15th February 2009.

Dear All,

We had another heavy snowfall Thursday afternoon but it was damper and has nearly all gone now – funny how quickly the novelty wears off.
One of my new acquaintances from U3A (an ex schools inspector who knows Gervase Finn well) phoned with the sad news that his wife had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer and the family had come across a German vegetable juice remedy. He needed a source of beetroot, carrots, celery, potatoes and black radish and they all had to be organic. As he had not heard of black radish he wasn’t sure where to begin. I think they might be clutching at straws but it probably helps to be trying something. Anyway I managed to source all but the black radish, which I suspect does not exist in organic form in the UK, and he was arranging to fly some in from Switzerland. Later he phoned to say that his son had located the actual juice already prepared in a health food shop in Cambridge! The whole family are going to undertake the diet of nothing but the juice for 42 days!
Geodyssey this week was on Volcanoes and Tectonic plates; I have sent our lecturer my photos of Cotapaxi and Fuji as he was asking for “copyright free” material.
“Finished” is always a dangerous word re a decorating project so this week I cleaned out the cupboard under the fish tank and painted it. Our new furniture arrived Wednesday and we are very pleased with it – a sideboard with top unit, We have been gradually sorting and replacing all the other “stuff” that we moved for the decoration and I took the remainder of the wall units to Emmaus at Landbeach (Kate had already taken half the load).

New furniture

Krakatoa

It was “cancer week” I am afraid as I went to visit one of our old NIAB directors, John MacLeod, on Wednesday. He thought he had pulled a back muscle but has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It was half term for Antarctica this week so I rejoined the Ramblers on Thursday. We met at Great Abington and walked via Hildersham and Babraham roughly 9 miles but it seemed like longer as the ground was beginning to thaw. The pace was telling as one chap (Jess Cartner-Morley’s father-in-law) collapsed, but recovered eventually.
It was time to write the next gardening column this week – difficult to raise enthusiasm for sowing when the garden is covered with snow.






Great Abington

Esther came up Saturday to go curtain shopping with Kate and has stayed the night as we expect Ben for lunch today. He cycled up from Streatham to Cambridge on Friday (as you do) for a gathering of mates.
We have Peter Jackson, the blind pianist, at chapel this weekend. He gave a concert last night and is taking services today. As a failed pianist it is very humbling to see and hear someone who can’t see the notes performing so expertly. Classic quote from one of our Irish ladies “How old is Peter?” “74” “and does he still drive himself?”


Love

Mike & Kate

8th February 2009

8th February 2009.

Dear All,

The main irony this week must be that I could not get to my “Antarctica” course on Thursday due to heavy snow! We had heavy snowfalls on Monday and Thursday with lighter showers on Friday. Kate was sent home early on Monday and did not go in until lunchtime Thursday. This, of course, gave the decorating a shot in the arm and we have now finished. The walls are “Niagara Blue” to match the new rug with the new, as yet unpurchased, curtains supplying the brighter colours! Trickiest job this week was moving the fish tank so that we could strip and paint behind it. This involved siphoning out 80% of the water through a rubber pipe into the outdoor drain. I checked half way through and found 4 baby fish swimming around in the fortunately blocked drain amongst flakes of ice. Just the job for tropical fish but 3 have survived.
Anyway the room has been cleaned, the new rug laid and the first meal with guests partaken today. So far we are going for the “Japanese minimalist” look as the new furniture has yet to arrive.

Finished

New Rug

I have had a couple of good snowy walks round the fens this week, one on my own and the other with Kate in bright sunshine yesterday.
I did an afternoon Garden Club talk in Cambridge on Thursday, which is unusual. I wondered whether they would be an ancient audience who might not brave the weather, but in fact they were quite lively, evidently numbers swelled by people who couldn’t get to work.
I was supposed to give a talk at St Neots as part of their evangelism week entitled “Unusual vegetables and Christianity!” make of that what you will, but it was a casualty of the weather.
We have had a man from the London City Mission guesting at church today and he has been here for lunch. He is an ex druggie, alcoholic, Rastafarian, JW, so has some experience for his current job as chaplain to the London Ambulance Service.

Cambridge Monday

Over Wednesday

Over Saturday

Overcote

Love

Mike & Kate

1st February 2009

1st February 2009.

Dear All,

I have spent most of the week decorating so not much to report apart from progress. As the walls were wallpapered. and have been since the house was built. there was a deal of stripping to do followed by scrubbing every square inch to remove old glue. As has been the case in other rooms the plaster was rather cracked so I have spent a minute or three filling and sanding. This was followed by a white undercoat to show up any imperfections and more filling. The walls now do not look too bad. The floor is wood parquet and over the years gaps and unevenness have appeared (how like life!) so we hired an industrial sander yesterday. This was OK once you got the hang of it, but prone to shredding sandpaper in spectacular explosions when it met with resistance. It also creates storms of dust, but has done a reasonable job. There is an additional disc sander for the edges so not a 5 minute job. Kate has been cunningly filling the cracks with a mixture of sanded dust and resin and is currently busy cleaning up as far as is possible.

Sander

Result

Next stage is the clean the floor with white spirit before brushing in the sealer (3 coats), painting the woodwork and choosing and applying the topcoat to the walls.
There I bet you didn’t know decorating could be so interesting!
In “Geodyssey” we studied the history of geology, in “Antarctic in a Nutshell” it was the “Flora and Fauna of Antarctica”. This was very interesting covering penguins, seals, whales, fish, birds, krill, squid, woodlice, mites, springtails, lichens, moss and grasses.

U3A HQ is near Magdalene Bridge

The Arsenal back four?

Otherwise it has been all meetings: Monday to plan the Moldova trip, Tuesday a church group meal, Wednesday the Events Committee, Friday a Deacons and Wives meal and discussion.