So Long, Farewell, Auf Widersehen, Goodbyeeee....

It is with a very heavy heart that I am announcing that I will be stepping down from the Committee and handing over my beloved Blog. 

I have been honoured to be a part of Herts Belles from the beginning, setting up and running the blog for this time and I shall miss it, but due to work and general life commitments I am no longer able to devote the amount of time I would like to this fabulous Group and the Blog has been suffering because of this.  So I am handing over the reigns to the rest of the Belles Committee and I'm sure you will be in very safe hands!

I will still be a member and hope to make it to most meetings and I hope to get to know you all a lot better without frantically scribbling notes and being hidden behind my camera!

I look forward to participating with you in the future and watching the Group grow from strength to strength.

See you Gals soon!

Dawn Elliott

 

 

Christmas Cookie Craziness

It is that time of year for the WI again when we vote for the Resolution we support the most to be put forward for further discussion. 

The shortlist is as follows:

 

·         The Next 100 Years

 

·         Plant a Tree for the future

 

·         Public access defibrillators

 

·         Failing to care – assessment of need in long-term care

 

·         Cutting back on food waste

 

·         Ending FGM

 

·         To curb the use of antibiotics

Please take a moment to read the background notes on each cause by clicking HERE and then collect your voting form from Dawn Golding at our next meeting.  The shortlist will then be narrowed down to a shorter list of resolutions to be taken forward to the AM.  Then when the final list is announced, our Group will vote either FOR or AGAINST each resolution. 

 

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We were once again thrilled to welcome back by popular demand the wonderful Charlotte White of Restoration Cakes, who brought along some delicious Vanilla Christmas Cookies for us to decorate.

 Charlotte once again demonstrated her amazing talent and skills by decorating 4 cookies using different techniques making them all look absolutely Christma-licious (what? That’s a word!)

Our Belles did not disappoint and rose to the challenge superbly!

By the end of the night we were delighted with our finished products and taking bets on how many cookies would actually make it home and how many were actually going to last the night before being devoured!  We all went away covered in edible glitter and food dye and armed with a few new decorating techniques to try out over the Crimbo period.   If you would like to try baking Charlotte’s cookies her recipe can be found here http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/%E2%80%98carry-on%E2%80%99-valentine-cookies.html  

 

Thank you once again to Charlotte for joining us, it was a great night and we hope to welcome you again soon. 
 

Charlotte's book 'Burlesque Baking' is available to buy at Amazon and she has a new book out in the year, you can keep up to date on Restoration Cake website at http://www.restorationcake.co.uk/

There will be no meeting in December, however the Christmas Dinner will be held on 10^th December 2014 at Bar Espresso, St Albans. Extremely limited spaces are available so please contact us on hertsbellesstalbanswi@gmail.com to enquire.

Our next meeting is in January 2015 and we will be welcoming in the New Year with a fabulous Burlesque Fitness class – more information to follow.

Until then, Have a great Christmas and see you in the New Year!

x

Marvellous Masquerade

Our October meeting took place on a very cold and grotty evening so a huge thanks to those that did venture out to join us!

Lia and Emma G welcomed the group and spoke about various events coming up, most notably St Albans Fashion Week which was taking place from 27^th October – 2^nd November.  One evening of particular note was the Luxe Show at the Porsche Centre in Hatfield on 27^th October, this was a 1930s themed night and they are looking for volunteers for the evening i.e. dressers, front of house etc.  An email will be sent out with further info. 

They also mentioned our Clothes Swap evening taking place on 26^th November at Hertfordshire Craft Collective, we have had some flyers printed up and will be handing these out shortly.   Our Belles were urged to bring along any donations for the evening of clothes, bags, shoes etc. to our next meeting in November if they are unable to attend the evening.  Proceeds from the evening will be going to the Open Door charity and any clothes left over from the evening will be donated to charity. 

 

Lia mentioned that we are in the process of organising our Christmas dinner, we will be looking at Bar Espresso again as it was great food and good value for money.  The restaurant holds a maximum of 30 people so we would urge you to let us know as early as possible if you would like to come along.  We are looking into dates and will keep you updated. 

 Faye mentioned some local upcoming events:

·         Willows Farm are hosting a Pumpkin Festival and are offering a free pumpkin per child between 25^th October – 2^nd November

 

·         The Verulamium Park Annual Fireworks Display will be held on 1^st November

·         Butterfly World will be hosting a Fireworks Display on 2^nd November

·         The St Albans Christmas Lights switch on will be held on 16^th November

·         An Ice Skating Rink will be opening in Watford from 22^nd November – 4^th January Daily from 11.00am – 9.00pm.

·         The St Albans Literary Festival will be on from 6^th – 9^th November with various signings and events in the area

 

Emma C spoke about upcoming WI events and mentioned the ‘Try a Craft’ Day on Wednesday 26^th November at 10am at Woolmer Green Village Hall SG3 6XA - £9 entry

She also mentioned that the Performing Arts Committee will be holding a Music and Painting Evening on Tuesday 17^th Feb 2015 at 7.30pm St Stephens Church Hall

There is a Photography Competition for the 2016 Calendar with the theme ‘Hertfordshire’s Places of Historic Interest’  entries close on 31^st December 2014. 

It was then down to business and Lia and Emma introduced the incredibly talented Linda and Mary to talk to us about the history of the Venetian Mask and to display their amazing creations. 

 

 
 

They have been designing and creating these masks for some time now and have never duplicated any mask – some absolutely stunning masks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Suitably inspired, it was over to our Gals to get out their glue-guns and get creating, and once again they did not disappoint. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next month we welcome back the gorgeous Charlotte White of Restoration Cakes who will be demonstrating biscuit decoration.  Due to high demand there is limited space so make sure you set the date – 19^th November!

Until then TTFN!  x