Sunday, 26 April 2009

26th April 2009

26th April 2009.

Dear All,

Derbyshire went well as the Smith side of the family gathered to celebrate Phil’s 50th birthday. He was keen not to have much fuss but sister Sue decided otherwise so it was taken out of his hands. Kate, Esther, Mary-Ann and I joined Phil, Mandy, Natasha, Bill, Sue, James, Helen, James (another) and Emma for a Saturday lunchtime meal at Darley Dale near Matlock. Our family then booked into a B&B at Ambergate and did a walk via Crich and the Cromford canal before driving to Bolehill for a tea and film show. Sunday am the four of us did a sunny walk along the Derwent Valley walking to High Tor and back via the Heights of Abraham. The Sunday bikers ranks have swollen in Matlock Bath with the road lined for 2 miles by ageing motor cyclists admiring each others machines.



Cromford Canal



Derwent Valley

I have had two RHS meetings this week, on Monday at Vincent Square and Wednesday at Wisley. RHS used to be one place I went where they neither talked about money or changing – now both are very much on the agenda.
The U3A walk this week was round the Pelhams starting at Brent Pelham and was completed in full sunshine. It was a very pretty walk with new vegetation, bluebells and hills!



Furneaux Pelham



Brent Pelham

Yesterday I organised a chapel visit to Cambridge Botanic gardens. We were shown round by Judy Fox who I have been working with for the Schools project. Again the weather behaved, 28 folk turned up, and it seemed to go quite well.



Cambridge Botanic Gardens






Jade Vine

Ben has been up today in a fruitless attempt to cheer Cambridge Utd to victory in the Championship decider, never mind they have the play offs to look forward to now.
Roy Keane – what a manager 100% record! Doesn’t seem to be the usual Ipswich type, far too rude and aggressive.
I have been to St Neots this afternoon for a Moldova report back and Missionary Prayer meeting. All three trips were presenting and all were fairly positive although events since the elections have made the locals rather apprehensive.

Love


Mike & Kate

Sunday, 12 April 2009

12th April 2009.

Dear All,

Happy Easter to all readers, it was a bit gloomy at the “Sunrise Service” at 6 am this morning but at least not snowing like last year.
My old boss, Tom Webster is currently down from Scotland and came to dinner with his hosts Jock and Molly on Friday. He is still keeping remarkably well for 84 and although he does not go out with the Oban Mountaineering Club so regularly he still celebrates his birthday on top of the Cobbler each year.
We have signed up for the U3A Ramblers week in the Yorkshire Dales in June, so I went to the briefing session on Thursday. As you would expect from our ex Lieutenant Colonel leader it was presented on military lines will little left to chance! We are staying at Malham and doing 5 walks including a couple we have done before at Bolton Abbey and Buckden
Our ramble this week was our first instalment of the Icknield Way from Ivinghoe Beacon to Wingfield. The visibility was not as clear as you would like from the top of the Downs but it was still a good walk. The plan is to get to Thetford in 11 sections but not one after the other.



view from Downs





The Plough, Wingfield

Plenty of gardening this week planting out cabbage, cauliflowers and lettuce. Sowing calabrese, French beans, beetroot, peas, water melons and corn salad and pricking out flower seeds. Sowing and planting are the easy bits these days, the hard work is keeping all the pests at bay especially pigeons which are getting bigger and bolder.
I spoke at another Garden Club, this time at Kedington near Haverhill – a friendly bunch with plenty of questions.
I borrowed Ray’s season tickets for Cambridge Utd yesterday and took Adrian to watch them play Eastbourne. Cambridge won but did not play like a team 2nd in the league.
I finished “Eight Feet in the Andes” by Dervla Murphy this week. If you like travel books I can recommend it. She must be a tough old bird; she walked 1,200 miles through the Andes to Cuzco following the Conquistador’s route with her 9 year old daughter and a mule.
As it is Kate’s brothers 50th birthday next weekend we are due to be in Derbyshire joining/organising? celebrations.
The magnolias in the 3 neighbouring Willingham Road gardens have looked splendid this year escaping frost and wind damage.



Magnolias






Sunrise service

Love


Mike & Kate

Sunday, 5 April 2009

5th April 2009.

Dear All,

Kate had the day off on Monday so we visited Ickworth House, a National Trust property near Bury St Edmunds. It was the ancestral seat of the Hervey family (as in Lady Victoria Hervey – socialite and reality TV contestant) The house has a distinctive central Rotunda and was built in 18th century by the prince-bishop Frederick Augustus Hervey, fourth earl of Bristol. It is interesting to compare the wording on a column in the grounds, which makes him out to be a saint with NT poster inside which more realistically describes him as a freethinking womaniser and gambler. All the generations between Frederick and now, seem to have enjoyed exotic lifestyles until Lady Victoria’s father, the seventh marquess, dissipated a fortune on drugs, fast cars and rent boys, leading to an early death, and the sale of Ickworth to the National Trust.



Ickworth Rotunda



Recent additions

There are numerous walks in the grounds and we chose the perimeter route which is 7 miles. It was peak lambing season with new born popping out all over the place. The house is reasonably interesting as the earl was an art collector and several paintings have survived the family’s declining fortunes. The gardens, however, were dull as they major on a national box hedge collection!
On Tuesday a group came up from Thornhill Baptist in Southampton. We knew they were working in Moldova but we had not met them before. They had contacted us for advice about seeds so we offered them some of our 1.3 tonnes. We were expecting a party of 2 but 6 turned up so we had a good discussion and it seems that they are doing more or less the same as us in a different area.
We are currently experiencing difficulty in getting the maize and grass seed we planned to use on our experimental field in Burlacu into the country. It is currently stuck in Romania having missed the arranged pick up by the group from CEEM who are in Moldova at present.
On Wednesday I planted a veg garden for Toni, a single mum in the village. As she has two lively boys I am not sure that all the plantings will live to maturity, but I guess they have two chances.
I was on duty at Wisley on Thursday judging leeks. The M25 reflected the economic downturn and we did not stop on either journey. The spring trees at Wisley were fantastic: azaleas, rhododendrons, prunus and magnolias. The leeks were a bit dull by comparison.




Wisley Spring trees

On Friday John and I took the new NIAB Director out for lunch to maintain the Institute’s interest and support for the Moldovan Agricultural project – the Trust currently donates £3K pa. It seemed to go alright.
In the evening we were the organisers of the NIAB annual quiz as we made the mistake of winning last time. It was well supported and there were enough cries of anguish to convince us that it was sufficiently challenging.
Plenty of gardening between the above with the first tomatoes planted out in the GH yesterday.

Love


Mike & Kate