19^th March 2023

 

Dear All,

First of all, many thanks for the cards and gifts marking my 77 years on this planet – I am very grateful.

  

First Batch

  

 

Second Batch

We celebrated with 10 friends at a very good Italian restaurant at Harlton on Friday evening then Esther and Emma came up for the day yesterday. Emma set about patching up cracks in the kitchen while Esther cleaned the downstairs loo. I guess it comes under the heading of “Care in the Community!” But we are very grateful.

 

 

Emma in Bob the Builder mode!

 

It was just Kate and I for Mondays swim as Merv had dentist business. Just Vegetating was Minor Crops B which included Artichokes, Cardoons, Sweet Potatoes, Horseradish, Ginger, Watercress, Tomatillo, Tamarillo,  Okra and another 16 crops. Kate prepared Gingery Beetroot, Burnt Sweetcorn with deep fried Onion and Fennel and Butternut squash with red rice. We then had our umpteenth visit to the curtain shop to warn them that we planned to collect whatever was ready on Friday. In the afternoon the first batch of seed for Moldova arrived from Tozer’s.

Madingley Mulch delivered a ton of topsoil Tuesday afternoon for the raised bed. I managed to shift half of it that afternoon and Kate helped finish it on Wednesday. The bed has now been half planted with onion and shallot sets.

The speaker at Over Garden Club this week was one of our walking friends Ian Bradley so we entertained him and his wife Chantal for dinner before the meeting. They both volunteer at Wimpole Hall and the talk was about the Greening of the estate. The whole estate is 1000 hectares and over the last two years they have planted 90,000 native trees a large orchard ,an agroforestry area and turned the arable fields organic.

Walking was much easier this week although it was a little sticky underfoot in places. We started at Abington Pigotts and took in Guilden Morden, Steeple Morden and Litlington. The pub named “The Pig and Abbot” would not earn many stars for efficiency!

 

 

Blackthorn hedge

  

 

Litlington Old Lock up

 

 

Ancient Water Wheel

 

 

First Primroses

 

 

16^th Century Gatehouse

 

“Biographies” subject this week was Ernest Bevin who left school at 11 years old and rose to be Minister of Labour in the wartime coalition cabinet and Foreign Minister after the war.

 

 

Ernest Bevin

 

After I met Kate and we had another visit to the curtain shop where everything was ready and waiting – actually no - I was parked in a precarious place and had to wait for 15 minutes to collect the curtain material and only enough lining for one set of curtains – the saga goes on!

Pastor David has succumbed to Covid this week so it is all hands to the pump to keep the show on the road today.

 

Love

Mike & Kate