November 22nd, 2011
Written by Ruth
“What better a way to spend a dark winters evening in November than by eating cupcakes and drinking champagne at Dixies Cupcakery in St Albans! We had a lovely evening on 9th November catching up with friends and trying such delicous cupcake flavours as “Red Velvet” and “Cupcake 99″ (which was the ultimate chocolate feast as it looked like the classic ice cream cone - and even had a flake on!). This was all accompanied by some champagne, tea and coffee and a chance to look at some of the homeware on offer in the shop. It was great to see so many new faces and to catch up on all upcoming circle events and business.”
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November 6th, 2011
Written by Clare
On a rainy Wednesday night, a few of our members met in the Waterend Barn for a night of fun and creativity. Hosted by The lovely Helen Burridge, we were there to create our own Kitchenalia, and Helen was going to show us how.
Kitchenalia is apparently defined as ‘cooking equipment, and other items found in a kitchen’.
Arriving to find a tea towel with a potato on the table, I initially wondered what Helen had in store for us, but all was soon made clear as she demonstrated how we could use the potato to cut shapes using cookie cutters and then use the shapes to stamp a design onto the tea towel. Having realised what we were to do, everyone soon embraced their inner child, let their creativity loose and got going.
I began cutting hearts and stars and decided to include a Christmas Tree to give my tea towel a festive feel. I used the potato stampers to create a design, and then nervously decided to go freestyle with my paint brush and paint lettering onto my tea towel. Emma showcased her passion for hearts and created a wonderful heart design. Laurie explored the concept of Gingerbread children and their journey home and Monika initialed her tea towel. Louise and Angela used a variety of shapes to create their design.
It was lovely to spend time chatting and sharing company with everyone as we created our masterpieces. It was also great to be able to do something crafty away from the kids and not have to worry about little hands spilling stuff, ransacking paint, and using paintbrushes on themselves rather than the canvas.
Thanks to Helen for visiting and sharing your talents with us. We hope you come back soon. Here we all are displaying the fruits of our labour….
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November 6th, 2011
Written by Angela
One of the things I love about St Albans Circle is the wide variety of events that our wonderful social secretary arranges. It was years since I’d last been ten pin bowling, and despite having a horrible feeling I’d be in serious danger of a score in single figures, I was really looking forward to the evening. Having joined Circle a year ago, the Wednesday nights have become an absolute priority in my diary and I really look forward to seeing everyone for a catch up.
We’d arranged to meet at the bowling alley with time for a drink beforehand (I took the risk that a glass of wine might help, rather than hinder, my play…) and it was good to have a bit of time to catch up on everyone’s news. We then headed over to the lanes, where we had 2 lanes next to each other. Unfortunately for me, no one seemed to be suggesting we ask for the kiddie-bars to be put, it was all going to be down to talent and the luck of the night…
As we started play, things started to look up….No, I wasn’t any better at knocking the skittles down than I thought I’d be…. but I realised that neither was any one else 
If the girls will forgive me for saying it, I think it’s fair to say that St Albans Circle won’t be appearing in a local bowling league any time soon, but what everyone really does excel in is enjoying ourselves along the way – we were all so busy chatting away and enjoying the drinks and the food, that the scoring really didn’t matter.
In my year in Circle, I’ve enjoyed every minute – doing things I might not normally do with my evenings, and also making some really good friends. And that beats a bowling score of 43 any day of the week.
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