Our October Meeting was packed for our 5th Birthday with new members, visitors, and of course Belles; Jerusalem resounded! Read More
Dresser to the Stars!
Paul, a dresser to the stars, shared with us his life in theatres all around London & the West End.
Confessions of a Loose Woman
There’s nothing the Belles like better than a full on chat and gossip about women’s issues … and they weren’t disappointed when we were treated to an enjoyable and informative evening with ‘Loose Woman’ @andrea_mclean who had come to confess all about her latest book, the ‘Confessions of a Menopausal Woman’.
Our Fabulous Baker Boy
The Belles February meeting was one our most entertaining and
informative yet. Professional Bread maker and celebrity YouTube vlogger Jack Sturgess aka Bake with Jack.co.uk, demonstrated the art of baking delicious homemade bread.
Using just flour, yeast, salt and water Jack showed how these simple ingredients could be transformed with relative ease and surprisingly little
effort into mouthwatering homemade bread. Who knew that you could prove bread at room temperature and that dough had a top and a bottom?? Even those with breadmaking experience learnt some fantastic new top tips from Jack’s humorous presentation and he was bombarded with questions from a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience.
Jack obviously knows his stuff – the samples he provided at the end of his
demonstration were absolutely delectable with many members saying it was some of the best bread they had ever tasted.
The Co-op had probably better stock up on Strong White Flour. The Bookham Belles are now hooked on dough thanks to our inspiring breadmaking lesson from Jack Sturgess – our Fabulous Baker Boy.
Bookham Belles Bowled over by Bowel Babe
Great Bookham Belles WI this week had a double celebration at their October 2018 meeting; we turned 4 and in doing so welcomed guest speaker Deborah James of @BowelBabe Fame who talked about her journey with bowel cancer.
The Wartime Housewife
Belles start to the ‘new term’ opened with a wonderful talk at our September Monthly Meeting. We were fortunate to have guest speaker and author Biff Raven-Hill visit our members and introduce us to The Wartime Wife. Based on her own personal experiences Biff related how having had to be brought up by her Grandmother she had learnt the ways of how to keep house in the ways that a woman would have experience during the 2nd World War. Reminiscing in the ways of the past she showed us that, even though the world has moved on, the knowledge of previous generations has not necessarily been passed on, causing a lack in the present generation of how to survive without the technology that we rely on today!
Obviously an extremely able and experienced raconteur, Biff kept us thoroughly entertained throughout making us laugh out loud in many places. We even ended with a ‘guess the use’ quiz for various war time household utensils and appliances – which kept us all pondering!
All her discoveries and tips have been published in her book of the same name and can be purchased on Amazon:
The Wartime Housewife will bring old fashioned values and skills to our very modern world! In this book she shares recipes, tips on budgeting, repairing things, mending, scavenging; ideas for the school holidays and outings; gardening and diy; sewing and craft, and anything else that may prove useful to you in your daily lives. The Wartime Housewife knows only too well what it is like to manage on a tight budget and, by following her way, you too can learn to make the very best of what you have, as well as seeing the value in what is around you and making the most of it. Keep calm and carry on!
[huge_it_gallery id=”39″]
The Great Belles Bake Off
Women’s Institutes are renowned for their wonderful baking and Great Bookham Belles WI proved they were definitely not the exception at our July Monthly Meeting, for which members had been asked to enter their Summer Themed Bakes in ‘The Great Belles Bake Off!