If this is Tuesday, it must be England #59

I would love to be in England this coming weekend - March 29 through April 1 is time for

a celebration of everything about the great British institution that is the WI. Bringing together four fabulous days of craft, cooking, creativity, shopping, learning and travel, it promises to be a grand day out.

I don't know if I've covered the Women's Institute on my blog before in much detail.  The Women's Institute was brought to our attention on the big and small screen in Calendar Girls and Home Fires.  I can't describe it any better than what is in the About the WI section of their webpage:

The Women's Institute (WI) was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the organisation's aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women's organisation in the UK. The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and currently has almost 220,000 members in approximately 6,300 WIs.

The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.

Her Majesty the Queen joined the Sandringham branch of the WI in 1943, when she was still Princess Elizabeth, and each year in January, she joins the group for a meeting at West Newton Village Hall, near her estate in Norfolk.

The WI Fair promises to be a great event with over 300 exhibitors, delicious food, cooking demonstrations, workshops, and seminars.  A visit to the WI Fair is definitely going on my bucket list.

Penelope Wilton (Ruth), Helen Mirren (Chris), and Julie Walters (Annie) in Calendar Girls

Annie: You baked that?
Chris: I'm not a total dead loss as a woman. I can't knit or make plum jam but I can bake a bloody Victoria sponge.
Annie: Ok, thank you.
Chris: Course, I didn't actually bake this one - I got it at Marks and Spencer - but the point is...
Annie: You can't enter a cake you bought in a shop!
Chris: Get off! It doesn't matter where it comes from, does it? This is about putting up a united front against Highgyll. This isn't bakery. It's Zulu.

Fabulous movie!

Key dates and celebrations this coming week:



Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother died aged 101 on 30 March 2002



One of my favorite British actresses, Dame Penelope Keith, immortalized as Margo Leadbetter (The Good Life 1975-1978) and Audrey fforbes-Hamilton (To the Manor Born 1979-1981) celebrates her 77th birthday on April 2