31st January 2021

 

Dear All,

Question: (not for our veggie offspring!) when is the last time you ate rabbit? It was an ever present growing up but I can’t remember the last time I ate it. Derreck Medlock, our erstwhile next door but one neighbour moved to Nottinghamshire but kept the bungalow and returns to stay or check it over occasionally. He still has 200 -300 rabbits and when we invited him for a meal last year, he presented us with a rabbit – fortunately skinned and jointed. Kate was not over joyed and it was put in the freezer and only retrieved and cooked this weekend. Kate could not actually face it herself but it was OK in a casserole but somehow you see fluffy bunnies when it is on your plate, which is not a problem with other sorts of meat!

Our microwave cooker packed up on Monday so we ordered another which was delivered on Friday, it is amazing how much you miss the convenience.

Kate had another mammogram this week, it has been a yearly treat since her breast cancer operation. I took her to Addenbrooke’s and waited in the Park ‘n Ride car park to avoid public transport. All the doors at the hospital are locked with guards.

We took part in the RSPB “Big Bird Watch” Friday morning. Fortunately, the sun came out and we recorded a few small birds but Pigeons and Crows were top of the list. It is disappointing that the Woodpeckers, Jays and Long tailed Tits that we have seen recently, disappear when needed!

We have managed to walk nearly every day but are running out of non-muddy, non-watery paths. On Thursday for our longer walk we took the main road to Willingham, which was OK as long as you were prepared to jump on the verge each time traffic roared by. We then explored the backstreets of Willingham before returning on the footpath – where we soon encountered mud and water again – having to wade through a flood near the end.

 

 

Mud

 

 

Muck

 

 

Water

 

“Biographies” session had two short presentations this week: Arthur Ransome and Elizabeth Jane Howard. Ransome had two distinct periods to his life, the first as a journalist in Russia where without actually being a spy, he provided information to both the UK and Russian governments. Then he retired back to England and wrote the “Swallows & Amazons” books for children.

 

 

Arthur Ransome

 

Elizabeth Jane Howard was born in New Zealand but came to England to finish her education. She had three marriages, numerous liaisons, several jobs before joining the Bloomsbury set and writing many books of which the “Cazalets” collection were best known (not by me!). Her first marriage was to Peter Scott (naturalist & painter) and her third to Kingsley Amis. She was a friend of D.H. Lawrence and he is thought to have based “Women in Love” on her.

 

Elizabeth Jane Howard

 

We are in charge of the Sunday ZOOM session today on the topic of “Fear”

I think I may be getting ahead of myself with seed propagation this year – blame the lockdown!

 

 

Propagation Bench

 

 

Germination cabinet

 

Brenda Ingle’s funeral due this Tuesday has had to be postponed as her son-in-law has tested positive for Covid and her daughter and granddaughter are having to isolate – not easy for the family.

With love

Mike & Kate

 

 

24th January 2021

 

Dear All,

Both Kate and I have had our first Covid jabs this week in Over Community Centre, which started as the main hub for vaccinations between Cambridge and St Ives on Wednesday. It was a very efficient operation with volunteers sorting car parking, hand sterilisation and queuing and 6 injection stations – they inoculated over 1100 in the first two days.

 

 

Vaccination Team

 

We had a short violent snow flurry yesterday and are still fairly white over after a decent frost last night.

 

Saturday Lunchtime

 

I have tuned into two on-line lectures this week, on Monday there was a Kew Gardens lecture on “No Dig Gardening” by Charles Dowding with 380 in virtual attendance. He is a passionate advocate of this method of growing and has undoubtedly made it work on his holding but it needs vast inputs of compost, horse manure, mushroom compost and any other organic material that can be sourced.

On Wednesday we both joined a U3A talk on “Lichens” which was also very interesting: there are 20,000 worldwide and 1,900 in the British Isles. Once you are tuned in you can see them everywhere!

 

 

One of Many

 

I have spent some time this week digging out photos for RHS who are revising their “Grow Your Own” app. As I have photographed every trial I have attended since I joined the Trials Forum in 2003, I have quite a few.

I have been asked to talk to Hitchin Probus group on ZOOM on the subject of “The Wildlife of Costa Rica” except the booker put “Costa Rice” which sounds like an exotic Caribbean recipe! You might know that Probus stands for” Professional and Retired Businessmen” but to members it is referred to as “Prostrate removed other bits under observation!”

We braved the river and circumnavigated Barleycroft Lake in Bluntisham on Thursday. It is becoming difficult to find paths which are not knee deep in mud due to a combination of the weather and the amount of traffic. This was not too bad until we came across a lake across the path which meant trespassing close to the gravel conveyer belt. Unfortunately, Kate found a hidden trip wire and did a complete full frontal 9.5! We saw a Marsh Harrier and large flocks of Lapwings and Geese.

 

 

Brownshill Staunch

 

 

River Ouse

 

 

 

Barleycroft Lake

 

 

After the fall

 

 

Early Catkins

“Biographies” topic this week was “Kathleen Mansfield” a NZ born writer of short stories and poems who was very unconventional and a member of the Bloomsbury Set and friend on D.H. Lawrence who was thought to have based “Women in Love” on her.

 

 

Kathleen Mansfield

 

I hope you have all received and read the latest CEEM Newsletter this week? The guy in charge of the repairs to the flood damaged church in Leova is incredible. He is in his early 20s and works a full day then puts in a 5 to 10 pm shift at the church. He has just got married and the weather in Moldova is rather cold at present.

“Green fingered Kate” has just persuaded this orchid to bloom for about the 10th time and is still busily working her way through the dining room chairs.

 

 

With love

Mike & Kate

 

 

17th January 2021

 

Dear All,

Still plenty of water about locally. As Kate was taking Lorna for an X-Ray on Thursday, we undertook our longer walk on Tuesday – which was fortunate as the weather was not good on Wednesday or Thursday. We chose to keep as far as possible on to firmer paths by walking through the orchards to Swavesey, then along the entire length of the main street to nearly the A14. We then turned left parallel to the A 14 into flat farm land and looped back to the Guided Bus way and through the allotments back to Over. It was not the most scenic route but it was mainly firm underfoot and 75% on new paths for us.

 

 

Tippler’s Road, Swavesey

 

On Monday we walked down Over fen with water everywhere.

 

 

Fen End, Over

 

 

Furtherford, Over

 

 

Sugar Beet loading

 

We had some snow on Friday night but it did not settle as everywhere was too wet.

U3A started again this week and the “Biographies” subject was Sir Paul Nurse a Nobel prize winning geneticist who specialised in studying yeast cell division. He is currently Director of the Crick Institute near Kings Cross.

 

 

Sir Paul Nurse

 

Kate had an appointment at The Spire to check her eyes for Glaucoma which thankfully she does not have but an area of her eye which is not sensitive and the beginnings of cataracts.

I have been reading the second of my Christmas books “The Diary of a Bookseller” which I greatly enjoyed about the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland by Shaun Bythell.

 

 

The Diary of a Bookseller

 

Germination tests have been on going and I have started carrots, lettuce and watercress in the greenhouse.

Last night we had a “Review of the Year” which is usually part of the chapel New Year Social. I presented it on ZOOM which was a different experience as the audience were muted so I was not aware of any reaction.

 

 

With love

Mike & Kate

 

 

10th January 2021

 

Dear All,

Undoubtedly the news this week had been dominated by the sad death of Megan. Kate first saw her in the Rosie Maternity hospital as a very premature baby weighing 1lb 6oz wrapped in film, when her survival was not guaranteed, to lose her after 18 years is devastating for the family and our thoughts and prayers are for them. To add poignancy, we received a card from Megan thanking us for her Christmas cash the same morning that we heard the news.

More mundanely we have had electricians in for a day and a half this week. We accepted their estimate on 15^th June but somehow with Covid and everything else it did not get to the top of their to do list. Their tasks were:

Supplied and installed consumer unit with individual RCBO’s for each circuit and appropriate surge arresting devices

Adapted wiring to allow all circuits to come from a single consumer unit

Installed earthing to incoming gas and water services

Installed earth electrode in ground mounted pit to front of garage

Issued relevant certification

Replaced angle batten to downstairs toilet light

Installed earth to kitchen socket

a)                  That explains why they were a long time, b) who would have thought we could have slept easily in our beds knowing all these needed doing!

It is amazing how much we rely on electricity these days for heat, light, computing, cooking etc. so one and half days seemed a long time.

 

 

New Consumer Unit

 

We have walked most days in a variety of conditions: sloppy mud, frozen mud, freezing fog, bright sunshine, wind and calm. Our main walk on Thursday started from home, through the orchard to Swavesey, past the windmill to Fen Drayton Pits then the river bank and back via Webb’s Hole and Overcote Road. Fortunately, this was the best day of the week with sunshine and mainly frozen under foot. There were sections on the river bank where the mud had melted and these were heavy going. Nearly all the local paths are in poor condition as they have had such a heavy foot fall in wet weather and although the floods have retreated there is still plenty of water about.

 

 

Swavesey Mill

 

 

Swavesey Lake

 

 

Thoughtful Heron

 

 

Mere Fen

 

 

Melted mud on river bank

 

 

Freezing Fog Yesterday

 

I have started germination tests in the propagator – earlier than usual but it occupied the days without electricity. We have a bumper crop of Parsnips this year so Kate dug out Jamie Oliver’s recipe for soup which is very good and is the only one which does not involve cream.

 

 

Germination tests

 

 

We managed to get some cash to Moldova this week for a wedding and a new baby and my last posting to Turkey arrived in only one month instead of three for the previous despatch.

I am presenting a Review of the Year next Saturday on ZOOM so I guess you could all tune in if you are at a loose end!

 

With love

Mike & Kate

 

 

3^rd January 2021

 

Dear All,

Happy New Year to all readers (both of you!). Less rain and a few decent frosts to start the year. We started having am evening quiz on “Whereby” with Ben and Hutton and Hove have gradually joined in on occasions.

 

 

“Whereby” session

 

Not the most exciting week: sawing wood, harvesting veg, walking and preparing a Review of the Year. I have been reassembling the “Heath Robinson” propagation cabinet this week in readiness for germination tests and starting off this year’s crop.

 

Propagator

 

Three ZOOM/Whereby sessions on Thursday: Walkers, CEEM and family quiz. We are preparing another Moldova Newsletter so hold your breath!

The longer walk on Thursday was a nice contrast to recent slogs through mud as it was frozen throughout and walking on frozen mud is much easier than on its squelchy cousin. We walked through Over Fen, Willingham Fen and Willingham village. There was still plenty of water about and Willingham will not be playing bowls, cricket or football for a bit!

 

 

Cook’s Sheep in the frost

 

 

The Gravel

 

 

 

Willingham Bowls club

 

 

Water Hazard

 

Yesterday we were back in Over Fen and Burling’s Bulls were standing knee deep in mud.

Earlier in the week they had harvested sugar beet in the fen and you can see how much damage this crop does to the soil structure.

 

 

Burling’s Bulls

 

 

Sugar Beet harvest

 

Kate is taking on an extra section of allotment and the man she is sharing it with has dug it all this week.

 

 

New Allotment

 

With love

Mike & Kate