Tonight I made nana's Barrovian pies!

Barrovian pies!

So last night I had a rest....tonight I made pies...Barrovian pies! 

I once asked my nana what made them 'Barrow pies' as opposed to 'just pies'.  She said it was because they were really nice!  So tonight I made really nice pies!

Cheese and onion with a little bit of very small pieces of potato...maybe that's the Barrovian bit? 


Who knows but my nana's word was final and who wouldn't trust someone wearing sunglasses such as these?!

Nana making us all laugh in her borrowed sunglasses!

 My nana was also the star of a selfie!  This photo was towards the end of her life and she was very impressed with my daughter's #nanaselfie which was a storm on twitter!

#nanaselfie

My nana also helped start our With Love from Isabel  fund.  When the Centre first opened she used to give me money to 'put in my drawer for people who need it', 'for whatever they might need, especially something nice or a treat'.  She gave it with such kindness that a few years down the line we thought that when people are in difficulties and need a little bit of extra help, we should give them help with love and in the form of a gift.  We have got some lovely envelopes, gift cards and paper so that when people need extra help they receive a gift rather than money from a 'crisis fund'. 

So nana...your Barrovian pie explanation may be a bit lacking but your help to start our With Love from Isabel  fund means we will accept it anyway!

Another french knitting mat whilst I was resting last night

I really don't know what I am going to do with all these knitted mats! 

I need to keep busy baking rather than watching box sets on TV (this is when I knit the mats) as I think friends and colleagues might appreciate the bread and cakes more than a knitted mat!

A big hello to Kerry tonight who I know is still recovering at home.  Looking forward to seeing you again in a few weeks/months when you are well and everyone is back at work.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Today Grahame is my favourite person

Grahame at Connexions was my favourite person today but before that....

Some coasters made out of french knitting!

...I am trying moving pictures!  This is what happens when we all stay in...learning new skills that may or may not be useful!

I might have to learn to type quicker next as the moving images catching my eye as I type are either making me sea sick or causing some mild hypnotism.  Either way I am starting to sway!

Tonight I have made more bread...

...and just like that I have remembered it is still rising!!!  

Phew...just in time to put it in the oven.  Any longer and it would have been ruined.

The remembered just in time bread!

And back to Grahame.

Me this morning, "Grahame, I need 4 laptops, preferrably in the next hour".

Normally this would not be a problem for any supplier who would be very happy to supply such goods (and probably charge extra for the 'rush job').

Today Grahame said, "Oh!"  What he meant was, "You have to be joking, they are currently as available as hen's teeth".

Me, "it is so more of our staff can carry on working from home! And I have another 4 things on my list I need!"

20 minutes later, Grahame calls, "I have reserved you 4 laptops.  I am not sure how I found them and they are within your budget and the price of them is not inflated (apparently some stockists are inflating their prices because they are in such demand)".

Me, "Yippee!"

And that is why Grahame is my favourite person today.  Because tomorrow they will help another 4 of our staff continue to support women and young people who are currently at home and in need of help and support.

Today I remembered...there are lots of Grahame's in this world...tomorrow I hope you all find yours.

Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Just stay in and make bread!

Just stay in, just stay in, just stay in...and make bread maybe?  Or something more interesting!

Tonight's bread and buns...

I'm not an interesting person...I don't do exciting things...I like being at home.

I am staying in as much as possible...and making bread!

A traditional loaf shape, a big cob, a small cob, and some buns.  It's a simple kind of night, I'm kept busy, and I am not infecting anyone else...that's because I am staying at home and making bread.

Corona virus is particularly infectious.  If I have it and wander around, shopping for things I don't really need, meeting up with friends, catching up with acquaintances, I may be passing it on to lots of people.  They can then wander around passing it to lots more people and so on. 

A very clever virologist explained on the TV today that if 1 infected person wanders round then very quickly they can infect 10,000 people.  Now those numbers sound a bit too big but he was very clear.  He explained how one person infects 3, then those 3 each go on to affect 3 more each, and so on, until the 10th time it is passed on 10,000 people have been infected.

You can heear him here on Facebook explain it in more detail  https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/205334644027351/

Now I might not be interesting but the bread smells good and I will not be that 1 person that starts the infection of 9,999 others.  Don't let it be you either.  Stay in and make bread!

Chocolate chip griddle scones :-)

...or you could make chocolate chip griddle scones.

...or knitted cats.

You could learn a new skill.

You can catch up with friends and family on the phone, on social media, on Instagram or Snapchat (if you have a young person to hand), or even by writing a letter or email!

What you cannot do is meet up.

Remember 1 person can easily infect 9,999 others.  Do not let that person be you.




One of the special people in my life is a midwife.  She and her colleagues are working.  They are looking after new and expectant mums and dads.  On her days off she is staying at home...she might make bread, she might do something more interesting.  What she will not do is wander around infecting others.

This is Cathy the midwife doing something interesting

This is Cathy.  She is a midwife.  This is her enjoying a pom pom creation.  If anyone doesn't know what to do whilst staying in I would love some of these!

So, stay in, don't infect others and see you soon.

Love, Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Doing as we're told...

I am not one for doing as I am told...but...today and tomorrow and the next day and the next are where that changes.  I am absolutely doing as I am told. 

• I am staying in at home
• I went out for a short walk away from other people (and picked wild garlic)
• I am washing my hands at least every half an hour (although whilst cooking it is more like every 3.5 minutes)
• I don't have any symptoms...but if I do I will most definitely be self-isolating...and so will my family

So...I have made the commitment to do as I am told and now I can do loads of things I like...

Homemade wild garlic pasta with wild garlic and cream cheese...

...the wild garlic we picked earlier we made into wild garlic pasta.  It is the first time in a long while I have made my own pasta.  Now there are improvements I think could be made but my family thought it was the best pasta ever...I'll take them at their word and they may get it for every meal for a while!

...more pancakes.  Small ones with butter, jam and whipped cream.
Bigger ones with syrup and butter for breakfast tomorrow...

Anyone else made any pasta?  I would like some tips as mine wasn't as stretchy and smooth as I was after.  I've seen the cookery programmes and obviously was after it looking just like that.  I have had no culinary training but obviously expected some magic to ensure mine came out perfect first time!  Well....I will have time to practice over the next few months.  

"Are you planning on cooking and baking your way through this?", my husband asked.

"Yes!"

More pancakes....and some chocolate chip griddle scone mix in the fridge until it is ready to roll and cook.

Now what next?

Well I thought I had better have a break from cooking...I have washed my hands approximately 50 times whilst I have been cooking...as we have been told to do...and all is well.  Cooking is done in the usual amount of time, everything tastes as expected (pasta even better than expected apparently) and I have done as I am told.

Mother's Day daffoldils

I spent some time looking at my Mother's Day daffoldils.  they are really very nice...and I am doing as I am told...and all is well.

So...today we all do as we're told and those people who are more vulnerable than us, who need us to do as we are told to help protect them, they will be OK too.

I can stay in for a bit to help with that...I can do as I am told to help with that...and I bet you can too.

See you all soon.  Love Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Hello to all our volunteers

This hyacinth really is in my garden!  

Our volunteers went home last week and mostly had to be coerced into going.  

"What about all those people who need our help and support," they said. 

"We and all those people need all you wonderful volunteers for the many years to come.  We can all manage for a few weeks...we'll have to.  And then when the peak of the Corona Virus has passed, you will all come back and continue to be your wonderful selves."

For now we all have to heed advice and remain at home and away from others as much as possible.  For the good of everyone we need to take the advice we are given and follow it to the letter.  When all this is over we will have lots of time to be together and give each other real hugs.  For now virtual hugs are good, and good old fashioned telephone calls work a treat to stay in touch!

This is my mum's effort at a knitted bear...

When the peak is over it will almost be time to hear whether or not our volunteers have been awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.  They have been nominated this year and whether they get the awaard or not I cannot think of any more wonderful people to work alongside every day.  Thank you to every one of you, stay safe, and I look forward to seeing you all again when the advice changes and it is safe for us all to get out and about.  

So what are we all going to do with ourselves?  Well I thought a bit of craft/knitting is always good.  My mum knits and sews and crochets and stuff mum's and grannie's are good at.  She made the bear to left.  It looks pretty impressive...how hard can it be.  Last year I got a 'making knitted animals out of squares' book.  I decided the cats looked easy enough and started clacking my knitting needles.  The results below are a little less creative than my mum's efforts but they really did make us laugh.  

...this is my attempt at knitting cats!  I did finish the faces but
they are not really as cat like as I was after! 

They are possibly the worst knitted cats anyone has ever made but it was good fun making them, we laughed a lot and it means any cats you knit will definitely be an improvement!  

So, my challenge to all you knitters and non-knitters, do you fancy knitting an animal whilst you are at home?  Crocheting one is also acceptable!  

When we are all back we will think of something fabulous to do with them all that reminds us of how important it is to be kind, how important we are to each other, and how care, compassion and love are what helped us survive Covid -19...oh, and doing as we are told which includes social distancing, hand washing and self-isolation if we have the symptoms!

Love to all you wonderful volunteers who give your time so generously at WCM and for other equally wonderful charities and groups.  

See you all soon, Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

 

Our funders are the best!

I love snowdrops.  For me they are always a sign of good to come...

Arts Council England were the first to send a very lovely email letting us know they understood what was happening, knew we would be worried and wanted to offer us some reassurance.  "All grant conditions are removed with immediate effect for the next 3 months".  What did they want in return?  Just that we looked after each other and looked after our communities.  We can definitely do that.  Thanks Arts Council England.

Some mini knitted pockets we offer people to keep small treasures
and use to help them at tricky times. 

Next came a public announcement from a number of funders including Lankelly Chase, and then followed the very lovely email personalised with a lovely message from Joe.  Look after yourselves he said, we are hear to support you so you can support your community.  We will keep in touch so we can work things out together, and let us know if and where we can help.  We will indeed.  Thank you Lankelly Chase.

A rainbow in Barrow March 2019.  

Next came a number of messages and emails from the National Lottery Community Fund who are our major funder as we are a lucky recipient of one of the Women and Girls' Initiative Grants.  They offered reassurance that they are ready to be flexible, and told us that there won't be any pressure in relation to targets and timescales.  Clair let us know she would be around if we needed her or had any questions.  Thanks Clair.  Emails like this mean we can concentrate our efforts on doing what we are here to do and remove so much of our worry.  Thank you to all at the National Lottery Community Fund.  When this is over we are looking forward to catching up with you all.

Lastly, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner who were checking we were all staying safe, and Barrow Borough Council who are working hard to make sure services will still be in place when this is all over.  Thank you.

Thank you to all these funders and to the others who are encouraging us to get on with things.  Your support means such a great deal and here is a very big and heart felt thank you for all of here in Barrow.

Love, Rebecca and all at WCM xxx

Barrow is my favourite place!

Well it has been a very long time since we posted on our blog as we moved to having a website www.womenscommunitymatters.org and social media became easier to post on.  Blogs were much more popular when posting to Facebook involved a few sentences/a link rather than the plethora of options we have now!

I felt the time was perhaps right for us to return to the blog world and share something about our week.  Life feels uncertain for us all and the start of the Corona virus outbreak saw thousands of posts about fighting over toilet rolls.  This week has been a whole different experience.  And I think that is because I live in Barrow.

Monday...one of our staff is off work at the moment and we urgently needed to get in her desk drawer.  In the middle of all the difficulties, "break it open" I said.  Rachael with a much more reasoned response said, "I've called Tom".  Would he come out to open a desk drawer?!  Very soon he arrived, opened the drawer with a smile and then also fixed a door that wouldn't stay shut, gave us some advice on a couple of other things, and went on his way.  Our new member of staff, Katy, said, "who was that lovely man?"  "Tom Burrow", I said...."from Burrow's on Dalton Road.  We like to stay local and always get excellent service."

Tuesday came and we realised we needed lots of stationary.  It is is the time of year when we restock lots of our stationary ready for the start of a new financial year, setting up new files and getting organised.  Things have been a bit busy and we were a bit late with our ordering...I thought we might have to wait for things.  Wednesday arrived and Phil arrived with his trolley and all our stationary.  He brought it from the car park, along the corridor, up in the lift, through 3 sets of doors along another corridor and stacked in under a table in the staff office.  He made a lot of trips and the 12 boxes of paper looked particularly heavy.  After his 5th trip I asked whether there was any chance of having the invoice quicker than usual to help with staffing here.  (I don't want much!!)  Seemingly he knew that was what I would ask and whipped it out of his shirt pocket.  More staying local and more excellent service from Heaths on Dalton Road. 

It is not just the very speedy service (which being a fast kind of person suits me perfectly) it is the friendly, happy to help Barrovian way of doing things that I love so much.

Wild garlic wraps tonight

It's hard to know how to respond to the changing world we currently find ourselves in.  I have lots of plans and actions plans, but it doesn't feel quite enough.  Yesterday I made cakes, tonight I made wild garlic flat breads and big little pancakes (so named by my children) and sharing them with others, things feel a bit better.

I think baking might be what I need to do.  What about you?

...and some 'big little pancakes' ready for breakfast

Tomorrow I want to tell you about how very lovely and wonderful our funders have been.  Not just a bit good....but very good.  I will tell you about it then and I might make bread!

We are going look at sharing some stories and bits and pieces on here...this was the practice!

For now I wish you all good night and lots of love from all at Women's Community Matters.

Love, Rebecca xx