N1 Women's Institute

The girls' guide to perfect (car and bike) maintenance

After a brief sabbatical from Typepad, N1WI is back to announce its next glorious meeting! It will take place on 29th July from 6.45 for 7p.m. until 9p.m. at St. James' Hall, Packington Street, and will be all about showing you how to perfectly maintain your car and bike.

It's an old cliche to say that girls don't know the first thing about cars...but it's probably true. Although satisfying it is to note that most boys know absolutely nothing about the mysteries of what's under a car bonnet these days, either! And as for the niceties of bike maintenance, well, it's hard to do your bit for the environment if changing a tyre makes you want to cry. With our white collar office jobs and our love of 'getting someone to do that for us', we're shelling out buckets of cash, and effort every year hauling bikes and cars off to be serviced for the most minor things that even an amoeba could manage. Fear no more! N1WI is here to solve your bikeial and cartastic chaotic catastrophes with a wave of our magic monkey wrench! We'll have demonstrators on hand to show you both car maintenance, and bike maintenance; if you're interested in learning a bit of both, you can flit! If you are keen to learn about just one or the other, you can stay fixed to get to grips with it all.

We'll also have a riveting raffle, bags of interesting events for you to sign up to take part in, and more information about future meetings!

If you're a member, meetings are free! If you're not a member, it's £5 for visitation rights! But you can only attend meetings three times as a visitor before you need to wait for your full membership to come through (we currently have a very long waiting list!) so use those visits wisely!

We've got DIY nailed!

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 29th April 2008 from 6.45 for a 7p.m. start, until 9p.m., at St. James' Hall, Prebend Street, N1. For a map, click here.

The meeting this month is all about power! Power tools, that is... A Woman's Touch, a female DIY troupe are coming to show you how to tell one screw from another, become a drilling diva, and generally bash your DIY-life into shape, one nail at a time!

Please bring remember to bring your money for drinks, etc., as the hall is a fair walk from the cash machine.

Assuming it all works ok on Tuesday, this will be our regular meeting place until further notice!

Tuesday nights are not your own!

Now that the N1WI book group and knitting & stitching groups are up and running, Tuesday nights are no longer your own. Phew! We hear you say. Nothing else ever happens on a Tuesday that is nearly so good as N1WI. Quite right, too.

So, make a note in your diaries that the first Tuesday of the month is always knitting & stitching, which runs from about 6.30 til about 8.30, but turn up and leave whenever you want, and bring your kit bag with you! Sewing and knitting kits will also be available to buy on the evening. This happens at the Hobgoblin, White Lion Street, N1 (formerly Jay Cubed).

The book group happens on the second Tuesday of the month from 6.30 until 8p.m. A list of the books for the upcoming year is available about three stories down from this on this rather marvellous website! This also meets at The Hobgoblin.

Then, you've got at least a week's reprieve (unless you're on the committee), until the main WI meeting which is always on the last Tuesday of the month, at St. James' Hall, Prebend Street, from 6.45 for a 7p.m. start, until 9p.m.

We look forward to seeing you there!

It'd be rude not to...

The next meeting of N1WI will take place on 25th March 2008 from 6.45 til 9p.m. at The Union Chapel, N1 (please use the entrance on Compton Avenue, directly behind Compton Terrace). We will be hearing about modern manners from the author of Debrett's Etiquette for Girls, Fleur Britten.

Fleur will be guiding us through what is acceptable, and what is not, in dining out, socialising, entertaining, e-mailing, and most other facets of the modern city girl's life!

We are absolutely delighted that Fleur has agreed to come and speak to us, and hope to see you there!

In addition, we'll be having an unwanted books and presents stall; please bring any books or presents that you don't want, and some loose change to buy others' unwanted books and presents. Funds will go to our WI for future fun!

We'll also be asking your opinion on what you think our WI should do with a spare £500, if it had one! So please bring ideas. If you can't be with us, but have ideas, please email n1wi@yahoo.co.uk

Because membership is now closed, if you're not already a member, you will need to join our waiting list. But, good news! You can attend two meetings as a visitor before you have to become a member in any case, so please feel free to come and try us out for size!

Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday!

Book Group Whoop whoop!

After a very successful meeting of the book group last night, it is happily confirmed that the book group will meet every 2nd Tuesday of the month (except December) from 6.30p.m. to 8.00p.m. at The Hobgoblin, White Lion Street, N1.

The books, dates, and some links to further information about the books and authors, can be found below. If you click on the author's name, a biography should come up, whereas if you click on the book title, something directly related to that book should pop up.

8th April 2008 – Brick Lane by Monica Ali

13th May – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

10th June – On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

8th July - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

12th August – Poetry Session – everyone brings two poems to read aloud

9th September – The World According to Garp by John Irving

14th October – The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien

11th November – The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart

8th January 2009 – Wild Swans by Jung Chang

10th February – Fear of Flying by Erica Jong

10th March - Ruby and Iris by Rosie Thomas

I think that the mix of books that was chosen represents a good wide range of genres, interests, and so forth, as well as prompting people to pick up things that they never would have dreamed of.

We are encouraging members to try to source their books second hand wherever possible, or to borrow them from the library. Here are some links to some good websites which should help in this process:
Good online second hand bookshop
List of all secondhand bookshops in London
Islington Libraries
Hackney Libraries
Harringey Libraries
Westminster Libraries
City of London Libraries

If you are not already on the mailing list for the bookgroup, but would like to join, please email n1wi@yahoo.co.uk

Important information for those who joined before September 2007

If you joined N1WI for the first time before September 2007, and you haven't renewed your membership for this coming year, then you will need to make contact with n1wi@yahoo.co.uk by Friday 29th February at 5p.m. or forfeit your place. This is because your membership is up for renewal, and now we have a waiting list, it's essential that we make sure we're always topped up with our 100 members!

So, if you want to renew for 2007, and you haven't done so yet, please make contact by 5p.m. on Friday. You should have been sent an email, too, but this is to ensure that everyone has had reminders in many different directions!

Thanks, everyone, and here's to membership greats in 2008!

To infinity and beyond!

Whilst the venue last month was absolutely gorgeous, and a big thank you goes to The Chapel Bar for accommodating us, it simply wasn't suitable for what we were trying to do, so we're moving on. For February and March's meetings we will be in the Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, just off Upper Street, N1. You can find directions here.

Because it's hard to find the particular hall we're meeting in (it's all a bit of a rabbit's warren once you get inside), there will be someone on the door, pointing the way, from 6.40 until 7.00p.m. It's therefore imperative that you're there on time, or you may have difficulty getting in! If you know in advance that you are going to be late, please email n1wi@yahoo.co.uk and we'll sort something out.

As for the content of the meetings, this month, 26th February, will be a talk, tasting, and demonstration on how to make tea by Teasmith, a fantastic venture in Spitalfields Market run by a lovely team who will be showing and telling us about tea in all its glorious forms, as well as providing us with lots of tasty samples! In order to get your tea drinking juices flowing, we will be running a cake stall from which you can buy nibbles to complement your tea. Please please bring cakes to donate to the stall, and plenty of loose change to buy your fill of cakes and biscuits. Thanks! (any questions? email n1wi@yahoo.co.uk)

Because tea and wine don't really go together, there won't be a paid bar, but you are welcome to bring your own wine. You'll need to provide your own corkscrew, glasses, etc. so please remember all the garb if you intend to drink your own drinks!

March 25th holds a talk by Fleur Britten, commissioning editor of Style and recent author of Debrett's Etiquette Guide for Girls. Fleur will be telling us what we need to know to be deliciously demure, noughties-style. Come ready with your questions and prepare to feel like a proper little debutante before the night is through!

And, from April, it looks as though our regular meeting place will be St. James' Hall, Prebend Street, N1 (off Essex Road). By all accounts it's a beautiful hall, and they're very keen to have us, so it could be a match made in heaven!

Speakers Required!

We're looking forward to the many exciting things that we have coming up in the programme this year. Confirmed so far for the main meetings are:

February - Teasmith
A talk on the art of drinking tea from the Spitalfields based team

March - A Modern Girl's Guide to Etiquette
Learn all that a London lady needs to know about acting proper!

April - A Woman's Touch
DIY Demonstration from an all female Do It Yourself Troupe

May - tbc

June - The Slow Food Movement
This is not a talk about snails, rather, an antidote to fast food. Learn about considered cooking.

July - Car & Bike Maintenance
Two wheels good, four wheels bad? Or four wheels excellent, two wheels scary? Whichever your preference, learn how to keep your vehicle of choice roadworthy

August - The First Female Beefeater!
Moira Cameron, Yeoman at the Tower of London, will be coming to talk to us about her experiences of being the tower's first lady!

September - tbc

October - AGM
We'll organise some fun to go with the business at our annual meeting, we promise!

November - tbc

December - no meeting, Christmas party

As you can see, the year's calendar is filling up nicely. But, we've still got three slots. We are particularly keen to find people to host a dance class, come and talk to us about something crafty, take us on a London walk, or talk about some aspect of the 2012 Olympics. If you know someone who would be able to fill one of our empty slots with something similar, that would be awesome! Please email n1wi@yahoo.co.uk with what you know and who you know, and we will be super-grateful as we always are!

Flinging for England

Some of you may remember Alena Papayanis, from the Iceni Frisbee Team, who came to speak to us in Summer 2007 about Ultimate Frisbee.

Well, exciting news! Alena has made the Great Britain team! This is fantastic, so well done, Alena!

Unfortunately, though, unlike professional footballers, the girls don't get copious amounts of sponsorship and six figure salaries, and as a result, need to do some fundraising.

Whilst WI can't directly sponsor them (we're not allowed to sponsor anyone), if, as an individual member, you fancied finding out a bit more, or want to give Alena a hand with her fundraising, you can discover all you need at http://www.gbwomensultimate.com/

Go, Alena! Go GB!

N1WI's trip to Priory Farm

Following N1WI's trip to Priory Farm in Surrey, chief organiser, Louise Whitley sings the praises of a fabulous cookery lesson and an exceptionally good lunch...

There couldn't have been a better Saturday in January for a visit to the country.  With the sun shining and birds singing a happy troupe of N1WI ladies set off for a bit of rural therapy, their destination Priory Farm in the Surrey Hills.  A warm welcome was waiting with Gill and her team armed with coffees and home made fruit cake to aid recovery from the journey across London. 

The demonstration kitchen is housed in the upstairs of a beautiful barn conversion with views over the rolling countryside.  Gill enthusiastically got started with a warming cranberry and chestnut soup accompanied by savoury muffins, explaining the nutritional values of the ingredients and the best way to buy and store the ingredients.  Having all had a taster, Gill moved swiftly on to wrapped pheasant breasts accompanied by celeriac and potato mash, purple sprouting broccoli and an exquisite orange and cranberry sauce.  Being a pudding fan (!) Gill showed us how to make not one, but two desserts: a compote of gingered orange fruit and an orange and rhubarb upside down pudding.  Having always been one to salivate over tv cookery programmes and feel envious towards the lucky celebrities or members of the audience who are able to try the finished product it was with great relish that I tucked into my tasters of the finished dishes.

Having had a very inspirational and yet instructive morning there was then an opportunity to browse the farm shop. Some ladies bought the same ingredients as Gill used to rustle up a dinner party feast (cheats!!! cheats!!!!). Others checked out the garden centre, followed by a hearty home-cooked lunch in the coffee shop. You can view the photos of the trip by clicking here.

It was a fab day out and will hopefully be repeated at the end of May with new recipe ideas and the added excitement of an afternoon gardening lesson for all those WIers who struggle with their (or the concept of) summer tubs and hanging baskets.  For all information and to register interest please contact Louise at  n1wi@yahoo.co.uk