19th December 2010

19th December 2010.

Dear All,

I hope you are all well, there are plenty of casualties around here but Kate and I have escaped so far. Discussing Christmas this week I said I enjoyed the build up but Kate said she much prefers the aftermath when all the food has been prepared and she can relax!
Plenty of celebrations this week, a meal with some of the walkers on Monday, the Astronomy party on Tuesday, NIAB Christmas dinner Wednesday and Carols 60th birthday dinner on Friday.
On Monday I had an appointment with a new dentist as our old one had left the practice. Talk about thorough, X Rays, jaw check, gland check, mouth and tongue check not to mention actually looking at the teeth! The U3A class visited Kettles Yard which is an art gallery set up by a former director of the Tate Gallery.


Kettles Yard

It was interesting but not many of the exhibits matched my taste. Kate had a Takeda do on Monday so I went to the northern Cambridge walker’s dinner at “La Mimosa” an Italian Restaurant, myself to meet up with a dozen others. It is situated on the banks of the Cam – an excellent position in summer.
The Astronomy party was not the wildest event I have ever attended – we all took a little food and were shown round the observatory and the oldest books in the library.
It was the last session of the “Maps in the Digital Age” on Wednesday, this has been an excellent course and covered not only maps but the internet as well. The NIAB Christmas lunch was held at Girton College this year and was decent food in grand surroundings even if we did lower the tone.



Girton College

On Thursday the walk was rather damp and windy but not as cold as the other days of the week. We started at Arkesden and touched Wicken Bonhunt, Clavering and Rickling.

Damp Arkesden

In the evening we had a visit from David Stearn a missionary from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He and his wife are working with AIDS/HIV victims and experiencing death every day – a really tough assignment.
On Friday I collected a Christmas tree from Richard Fenwick’s plantation – £1 per foot and still the best value for money hereabouts. I did a solitary walk round Swavesey Fen which was looking splendid in the frost and snow.

Swavesey Fen

We were joined by Jane Gregory (husband in N. Ireland) and Rebecca Smith (husband poorly) for Carol’s 60th dinner.
We have escaped the worst of the weather again with just a thin covering of snow but of course very chilly. I hope travelling does not prove too difficult and everyone gets to where they hope to be over the next week.
Happy Christmas to all our readers!

love


Mike & Kate

12th December 2010

12th December 2010.

Dear All,

So – how is your build up to Christmas? December always seems to need a brake applied somewhere to slow it down. This week routine tasks have been augmented with pre Christmas activities like card writing, shopping, wrapping and posting.
On Monday I went to the Whipple Science Museum which houses many teaching aides and early models of scientific breakthroughs such as Newton’s wooden telescope, Burbage’s first computer (or difference machine) and the first electronic microscope. There are also several biological exhibits including glass models of the important crop fungal pathogens.

Whipple museum Globes


Grand Orrery

Wooden Telescope

NIAB on Tuesday – I have finally handed in my notice for March and received my State Pension application forms – what does it feel like to have a younger brother/father of pensionable age? NIAB developments advance at a pace with the squash court being demolished this week. In the evening class we studied “Astronomy in Cambridge” including Newton and the early observatories set up by the University.
On Wednesday the “Digital Age” was on the big players in the web and internet age and likely future developments – stand by for actual buildings on your SatNav, building plans for street level programmes and the sensory web.
I have visited a couple of ex NIAB folk this week, Bill Chowings and Brian Tyrell. Bill had a Spanish lorry back into him as he sat at the wheel and Brian had a fire after his freezer overheated.
I did the short walk on Thursday testing out my joints but actually it turned out to take longer than the normal walk as the leader missed the way. We started at Cowlinge some way south of Newmarket and took in Wickhambrook and Kirtling. It was cold but interesting and the ground was hard rather than muddy which helps



Walk near Wickhambrook

I had my last garden club of the year at Girton and a couple of the Ramblers came along to barrack! This was my 15th talk of the year and it would have been 20 if I hadn’t cancelled 5 while in Ecuador and Costa Rica.
On Friday Kate and I were invited to dinner with Roger and Erica Salmon from Rambling. If you had asked me I would have said that he was the most difficult man in the group to talk to so it was a bit of a surprise. It actually went better than anticipated, he had worked for Rothschild’s and been bursar of Kings College and at one stage involved with the privatisation of the railways, and she is German and worked in education and industrial psychology. They have visited Ecuador and actually stayed in The Black Sheep Hut where David, Jen and us stayed on our first visit.
Yesterday it thawed enough to lay some Mypex and plant strawberries on our new fruit cage site – as it has now frozen solid I hope it was a wise decision. In the afternoon we went to St Ives as Kate wanted some Christmas fare from Waitrose. The chapel on the bridge was open for the first time when we have been passing so we had a look round that as well.

St Ives Chapel on the Bridge

Kate had managed to sell Ben’s old exercise gym to someone from her work and they came to collect it in the morning – I had more exercise than I needed carrying it down the stairs, perhaps we should have reduced it to smaller parts?
In the evening we attended Over Pantomime “Aladdin” this year. It was written by one of my ex vet football companions and very good.


love


Mike & Kate

5th December 2010

5th December 2010.

Dear All,

We have escaped the worst of the snow and only accumulated about an inch all told. Rather different for most of you I guess, we have been down to Hutton this afternoon as Mary-Ann has been staying with Esther this weekend, and that part of Essex has been blessed with about 8”. Esther has been working from home for most of the week.


Daughters


Over’s weedy snow

Esther’s more impressive snow

Not too much to report this week, I went to work Monday as I had an RHS meeting in Vincent Square, London, on Tuesday. It snowed for much of the day but being London it did not settle (too much heat or pollution?).

RHS wood panelled conference room

I managed to get back in time for “Astronomy” and on Wednesday the “Digital Age” covered the World Wide Web which incredibly has only been running since 1999. In the evening it was a Proust discussion which is still leaving me a bit cool.
I missed the U3A walk on Thursday as my lift cried off not liking the look of the weather so I had be satisfied with a stroll round the Fens with Kate as she came home early in the afternoon. It was probably just as well as my knee has been playing up most of the week.

Overcote

We did a little more Christmas shopping on Friday and on Saturday I cleared the greenhouses and we were out for dinner with Rachel and Will a new young couple who have recently been attending chapel. They were both slightly under the weather with coughs and aches so we are crossing our fingers that they were not infectious!

love

Mike & Kate