Sunday, 28 February 2016


Dear All,

It has been a fairly busy week. On Monday after the warmest swim this year, Kate accompanied me to Bishops Stortford where I was addressing their U3A Garden Group. It is quite a large group and I have been a couple of times before. After we walked along the river and explored the town a little.
In the evening a small group of us had training on how to update the chapel web site with Stan our Bulgarian computer man.


Bishops Stortford Castle Mound

On Tuesday I joined some ex NIAB colleagues for a regular meal and catch up at Girton. NIAB have just taken over the fruit work at East Malling.

The grass at the allotment had dried out enough to allow an early trim on Wednesday and I harvested the last of the Brussels sprouts. The mild winter has meant that rots came in early, last year they stood until mid March.
Thursday’s walk was much easier than the previous week. We were at Revensden just north of Bedford – much less mud and water with nearly 100% sunshine.
 This was followed by my 5th and hopefully final trip to the dentist for a bit so am now the proud owner of a newly capped and root filled tooth with a much lighter bank balance!
In the evening we had a chapel conducted tour of the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge. It has an extensive collection of minerals and fossils which can be overwhelming but with an enthusiastic guide it is much more palatable.




Sedgwick Museum

Our Friday Biography featured John Churchill, later the Duke of Marlborough. He was awarded Blenheim Palace by a grateful nation after leading a coalition of Dutch, German and British against the French. In the afternoon Esther joined us and we travelled up to Derbyshire to help celebrate Natasha’s 18th birthday. Natasha has grown immensely in confidence and happiness partly due to helpful school teachers and a lot to do with Esther who has spent time entertaining her and showing her the ropes. The party was held in Alderwasley Village Hall which is a renovated old stone chapel building. There was a meal followed by a disco which drowned all subsequent conversation, so grumpy elderly relatives did not quite make the end!
Before that Kate, Esther and I walked to Alport Stone which included some very boggy fields. We then joined Bill, Sue, Helen, Emma and Alfie for lunch at their cabin in Darwin Country Park, north of Matlock. On the way back to our residence at “The Bear” we stopped off at Scarthin’s Book shop at Cromford which is a local highlight.
This morning we explored Wirksworth before returning.


Challenging Walk


Alport Stone


Party Girl


Middle Peak Quarry
Love


Mike & Kate

Sunday, 21 February 2016


Dear All,

No swimming this week as at Half Term the pool times are adjusted for lessons so instead Kate and I went to St Ives as she wanted to be rekitted for Natasha’s 18th birthday party in Derbyshire next weekend.
On Tuesday we had some negotiations with our new neighbours as their plans showed the boundary – which has never been properly marked - as some way into our garden. John Law came for lunch to discuss the next Moldova expedition as he was speaking at the Women’s Meeting.
Wednesday was free so we ventured to Hutton to carry out some early season gardening jobs for Esther, mainly emptying he large compost bin together with a few other receptacles, cutting the grass etc. Esther was at work but managed to pop home for lunch.
Thursday’s walk was a challenge of mud and water, probably the stickiest, wettest walk we have enjoyed for a year or two! It started at Cottered near Buntingford. It had rained heavily in the night and the soil was largely a special sort of adhesive clay. The beginning of the walk looked like a canal so I guess we should have been warned. However the sun shone for most of the morning and the pub was efficient but with a chaotic bottle necked car park.


Cottered – The Start


A typical headland!


Herfordshire clay


Whose turn for boot cleaning?

I had a Garden Club talk at Waterbeach in the evening and the chairman’s opening remark was “I used to play hockey with Tom Webster from NIAB”. I have since phoned Tom to inform him and he sounded much better than before Christmas. He spent a month with his daughter in Exeter over the New Year and now his son Tom Jnr. Has come to live with him.
Friday’s Biography was “Edwin Smith” a renowned photographer who trained as an architect and fancied himself as a painter. This was followed by the last “Visual Perception” class. It has been well delivered but the subject matter is amazingly complex.


Edwin Smith  



             Rural scene


 Beauty in Ordinary Life

Yesterday Adrian called for coffee followed by an old missionary couple who are looking to move from London. Their last posting was starting a hospital in Madagascar.
Yesterdays match ended Over 0 v 0 Fowlmere and will not live long in the memory!

Love


Mike & Kate

Sunday, 14 February 2016


Dear All,

Happy Valentine’s Day – I hope that cheers you up?
We have been to Hove this week as Andy was in Dublin for a couple of days. Amélie seems to have settled into school now and looks to be enjoying it. On Wednesday her school had a service for Ash Wednesday and Kate and I attended as Mary-Ann was accompanying Bert to the doctors for a series of injections. The school seems to be very well run with older pupils looking after younger ones.
Later we pushed Bert along the sea front and walked to Brighton and back. The sea had been very active with deposits of stony beach on the esplanade. Later the injections upset Bert but generally he is very cheerful and the proud owner of one tooth!





On Monday our swim was distinctly cool as the pool heating had been playing up again. It was rather reminiscent of the North Sea in June! Afterwards Kate went to Addenbrookes to sit with Jim Burr who had been readmitted.
On Tuesday I delivered my 200th Garden Club talk to the Cambridge U3A Garden Group at Comberton before departing for Hove.
Kate has been suffering with her third cold of the winter but determinedly walked on Thursday. We were at Stansfield in rural Suffolk, it started frozen underfoot but as it thawed became soft and slidey and decidedly hard work .


Near Stansfield


The Hunt

Only one hour at the dentist’s this week as he prepared for a cap – hopefully only one session to go. This was followed by “Biographies” this week “Oliver Cromwell” then “Visual Perception” which is very high powered but interesting.
I watched Over pull off an unlikely 1 v 0 victory against Lakenheath yesterday in bracing conditions for spectators!

Love


Mike & Kate

Sunday, 7 February 2016


Dear All,

Our pastor David Smith started a month’s sabbatical this week having been in office for 10 years. This means there is a certain amount of delegated duties to perform in keeping things ticking over.
The swimming pool was back in operation this week and noticeably warmer than of late. I had my usual 1.5 hours smiling at my dentist on Tuesday – all 5 roots now successfully filled – just two more appointments to fit a cap!
Kate and I had an expedition to the Garden Centre on Wednesday to spend some of our accumulated tokens. Compost, seed potatoes, onion sets, dahlia tubers and a stock of chemicals were purchased.
We called on Jim Burr who had been in hospital in a very unstable state. He seemed happier at home than in hospital but early this morning he was rushed back in.
Our Thursday exercise started at Hinxworth near the A1 and took in Caldecote, Ashwell and Newnham and included the John Mills Sculpture Park.


The Three Horseshoes, Hinxworth




John Mills Sculptures

On Friday Kate dropped me off at “Biographies” while she went DIY shopping. The subject this week was “Jim Clark” the Scottish racing driver/farmer who won two world championships, 25 Grand Prixs and held 33 pole positions from 72 races before he was killed aged 32 at Hockenheim.


Kate then picked me up to attend the Requiem Mass for John Dunn one of our walking colleagues who collapsed just before Christmas. It was the first Catholic funeral I had been to and was not impressed as the priest was not very clear in his delivery and the service was long and hardly mentioned John.
We were on “Street Pastors” patrol on Friday. It was fairly quiet but that seems to make it seem longer! The main excitement was that the street dweller who attacked one of the SPs on New Year’s Eve and was banned from the City Centre between 6pm and 6am was in evidence the weekend before so we were warned to look out for him. He seems to have a personal dislike of SPs and is obviously not completely sane.
We have been out to lunch today at Rachel & Will’s – hence the delay in publication!
Love


Mike & Kate