering is ‘Treasure Island’. Streaming starts at 7 pm on the 16th April and is free to view on YouTube. For those of you who missed the mesmerising ‘Jane Eyre’ you can still catch it but you will have to be quick. This is on until the 16th April: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/nt-at-home For those of you who remember recent visits to our village hall from the Other Lives Theatre Company, you might be interested in their 30 minute radio play, ‘Epiphany’ about two firewatchers during the London Blitz, which is also being broadcast via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzNiIzKIv5Y&feature=youtu.be
………….
Well the two white tailed sea eagles let us down – they went to Whitby! Rotters. This week Chris has reported Oystercatchers, Red Kite, Buzzards and a large flock of Common Scoter. A Red Kite was circling in the thermals above the common with four Buzzards last weekend, and three other Red Kites were spotted flying North in single file, purposefully heading somewhere. Probably Whitby. And more good n-ewes (sorry, couldn’t resist it…) we have lots of newborn lambs being proudly shown off by their mums on the moor, the fields are full of cowslips and the woods will soon be a mass of bluebells. Just waiting for my House Martins and spring will definitely have sprung! Spotted Comet Atlas yet? In our night sky until the end of April.
………….
Missing visits to the sea? How about watching a few breaking waves live streamed by webcam from Llangrannog in West Wales? Keep a keen eye out to sea – we were watching dolphins, including a family of four and a calf, from the shore here two years ago. https://pentrearms.co.uk/llangrannog-live-webcam/
………….
Here are a few jobs Suttons suggests we can be doing this month in the vegetable garden:
- Now is the time to sow direct carrots, peas, beetroot, winter cabbages, broccoli, and salad crops.
- Marrows, courgettes, pumpkins, squashes and tomatoes can all be sown in a heated greenhouse or propagator.
- If frost threatens then pull some fleece over your potato foliage.
- Plant onion sets when the soil is dry.
- Make sure you’ve ordered your tomato plants.
- If any rhubarb flowers appear then cut them out near the base as otherwise they will steal food and energy from the plant.
- If your asparagus beds are at least 2-years old then any spears can be cut using a sharp knife.
………….
BEAR’S BLOG by Hils
Rambling again with the Bear dog. Some little oddities today. We were down in the little wood again. There's a fallen tree, or three. So many down. Huge uprooted trees. The bluebells are gathering strength and next in the list for flowering. Bear likes to walk round the trees, sometimes he takes the different route. This entails a check on the lead and me walking round the tree to sort out the tangled lead. He keeps the lead taut......pulling away, not helpful Bear. But his English is getting better...
………….
What could be nicer than being read to? Leading actors have recorded some short stories, first up is Hugh Bonneville (and storytellers don’t come much better than Lord Grantham/Paddington). The stories are being added to every day and can be found at https://www.onceuponaquarantine.com
On the subject of reading, did you know that our libraries offer an amazing collection of online resources, from eBooks and eAudiobooks, to Newspapers, Magazines, Comics, the whole range of Encyclopaedia Britannica, and guides on who to read next? Have a read of the handy guide to online resources at: www.northyorks.gov.uk/you-follow-guidance-stay-home-see-what-our-online-library-offers
………….
Particularly pertinent to the ladies of the WI perhaps but Sandi Toksvig is broadcasting a series of 10 minute videos, called Vox Tox, about forgotten women in history, amongst other things! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC0GbbF9TrE
………….
Can you recognise our members from the anagrams below? Answers next week. You’re on your WI honour not to cheat with technology!
- Ailina scarpers
- Archie turned wooden
- Fertilised inch
- Hellish Grumpy
- Interim pic, Zaria?
- Joan utters
- Josie hand wrote
- Kent far, Jan?
- Korean Import
- Loading snoods
- Oh ok, use
- Rank falconry
- Rash art, rabbi!
- Rather costly
- Shall Adrian? No!
- Shot zonal hemp
- Startling card maker
- Wash his kiln
And finally…
…this week I’ll leave you with TWO lovely photos - Janet Frank’s beautiful garden and Carolyn’s
mouth-watering baking – and the words of poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon (Never heard of her? No, me neither until now)… ‘Tis in such troubled times the few, Find they have powers they never knew’. Hope you’re finding your powers!
|
|
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!
