Photos and Reports

HOLLYCROFT WI

Members of Hollycroft WI got into party mood for their Christmas Dinner at the December meeting. Wycliffe Catering, based in Lutterworth, did a wonderful job of serving a full Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

After the meal, Kevin Barfield entertained with "George Formby - Leaning on a Lamppost." The presentation gave an outline of George Formby's life, interspersed with some of his well known sings: 'When I'm Cleaning Windows', 'With my Little Stick of Blackpool Rock', finishing with his most famous 'I'm Leaning on a Lamppost', with many members joining in the singing.

ANIMAL AIDING...
Hollycroft WI welcomed four new members at their March meeting, when the guest speakers were from Leicester Animal Aid based in Huncote.  The charity was founded in 1956, and does not receive any government funding, relying mostly on donations, most of which are in the form of legacies.  They hold many fund raising events and volunteers help out.  Their animals always leave the home in good health, vaccinated and in good condition.  In all, 261 dogs and 208 cats were re-housed in 2011.

BUZZING AROUND...
At their February meeting, Hollycroft WI welcomed three visitors and one new member, before sitting back to enjoy guest speaker, Simon Morgan, a retired chef, who gave a fascinating talk about bees and bee keeping.

Simon has 90 hives, which are located on the outskirts of villages, and was very knowledgeable about his passion.  He told many interesting facts:  bees possess five eyes, they can perceive movements that are separated by 1/300th of a second - humans can only sense movements separated by 1/50th of a second.  Bees communicate with one another by 'dancing' in order to give the direction and distance of flowers.

Members were also able to sample one of Simon's 'honey' recipes: parsnips, fresh from his allotment, sautéed with Cajun spice, honey, salt and ground black pepper, which were freshly cooked during the talk.  They were delicious.