19th February 2023

 

Dear All,

Following John Law’s request for cash to support the relief work in Turkey I did a presentation in last Sunday’s morning service and was surprised to raise £1,175 by Tuesday. This was sent off straightaway and has already been used to feed refugees. Many people prefer to give to a cause where they know the personalities rather than to a general appeal.

Just Vegetating covered “Salads – Fruit” this week and Kate produced Stuffed Peppers, Courgette cake and Strawberry and Tomato salad.

We had an outing to Chippenham Park near Newmarket on Wednesday and it exceeded our expectations as the snowdrops, aconites and iris were spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Chippenham Hall

 

 

Sculptures

 

We attended Over Gardening Club in the evening where the topic was “Dry Gardening”.

Our walk on Thursday was a new venue “The Biggleswade Green Wheel”. The town council have recently joined up paths to circle the town taking in Jordan’s Mill and the River Ivel. It was not the most scenic route but dry underfoot and quite interesting.

 

 

Green Wheel Sign

 

 

Jordan’s Mill

 

 

River Ivel

 

It was my first serious outing after more than a week’s coughing and I was glad to make it round 8.5 miles but was not too frisky afterwards!

“Biographies” subject this week was “Robert Hooke” he was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that he built himself. He was the first to name cells. He helped Christopher Wren with the rebuilding of London after the great fire and probably was responsible for many buildings for which Wren got the credit. He was however argumentative and fell out with many contemporaries especially Isaac Newton who disliked him so much he was attributed with destroying all portraits of Hooke. His diaries discovered after his death also revealed a rather sordid private life which did not help his reputation.

 

 

Hooke’s Microscope.

Kate eventually managed to order the chapel curtains – not without a further hitch in the long running saga! We then were invited to lunch with Sean an Irish member of our walking group, he is a typical loquacious Irishman so conversation was not too difficult.

The Cambridge News topic this week was “Reflections” and I had a photo of Clonakilty Bay, Co, Cork.

 

 

Clonakilty Bay

 

Love

Mike & Kate