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