Sun, Silks and Census

Today we enjoyed a supper of Brancaster mussels, the last of the season. As much as I enjoy them I am pleased that there is a closed season. We are finding the mussels offered for sale in our region of France are very small and lack flavour. We think this is probably due to the fact they are being harvested all year round and most of them   are still immature when harvested. A big fuss is made about the fact they come from a registered area around the Mont Saint Michel, but I think it is time they go back to some old traditions and give them some time to mature.

Today is census day and we have submitted our form online. Really easy to do and online the questions are sifted out for you, as you answer each question. It is interesting to see the differences in some of the questions from the 1881 census with today's. For instance then you were either married, widowed or single, and for women that meant being described as a 'spinster'. Now you have a choice of 9 options including 'formally in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved'  how times have changed!

On Wednesday gave a presentation on the use of the WI website, the mobile broadband signal has certainly become stronger in the area and I was able to do the presentation 'live' with the use of a dongle. It wasn't so long ago that I had problems getting a mobile signal in our house. I think that even more or stronger transmitters have been installed. I do hope it is like this all over the county as it will make giving presentations much more interesting.

We had a day out in Sudbury on Friday as it was Rob's birthday. We visited Gainsborough's house, where there was an exhibition of Alfred Munnings landscape paintings. It was very interesting as I was only aware of his paintings of horses, and as I am not a horsey person, wasn't particularly interested. However his landscapes are very interesting and well worth a visit. This is a temporary exhibition - these paintings are normally kept in store and not on view to the public.

While in Sudbury, popped in to Vanner's factory shop and picked up some lovely pieces of fabric. Now busy creating a stunning silk jacket. Rob found a lovely tie so we were both happy.

Finished off with lunch at the Angel - found the restaurant by chance and had a lovely lunch, well worth trying if you are in the area. A 2 course lunch menu for £10. We have had a week of lovely warm spring weather and we had not expected it to last till Friday but it did so we had a lovely end to a beautiful warm week. 

Now of course much cooler, but it is still only the end of March - plenty of time for the temperature to warm up again.

Homemade Cheese

Last Friday 11th March I heard Lady Antonia Fraser interviewed,  at the Essex Federation of Women's Institutes, about her recent book on her life with Harold Pinter. She explained that everything in her book had been taken from her diaries, which she had written for very many years. She said it wasn't necessary to write every day but on a regular basis. This reminded me that although I don't keep a diary and never had, my blog was a type of diary in that it records events and memories which would otherwise be easily forgotten.

Last week we were in London, and visited the Modern British Sculpture exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.  There were some very interesting pieces but also some which needed more than a little imagination.

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/modernbritishsculpture/about-the-exhibition/

While in the area we also visited the Aktis Gallery, where there is a showing of 20th century Russian artists. Well worth the visit if you are in the area. http://www.aktis-gallery.co.uk/

Our day ended at the BAMS where the winners of the  student medal competition were presented with their prizes. It was so nice to see so many really good medals and the enthusiastic young artists were in awe of the surroundings at Cutlers Hall.

Small cheese 175g approx

Several weeks ago I made some cheeses, and I decided it was time to cut into the smallest one, which appeared to be ripe and firm and had a pleasant aroma. We were not dissapointed, in fact I was really pleased with the result.

another image of same chees

It is a rich buttery yellow colour and has a smooth firmish texture, with no air bubbles, or other imperfections. Perhaps a little salty but nothing to spoil the flavour.   This cheese was made with 1 litre of full cream pasteurised milk. See photos.

Today I am busy making another cheese. Just hoping that I have used the same method as before.  The advantage of a small cheese is that they mature quickly, but of course that means it could become dry and hard if left for just a little too long. Unlike a very large cheese, the small size means that it will never develop a really strong flavour as it hasn't the time to develop. However  this  first cheese is a resounding success. 

The larger cheese I made about seven weeks ago is still ripening. I think I will leave it at least another three weeks before we taste it.

WrW Maternal Health

What a busy day I had Wednesday. First a drive down to Ipswich for an interview on Radio Suffolk's mid morning show.with James Hazell. That went well, in fact better than I had anticipated. Came home to find emails from friends who had listened to the show and they were all pleased with what I had said. Rob had recorded the interview so I was able to listen myself, very odd, it didn't sound like me at all. Click on the link below to listen for your self. Start at 2 hours 11 mins.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00dv96x/James_Hazell_Show_23_02_2011/

Half past five found us at the station where we collected two of the speakers off the Cambridge train.

The Public Affairs committee all turned up on time as usual to find that the hall was more or less ready to go, as Rob, Alex and the speakers we had collected from the station had set to putting out the tables and chairs.

If there had been any doubt as to whether we would have an audience or not was soon dispelled when people started arriving well in advance of the start time. Soon there was a buzz around the room. People gathering and tasting the local food and wine.

We made a prompt start at 7.30 and Maria Pawlowska gave the first presentation. Unfortunately she hadn't got very far when one of our members was taken ill. Luckily we had two doctors 'in the house' and another guest quickly phoned for an ambulance. After a short time the lady was seen by the paramedics and taken into the ambulance for tests. Luckily she had recovered and didn't require hospitalisation but was taken home by one of my friends.

The evening continued. Maria was followed by Jenny Newell a local doctor, who gave a report on work being carried out in Bangladesh by one of her friends who has been working there for many years. The work being done in the Lamb hospital has reduced maternal mortality dramatically and is now significantly lower than in others regions of Bangladesh.

Adam Musgrave from Oxfam GB followed giving information on how governments are involved in implementing the MDGs and gave some very practical examples of why health care is not always accessed even when it is available. For instance in many countries health care has to be paid for in advance, and he gave one example of where the cost of a hospital birth equates to half the average annual salary. He put it to us that if he was earning £24,000 here he would not be prepared to pay £12,000 for his wife to give birth to their child she is expecting, even though he loves her dearly. I think everyone in the room agreed with him. He gave examples of how Oxfam uses publicity to raise awareness of issues.

On a different note Vicki Morris spoke about her work with young parents in Suffolk. Since the beginning of her project they have reduced the number of teenage pregnancies quite considerably. They have also succeeded in getting a large number of the young mothers back into education or into work. They have also succeeded in preventing them from going on to have subsequent pregnancies. A very worthwhile project - however due to funding cuts her job has been axed. Luckily for Vicki she has been accepted onto the degree course to study as a midwife, so will take this opportunity to make a career change.

The evening was brought to a close by Ruth Bond the NFWI national Chairman. She has been involved with the Women Reaching Women project since its conception and had visited Malawi with Adam Musgrave last year.

A total of 78 people attended the eventing and this morning I received several emails thanking us for a very good evening.

Popped into the WI office this morning to return some equipment and they too had had calls thanking them too.

The Big Society

Watching Question Time on Thursday I was really annoyed when the so called 'experts' were discussing the 'Big Society'.

I must be simple as I thought we all knew what the 'Big Society' was when David Cameron announced it last year.

Big Society - the general public doing volunteer work in the community, helping their neighbours, running scout and guide groups, running sports clubs, sitting on committees of village halls, churches, local museums etc for FREE. I seem to have misunderstood, it seems that the Big Society is another name for local government, surely not!

All we hear about is how much money will the 'Big Society' get - sorry but the idea of volunteering is to give your time and energy for 'FREE'.

Obviously there is going to be less money around over the coming years so volunteers will have to step in and do more. Locally parents are up in arms about the potential loss of Lollipop (wo)men, some parents even expect them to be provided within 20 metres of a pelican crossing. Surely it would be better for these parents to teach their children to cross the road safely using the facilities provided. Those whose children attend schools where there is no pedestrian crossing should volunteer to man a lollipop crossing themselves. Youth clubs are threatened with closure as funding is withdrawn unless the paid youth workers are replaced by volunteers, but parents don't have time! Oh, but I keep forgetting the currently way of thinking is that it should always be someone else who should offer these provisions, not us the general public.

I am not saying that those who lose their jobs will be pleased with the cutbacks, I do hope they find alternative employment, but I do think we should all think carefully about what needs to be done by paid employees and what can be done by genuine volunteers.

I think it is an insult to all those who already give their time to the 'Big Society' to imply that their work is paid for.

End of todays rant!

The Guildhall Project

Yesterday we visited the Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds, with a group from the Bury Heritage Guides.

There are plans to make the Guildhall into a new Heritage Venue, and we had the opportunity to look around with Matthew Champion, the project manager.

It had been assumed that the Guildhall dated back to around 1250 but after recent surveys for the new project it is now believed to be even older, possibly 1180. The Guildhall is thought to be the oldest civic building in England. At the front of the building, is covered with brick work which covers the original flint structure. At the rear the flint banding is clearly visible and apparently there are several churches in the area which were built in the same manner leading the experts to think the building now dates from the 12th century. In the rear courtyard is the Tudor kitchen, which had been thought to have been rebuilt in later times, but after close inspection much of the original building is still intact along with the covered corridor from the kitchen through into the main banqueting room.

Upstairs where the scouts currently have their shop, is the Royal Observer Corps 'Ops Room'. This has remained unchanged since its decommissioning in the 1950's. It is hoped to replace the furniture as it was used during the war. Several people have already come forward who worked there including the carpenter who installed the raised balcony area above the 'ops' table.

A very interesting visit.

http://www.burysociety.com/Guildhall/Press_release/press_release.html

Cheese, Marmalade and Chutney

I realise I haven't written my blog recently.

We spent New Year in France. It was very cold when we arrived - just like in the UK and then suddenly we had a couple of unseasonably warm days, when it was warmer outside than in.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the second session of the cheese making course I had attended in November. Much of it was a repetition of the first session, but we were all much more relaxed and asked many more questions of our tutor.

Since coming back I have made a cheese, it is now is a cool place maturing. Time will tell whether it is edible or not. But as with everything practice makes perfect. Really just need my own cow, but as that is not practical will have to make do with Sainsburys!

Photos of curds and whey.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner Friday at Pea Porridge a local restaurant. We were celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary a few weeks late but better late than never. Good seasonal food and very tasty, a good place for a special meal. I had a starter of cod cheeks coated in a black tempura batter - stunning, black outside white inside, yes I know we shouldn't be eating cod but occasionally an exception has to be made. Then I had braised ox cheek, really tender and rich, lovely flavours and textures. To finish a pannacota with rhubarb. Rob had a salad to start with a Rocamadour cheese, followed by a pan fried hare fillet. He said it was really delicious.

Now busy promoting the Women Reaching Women event on Maternal Health. Fairly confident that we will have a good number of people attending, but it is always difficult to pin people down and get them to commit. Busy posting on Facebook and Twitter in the hope of reaching a wider audience. Visited several preschools and primary schools in the neighbourhood. Just over four weeks to go.

It is the season for Seville Oranges, so have been busy in the kitchen so far I have made two batches, one standard and one Oxford style. My chutneys are now on sale at our local coffee house, until now I have been selling direct to the consumer at fairs in France. Last summer there was great demand for the marmalade from the Brits and the chutneys sold well to my French customers. I have plenty of stock so hope this years sales are as good as last year.

WrW Maternal Health

Women Reaching Women

Improving Maternal Health



Maria Pawlowska,
Cambridge University Gates Scholar

Adam Musgrave
Health and Education Campaigner Oxfam GB


Victoria Morris,

Young Parents Support and Advocacy Worker Suffolk

Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Horringer Community Centre

7 p.m. Wine and Cheese 7.30 p.m. Start
Cost £4 
To Book contact SWFWI Office: suffolkwestwi@btconnect.com Tel:01284 754520 
This event is open to all please invite your friends and other interested parties