24th November 2019

Dear All,

With love

We missed swimming this week as Kate’s cooking for “Just Vegetating” was more time demanding, this week it was “Potatoes”. In the evening we had a Street pastors get together mainly to discuss recruitment and the new temporary café site on Parkers Piece which is not attracting the usual number of customers.

On Tuesday we drove down to Hove via Littlehampton to visit a former neighbour Sophie Bridgeman who is now in an old folks home and rather frail.

On Wednesday we took Albert to Middle Farm near Lewes where he found the pigs a little intimidating but was happier with the harvest mouse and the ice cream!

River Arun, Littlehampton

Resident Artist

Kate & Albert

Fearsome Pigs

Less Fearsome harvest Mouse

 

Farmer Bert

Our Thursday outing began at Chevington near Bury St Edmunds. It was dry overhead but fairly sticky underfoot.

  

Grass maze at Chevington church

The biography subject this week was “Franz Kafka” a rather complex character who was loath to publish anything he wrote and asked for everything to be destroyed after his death – which did not completely happen although 90% of his output did perish.

  

Franz Kafka

 We entertained Grace and Arthur in the afternoon. Our pastor David’s father died this week so he has flown to South Africa for the funeral and subsequent arrangements so it is all hands to the pump for a week or two.

Most of you will know that we were in Beaumont for David’s 80^th celebrations yesterday. He didn’t want the guest list to be all over 70 so there was a good mixture of younger locals. We were fed well, fitted captions to photos and had a glimpse of his hitherto secret memoirs!

David, Graham & Jen

And furthermore………

Love

Mike & Kate

17th November 2019

Dear All,

It was “Legumes” in “Just Vegetating” on Monday with accompanying Bean Burgers and several other bean dishes. For the second week the swimming pool was bracing which kept the numbers down!

In the evening Terry Rugg came over and we planned the next Moldova trip probably in May while Kate was at the Dickens Fellowship in Cambridge. Driving back later that night was the usual excitement as the layout of the A14 changes almost daily – or more bafflingly -nightly.

On Tuesday I thought that the wasps in the compost bin would have lost their aggression and emptied the bin and mucked both greenhouses. The nest was small about 8” across and only a few inmates still alive and active. I also measured up the broken panes of glass (3) and got replacements from the glaziers on Over Industrial Site.

Wasp’s Nest

Mucked greenhouse

We both went to Cambridge shopping on Wednesday, Kate to buy new walking boots and me to be outfitted for the wedding.

Our Thursday walk began in a downpour which kept the numbers down but still 20 turned out. We started in Fulbourn which is surrounded by a surprising amount of Fen and Nature reserve. It stopped raining by half time and overall was not a bad walk with the autumn colours looking particularly good this year.

Damp Start

Surface water in Great Wilbraham

Winter Draws On!

The “Biography” subject was “Henry Blogg” ex coxswain of Cromer lifeboat. He is the most decorated lifeboatman of all time with 3 gold medals and 4 silver. Under his captaincy the boat was launched 387 times and saved 873 people.

Henry Blogg

Bill and Sue were present when I arrived home en route from Derbyshire to their sons in Kent. They had endured a very wet week in Derbyshire and had great difficulty getting out through the floods. Adrian Hart then called for us to help him renew his passport on line. When I did this for myself earlier in the year it worked like a charm, this time it did not work so well and tested our patience somewhat.

There were no decent football matches locally yesterday (damn International break!) so after a trip to Oakington Garden centre I finished off my biography contribution – Jack London for 3 week’s time.

I harvested Sweet Potatoes this week and they produced a decent crop.

 

Sweet Potato Crop

With love

Mike & Kate

10th November 2019

Dear All,

Not too much to report this week as we have not been far. “Just Vegetating” this week was “Salads-Fruit” covering Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers and Aubergines. The food continues to be popular with none left over for hungry leaders who have skipped breakfast to go swimming!

At the weekend I received an invitation to speak to the “South Devon Organic Growers” in January. It is a long way to go but I have met them before as they supply “Riverford”.

I have started working on my next “Biography” presentation this week as I have to perform in December now, as someone has dropped out. This time my subject is “Jack London” who packed a lot in a short life dying at 40.

Our walk venue was one of the more distant locations at Haynes in Bedfordshire beyond Old Warden. The weather was better than forecast and it was a good autumn walk with coloured leaves and loads of fungi.

Autumn colours

Fungi

Maulden Wood

  

Clophill Old Church

In the evening it was the AGM for Over Produce Show which is a bit of a non-event but necessary nonetheless.

This week’s biography was “George Keith” he was an obscure Scottish and Prussian army officer and diplomat. Jacobite by persuasion. He served in Flanders under the duke of Marlborough from 1708 to 1711, but for considering placing the Old Pretender on the British throne on Queen Anne's death he was deprived of his commission. He fought on the Jacobite side during the 1715 Jacobite rising and his estates falling to the crown. He then served Frederick the Great in Prussia eventually dying there.

George Keith

Yesterday I wrote December’s Garden Column and watched Cherry Hinton 2 v 0 Eaton Socon while Over beat Fulbourn 8 v 2

With love

Mike & Kate

3^rd November 2019

Dear All,

“Just Vegetating” this week was “Salads-Green” and Kate produced salads with fruit and hot ingredients which went down very well.

On Tuesday there was another event at NIAB celebrating their 100 years with talks, historic photos and a tour of the new buildings they have put up. They are working more closely with the University and host several University staff on site and will soon accommodate a new professor of Crop Science.

Our Thursday outing was fairly local starting at Meldreth, south of Cambridge and taking in Melbourn, Bassingbourn and Whaddon. It remained dry throughout.

Pub car Park carving

Melbourn

Seasonal Field

One of the ladies in the group presented me a cheque for £1000 towards the repair of the church in Leova, Moldova where the mud bricks did not survive a flood earlier in the year.

  

Leova Damage

“Biographies” this week featured “Josephine Butler” an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of Contagious Diseases Act in British law, the abolition of child prostitution, and an end to human trafficking of young women and children into European prostitution.

Josephine Butler

We were on Street Pastor duty again Friday night. It was a busy night with a hangover from Halloween the night before so we tended 6 or 7 rather ill persons in various states of distress but fortunately most had friends to help them recover.

I slept through the Rugby final but watched Over lose 4 v 2 to league leaders Cherry Hinton in rather wintery conditions.

Star plants in the garden this week are celeriac which has had a good year and Michaelmas Daisies

Michaelmas Daisies

 

Celeriac

With love

Mike & Kate