20th January 2013

20^th January 2013.

Dear All,

An exciting weeks worth of weather, but fortunately the days which involved most travelling were those with the clearest conditions.

On Tuesday I was speaking at Elsom’s “Diverse Crops” conference at Spalding. The roads were fine from Cambridge and folk drove up from Devon but ironically those from Norfolk did not make it. I drove back through the fens and Whittlesey still has its share of flood water. Elsoms now lead the country in seed treatments including cleaning, dressing, priming, film coating and pelleting. They have recently invested £1m in seed coating equipment so it is quite big business.

Elsoms Seed Processing Plant

Whittlesey Mere

We managed a swim on Wednesday when it was misty and murky all day here, but Thursday the weather was excellent for our walk – clear and crisp and sunny which beats wet and sticky and muddy any day. We started at Great Easton between Thaxted and Dunmow and walked to Little Cambridge, Monk Street and Titley.

Great Easton Walk

My “Biographies” class started again on Friday, this weeks subject was Viscount Alanbrooke of military fame. He came from a long line of soldiers, his ancestor was involved in suppressing the Irish in 1641 and rewarded with a 30,000 acre estate in Co. Fermanagh. 26 of his family fought in WW1 and 27 in WW2. Most interesting was his relationship with Churchill as they argued all the time and his views on other heads of states recorded in his diaries - very few received compliments.

It was “Messy Church” again yesterday and we are still getting new faces attending which is encouraging.

Messy Church

I saw the chest specialist at Addenbrookes on Monday and he showed me pictures of my lung where there is a small nodule. He does not know what it is but said it could be something to do with arthritis. They took numerous blood tests and I have to go back in 6 months to see whether it has grown. An example of technology telling us more than we need to know.

Overcote Road

Muntjac Deer at bottom of our Garden

Love

Mike & Kate