26^th November 2017

Dear All,

On Monday Kate and I travelled up to Boston with Glynis Fenwick to meet up with Bryan Withers and Bill Chowings who are ex NIAB colleagues and Tony Hewitt and David Jeffrey ex RHS Veg Panel members. Bryan suffered from polio as a child which deformed his chest and has left him with serious breathing difficulties. The weather was overcast and did not show the flat fields of Lincolnshire at their best!

Boston Tea Party?

Meanwhile in Stockholm it was snowing so we have received several photos of children enjoying themselves in the first downfalls – I hope the novelty does not wear off!

“Just Vegetating” this week featured “Potatoes” with recipes for Homity Pie, Hassleback potatoes and Victoria sponge made with potato flour (recipes all available on request!) Amazon delivered a new shower support and a new set of cricket fence posts so these occupied the afternoon.

We went into Cambridge on Wednesday to begin Christmas shopping but did not get beyond Waterstones before the novelty wore off! In the evening we were back in Cambridge for the first of two First Aid courses laid on by Street Pastors taken by the Red Cross. Both courses were very good and targeted at the sort of situations we encounter.

Thursday’s walk started at Cottered near Buntingford and took in Cromer, Luffenhall and Rushden. It was a little muddy but not nearly as bad as our last visit there in 2015. The sun shone for most of the way and we always fairly close to woodland.

Cottered

Cromer Winmill

Luffenhall

Near Rushden

It was my turn to present at “Biographies” and I chose “Thomas Jefferson” mainly because when researching for “Just Vegetating” I often came across “first grown in America in Thomas Jefferson’s garden in Virginia”. His cv reads:

Land Owner, Planter & Gardener

American Founding Father

Principal Author of Declaration of Independence

Virginia Delegate to Congress 1775-1776 (before independence)

Second Governor of Virginia 1779-1781

Virginia Delegate to Congress 1783-1784 (after independence)

US Minister to France 1785-1789

US Secretary of State 1790-1793

Second Vice President of USA 1797-1801

Third President of USA 1801-1809

Founded University of Virginia 1819

Thomas Jefferson

Mount Rushmore

The big issues of his time were the American Revolution, Slavery, Indian resettlement and expanding the US through the Louisiana Purchase.

We had a second First Aid session at Histon on Saturday morning then I watched a 0 v 0 game at Wet Wratting in the afternoon.

Love

Mike & Kate