W.I Garden Party

Audlem Women's Institute Garden Party

The sun is out, the days are longer and warmer which can only mean one thing...it's time to throw a Garden Party!

With tea, homemade cakes and a beautiful garden to stroll in, garden parties are among the most relaxed and informal of Women's Institute events and August is the perfect month to hold one.

Any time women come together with a collective intention, it's a powerful thing and magic happens! It is well known that God created man before woman, but then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece don't you?

However I digress, the day of the garden party dawned, and the entire WI Committee descended on the beautifully manicured lawns of Betty Minns' garden. Betty had kindly given us permission to hold the party at her home and there was no sign of regret or fear on her face as she welcomed us warmly and threw open her kitchen doors with gay abandon!

Now a cloudy, rainy day is no match for a sunny disposition and we merry bunch of jovial ladies don't let a mere spot of rain get us down as we all staggered around the garden carrying fold up chairs, tables, our finest china, bunting etc, in preparation for the aforementioned Garden Party. Our spirits remained cheerful and optimistic that the sun would come out and shine in the full knowledge that our members would already be fixed in the throes of hair dos, make up, dress selection, and most importantly, seeking out "the Hat' to complement their outfits.

Once we ladies are dressed in our finest clothes, making sure that they cover up any unsightly tattoos, and looking our best, we are aware that wearing the correct dress for any occasion is just a matter of good manners, after all we cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure can we?

Personally I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn't itch and being fully aware that clothes maketh the man, or in this case woman, I am fully aware that naked people have little or no influence on society, so usually I'm a jeans and a T-shirt kind of girl, but I go classy when I dress up – with a little bit of sexy. (Did I really say that in a WI write up?)

With none of the security checks demanded by a 'Royal Garden Party' to go through, each of our members and guests had first to negotiate Kath Disley, our beloved treasurer's eagle eye, who was strategically positioned at the gate entrance, checking that all tickets were paid for, before winding their way to the back garden where Pat Smith, raffle lady extraordinaire, was expertly positioned jauntily adorned with a huge hat which providing shade for the whole of the raffle table , greeted everyone with her beaming smile, rattling of the money tin and a grand selection of raffle prizes, including a bouquet of freshly picked flowers from her own garden – you see the lengths we go to to provide our members with only the best?

Once these two fine, upstanding members of our committee had been skillfully negotiated, the food tables were open for business, and this appeared to be an opportune moment to make an early dash for the guest's tea tables, handbags elegantly placed on chairs in order to retain seats for friends and to be among the first to enjoy the hospitality.  Actually there was no need to rush because there was plenty of food to go round and the tables looked immaculate. 

Now a gathering of ladies at a garden party is where strangers will learn more about you in an hour than your spouse has learned in a lifetime, so this 'information gathering' was put to good use as the mind stretching quiz papers were handed round and head's were put together – well as close as some of the hats would allow – in the competitive business of filling in all of those blanks, regardless of whether the answers were correct or not! Working on the premise that one should never interrupt your enemy when she is making a mistake, all seemed to be going well with only a few slight furtive glances at the opposition's answers!

We all know that women are most fascinating between the ages of thirty-five and forty, after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever admit to passing forty, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely and we believe that you are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely! After all, no one looks back on their life and remembers the nights they got plenty of sleep..........so when the amazing sight of a superbly decorated cake in the form of 100, to celebrate our Centenary, was proudly laid out for our President Lin Nicholas to cut, baked to perfection by Joyce Clydesdale, who we will be entering for 'The Great British Bake Off' next year, the gasps of pleasure were only surpassed by the sight of committee members staggering under the weight of trays of Prosecco and Bucks Fizz!

When our members realized they could have both cake and Prosecco, and given that they had mostly walked to the party as they don't drink and drive in case they hit a bump and spill their drinks, their afternoon was complete. Everything slows down with age, except the time it takes cakes and sandwiches to reach your hips, so any form of fluid was a necessary accompaniment in order to speed up the metabolism!

This was better than the 'real thing'. Anne Watson wore her Royal Garden Party attire to ensure standards were met, and jolly fine she looked too, there were the competition answers to look forward to and Prosecco top ups were also being offered – heaven!

By this stage, joviality was the order of the day and we had a bevy of beauties lined up by hat size whilst voting took place. Women know that inside they are queens and these are the crowns they wear, and the best hat prize went to........Ann Pearce with an original design of cotton reels, scissors and threads delicately balanced and sewn onto a boater – it had to be seen to be appreciated! Anne Watson came second with a navy hat and veil, touched with glory as it had been to a real Royal Garden Party!

Finally it was time to leave, and with the agreeable knowledge that the committee had to do the clearing and washing up, our cheery members wound their way homewards – fortunately most of them made it to the correct houses!

Audlem Women's Institute would like to convey their grateful thanks to Betty Minns for allowing us the use of her garden and home. We hope we left it as neat and tidy as we found it!

Editor: stay watching , more photos of the W.I Garden Party tomorrow

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