20th February 2022

 

Dear All,

Highlight this week has been entertaining Mary-Ann, Amḗlie & Albert from Tuesday evening until Saturday morning. Before that we managed a swim on Monday before “Just Vegetating” which this week covered “Salads – Fruit”. Kate’s recipes were:  Roast stuffed Peppers, Mutabbal (blended Aubergines) and Courgette, Pistachio & lemon syrup cake (vague salad connection!).

There was no “Cognitive Psychology” this week as the tutor had a half term break. M-A arrived about 6.15pm and the children had each packed about 20 soft toys! We introduced the to “Muggins” that night.

 

 

On Wednesday and Thursday Mary-Ann was working from home (or near enough!) so we took the children to Emmaus to purchase bargains including a small concrete owl which Albert thought his mother would love. On the way back we stopped at Willingham playground and had lunch at “The Looking Glass” at Willingham. In the afternoon we toured the River at Overcote and the RSPB at Fen Drayton. We entertained Ian and Chantal Bradley for dinner as Ian (a walking group friend) was speaker at Over garden club – topic “The Answer lies in the Soil”. I was providing the projector for the talk which was not without drama as we discovered that his laptop would not speak to my projector which necessitated a quick trip to my office to transfer the talk to my laptop. Fortunately, the AGM was due to follow the talk so the order was switched.

On Thursday Kate and I took the children to Hamerton Wildlife Park near Sawtry. An enterprising farmer set it up in 1990 and it has about 100 different animals, some large but mostly small. The children were especially taken with a white Tiger and a room full of harvest mice. Another highlight was a walk through shed of Australian birds, mainly Budgerigars and Zebra Finches.

The weather was cold and blowy but otherwise it was a good outing and we had a picnic lunch in Sawtry on the way back.

 

 

White Tiger

 

 

Harvest Mice

 

 

Zebra Finches

 

 

Meercat

Later in the afternoon Amḗlie and Albert were allowed to exercise Glynis & Richard’s dog Mossy, which was probably the top moment of the week for Amḗlie at least!

 

 

Mossy walkers

 

Mary-Ann had intended to return home on Friday but the weather warnings were dire and the Dartford bridge was closed all day so we had a bonus day. Both children were keen to work for money so Amelie cleaned all my old plant labels and Albert helped make a cake, tidied toys and shelled my vast crop of chick peas. U3A “Biographies” was transferred to Zoom to save travelling in inclement weather. This week it was “Rubens part 2” describing his experiences as a diplomat, spending time in Spain and England trying to broker peace between Catholic and Protestant factions.

Mary-Ann left at 10,00 am Saturday and was home by 12.30 pm – so far, we have not found anything that they have left behind!

 

 

Luggage

 

Local football was devastated by hurricane Eunice with both Over games called off.

Kate and I had a walk round the Fen in the afternoon and the village has had it’s share of fallen trees and 5 days with rain has had familiar effects on the Fen.

 

 

Fallen Tree

 

 

Flooded Fen Field

 

 

Pastor David Smith is in South Africa for his mother’s funeral and the morning service was delegated to Norman Foster with some help. Unfortunately, he has been in close contact with someone who has gone down with Covid so has pulled out at short notice so this has meant some last-minute rearrangements with various “volunteers” called on to participate. Anything could happen!

 

With love

Mike & Kate