Audlem WI Annual Garden Party

When the world wearies, and society no longer satisfies, there is always the garden. You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the earth and you can always tell when a dedicated gardener dwells within, after all gardens are not created by pansies or by sitting in the shade as gardening is a leisure activity of little leisure and much activity. The only thing I grow in my garden is tired!

And so it came to pass, that like annuals that live fast and die young, Audlem WI ladies, who never get old as they just repot themselves, prepared for the highlight of their social season- the Annual Garden Party.

Our flag may be red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow, and with this being a celebratory year for our Queen, the dish of the day, sorry, dress code, was to be in our national colours.

Now red is not one of my best colours as I am pale skinned, hot headed, loud mouthed but kind hearted, (so my husband says), and also I find it a little disturbing that red, white and blue represents loyalty and freedom until they are flashing in my rear view mirror!

However the Garden Party isn't about me, it's about strong, intelligent and like minded women with high expectations who have earned the right to wear our national flag with pride, and after extensive committee consideration, we decided that challenging Spencer Tunick with a sea of red, white and blue painted bodies would be a step too far as we felt that Audlem wasn't quite ready, judging from the age of the canal boats and cars last weekend, and, more importantly, the grass might be damp!

Forward planning is essential for these grand events, and one committee member, who's name I shall not mention- Joyce Clydesdale- had already baked and frozen several dozen fairy cakes, fortuitously spotted red, white and blue paper-ware reduced in Morrison's and ordered edible Royal emblems off the internet! She's just the type of committee member that everyone needs. Next year she's taking over event planning, so we will not be surprised to discover that she has hired a plane and we can all jet set off to far flung destinations for a mere pound or two!

This was truly one of Elizabeth Huntbach's finest hours as her garden looked pristinely immaculate, not a leaf or stick out of place even after the WI committee had fervently rushed around setting up tables and chairs, fighting with the Union Jack bunting as the wind took hold, whilst deftly avoiding the clutches of snap dragons in preparation for the main event.

The sun shone, just glimmering through the many heavy raindrops, and the gathered throng were met with the beaming smile of Pat Smith, our dedicated raffle and flower lady. Now something you may not know about Pat is that she once lived in Rio where the Olympics are being held and this has caused a resurgence of her love of Samba dancing, which is an impressive sight to behold.

Pat had gathered together an amazing array of raffle prizes, including a beautiful rose arrangement created by the deftly experienced hands of Anne Watson and with the help of the welcome drink of Prosecco as members arrived at the door, Pat was not short of customers!

I was in charge of drink, but that probably goes without saying, as it's possibly one of my only talents! However, sometimes I have to keep a tight rein on things as both Lin Nicholas and Jackie Creber put their drinks down and lost them both! I generously allowed them another.

Groups of ladies chattered together happily as Elizabeth generously threw open her house to over forty excited and expectant ladies, after all they hadn't seen each other since their morning hairdressing appointments at Braids.

Delicately balancing their Proseccos, they selected their choice of sofas and chairs with their friends- friends are after all flowers that never fade- and there was a good deal of chair re-arranging before everyone settled down for the afternoon's entertainment.

Now for the main event- committee members skilfully manoeuvred around the food with dainty china teacups as members collected their afternoon tea and tucked into crustless sandwiches of smoked salmon and cream cheese, prawn, cucumber, egg and cheese followed by scones with jam and cream, fairy cakes with the Royal emblems atop the buttercream, buttered tea cake and delicate meringues.

We know how to throw a good tea party, after all we have had years of experience!

Our ladies, well practised in adjusting their arms to ensure that their quiz answers were covered from any prying eyes- not an easy manoeuvre with a cup of tea in hand- tackled the Dingbats and Quiz, after all there would be a prize for the winning group and, more importantly an uplift in WI quiz status!

Indeed, a cup of tea may be an excuse to share great thoughts with great minds, whilst debating important issues, but there comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that oils the grey cells is a glass of Prosecco and fortunately we still had some left, although by this time it was the committee members who were drinking it!

All good things must come to an end, and after we had had cleared the detritus and washed the plates, glasses and teacups, the quiz answers were marked and there were the usual groans as the Dingbats were explained! This is always my job as I'm good at taking flack!

Drums rolled as Pat shimmied into the room for the raffle draw. Sue Davies won the first prize of the beautiful flower arrangement, but as she was setting off on holiday tomorrow, she valiantly relinquished this prize and chose another. Lin Nicholas held the second ticket drawn and was delighted to be able to take the flower arrangement home- well deserved we thought as she has to keep us all under control- even if she does mislay her drinks- not an easy task.

Then the birthday flowers were allocated to Margaret Wells, Christine Seabridge and Moira Stanistreet and finally a box of chocolates was given to Pat as we felt handing her flowers would be a bit like taking coals to Newcastle! Also she will need the extra energy with all that Samba dancing she will be doing during the Olympics!

Finally Lin presented Elizabeth Huntbach with a large bowl of yellow Chrysanthemums, she had been an absolute star, allowing us all to take over her home without even flinching! Thank you Elizabeth, you can bring David out from wherever he is hiding now!

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