25th November 2018

Dear All,

So it will be Christmas Day a month from today Ho Ho – I just thought I would remind you in case it had slipped your notice!

It has been a quieter week finishing winter digging and clearing, mucking and digging both greenhouses but still harvesting the first Brussels sprouts, cabbage, parsnips, leeks, oca, sweet potatoes, artichokes and scorzonera – the last four are for “Just Vegetating” as we begin “Minor Crops” tomorrow. Last Monday it was “Potatoes” and Kate produced: Hasselbank potatoes, Homity pie, Olive oil mash with herbs, garlic and lemon and Mrs Beetons Curate’s pudding. Very little was left!

It was a Church Business meeting Tuesday evening and Over Garden Club on Wednesday where a Hungarian lady talked about how they celebrate Christmas and made traditional decorations.

Our Thursday walk took us to Castor near Peterborough. We do not get a large turnout when it is north of Cambridge as people are put off by the A14 but it was a very interesting walk. Castor was the site of a Roman settlement including the second largest Roman building in Britain. The route took in the Nene Valley Park with large lakes and a good scattering of water birds including cormorants,

Castor Church

Bridge over River Nene

Nene Park Lake with Cormorants

Guelder Rose berries

Castor Water Mill

Our car greeted the first signs of winter by refusing to start, eventually needing a new battery. Extracting the old battery took the garage about 15 minutes – come back the Austin A35 and the Morris Minor!

The “Biographies” topic was “Horatio Nelson” presented by Gill a formidable old lady who graduated before ladies were allowed to receive degrees! In the evening we were in Cambridge again for another “Homeless” briefing – a better one than two weeks ago. People who do fantastic work in helping in Day and Night shelters are not necessarily good at speaking and putting the message over.

Football was a little chilly yesterday but we watched Bar Hill 1 v1 Linton. Ipswich continue to be the strongest team in the Championship by holding the rest up!

Love

Mike & Kate