So, in the same way as we are seeing 2021 come to an end, so has my tenure as President at Southport Scarlets run out and I am sure they have been equally exciting. 

Who would have thought that the me who started out making the tea and who wasn’t even allowed to take the biscuit tin home would end up as being President for 5 years, only after I had worked my way through bring treasurer and secretary, and I have to say I made a dreadful treasurer. 

Those 5 years were filled with challenges and excitement, trying new things and occasionally pushing myself outside my comfort zone, and you all came with me. We visited the Euro zone with Eurovision and India with a fantastic session on how to wear Saris, we defended ourselves and tried out tai chi, we went back in time with Lucy the Tudor and the infamous knicker lady. I can only imagine the look on my face when she began pulling out all her farming implements, until she explained that her talk was not about underwear, and we ate chocolate and tried Karens far too nice gin. 

And then Covid-19 came and we were curtailed but not stopped when our talks moved onto zoom and further away, with a talk on witches and ancient monuments, upcycling and eco products and finishing off with hats. These were topped up with meetings in a bag and extra competitions to keep everything going. 

There has also been fun outside our own group with workshops and talks from Lancashire and then Denman and Lancashire at home and the WI Wanderers, more than enough to keep everyone going. 

So, an eventful 5 years during which I have learned much and I hope I keep on learning. 

Congratulations to our new President, Elaine Foster, and I wish her and the new committee luck with taking Southport Scarlets on into the future. 

Emma x

Emma – has been beating the boredom during this new lockdown by stash busting my yarns and crocheting blankets in different colours to keep all my nieces and nephews snuggly and warm for Christmas presents. There is nothing more relaxing than crocheting when its cold and dark outside. I finished the presents off with ribbons made from Christmas fabric so they could be tied into rolls.

• 

Deb – As taken up painting with watercolours. It’s something I have always wanted to learn but for some reason never had the courage. Now I love it, it’s so relaxing. I followed an online tutorial and boom – I am hooked. I have even managed to get the rest of the family painting. Expect hand painted Birthday and Christmas cards. I have also done a little furniture up-cycling. I purchased 2 farmhouse kitchen chairs in dire need of stripping. Voila- 2 extra chairs for the Christmas table but sadly no extra guests!

Pauline – has been busy making umpteen Linus Project Quilts. Then there was an afternoons effort for friend who enjoyed safaris before lockdown so here is a patchwork bag for her.
1970 Tank tops are back in fashion, apparently – request from my Grandson, aged 8, stripey, of course.

• 

Nuala – started this ‘free-motion’ piece some time ago but needs the inspiration to finish it now😳I have also been making bunting in crochet stars and flowers. I had bit of trouble finding just the right material to stiffen the wool but eventually used watered down wood glue!!

• 

Tina – Due to joining the hamster wheel (aka work demands) my free time to get creative has somewhat reduced! However, on a positive I have created a new role play area in our nursery. The theme was “The Garden” , and although furniture was moved and given a new role and resources added I didn’t have a bird to watch over the children as they played. So, I created a handmade felt coaltit which could sit in the tree as the children played. In addition to this I wanted to show my students show sewing skills can come in handy when developing learning environments for children, so I also made a. Umber of garden aprons for our little visitors. We just need Corona restrictions to be eased and our little visitors to return.

• 

Fran – Before lockdown I’d started weaving classes at Arthouse. We’d been given a homemade tapestry loom at the last one and some extra wools which have come in handy. I’ve finished these three works and done some trials of different techniques.

• 

It’s been a while … … the more observant of you may have noticed a web site glitch in June. We are now happy to be back up and running. Whilst off line a couple of our members have become grandma’s – welcome to the world Sienna and Mila ! Huge congratulations to Chris and Yvonne.

9th July saw us hold Recipe Swop Zoom meeting with contributions from Carol, Elaine F, Karen, Tricia and also a recipe from ex-member Susan.

31st July The Gardening Group and friends went to Abbeywood Gardens in Cheshire

• 

• 

• 

on the 13th August we had a lovely Social distanced walk around the Marine Lake followed by a drink at the Guilder Rose.

Well hello to the month of May so let’s make it meaningful.

I think it’s fair to say the coronavirus safety measures have affected all of us. In addition to the very real worry of someone you love being badly affected, every single one of us has had to adapt at speed to restrictions on our every day lives. Big changes at short notice are challenging, and these are difficult days while we try to modify our expectations and accept our new normal. 

Life as we know it has changed beyond anything I could ever have imagined. Just a few weeks ago I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me we would be living in a country where the pubs, cinemas, hairdressers, gyms, and all those things we unconsciously took for granted were closed: that we would only be allowed out to make essential journeys, and for one hour of exercise a day.

It’s been about eight weeks since we Scarlets last met. I am therefore very excited to announce that Emma will be launching a Scarlets Web Podcast on Spotify and Appleplay so please watch out for this announcement. It will be a first for her so good luck Emma – we will have guest appearances from Elaine and Nancy too! We, like many others institutions are keeping in contact on a host of different WhatsApp groups to accommodate these new restrictions. We have created an “Isolation Madness” one for daily quizzes and general chatter, a pre-existing “Gardening” one which includes a sunflower growing competition and more videos, a craft “Cast Offs” group where we can display our new creations and seek advice. There is a weekly “House Party” group – wine in hand is suggested but not mandatory. We always have it in mind to maintain contact with members who live alone and may go for days without hearing from a friend. As a WI we have been making Scrubs Bags for our local NHS staff. The idea is after their shift they can remove their scrubs, pop them into a bag and wash they whole lot without contaminating anything else. Two of these bags went straight to my daughter’s friends as both were seconded from training straight onto the front line (so to speak). We are super proud of these efforts and so far must have made 100 plus and are still sewing. Thank you to all our scrub bag sewers, to Elaine for providing all the fabric and to Nancy H for passing the finished bags onto the distribution coordinator. Andrea, our previous president has volunteered as a street champion for her neighbourhood – she provides information and supports the vulnerable.

I have been determined from day one to use this lockdown time wisely. I, like many of my fellow WI friends have access to a garden and an allotment which I feel is vital to my health and wellbeing. I have also taken up yoga – something I have wanted to do for a long time. Check out our Facebook page to see what my fellow WI friends have been up to.

For sure the last few weeks have made me realise more than ever how lucky I am to live in the lovely town of Southport – the marine lake, the parks, the open spaces and most of all the sunshine have been a blessing during lockdown.

Bye for now xx

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s fair to say we have all driven through the Birkenhead tunnel built in 1934 , however we set off early on Saturday morning for the 10 am tour in Liverpool. Our guides Billy and Ryan were so entertaining, enthusiastic and informative. We visited the Art Deco ventilation building on the Pier Head, its control room only vacated four years ago. We donned our high vis jackets and hard hats before walking under the tunnel, I don’t think we expected to be inside the 85 year old tunnel, so close to the giant ventilation fans in operation, and watching the vehicles speed through the tunnel. What a unique behind the scenes tour and the two hours just flew by. We had fascinating views of the inner workings of the Queensway tunnel, the beautiful Art Deco detailing, amazing engineering and lots and lots of stairs! (Only joking – there are lifts). We learnt all about the politics involved in the building of the tunnels . We now know why the tunnel is curved! Remember the tunnel does not leek, but it does seep! We heard the gory stories about the ghosts in the tunnels! We discovered it was the location for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2009) and also Danny Boyle’s recent 2018 film Yesterday.

A great experience enjoyed by all.

Afterwards we braved the blustery river front to walk to Deli Fonscecas for a lovely lunch.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We had a truly scrumptious afternoon tea at Clouds to celebrate Galentines Day. The students kicked off service with a cone of fish and chips with mushy peas, then they came around to each table with a selection of hot open sandwiches, most unexpected, and I have to say we were already full by this point. Continuous teas and coffees were poured whilst we struggled to tuck into the tier of cold sandwiches and cakes. Jazmania serenaded in the background whilst we had a good old natter. Well done Clouds !

Carol threw open the doors to her new home by hosting a Wine Tasting
12 members enjoyed a Come Dine with Me Wine Tasting in January. We tasted 6 wines, 3 white and 3 red. The focus was on the 2 grape varieties from different countries so that we could compare and contrast the differences and decide what we each liked or didn’t! We used a standard wine tasting method of looking at colour, smell and taste. We also identified the difference between ‘old world’ and ‘new world’ taste with a group favouring new world taste which tends to be more fruity and ‘higher in alcohol’!! It was fun deciding if you should drink or spit and I think on balance most decided to drink – are we surprised or not, I think not!!! 
The white grape was Chardonnay from France, California and Australia. The red grape was Malbec from France, Argentina and South Africa. Overall favourite was Kumala Reserve Malbec from South Africa at £7.50 from Tesco.

A thoroughly pleasant evening!

• 

• 

It’s lovely to be back and to see you fabulous ladies.

Happy New Year to you all!

Are you ready to kick start 2020? We had a bright and cheerful evening to lift us out of the post Christmas blues. So we kicked off (literally) the first meeting of 2020 with a self defence class under the expert eye of Lisa from Unite Southport which is one of our local Taekwondo studios. Now she’s a 3rd Dan you really wouldn’t want to mess with (even with a sore throat)!
The idea of the session was to be able to hold our own if we were in the unfortunate position of being held against our will. We were told to pair up and then set too …. the art of breaking free if we are being restrained at the wrists or even by the neck.

I would like to think we would manage to keep safe if we found ourselves in a sticky position and at the time I felt I did fairly well in holding my own, however when I got home I thought I would try out my new tricks on my much taller son – on dear ! Did quite work and it’s fair to say I failed miserably to get out of his grip. He, however, was delighted. Of course I could have kneed him in the ****** but I just couldn’t do it and to be honest the thought of grandchildren at some point is appealing!

• 

• 

2020 Resolutions

The second half of our meeting, after the tea and cakes of course, was taken up with voting on the resolution.
The Women’s Institute has long been campaigning on a wide range of issues. In fact, there have been 400 resolutions passed since 1918. These resolutions range from issues such as equal pay for women, women police, women on jury service to addressing food poverty.  The one thing all WI resolutions have in common is that they are all suggested and voted in by WI members. At our December meeting we discussed the five 2019/2020 resolutions shortlist.
1. Female Crash Test Dummies 2. Time to talk about death and dying 3. End modern slavery
4. Protect our precious helium 5. A call to increase potential stem cell donor registration.

Our votes were : 1st with 11 votes – Protect our precious helium, 2nd with 10 votes – End modern slavery, 3rd with 5 votes – Time to talk about death and dying, 4th with 3 votes – A call to increase stem cell donor registration 5th with 1 vote – Female crash test dummies. Sue will send these results to LFWI who will collate the Lancashire results, they in turn will then forward them onto the NFWI.

Clement Clarke Moore (1822)

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the committee. 

Thee change was being counted from the weekly cake kitty.

The stocking were all hung from the monthly craft club. 

And on the allotment, was planted a shrub.

The women were all nestled as Jerusalem sang out.

Emma announced the agenda with no worry or doubt.

It was Thursday already and the AGM planned.

We settled our brains as the year was so grand. 

In the warm meeting hall there arose such a clatter.

The women so friendly and that’s what should matter.

Looking in through the window the year was a flash.

We listened to Karen about who spent the cash. 

The members of new ladies continues to grow.

As old entertain new by performing a show.

When, what to our wondering eyes should appear.

But Flora and Fauna, Who love Martinmere.

With a little old knotter so lively and slick.

Barry taught us a reef knot ever so quick.

More rapid than eagles Magic Pete came.

January was magical giving Emma much fame. 

Now Nancy, now Deb, now Jo and Sue.

On Pauline on Elisabeth contact these few. 

To the top of the roomwe bagged for Mad Dog.

It was busy for us but well worth the slog. 

As April approached us we took part in Tai Chi.

Daphne who taught us had a soft spot for Nancy.

So up to the house top India came into view.

With Sari’s, metal bangles and food tasting too. 

And then in a twinkling came a flash of bright green.

Hearts for our climate keep Great Britain clean. 

As I drew in my head and was turning around.

Back in time I had gone and a Tudor wife found. 

She was dress’d all in rattan from  her head to her foot.

She cook’d on a fire tarnis’d with ashes and soot.

A bundle of thread was flying in the pack,

Sewing over in Leyland and they even came back.

Our eyes – how they twinkl’d when the life mag was posted.

Cup of coffee, a biscuit on our settee we’re bolted. 

Their droll little mouth wanted Ed wina Curry.

An annual selfie but she’d gone in a hurry.

The stump of a log they sweat and bare teeth.

They dig and plant as seeds germinate beneath.

They have a broad face as the dish fills with crops.

The weather was kind and their fruit never stops.

He was chubby and plump a right jolly old Ted.

We tried crown green bowling but got easily led.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head.

No bowling ball landed within the flower bed.

We spoke not a word and went straight to our work.

Selling cakes large and small through positive teamwork.

And laying a finger on the powerpoint created.

The year through happy photos was clearly stated. 

She sprung to her apron and to the team gave a smile.

Being a member of the Scarlets is a positive lifestyle. 

But, Emma exclaimed as she crotch’d out of sight.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

by Tina

Our Second poem by Emma

Twas the night after Christmas

All through the house

Nothing was stirring

Not even a mouse.

They couldn’t you see.

They were stuck where they sat

They’d spent so much time eating

They were feeling so fat.

They’d tucked into turkey and stuffing and sprouts.

They’d had the pudding and trifle and mince pies with no doubts

They’d eaten the cheddar and gouda and brie.

They’d feasted and snacked, no food left to see.​

They had searched and emptied

The stockings and socks

They had polished off the chocolate from every selection box.

To say nothing of the gin and port and the wine.

It would have been rude not to, it’s civilised when you dine.

So the night after Christmas as you’re sat in the quiet

It’s perhaps the time to consider a diet

Emma Gillinger

Ingredients:

Pkt of pre-made puff pastry, 1 pkt of sausage meat (but I tend to use two) available at all high street supermarkets, although I’ve never seen it in Aldi!! 1 small chopped onion, sesame seeds (decoration) Egg for coating 
I add my own extra filling .. .. .. so you decide what you would like to add to the sausage meat, it could be any of the following: ApplePaxo stuffing black pudding Haggis, Chilli, Garlic, Cranberry sauce (nice festive option) Chutney (any variety) The list is endless, enjoy experimenting!!
Oven fan oven 160 c/ gas mark 3 Approx: half and hour 

Method :

Mix sausage meat, onion and what ever extra filling you desire! Put to one side whilst you prepare the pastry. Roll pastry into a rectangle, I tend to roll thinly as to prevent a ‘soggy bottom’. Place sausage meat mixture in the middle, this needs to be a smaller rectangle, so the pastry can be wrapped over in order to form the plait. Cut four squares, one from each corner. Then fold the two end pieces of pastry over the sausage meat. The two long lengths need slicing. Cut approx 10 strips and then alternatively wrap one from each side over the sausage meat. This forms the plait. Once plaited place on a baking sheet and coat the top with egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cook until golden. This is nice both hot and cold. I serve it with a range of things, such as salad and chutney or potatoes and gravy. 

Tina