16th February 2014.

Dear All,

I hope you have all survived this week’s weather. We were in Lincolnshire on Wednesday and had an interesting journey home. We were nearly blown off the road on the new Cowbit and Crowland by pass with lorries wobbling everywhere; then a tree across the road followed by Whittlesey Mere which looked like the Lake District.

We were in Lincolnshire to meet up with Bryan Withers who used to work with me. He suffered from polio as a child which deformed his chest. He now has severe breathing difficulties with an apparatus to help him at night. We met up with Bill (another former colleague) and Joyce Chowings who now live near Watton, Norfolk and Tony Hewitt and David Jeffries (RHS colleagues) at Surfleet for lunch.

 Whittlesey Mere

The wind was worse on Friday night and blew the end out of one of our greenhouses but thankfully the sun is shining as I write.

I rushed to the swimming pool on Monday to meet Kate after I had a dental check up – only to find it closed for GCSE exams.

“Eat, Drink and be Healthy” covered minerals this week. They comprise 4% of our body weight, we need 18, calcium is most abundant, kelp contains 1093 mg/100g and milk only 103, cheese and nuts are far better sources than milk. Iron is most likely to be short. Even one we have hardly heard of like Vanadium is necessary in insulin action, bones and regulating Na/K balance in cells and is best sourced from parsley. Kate spent the morning sitting with Mary Watts, an elderly lady who needs constant company and care, relieving her live in carer.

The U3A film this week was “Elisabeth” the Kate Winslet version with an Indian director. The review said “colourful but not historically accurate”

Our Thursday walk started at Arrington again and was mostly in and around Wimpole Hall. It was mainly sunny and not too much mud.

Wimpole walk

“Biographies” subject was Dame Laura Knight, an artist who rose from a poor background to eventually paint the Nuremberg Trials.

It was “Messy Church” again yesterday. I think the weather kept some folk at home but there was a reasonable turnout.

Love Mike & Kate