31st December 2023

 

Dear All,

I hope you have all enjoyed Christmas? We certainly did – apart from a prolonged journey back from Hove due to heavy traffic and numerous queues. We arrived in Hove at 2,15pm on Saturday, Ben had arrived earlier on his bike – laden with gifts! And Esther and Emma arrived about 5pm.

On Sunday we attended Holland Road Baptist church which is a lively set up near the sea front. It is a large building with a capacity for 790 but I guess there were about 250 attending.

After we walked along the sea front and the sea was rough and the wind fairly fierce with nobody swimming. After lunch some of us walked the “Three Corners Copse” which is a mainly tree lined area rising up from Hove Park.

On Christmas Day the anticipated early start did not materialise as the children slept until 8.30am. After stockings were emptied some of us took a turn round Hove Park which is reasonably large at 39 acres. Andy was chief chef and Christmas lunch was excellent catering for Veggies and Carnivores alike. Carnivores had turkey wrapped in bacon and pigs in blankets while veggies a filo vegetable pie with accompanying sprouts, cauliflower cheese, carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes and stuffing.

Lunch was followed by presents, quizzes and games. The only downside was news of the demise of Esther’s elderly cat William.

  

Stockings

 

Christmas Lunch

  

Present Overload

 

Boxing Day was calmer weatherwise and we walked or drove to the beach where Emma and Ben braved the waves which were still formidable and they had difficulty getting a decent swim. They were far from on their own and the promenade and beach were really crowded.

 

 

Emma & Ben facing the waves

 

 

A few other hardy souls.

 

We all departed on Wednesday morning and Mary-Ann heroically drove Ben back to Streatham as they were lending him a radiator as his boiler broke down before Christmas and it will not be replaced for a few days.

On Thursday we embarked on the high adventure of visiting Morrisons in St Ives instead of the normal Bar Hill Tesco’s run! Then spent a few happy hours searching for and purchasing a new car insurance deal as the renewal with the current company was almost double. Kate also spent time shuffling the Power of Attorney forms which have now been finally posted.

On Friday we carried out a walk recce from Eltisley to Caxton and back and it was quite a slog as the paths and lanes were pretty muddy and we ended with obligatory rain shower.

 

 

Caxton Ford

 

Well, that is 2023 nearly over – have you enjoyed it? We wish you well for 2024.

 

Regards

Mike & Kate

 

17th December 2023

 

Dear All,

I hope your Christmas excitement level is growing? It all seems to arrive too quickly when you get this close.

On Monday the swimming pool was nearly empty when we arrived but several of the elderly ladies appeared later on as they were off for a Christmas lunch. Kate, Mervyn and I transferred to Tesco’s for coffee and to fill a small gap in the shopping list! Meanwhile Adrian had a successful consultation at Addenbrookes and has been placed on the operation list. Evidently, he had lost fluid in some vertebrae and this has been replaced by cartilage which is rubbing on the nerves, The list could be long but it has cheered him to make some progress, in addition his kittens have arrived this week and he is getting used to the price of cat food!

In the evening we hosted a meal and meeting for CEEM, our current challenge is to organise collecting 30 second hand firemen’s uniforms from Brighton where a charity collects them and transfer them to Market Deeping near Peterborough where there is a transport company with experience of transfers to Moldova. Philip is planning a trip to Moldova on the 31^st December with his new girlfriend who speaks Russian, they hope to include a week at a Moldovan language school.

On Tuesday I was taxi service for John Lee whose wife Vera was having a check up at Addenbrookes. She was being collected in an ambulance but he – at about 95 years old was not allowed to ride with her! It was also time to post Christmas parcels to Derbyshire.

I managed to confirm my order for Christmas Brussels sprouts on Wednesday and then attended Phil Dobson’s funeral, Phil was a qualified vet and the man who used to win all the cups at the Village Produce show and will be sadly missed.

Norman Ingle came for lunch as usual followed by the last session of the midweek church group. In between we watched a U3A lecture on-line entitled “The Box with the Sunflower Clasp” given by a lady whose Jewish family escaped NAZI occupation of Austria by travelling to Shanghai. This is a little-known slice of history but 20,000 escaped by that route.

On Thursday we had a short walk from Trumpington Park & Ride car park taking in Trumpington, Byron’s Pool, Grantchester and the River Cam. We stopped for mulled wine and mince pies at Ian and Felicia Gordon’s before 40 of us descended on La Margarita’s Italian restaurant near Magdalene Bridge for a Christmas lunch.

 

 

Edge of Trumpington

 

 

Byron’s Pool, Grantchester

 

 

Grantchester Old Vicarage chez Geoffrey Archer

 

 

River Cam at Grantchester

 

 

Walkers of 2023

 

 

River Cam near Magdalene Bridge

 

For the Christmas session of Biographies members take in readings and snacks and usually I run a quiz but we ran out of time this week. In the evening we attended the Over Pantomime, this year “Treasure Island”. It is always an enjoyable evening as long as you do not take it too seriously.

 

 

Over did not have a match yesterday so Dave and I travelled to West Wratting to watch them beat Ely Reserves 5 – 1.

The plan is that we travel down to Hove for Christmas next Saturday so no letter next week and Happy Christmas to all our readers!

 

 

Regards

Mike & Kate

 

10th December 2023

 

Dear All,

Another wet week 40mm and rained 6 days out of 7 so the goldfish have enjoyed another period of free-swimming exercise!

 

 

Extended Pond

 

However, the onions are enjoying it rather less!

 

 

Damp Veg Patch

 

No Balkans this week as the tutor was poorly so I cleared the bottom greenhouse and reassembled my Heath Robinson Germination cabinet. Tuesday was busy as we took possession of a new washing machine, had a replacement bathroom window fitted – but sadly the installer managed to crack the glass, we sent out our Christmas Compilation and Kate fell off her bike damaging a wrist. She did not feel anything at the time but was in considerable pain a few hours later. She has been slowly improving each day but still has some discomfort.

I did manage to finish digging the allotment and the fruit cage here on Wednesday.

Our Thursday walk started very gloomy at Babraham but did not develop into rain as we crossed the Roman Road and traversed Wandlebury. We avoided muddy fields but several of the paths were muddy and slippery. The so-called short walk was 8.4 miles this week.

 

 

Statue of Jonas Webb, Babraham

 

 

Roman Road

 

 

Wandlebury

 

 

Gog Magog Down

 

On Friday Kate accompanied me for a little shopping at Coton Garden Centre and Cambridge while I was at Biographies. This week’s subject was Mary Anning the fossil lady from Lyme Regis. She was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset in Southwest England.

 

 

Mary Anning

 

It was a men’s Breakfast on Saturday and Gordon spoke about CAP (Christian’s Against Poverty). Kate, Mervyn, Pat & Dennis were cooks.

 

 

Dennis, Mervyn & Pat performing

 

Both Over football matches were off again this week so suffering from withdrawal symptoms!

 

 

Regards

Mike & Kate

 

3^rd December 2023

 

Dear All,

With temperatures of -5C, -3C & -2C this week it seems that winter has arrived and log fires are in order.

After our Monday swim I met up with three walking mates: Lawrie, David and Howell at St Ives Weatherspoon’s for a meal and catch up. Lawrie has not been walking regularly as he has a foot problem and Howell has dropped out of U3A as walking was his only participation and that made it too expensive. In the evening Kate and I were joined by Merv & Pat to go to the cinema in Ely to see “Napoleon”. The film was probably not too historically accurate but was enjoyable if a trifle long. The guy who taught the U3A Napoleon history class last year had been to see it and said it was all B & B – all Battles & Bonking! The list of credits at the end was the longest I have ever seen running for about 15 minutes employing the residents of a small to medium sized country!

 

 

On Tuesday I spent the morning digging the new patch on the allotment while Kate was protecting plants for the winter. In the afternoon “Balkans” finished North Macedonia and tackled Montenegro and Dubrovnik. Montenegro is incredibly mountainous and a route was described with 58 hair pin bends. How they find enough flat land to grow food is a mystery!

 

 

Mount Lovcen, Montenegro

 

On Wednesday Kate, Glynis and Roger Holland and I took a trip to Saham Toney, near Watton, Norfolk to visit Bill Chowings who was the boss of three of us at NIAB. He used to live in Swavesey but moved to be near his daughter, his wife died last year and he now rattles in rather a large house. He took us for a meal at South Pickenham in the heart of rural Norfolk, it was an enjoyable day and I think he was pleased to have the company.

 

 

Roger, Bill, Glynis & Kate

We were very fortunate with the weather again on Thursday as it was clear, frosty and sunny. This cured the mud problem and the temperature was tolerable if you kept moving. We started at Conington and took in Boxworth, Knapwell and Elsworth.

 

 

Conington

 

 

Frosted Grass

 

 

Circling Boxworth

 

 

Approaching Knapwell

 

The Biographies subject this week was Sir John Betjeman CBE the well-known poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, helping to save St Pancras railway station from demolition. He made a point of bumbling through life and was helped throughout by excellent friends who got him out of every scrape.

 

 

Betjeman statue at St Pancras station

 

Saturday was cold and gloomy and not conducive for outdoor activities so I cleared the bottom glasshouse of frozen peppers and mucked, dug and rearranged it for winter.

 

Regards

Mike & Kate