Wandsworth Common Wi Page

We're going online - this Thursday 9 April on zoom, link is in the newsletter - and we've got questions to answer.
1. What book is on your bedside table? (and would you recommend it?)
2. Who would you choose to have a week-long conversation with?
... 3. What was the best advice you were ever given, and who gave it?
4. A week off: walking the hills or catching up on missed episodes of Line of Duty?
5. What are you enjoying having extra time for?
6. Where would you like to visit when we can travel again?
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for anyone feeling slightly deprieved of WI, then I recommend the Facebook page called the Unofficial WI - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Unofficia lWomensInstitute/?multi_permalinks=10158 093835773058%2C10158093808938058%2C10158 091301423058%2C10158093696728058%2C10158 093688113058¬if_id=15855769647470 89¬if_t=group_activity - members from all over the country participate, ask questions and show off their baking, sewing, gardening, campaigning etc.

April issue of WI Life arrived today - maybe now I'll have the time to actually read it.

Wandsworth Common WI April newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/c1…/wandsworth-commo n-wi-april-newsletter

Meet Refuge, our chosen charity, on 5 March and more - March newsletter - https://mailchi.mp/…/meet-refuge-our-ch osen-charity-on-5-ma…

February newsletter - next meeting: How the Wandle went from sludge to clear water - https://mailchi.mp/…/february-newslette r-next-meeting-how-t…

Change of speaker for Jan 9 meeting - newsletter tells all - https://mailchi.mp/…/change-of-speaker- for-jan-9-meeting-ne…

Nature walk on Wandsworth Common on a lovely balmy July evening. Did you realise that SW London is one of the strong holds of the stag beetle in Europe? that the people fishing round the one lake on the common where fishing are allowed are after carp (mainly) although there are pike and other fish in there. The difference between a house mouse and an outdoor mouse is the outdoor mouse will be a yellow neck mouse, you'll see its yellow colouring near its neck. I wasn't able to do the walk - just interrogated Valerie Selby, the biodiversity manager, beforehand - so these pictures are via Alison Blair - would be lovely to see other people's pics or hear their thoughts about the walk.

The Met Office says it will be sunny this evening - so all good for our nature walk tonight. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/fore cast/gcpuer7pm…

The Skylark Café where we are meeting for tomorrow’s nature walk at 7.15 pm. Really easy to find, you can see it almost as soon as you step on Wandsworth Common off the toadtrack, Dorlcote Rd end. Looking forward to it. See you there.

Delighted to find that such a thing as environmentally friendly glitter exists. all part of the anti-plastics campaign & definitely what we all need for Christmas. apparently it is called Eco Star dust.

Lovely trip to Mayfields Lavender Farm - when I made the pics into an album they disappeared from the main news timeline, so I'm posting again, because they are well worth a look. did you realise that English lavender, largely grown in South London and along the South Downs, was the world's best lavender in Victorian times?

More pics from the Lavender Fields trip. Apologies for not getting decent pics of everyone there. & please post yr own pics of the day.

We’re all looking a bit serious here - testing our ability to smell the difference between 3 different types of lavender grown at Mayfields Lavender Farm on today’s WI trip. Gratuitous scone pic will appear shortly .... We learnt a lot about lavender, how it was used in different times & the fascinating story of how this lavender farm came into being & how it developed into an international tourist attraction almost by accident thanks to social media. Did you know that south London & Surrey were the global centre of lavender production in Victorian times? That’s why Lavender Hill has its name. An excellent trip, much enjoyed & I hope that other people will also post pics - & better than my photos for sure - to share the day with you all.

An entertaining & educational evening with antiques expert Michael Laikin & some surprising valuations of objects we’d brought along. Enjoyed by guests as well as members. & Michael had never seen anything like this possibly gold chased bone roof tile peg.