Month: December 2025
Most Successful Reindeer Sale
Wenvoe Wildlife Group
Most Successful Reindeer Sale
A very Happy Christmas and New Year to all our supporters.
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A most successful Reindeer Sale event took place again and our great thanks to Mike and Glenys for their generous support for WWG. This is our main source of funding, and we could not achieve a fraction of what we do without it. Our chutneys and jams, using fruits from our orchards, sold out quickly and we were delighted to hear of other residents using fruit such as Medlars in their home cooking. We have 6 Medlar trees, and they seem to produce an abundance each year – a great little tree with attractive blossom and seems to cope well with our climate.
The weather has conspired against some of our efforts to do maintenance in the orchards but there is always plenty to do if you can spare a few minutes. We were delighted to help the School on their Tree Day and Angela helped several classes with games and project work.
When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
When It’s Wet To Stay Off The Ground
We are advised when it’s wet to stay off the ground. It causes a lot of damage if the soil gets compacted. This causes problems with drainage and restricted plant growth and includes the grass. There is still plenty to be getting on with, starting with trying to make room in the shed. This is for the stuff we are going to throw out from the house in spring but can’t bear to take to the tip. It’s the same ritual every year.
It has been such a strange year with a dry summer and a warm autumn. This has meant we have bedding plants still flowering in November. Pelargoniums are sometimes discarded but an old method of storing them is cut them back, pull up and shake off the soil, dry them out and store root ball pointing up and wrapped in newspaper. Ieuan uses the Guardian newspaper for his, but I’m quite sure the Telegraph would suffice as long as you don’t mind the plants leaning to the right when you replant them next spring. When the rain eventually came it seemed to bring all the insects, that had been waiting in the soil, to life. With not as much to eat in Autumn, they even started eating geraniums which are usually left unscathed. A lot of gardeners were bitten as well. A noticeable absentee from the late summer was the wasp, very few around.
Another piece of advice handed out at this time of year is to up the feeding of our feathered friends. They say it will encourage them to feed on the pests in the garden. I can’t say I’ve seen those little darlings ignore an easy meal to go hunting for the odd insect. What it does encourage is the larger pests (mice and rats) if we don’t keep the area cleaned regularly. If you’re putting apples out for the blackbirds, you will need to quarter them as they won’t peck through the skin. If you leave them whole, you are just inviting Pam Williams to recover them for her apple distribution network. Open feeders will bring in the sparrow hawk, it works like a McDonald’s drive through for these small raptors.
Working in and around the village throughout the year it’s an absolute pleasure to see the way the gardens are kept. I have to mention Mr& Mrs Cottle who always keep theirs in lovely order.
I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Take care and happy gardening.
October 2025 200 Club Winners
Our village Repair Café
WENVOE REPAIR CAFÉ
Our village Repair Café has been up-and-running now for 7 months; how time flies! The uptake from locals has been amazing so we thought it was maybe opportune just to compile a little article to support what Repair Café is and what it does….
Repair Café is simply ‘people power’. It is a local initiative powered by local people who care about their locality. There is no external funding and definitely no government or local authority influence; all our money comes from donations. It is about trying to make a very small difference to a huge problem. That problem is excess consumerism and the so-called “use and throw” mentality that prevails nowadays and most of us contribute to.
Repair Café was started in Amsterdam in 2009 by a Dutch environmental journalist named Martine Postma. Its aim simply was to reduce waste, promote a repair culture and strengthen community ties. In 2010 Postma created the Repair Café Foundation, and the idea took off across Europe and then worldwide. As of today, there are more than 2,500 Repair Cafes across 40 countries and it’s growing weekly. There are local cafes in Barry; Sully; Penarth; Llantwit Major; Ely and Cowbridge.
So, its simple objectives are (a) extend the life of everyday objects (b) reduce landfill waste (c) share repair skills and knowledge (d) build social connections within communities (e) encourage sustainable consumption habits.
Our Repair Café here in Wenvoe has really started to make a difference with all 5 of those principles. So, what do we do and how do we do it? Good question!
Firstly, any Repair Café needs volunteers – volunteer fixers to mend the items; volunteer servers to help with refreshments and volunteer coordinators to manage the through-flow of ‘customers’. Who are our fixers? Well in simple terms, anyone and everyone! Most of our volunteer fixers are just folks from our community and further afield who are prepared to simply have a go. Few have relevant skills (although one or two do have expertise) but are prepared to roll up their sleeves, grab a screwdriver, Duck tape or a needle and thread and try their best; nothing more. Anyone and everyone is very welcome to volunteer. If a volunteer has a particular expertise, then of course that is wonderfully helpful with complex fixes like clocks, computers, pedal cycles, electronics and some electrical items but many fixes merely require tenacity and persistence.
Fixes come in all shapes and sizes; there is no common theme. We’ve had fine ornaments, children’s toys, complex gadgets, family heirlooms, garden electricals and historical clocks to name but a few. Our success rate is very good with most items being fixed, but not all; sometimes we do encounter an item which is unfortunately beyond its repairable life. We carry a few everyday consumables like electrical plugs, fuses, super glue, small nuts and bolts etc but we do not carry any spare parts. Due to insurance reasons, we also cannot accept anything which has petrol or gas as its fuel.
When you arrive at the village Community Centre on the morning of the last Saturday in the month you will be greeted by our coordinator who will assess the broken item you have. You will then have to fill in a simple form authorising us to ‘have a go’. You will then take a seat in our café area to enjoy a cuppa and a biscuit whilst you wait to be allocated to a volunteer fixer station. Then it’s down to us to get stuck in and work our magic. Some items are fixable in 10 minutes; others can take quite a bit longer. We’ll assess it and discuss with you what we think. If you then agree we’ll try our best to get the item repaired. Handing back a fixed item is a very satisfying outcome and is a job well done.
So, we will go from strength to strength, but we always need more volunteers. More fixers are especially welcome as we can then repair more things. If you have an interest, skill, hobby or background which could help or you’re just prepared to muck in (like me!) then please do join us.
You can contact me on 07581 192108 or call into the Repair Café and chat to us to find out more.
Martin Thomas
Simple Tips for a Sustainable Season
WENVOE FORUM
Considering Tomorrow Today
A Greener Christmas – Simple Tips for a Sustainable Season
A forum member points the way to a more sustainable but just as lovely Christmas.
This Christmas, a few small changes can make the season brighter for both people and planet:
• Choose a real tree from a local source, or one you can replant – and compost it afterwards.
• Light it wisely – LED fairy lights use up to 90% less energy than traditional bulbs.
• Wrap with care – try brown paper, reusable bags, or fabric wraps instead of glittery or plastic-coated paper.
• Decorate naturally – pinecones, holly, ivy, dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks look beautiful and are biodegradable.
• Reuse and recycle – keep ribbons, bags and boxes for next year, and recycle cards that aren’t foil or glitter-covered.
• Eat seasonally and shop local – support nearby farms, refill shops and markets to cut packaging and food miles.
• Plan your food shopping to avoid waste – and turn leftovers into creative Boxing Day meals.
• Travel lightly – walk to local events if you can or share lifts to family gatherings.
• Give thoughtfully – consider gifts of experience, local crafts, or donations to a cause close to your heart.
• Compost what you can – peelings and trimmings will soon feed your spring garden.
Wishing everyone in Wenvoe a joyful, sustainable Christmas and a hopeful New Year!
To join our Facebook group, please ‘friend up’ with the GwenFo account @ https://www.facebook.com/gwen.fo.1 and then jon the Wenvoe Forum @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/635369267864402
Some further information and updates, blog site https://wenvoeforum.wordpress.com/. Any Wenvoe community member is welcome to join the Forum meetings, via Zoom, which are normally held 19.00 on the second Thursday of each month. E-mail gwen-fo.forum@gmail.com if you wish to join
“The Women” by Kristin Hannah
“The Women” by Kristin Hannah
The first part of this book follows Frankie McGrath leaving her sheltered life, to become an army nurse in the Vietnam War. There is an emotional description of the gruelling conditions in the Evac hospital and the powerful friendships that developed between staff members. When she is transferred to a hospital closer to the front, conditions are even worse.
The second half of the book covers the difficulties Frankie meets on returning home – abuse from the public for Vietnam veterans, lack of recognition for the nursing skills she had developed, family rejection. Frankie suffers from PTSD but is unable to access help from doctors or the Vietnam Veterans’ Association. Her nursing friends from Vietnam support her. Several readers would have preferred more about these friends and less about Frankie’s romances. The book ends on a happy note welcomed by some, but too farfetched for others.
A good book makes you think. This book inspired many to research more about the Vietnam War, and reconsider what we knew of it in the 70s. It raised issues of women’s rights, racism, government misinformation and the horrors of war.
We would recommend it to others; score 9/10.
November Events of Wenvoe W.I.
WOMEN’S INSTITUTE
November Events
We had a very enjoyable meeting in November. It was a Christmas themed workshop and members showed their creative sides making foliage and bauble arrangements in Christmas character pots. Thanks to Mrs Judy Marsh for providing us with lots of foliage from her garden.
Our Christmas Party is on December 4th with a bring and share supper, raffle and a Christmas quiz. On December 11th, we are hosting a Carol Service in St Mary’s Church at 2pm followed by mince pies in the Church Hall. All members of the Wenvoe community are welcome to join us. We would love to see you. We are not having a meeting on January 1st, instead we are having a lunch at the Horse and Jockey on January 15th.
Visitors and prospective members are very welcome to our meetings, which are held in the Church Hall at 7pm, on the first Thursday of the month. Please ring 07881853032 for further details.
Carol Charlson (President)
“Tell Me Everything ” by Elizabeth Strout
OFF THE SHELF
“Tell Me Everything ” by Elizabeth Strout
“We match up for a moment – or maybe a lifetime – with somebody because we feel that we are connected to them. And we are. But we’re not, in a certain way, because nobody can go into the crevices of another’s mind; even the person can’t go into the crevices of their own mind. We live – all of us – as though we can. […] None of us are on sturdy soil; we just tell ourselves we are. And we have to.”
Bob is the exception to that claim.
Elizabeth Strout once again captures the fragile complexities of human connection and the quiet ache of loneliness. Tell Me Everything is an excellent, absorbing story – one that holds you in every paragraph and lingers long after you finish it.
Strout’s America is a place where loneliness intertwines with a withering society – where people yearn to connect yet continually struggle to bridge the gaps between them.
Our Book Club found it an exceptional read and awarded it 9 out of 10. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the mysteries of human relationships and the uneasy balance between isolation and connection.
Anne Gill
