It was great to be able to welcome two new ladies on the night and, to arrive and leave whilst the evening was still light. Our speaker was Sue Pacey, visiting us for the second time. She is certainly very entertaining with her many stories of events encountered as a beekeeper, and author, having just had her 10th book published, and as a retired midwife.
She was brought up in an animal-loving family where her Mum brought home various rescued animals including hedgehogs, cats, and mice. Sue, herself, told of her experience of ‘hoovering up’ bees into a box when called out to help a lady in distress. In her role as a midwife, she visited many houses checking up on new-born babies, when she also encountered a good variety of animals of all shapes and sizes as well. One house, in particular, had rows of cages containing rats which at first did not seem significant. It was only when checking on the new baby that a rather large snake slithered out from under the settee Sue was sitting on and proceeded to move across the room! Although it was now June, the owners still had a Christmas Tree in situ complete with twinkling lights. The sight of Cyril the snake caused a bit of a stir such that the Christmas Tree managed to topple and fall on Sue – the baby was ok and so was she. The tree was dismantled forthwith.
Another story told was of a visit to a Gypsy encampment where she was directed to a caravan, which would be recognised as having a goat tied up outside. Expecting a timid animal, she nearly retraced her steps when confronted by a rather large and unfriendly goat who was barring her way. It took an elderly family relative to allow Sue to get inside the caravan.
In her own home, Sue has several cats, and a bat roost which she is happy with, but seeing a moth does her no favours at all. She did recount another story of being called on to help with the birthing of a lamb when all was not going to plan for the mother. Unable to reach the lamb, a pair of expensive solid silver soup ladles were employed, which did the trick!
As you might imagine, there were a good number of chuckles, and laughter in the Parish Room when listening to Sue. She is most definitely a good storyteller.
The next meeting of the Group will be on Wednesday 5 June when Marjorie Dunn will be visiting again to talk to us about ‘The Brontes’. The meeting scheduled for Wednesday 3 July will actually take place on 26 June, when we are planning a trip out to Renishaw Gardens. More details are to follow. Since the Group does not meet in August, it has been agreed to host a Coffee Morning in the Parish Room on Saturday 3 August to raise much needed funds for the Church.
It would be good to see other new folk come along to join us and give us a try. We meet in the Parish Room for a start time of 7pm, charging £2 to help towards the Speaker’s cost, hire of the room, tea/coffee and a ticket for a Raffle Prize drawn on the night. Do have a chat to Trish, Marilyn J., or myself if you wish to find out more.
Wendy Drake