30th May 2021

 

Dear All,

The headline this weekend has been monitoring Ben’s progress in the 100km London to Brighton walk challenge. He started at 7.40am Saturday morning and at the time of writing he has covered 97km in 25 hours so is in sight of the finish. The start was in Richmond Park and being Ben, he ran the 15 miles from Streatham to the start! Mind you Andy has previously completed the course in 17 hours in first position.

 

 

The Route

 

Kate and I met up with walking colleague Lawrie and wife Maureen at Willingham Auctions café in Tuesday for coffee and catch up. Willingham Auctions site has gone upmarket considerably from the days when we purchased things when setting up home.

We had another outing on Friday to Emmaus at Waterbeach to drop off 9 boxes of books. They also has improved considerably in recent years with workshops, a raised bed vegetable garden and a vast array of products on sale. We arrived after lunch and the guys told us that they had received 100 donations in the morning.

 

Book Donation

 

 

 

 

Emmaus raised beds

The warmer weather has meant a busy week in the garden and allotment planting Squash, courgettes, marrows, pumpkins, Brussels sprouts, kale, Purple sprouting broccoli, cabbage and more Sweet Corn. Both allotment and garden are fairly full now.

Plant of the week is this Gazenia which we were given for our 50^th anniversary.

 

 

Gazenia

 

Our Thursday walk started at Guilden Morden and circled Steeple Morden via Ashwell and Litlington. It was not the most scenic route but the weather was good and the crops fantastic.

 

 

The Three Tuns, Guilden Morden

 

 

 

 

Near Ashwell

 

 

 

Interesting Wall Art

 

 

Winter Barley

 

In the afternoon Kate dropped me off at Addenbrookes for a chest X-ray, which was very quick and efficient and, in the evening, we had a CEEM Zoom session. This year we managed to send £10,500 to support the children’s Meal Deal operations in Burlacu and Hirtop, as well as major repairs to the church building and conked-out cars at Leova. Next step is to collect money for 5 pastor’s salaries from two churches in St Neots and send that over.

Preparing cricket pitches has been tricky this spring with the constant rain but we prepared 3 youth and one adult strip this week and they actually managed to play yesterday after 3 rained off weeks. The 2^nd team were at home and were bowled out for 35 – so of course, are blaming the wicket! The opposition managed to pass their total without losing a wicket so it could not have been too bad!

Thursday ended a run of 23 days collecting rain in the gauge. Stand by for the drought!

Ben has reached Brighton while I have been writing in 25 hours and 20 minutes!

 

Made it!

 

With love

Mike & Kate

 

23rd May 2021

 

Dear All,

Not too much has changed this week: more rain, readings for 20 days running now, more gardening, more walking, more cricket pitch preparation for cancelled matches and more Night Cam action.

On Thursday we began our walk at the British Queen, Meldreth where they had erected an enormous marquee with solid floor and huge fire inside, goodness knows how much that would have cost which must be recovered somehow.

 

 

Marquee

 

 

Fire

 

 

Marquee interior

 

The walk circled round Melbourn, Bassingbourn, Kneesworth and Whaddon. It was not spectacular but the first stretch along the narrow River Mel was scenic and most of the crops we saw were very good including an unusual field of Peonies.

 

 

Peonies

 

Harcarlow Way near Whaddon

 

 

Meldreth Water Mill

Speaking of less usual crops I have planted Sweet Potatoes this week and the chick pea in the greenhouse has flowered with small white pea like flowers.

 

 

Chick Pea

 

 

Chick pea flowers

 

The second part of Kate’s birthday present arrived yesterday after a long gestation period – it is a litter picker and the first edition got lost in transit.

 

 

Professional Litter Picker

 

Kate had to take Lorna to Hinchingbrooke hospital on Friday as she phoned in poorly. It was a frustrating time waiting for various tests and eventually she had to leave her there having spent 5 hours driving and waiting.

And while on medical matters I eventually had a face to face with my doctor re blood pressure and lacking energy. The upshot is he heard faint “Bibasilar crackles!” Which indicate some fluid in the lungs and I have to have a chest X Ray. I think it all dates from removing Ivy in the graveyard and inhaling dust but it remains to be proved.

The Night Cam is still providing regular evidence of wildlife, last night a fox and Muntjac showed up and there have been badgers more often than not.

 

Muntjac

 

 

Badger

 

I managed to finally dispose of the last of the spare Tomato plants this week. I had 30 extras and they have gone in four directions.

It does not look as though I will be needed at RHS this year. Wisley is being drastically rearranged and they plan to relocate the vegetable trials on an orchard site so they only have a single cucumber trial in a polythene tunnel this year. The rest of the vegetable trials are being grown at their new site at Bridgewater in Lancashire and they have assembled a northern panel to assess these. Vegetables never seem to have a high priority at RHS and neither the orchard site or Bridgewater are trouble free and ideal at present.

The Cambridge News photo theme was “Vintage” this week and I had a picture of an abacus in Moldova featured.

 

 

Abacus

 

I watched West Wratting 2 v 1 Eaton Socon yesterday in an action-packed semi-final of the “30 years of Kershaw League Cup”. There was a sending off in the first 5 minutes which livened up proceedings!

 

With love

Mike & Kate

 

16th May 2021

 

Dear All,

Another week and another subdued lockdown celebration, this time to mark 50 years of married bliss! The family were generous in sending an “Experience Voucher” – weekends away, bungee jumping etc. and a collection of “Golden Plants”. We planned to have a couple of gatherings of 6 on the lawn but as the weather was similar to the actual day, i.e., dull and wet we ventured indoors yesterday with Kate & Gordon and Merv & Pat for celebratory drinks, cake, nibbles, examining memorabilia of the day and a couple of activities. The Kitsons and Miles are due this afternoon but Jenny tripped and broke her knee on Friday so is encased in a bulky plaster so it depends on how she feels. We are hoping to have a family gathering later if the lockdown is removed.

 

 

Events Voucher

 

 

Golden Plants

We had a load of FYM delivered to the allotments last week and although it is rather late in the season, I have spread it on the areas for winter brassicas and squash and rotovated it in. Kate is still planting her flower patch and it is beginning to look full.

 

 

Kate’s Allotment

 

The Night Cam has not been so productive this week with just one badger and a fox plus an occasional squirrel and a hatful of cats – 4 different individuals one night.

On the other hand, the rain gauge has gone into overtime, after 2 readings in the first 42 days in March and April, I have had readings for 13 consecutive days amounting to 43 mm.

On Tuesday I had a pub lunch with walking colleagues at Milton. We were outdoors but fortunately in a marquee as the heavens opened with a violent downpour accompanied by thunder. Tuesday was also Kate Foster’s birthday so we took a trip to Haddenham in the evening to deliver gifts and inspect her father-in-law’s tomatoes. He has a fastidious bent and records the result of every game of scabble he plays with his wife and also every tomato that he harvests.

The publican where we were due to meet on Thursday was very strict about numbers due to complaints from locals in Conington and as the uptake was high Kate and I volunteered to do our own thing and walked from Over to St Ives taking in Swavesey fen, Fen Drayton RSPB then followed the River Ouse to St Ives. It was an excellent walk during which we heard our first cuckoos and saw the first ducklings. We had lunch outside a café in St Ives.

 

 

River Ouse

 

 

Ducklings

 

 

Heron

 

 

St Ives Quay

 

The chick peas have been planted out and are now progressing.

 

 

Chick Peas

 

And the theme for Cambridge News phots this week was “Fields” of which I happen to have a few shots!

 

 

Baby leaf salads

With love

Mike & Kate

 

9th May 2021

 

Dear All,

Kate celebrated her 2^nd lockdown birthday with a trip to the bluebells in Waresley Woods followed by collecting food from Cambridge Services garage and home delivered Fish ‘n Chips in the evening  - we know how to live! The children sent flowers, gardening gloves, a pizza cutter and a book and Kate F delivered a Salvia.

 

 

Kate with Birthday loot

 

Bluebells were a major feature of Thursdays walk which was a new route for us west of Stevenage and the A1, starting at the “Rusty Gun” at St Ippolyts. The walk took in two large woods: Hitch and Walk Wood which were both carpeted with bluebells, in fact I do think I have seen more in one day. The route circled the Bowes-Lyon estate and included the Queen Mothers memorial in St Paul’s Walden cemetery and the Bowes-Lyon family stately home called “The Bury”. It was an hour drive for us but was well worth it.

 

Hitch Wood

 

 

Queen Mother’s Memorial

 

The Bury

 

 

The Rusty Gun.

The weather has obviously taken a quantum shift this week with frost replaced by emptying the rain gauge 6 days running. This has meant much outdoor planting and sowing so I have planted out runner beans, climbing French beans, celeriac and early sweet corn and sowed a second lot of parsnips, carrots and scorzonera. Of course, frost could return any night but you have to go ahead sometime. Kate meanwhile has nearly filled her allotment extension with flowers with plenty to follow.

My cricket pitch maintenance colleague John is in Scotland for a week, so it took me over 3 hours preparing wickets for adults and juniors on Wednesday, followed by another top up rolling on Friday – only for it to pour with rain all Saturday morning, so the adult match was cancelled!

The night camera has not been so productive this week with just a squirrel and a plethora of cats showing up. Wildlife is clearly choosey about the weather!

Our Biographies Zoom session was led by Ann this week, who spent 3 months in India in the 1970s on a British Council scheme exchanging scientists. She had expertise in electron microscopy at Cambridge University and she was sent to Benares, now Varanasi University as they had been gifted an instrument from America. When she arrived, it was still in its packing case and damaged and no one knew how to either mend it or set it up. Electron microscopes need a steady supply of electricity and as they had daily power cuts it would have bee a tricky operation anyway. So, it was not the most productive of exchanges. Benares is on the River Ganges so she also described the ceremonial funeral pyres that were constantly lit on the banks of the river. As the wood for the fires was very valuable as soon as the relatives departed from the ceremony the operatives would retrieve as much wood as possible and tip the bodies into the river!  

Mary-Ann and Andy have received an offer for their house but the elderly vendors of the one they have placed an offer for are wavering about moving. Moving house is seldom straightforward – or so we understand, we have had very little experience!

I watched Over Reserves 4 v 0 Swavesey in a keenly fought local derby yesterday.     

 

With love

Mike & Kate