29th July 2018

Dear All,

We have just said goodbye to Jonny, Rosie, Charlie & Danny who have stayed the night en route to Grimes Graves and some serious flint knapping activity. It was good to catch up as we hadn’t seen them since my 70^th.

Yesterday was our annual chapel outing to Hunstanton and as predicted it was effective in changing the weather. We had some cry off because they thought it would be too hot and some because they thought it would be too wet and windy. In the event it was windy but remained dry. The church that we use for assembling and lunch had, however, been flooded downstairs by a thunderstorm the previous night. As this is the room we usually use we were transferred to their upstairs meeting area. Only 14 eventually made Hunstanton but the number was more than doubled for the usual BBQ at Haddenham on the way back.

Hunstanton Parched Grass

New Hunstanton Beach – Tide Receding

New Hunstanton Cliffs

After about 230 Garden Club talks I have a booking that insists that my laptop and projector should be PAT tested. This was routine at work but getting an electrician locally to test a small number of items proved a 10 phone call challenge. The companies were either large and wanted to charge for half a day’s call out or small and out of business or not at home to answer phone calls. Eventually Geoff Pake a local Willingham Farmer/electrician did it in about 10 minutes for £10.

Our Thursday walk started at Hexton neat Hitchin on the edge of the Chilterns. It was very hot but the scenery was excellent climbing a couple of chalk hills.

The Raven, Hexton

Valley in front of Deacon Hill

Barton Hill

Scottish Thistle

My cricket pitch preparing colleague John Lane, returned from completing the “Camino” on his bike and very impressed with the route and the set up, with frequent hostels for the pilgrims on the way. We have a county youth fixture to prepare for this week but The Green is already looking better after the rain.

We have a 10 ft self- set sunflower amongst our beans – either that or Kate has shrunk!

Love

Mike & Kate

22nd July 2018

Dear All,

We still haven’t received any rain for seven weeks now and it is beginning to look like it! Our Thursday stroll started at Leighton Bromswold which is north of the A14 near Graffham Water. The soil is heavy in that area, but I have not seen cracking like it: 2” wide and 2’ deep – which made for very careful walking. The village pub “The Green Man” is one of the oldest in the country and the landlord copes with an influx of walkers by preparing a huge vat of stew – not ideal for a hot day but a useful tradition.

Mega cracks

The Green Man, Leighton Bromswold

Looking towards the A14 & Spaldwick

My computer screen packed up on Monday – not something that I have experienced before so we had a rare shopping outing on Tuesday to replace it in Milton as well as buying replacement hoe blades in Fulbourn and a new sprayer at Horningsea.

Cricket pitch preparation is currently a challenge, I spent 2 hours cutting rolling and marking out on Wednesday only to find the opposition had called off the minute I got home. My pitch preparing colleague John Lane is away on another of his marathon bike rides, this time to Santiago de Compestella following the “Camino” pilgrim’s route across northern Spain. He writes a blog each day under www.crazyguyonabike.com should you wish to check his progress.

On Wednesday night Kate and I went to see Milton Jones in the Cambridge Comedy Festival at The Junction. Milton was excellent “I come from a family of failed magicians – I have got two half-sisters!” without one swear word. Also on the bill were Ian Stone an experienced Jewish comedian and Stephano Paolini an Anglo Italian impressionist with an Irish compere Michael Legge. They were all good but language from a couple of these was more colourful which was a bit off putting.

Milton Jones

We had another meeting of the Over Show committee on Thursday evening. It is planned with meticulous care these days now that the old boys from the British Legion have handed responsibility to the Garden club. Whether the weather will allow many entries this year remains to be seen.

Otherwise in the garden we have harvested quite a lot and watered quite a lot – most things are surviving – just but not sure for how much longer!

Love

Mike & Kate

15th July 2018

Dear All,

It was Over Carnival time yesterday and as usual we had a chapel stand which did good business despite the football and the tennis. We have just returned from the Sunday morning litter picking. We had a quiz based on Children’s book characters – Milly Molly Mandy and The Little Princess were the main stumbling blocks. There was also the now famous throwing bean bags into pots game, a children’s activity area with free Goodie bags and a rest for the weary section!

Carnival Parade

Chapel Stand

Game

Quiz

Funfare

On Wednesday Kate and I visited the National Race Horse Museum at Newmarket. It was rehashed a couple of years ago and is now excellent – even if you are not much into racing or horses. It has displays of painting, sculptures and artefacts plus live horses demonstrating the work of a charity which retrains most of the 3,000 race horses that are retired each year.

Retired Race horse Purple Moon

Frankel Statue

I had a trip to Houghton Conquest, near Bedford for a Garden Club talk on Tuesday so missed the first semi-final.

Our Thursday walk was fairly local starting at Barrington, and taking in Harston and Haslingfield, skirting the now defunct chalk pits which are being filled in with some of the soil from the new Crossrail Link.

Barrington Pit

Maize showing drought symptoms

I sent the photo I used in the letter two weeks ago of cattle standing in the River Stour to the Cambridge News and on Thursday it was featured as the centre fold spread – you saw it first!

Half the picture

Love

Mike & Kate

8th July 2018

Dear All,

How are you coping with the heat? – just as well that there are World Cup matches to watch in the cool! Gardening has become a long round of watering – but only essentials now all the rain water butts are empty. Kate has continued currant picking duties as there has been a tremendous crop while raspberries are a little shrivelled.

We had a tour of the local allotment with Glynis on Monday after swimming. As there is no water on either allotment site things are definitely struggling.

Mustill’s Lane Allotments

Tapping the Ditch for Water

It is Over Carnival next Saturday so we have been preparing the usual quiz, game and children’s activities. The theme this year is “Over the Hills and Far Away!”

We completed the 4^th section of the “Stour Valley path” on Thursday from Henny, south of Sudbury to Long Melford. It was obviously warm but tolerable with very few signs of poverty in that area!

Long Melford Church

Limousin Cattle in the River Stour near Sudbury

A Bevy of Swans

It has been the Swavesey Festival all last week and on Friday evening we biked down to see an open air performance of “The Importance of Being Ernest”. It was given by a professional group called “The Pantaloons” and was excellent.

Esther came for lunch yesterday to introduce us to her new friend Emma who seemed very nice; she works with adoptions for Social services.

It was Amélie’s 7^th birthday on Thursday and the photos suggest that chocolate for breakfast was no problem – especially if you have a small brother to help!

We had a speaker who used to work for Monks Wood Nature reserve at Men’s Breakfast and then we had to fill the baptismal pool for the baptism of a man who is helping start a new church at Northstowe – the new town being built at Longstanton.

Well my tip for the World Cup was Belgium before the start of the competition, and I have no reason to change that yet! Watching England is never relaxing but memories of 1966 keep coming back especially reinacting the goals in Nathan’s Road to the detriment of the neighbour’s garden!

Love

Mike & Kate

1^st July 2018

Dear All,

After walking Thursday, Street Pastors on Friday and playing cricket yesterday I am a little stiff this morning. However this is nothing compared to Andy who has been taking part in Stockholm’s “Walk ‘Til You Drop”. He completed 18 hours when there were just 65 left – last year it stopped at 80 hours!

It has been another fairly busy week as on Monday evening we arranged a walk round the RSPB site at Fen Drayton Lakes guided by the warden. Some of the lakes were covered by birds and others completely empty all down to the depth of the water. They currently have a Giant Reed Warbler which is not common in the UK.

Briefing at Fen Drayton Lakes

A Quiet Lake

On Wednesday we hosted the people from our “Just Vegetating” course for lunch and a look round the garden – we had erected a couple of gazebos to shield them from the heat. Thirteen turned up so we had enough food left to invite the Kitson’s and Stoyanov’s to clear it up in the evening.

“Just Vegetating”

Lifted Alliums

Thursday marked the 16^th anniversary of the U3A Walking group (I am in my 11^th year) and the 80^th birthday of one of the founder members so our walk this week included a celebration picnic with strawberries and cream and prosecco in the woods above Royston Heath. The weather was of course, ideal for a picnic.

Ascending Royston Heights

The Class of 2018

Some of the Originals (in the centre)

Keeping the cricket wicket going has involved several soakings but it is still looking a little brown with a few cracks appearing. We were on Street duty on Friday night. We had no police for the briefing and did not see any on foot all night – just a few in cars – the high visibility plan did not last long! The streets were not too busy but there were plenty of rough sleepers and a couple of serious drunks. The main problem was that when we got back to St Andrews at 3.30 am an alarm was ringing. We thought it was the intruder alarm but it turned out to be the fire alarm which we could not turn off. Eventually the Fire Brigade arrived and it was discovered that someone in one of the flats attached to the church had pressed the alarm – either accidentally or on purpose and it could only be deactivated by a special tool – which incredibly the Fire Brigade do not carry! By this time the church caretaker had arrived and he had such a tool in his office. While we were waiting the confusion was aggravated by a drunk man climbing over the 6’ security gates to relieve himself in a flower pot, then letting himself out via the complex lock arrangement!

The cricket team were short yesterday and I was asked to play, which was not ideal after being up all night and in baking heat but I survived and did not embarrass myself – but we lost.

Kate has been on serious currant picking duty this week as red, white and pink currants have all produced in abundance. Luckily we have a lady with a jam making business in Fen End who takes in the excess.

Currant Affairs

Love

Mike & Kate