30th July 2023

 

Dear All,

 

Not too much to report this week as summer holidays kick in. With a couple of wet days, I began preparation for next term’s Biography presentation. This time I am trying Thomas Cook the travel agent, but as I got into it, I think I will add his son John Mason Cook as he was integral in expanding the Tourist business. On Monday afternoon I had a check up and tuning for my new hearing aids.

Our fish tank sprang a small leak so Kate has been successfully wrestling with sorting that this week which involved partial drainage and applying special water proof sealant.

On Tuesday Nat West sent an advisor to make sure we are looking after our vast wealth to the best possible advantage! Later Mervyn called to say he had a large collection of shoes and clothes cleared from next door after his neighbour passed on – would I like to collect any? Well, I am not proud and came away with 3 sets of footwear, a couple of shirts, several pairs of socks, two jackets and a belt. I may not win many “Best Dressed Man” competitions but you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

As our normal U3A Thursday walk was at Thaxted and the weather forecast was not promising we decided to give it a miss this week and do a local walk on Wednesday. It was a good decision as the weather was good and the walk interesting spotting the recently acquired Konik ponies in the Ouse Fen, loads of butterflies and Damsel flies and carpets of thistles, ragwort and mayweed.

 

 

Konik Ponies

 

 

River Ouse at the Staunch

 

 

Red Admiral

 

 

Barleycroft Lake

 

 

Mayweed Carpet

 

 

Brownshill Staunch

 

On Thursday we bravely faced filling in the 96 sheets we had downloaded for Lasting Power of Attorney – spoiler alert you children will shortly being sent forms to fill in as Attorneys! Friday was a little busier as I began with cricket pitch preparation then we were asked to check the garden in Histon of an ex-walking colleague who had passed on and his widow was worried that she had Japanese Knotweed. The plants she was worried about were not JK but there was a strand that was, so we had to remove it. As we were close to Cambridge next stop was Curry’s as our TV was playing up and we bought a replacement. Setting up a new Smart TV has proved quite challenging and we still haven’t got all the required channels! This was followed by Tesco’s, a trip to the post office and visits from Adrian and Janet. I managed to fit in a practice loaf of bread as it is Over Produce Show next Saturday.

 

 

Practice Loaf

 

Over won an exciting match on Saturday chasing 184 they won by 1 wicket with an over to spare.

 

The Cambridge News Photo section this week was “Waterways” and I offered:

 

 

The Duoro Valley, Portugal

 

Ben has sent in a few phots from Georgia where the weather has been hot for cycling at 37°C and topography rather mountainous. Meanwhile Mary-Ann, Andy and family have been on the Isle of Wight sheltering from the rain!

 

Love

 

Mike & Kate