Here comes Summer!

On Wednesday June 20th Wessex Women had the pleasure of hearing Chris Morley tell us about a day in the life of being the Butler to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. It was not only very interesting but also amusing and we all thoroughly enjoyed his talk, it opened our eyes to how much is involved in the position and the long hours he works but he obviously thoroughly enjoys his job.

As I reported in my last Blog I was shortlisted in the Women 1st Shine Awards 2012 for a Lifetime Achievement. The award went to Jill Stein the ex wife of Rick Stein who between them have built up a business to include restaurants, a cookery school, a shop and it all started with one fish restaurant in Padstow. I felt honoured to have been shortlisted and I had a lovely evening at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London catching up with friends and enjoying a delicious meal.

I attended the Women 1st conference during the day and again met some interesting women and listened to some inspiring women speakers. All in all a great day.

Just a reminder that we are holding a charity cream tea on Sunday 15th July from  4pm until 5-30pm as part of the Hampshire Food Festival. All proceeds will be divided between Jack's Place at Naomi House and the Variety Club Children's Charity. Both charities do wonderful work for children and are worth supporting. To book your place tel 01590 622165. I'm hoping the weather will have improved so some of you can sit in the garden. The scones will be supplied by Linzi Luker of Linzi's Patisserie

The next Wessex Women's Network meeting is on August 1st when we will welcome David Saunders as our speaker. The title of his talk 'Dr's who kill',  apparently it's a very amusing and entertaining talk so don't be put off by the title! I expect some of you will be on holiday and if you are I hope you have a very relaxing and enjoyable time and find some sunshine!

Those of you who were at the last meeting will have noticed that the Garden Room has been refurbished by Jo from New Forest Interiors in Lymington. I am delighted with the result, Jo is one of our members and took over New Forest Interiors at the beginning of the year. If any of you have a special family celebration coming up maybe you would like to celebrate it in the Garden Room, it has direct access to the secluded garden where you can enjoy a pre-lunch or dinner drink in the summer months.

I continue to be a speaker at various events and meetings and get quite frustrated at the lack of confidence women still have. You all have enormous talents so believe in yourselves and use them.

One of my favourite quotes 'Use the talents you possess because the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except the best'

'If you cannot do great things do small things in a great way' Napoleon Hill

Hope to see you soon

Avril