27th March 2011

27th March 2011.

Dear All,

It has been a much quieter week with U3A on Easter holidays as well as no NIAB; however I have not been idle. Fortunately it has been a good week in the garden so I have been able to catch up with digging cauliflower, sprout and leek land, have had a really good bonfire and sown or planted broad beans, peas, potatoes, shallots as well as other seeds in the greenhouse including 10 tomato, 6 pepper and 11 herb varieties. I have spoken at two garden clubs this week, one at Peakirk, north of Peterborough and a new one at St Ives. Kate bought me a swivel office chair to go with the new computer desk; it came flat packed in more pieces that you could imagine for a chair! We have been gradually sorting and replacing all the papers that were in the old office, as well as finding homes for the books and paperwork I retained from NIAB – this has taken some time and is not yet quite complete. On Wednesday I had a tour of a local flower breeding nursery in Willingham. The owner used to work for Unwins but set up on his own once he had bred “Priscilla” a double form of trailing petunia, which is vegetatively propagated. He also breeds primroses, primulas and pansies and currently has over 70 listed varieties. His target for pansies is to produce frilly petalled trailing varieties. He has trailing and he has frilly petals but needs to combine the two.

Curly petals

Trailing

Primrose breeding Glasshouse

John Law and I met up in the evening to try and sort our next rip to Moldova, at present the flights are not proving easy to fit in with our schedule so we may have to rethink. Our walk on Thursday started at Widdington, south of Saffron Walden (which I had never heard of) and circled via Henham and Debden. It was a good walk in some sunshine and only 9.5 miles!

AmberdeneHall near Henham

Debden Green

I emptied one of the compost bins on Friday and dug some of it into the greenhouses. It is amazing how much compost you can accrue in a year. Our pastor David Smith has returned to South Africa for a months holiday so I have the services to load on “Songpro” which takes some time. The harpist who performed at our “Tea & Talk” last Sunday, called Lucy Bunce was very good, she only bought her lever harp which cost a measley £3,500 compared with her pedal harp which cost £15,000.

We watched “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” on DVD last night which was pretty good. We have been out to lunch with the Twiss’s opposite today together with the Whitfields.

love Mike & Kate

20th March 2011

20th March 2011.

Dear All,

It has been rather a busy and momentous week in Lake Wobegone – reaching 65, finally leaving NIAB, a lecture on Cambridge University, winning a quiz, walking 10 mile, attending a concert and meeting all the family.
The quiz was actually last weekend in aid of the Village Day Care Centre and a team of 6 of us streaked ahead on the last of 12 rounds to beat 14 other teams. It was so long this quiz that people were past caring after 3.5 hours!
On Monday our U3A group had a talk in the “Old Schools” about Cambridge University by Tim Holt the head of Communications. He has a team of 16 to deal with the press, commercialisation, branding and politics. Facts there are 18,000 students at CU, 12,000 undergraduates and 6,000 post graduates. It costs an average of £17,000 to keep each student so their budget is over £300m without research inputs. 7% of children attend private schools but CU intake is 41% from private schools. They have the lowest dropout rate for any UK university. 15% of the undergraduates are from overseas compared to 50% of the postgraduates. In the “Old Schools” there is a benefactors staircase where you can have your name engraved proving you donate over £1m. Enough facts already!
I had a good send off on Tuesday and was presented with a book on meat (as I am always on about vegetables), a vegetable chopping board, £200 in vouchers and the Bentley Nelstrop medal. I have spent some of the vouchers on a croquet set as a reminder. I also received 50 emails from growers, seed companies and advisors that I have worked with. Even though I have phased out gently it will still be a wrench after 42 years.



Presentation

I celebrated 65 years with the usual 10 mile walk starting in Woodditton and proceeding via Kirtling and Saxon Street. It was an expensive round in the pub! In the evening Kate cooked a romantic candlelight dinner for two.

Kirtling

Saxon Street Water Tower

On Friday I picked Kate up from work after lunch and we drove to Hutton to start wall papering for Esther (who was at an exhibition in London with Mary-Ann). We fixed the lining paper then the girls took us for a celebratory meal in an upmarket Italian Restaurant.
Saturday we finished the wallpaper then started on the garden. Ben arrived for lunch.
Kate had to call in at work then we attended a fund raising CEEM concert at St Neots in the evening. It was a bit of a rush but worth it as it was very well done.

Wall papering – start

finish



Garden Work? Party
We have folks round today to complete the celebrations and a Tea and Talk with a harpist at chapel this afternoon.
So it has not been dull if you add in an Events Committee Monday, last Astronomy and Church Business meeting Tuesday, lunch with an old colleague, fielding numerous emails about an RHS problem answering 50 retirement emails plus some gardening Wednesday. Just as well that I have given up work otherwise it would not all fit in!

love


Mike & Kate
PS I have a new mobile number 07535 876256

13th March 2011

13th March 2011.

Dear All,

We were in Derbyshire with 17 of the U3A ramblers last weekend staying at the “Izaac Walton Hotel” in Ilam. We met in Matlock on Saturday and walked to the Heights of Abraham via Starkholmes - 7 miles in a drizzle.


Matlock Bath



The Izaac Walton

However the weather improved and Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were almost cloudless and sunny. On Sunday we started at Ilam and walked 15 miles via Rushley, Musden Wood, Leasow and Mappleton. On Monday another 15 miles along and across Dovedale then Milldale, Alsop en le Dale, Parwich and Tissington.

Dovedale

Lathkill Dale

The eldest member of our party, a tough 78 year old lady, fell crossing a style in Dovedale, and ended headfirst down a steep slope cutting her head in a bush and bleeding profusely.
On Tuesday we drove to Youlgrave and walked Lathkill Dale in the morning. This is Kate’s favourite dale as it is unspoilt, compared to Dovedale and retains some wildness. We finished at lunchtime after 7.5 miles and dropped into Bolehill. Mandy and Natasha both look better but the house is a complete tip which Kate finds upsetting.
I went to work on Wednesday and then another 10 miler on Thursday starting at Hempstead via Radwinter and Great Stamford.
I finished decorating the office and we ordered a new computer desk (as recommended by Jonny). This was delivered on Thursday and assembled on Friday so all the contents of the office need sorting and returning from the play room.


New Desk

I cut the grass for the first time on Friday and sowed a few seeds and planted shallots, garlic and early spuds.
On Saturday Kate and I travelled down to Ripley near Woking in Surrey for the retirement Dinner of an eminent vegetable breeder. It was a surprise for him and I was given a presentation as well. We stayed in Woking but got up early and returned to Over in time for the morning service – if only the M25 was always like this morning!

love


Mike & Kate