24th April 2011

24th April 2011.

Dear All,

We have just returned from the 6 am Sunrise Easter Day service in the orchard followed by breakfast. Unlike some years it was possible to attend in shirtsleeves but the sun did not actually show itself until after breakfast.

Sunrise Service 2011

The Guardian had a centrefold on Wednesday split between photos of rape, bluebells, wisteria and cherry blossom, I could almost reproduce that from our walks this week – but won’t because “above all be original”. Bluebells featured heavily both on our Thursday walk which started at Elmdon and on Good Friday when Kate and I visited Gransden Woods. Apart from this we encountered a couple of fields of dandelions on Thursday the like of which I have never seen before.

Gransden Woods



Field of the Cloth of Gold

Plenty of planting and sowing this week and especially watering as we cannot remember the last time it rained hereabouts.
The clutch cable broke on my rotovator this week and as it is not a well known make I was worried that I might not easily locate a replacement. Fortunately the company has been taken over by another and the machine rebranded under another name so a new part arrived in 2 days.
David and Rebecca arrived back safely after 4 weeks in South Africa – where ironically it has been raining heavily.
I have been preparing for Moldova some more this week – including shopping, packing seeds, drafting talks and buying a bigger suitcase. John Law and I are due to fly out from Heathrow on Thursday 28th (sadly missing the royal wedding!) and are due to return on the 9th May.
Kate and I were at the Fenwick’s for a meal on Friday evening and have been invited to the Burr’s today.
I watched Over wallop Cottenham 6 v 0 in tropical sunshine yesterday – the ref called a break in each half to take in water. The cricket season starts on Saturday week I expect this remains our best hope of breaking the drought!

love


Mike & Kate

17th April 2011

17th April 2011.

Dear All,

Two walks this week, a visit from Dave and Jen, the completion of the fruit cage, the beginning of cricket pitch duties and some gardening – who says life isn’t exciting! On Tuesday Kate took time off and joined me in a charity walk for “SOS Children’s Villages”. The walk met at Great Eversden and headed towards Wimpole Hall. It was only 5.5 miles but 100 people took part and raised £1000 – both statistics are records.

SOS walk

The Thursday walk started at the John O Gaunt pub (you all know who he was?) in Sutton near Biggleswade and took in Wrestligworth. I did the shorter walk as I am on dope for a urine infection which tends to take the spring out of your step! Kate has had a bad back this week so we are gently creaking like the architecture of Cuba!

The John O Gaunt, Sutton

Dave and Jen called for lunch on Monday on the way back from Derby and Warwick. Esther rang in the evening to say that her boiler had leaked and caused considerable damage to ceiling, OT books, carpet and furniture in her spare room with some water damage in the living room and newly decorated bedroom. At the same time her washing machine broke and her car was damaged in separate incidents. This months gardening article was completed on Thursday, subject “French Beans” Read it or Regret it! We store the cricket pitch motor roller at a nearby farm in the fens for safety. Last week another farmer by the river at Overcote asked to borrow it, but failed to return it so I had to collect it. A 35 minute journey on tarmac seems a long time at 5 mph. The pitch actually looks quite good but it has already needed watering and been cut 4 times. Yesterday we completed the fruit cage adding the side and top netting and moving the bird feeders out of the cage! It is now ready for the guiles of the blackbirds et al. Still plenty to do in the garden but the sprout and broccoli land is so hard I can hardly get a spade into it. 7mm rain fell in Cambridge in March c.f. the norm of 43 mm

Fruit Cage

Cowslips in the Garden

love Mike & Kate

10th April 2011

10th April 2011.

Dear All,

Not too much to report this week as U3A is on Easter holidays and the weather has encouraged a lot of time in the garden. We marked out the cricket square which is looking good at present but we have actually watered it in March which is a record. I have planted late potatoes, cabbage, cauliflowers, beetroot, lettuce and sweet peas, sowed sugar peas, parsnips, beetroot and French beans and pricked out flowers and tomatoes.

Spring flowers

Our Thursday outing proved exciting – as I had a Garden Club talk in the evening I opted for 7 miles instead of 10 as sometimes I do not feel too frisky after the long walks. However our leader missed a turn, so we added a couple of miles then we encountered two old gentlemen in distress. One had lost his balance and could not walk straight; he had a bad back, an arrhythmic heart and looked pale and dreadful. One of our party stopped to help them while I hurried to the next village to find his wife with a car waiting for them in a pub. That added another 2 to 3 miles as it was in the wrong direction, so I ended up doing about 12 miles! Bluebells were showing colour and we heard a cuckoo for the first time this year. Anyway it was an excellent shirt sleeved walk starting from Ardeley south of Royston via Cottered and Wood End.

Near Ardeley

I have put some more time in on talks for Moldova and John has finally replaced his passport. Tozers have sent us some “Caliente” mustard to try out as a form of natural biofumigation. I watched Over play a not very trilling 0 v 0 match in the sunshine yesterday – “the only winner was the hard pitch Brian” and in the evening we went to a Bangladeshi and Indian Restaurant at Bourn with the Colquhouns We have booked tickets for “Warhorse” as part of our 40th wedding celebrations in May and tried for some Olympic tickets but are holding our breath yet! We have been to lunch at Sutton with the Fosters and the visiting preacher David Steere – Kate is continuing to improve and looked better than for sometime. They have serious subsidence in their house and are adapting the office to live in while the front of the house is underpinned. I spoke to Tom Webster yesterday, he is at home and walking to the beach twice a day with his new leg. He was talking about visiting Skye next month and trying to get some way up the Cobbler in August – so just what you would expect!

Tom with Molly & Jock from Cambridge + neice

love

Mike & Kate

3rd April 2011

3rd April 2011.

Dear All,

Summary of this week includes quite a lot of gardening, some walking, 10 pin bowling, a visit to NIAB, starting preparation for Moldova and Mother’s Day. 28 of us travelled to Pidley on Monday night for a meal and a couple of games of bowling. It was a chapel outreach event and went quite well. Kate babysat for the Keans: 3 small children and two large dogs – none of which was in bed when she arrived. I returned my mobile phone and several plastic crates that I had used to ship things home in, to NIAB on Tuesday and dropped in on Homebase, Staples and Nottcuts for supplies. The next Moldova trip has now been booked for the 28th April (early start from Heathrow) until 9th May – just 2 of us going this time. I have started preparing a talk for the Training Day. Our Thursday walk started in Bourn and took in Gt Gransden and Caxton. 9.6 miles but sticky underfoot and very windy.

Bourn

Bourn Ford

Temporary Difficulty

I have chopped down the trees that I singed last year and planted a small holly bush in the gap, otherwise it has been sowing flower seeds and land cress, earthing up early potatoes, which had emerged, and cutting grass. Asparagus started this week which is always a good sign and the Magnolia in the front looks magnificent.

Magnolia (pre frost)

We went to a Mission Meeting on Poland and Spain yesterday afternoon at Ramsey. Esther has travelled up today for Mother’s Day. love Mike & Kate