Murder Mystery!

December was given over to our Christmas murder mystery party, very successfully organised with great input of time and effort by Caroline Smith and Michala Roger.

Elegantly dressed ladies of the 1920s mingled with a surprising number of gentle - and not so gentle – men at the auction of jewellery and ancient artefacts belonging to the murdered Baroness.

A splendid buffet and light refreshments oiled the wheels of social interaction and curious enquiry as participants attempted to outwit Inspector Clue Do in his efforts to solve the murder mystery.

In some cases this involved concealing the truth, in others laying a false trail and in most, the hope of solving the mystery before the professional detective. 

The evening ended with ‘Secret Santa’ present giving, but in traditional style, not before our elegant guest judge, Davina Farquharson, had judged the seasonal competitions.

Competitions
Christmas Stocking - 1, Sandra Boath; 2, Hazel Smart; 3, Ellen Carleton;

2 Mincemeat Pies - 1, Sandra Boath; 2, Patsy Paton; 3, Sheina Smith;

Flower of the month - 1, Patsy Paton; 2, Margaret Mackie; 3, Sandra Boath;

President Susan thanked all for the very many efforts which made the memorable evening a resounding success and wished everyone a Merry Christmas and safe home.

Cortachy Rural is the Greatest!

Cortachy Rural showed its power and versatility on a dark night of torrential rain, but excellent spirits!

President Susan welcomed a crowded hall to a members’ corners night and introduced some streamlining measures to the housekeeping, following a committee meeting last week.

Hazel Hood taught us how to make a woollen sheep decoration by felting a ball of wool with a barbed needle, and encouraged us to think of entering the needle felting class in 2020 Federation show. 

Some of us discovered just how sharp and barbed the needles are!

June Rae and her daughter Pauline demonstrated Pergemano paper craft and offered to share some donated craft items to anyone interested in pursuing the craft further.

 

Margaret Mackie demonstrated her scone making secrets and produced fresh scones in the hall kitchen.

Susan McLaren’s green fingers turned black as she demonstrated her successful bulb planting techniques and advised prospective planters on materials, equipment, timing and methodology and distributed pre-ordered bulbs and growing medium.

 

Gloria’s jewellery stall featured new stock donations and our streamlined raffle gave us more time to talk, includng wishing June many happy returns of the day!  Michala and Caroline Smith who have been working hard on the Christmas crime front, issued us with our characters for our Christmas “Murder at the Auction” mystery . . .

A lovely tea followed, provided by hostesses Irene Park, Patsy Paton, Sandra Boath and Moira Ronin.

Elsie Nicoll kindly judged our competitions, with the following results.

 Flower of the month – 1, Patsy Paton; 2, Ella Mackay; 3, Caroline Lang;

Apricot & chilli chutney – 1, Margaret Mackie, 2, Sandra Boath, 3, Hazel Hood;

Cheese scones – 1, Sheina Smith, 2, Margaret Mackie, 3, Ruth Simpson;

 

The great spirit of Cortachy Rural came to the fore in a dark and wet car park when I discovered I had a flat tyre and I will be eternally grateful for the practical help and support of Louise nee Myles, Caroline S, Michala, Susan and extra-honorary rural member, Alec Boath who all proved invaluable in getting me back on the road. (Not forgetting those who checked that the job was in good hands before they left.)

I told Angus Federation extraordinary meeting last year and our Federation Press Secretaries meeting last month, how much I value Cortachy Rural and I cannot say it enough. "Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart."

 💖

Frightfully good fun

We welcomed Shona Young, of Nutscene, based at Kingsmuir.

Shona described how Nutscene has survived 98 years on the core product, jute twine, and now exports it throughout the world. The twine, currently available in 22 colours, including neon hues, has grown a market in the craft sector and Nutscene has developed the market with products including cotton ‘MacCrammy’ string and raffia.

Shona told us of her adventures driving to Chelsea Flower show and the impact Nutscene makes there. She spoke of her pride in creating employment in Forfar and overseas, the global interest in a natural product, produced and processed by sustainable methods, using traditional equipment.

Moira Ronan thanked Shona for her lively and enlightening talk on a very successful local business.

Shona judged the 38 entries in our competitions and kindly donated prizes to the winner of each section.

Competitions:- 

Edible Halloween treat :- 1, Hazel Hood, 2, Valerie McMaster, 3, Michala Rogers; Halloween decoration:- 1, Danielle Simmonds, 2, Sandra Boath, 3,Tifaine ; 

Flower of the Month:- 1, Patsy Paton, 2, Ruth Simpson, 3, Caroline Lang.

President, Susan McLaren thanked Gloria, Sheina and Sine for our tea and reminded us of our forthcoming Silent auction on Friday 12^th October.

A Pretty Picture

Cortachy opened the 2019 -2020 session with an excellent turn-out of 44.

New President, Susan McLaren, welcomed established and new members, our Honorary President and a guest, keen to improve her photography skills.

Our speaker, keen photographer and enthusiastic trekker, George Milne, gave us tips and advice on the technical side of photography, the best way of storing and displaying photos and ideas about planning photography walks around our home area or beyond.

He judged our photos – 1, Sandra Boath, 2, June Rae, 3, Valerie McAlister;

our flowers -1, Susan McLaren, 2, Ellen Carleton, 3, Lady Airlie;

and our chocolate traybakes - 1, Hazel Hood, 2, Gloria Mitchell, 3, Valerie McAlister;

Caroline Lang thanked George for sharing his expertise and inspiration.

Treasurer Caroline and predecessor June gathered in our memberships.

We enjoyed a lovely tea, provided by our hostesses, Caroline Lang, Pat Harrow and Moira Ronan, said goodbye to Maggie Bentley, who is moving South to be nearer her family, and thanked her for her donation of a mound of crafting materials. 

At the weekend, some of us visited or worked on our promotional stall at Dundee Flower and Food Festival. We were based in Camperdown House which drew many admiring comments from visitors. On Saturday, around 15 people asked to join the SWI and wanted to know which is their nearest institute.

Resurrected!

Hello again,

the blog is to be resurrected as a place to find news of things to come and records of recent events. We have a facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/Cortachy-SWRI-2191813847753228/   but old info is not easy to find on FB so I will try to use both to their strengths!

Please bear with me while I update some of the side panels on this blog.

At our meeting in May, we elected a new committee, with Susan McLaren as  President and Caroline Lang as VP.

We enjoyed our outing in June, with a meal at Kirrie golf club followed by a visit to the theatre in Kirrie Town Hall where Dundee Rep performed "A to Z of Dundee", brand new anarchic, fast-paced, (and mostly true) history of Dundee. 

First step taken!