11th February 2024

 

Dear All,

Monday went: Swim, Just Vegetating, lunch at Weatherspoon’s, gardening.

Just Vegetating this week was Salads – Roots, Shoots & Leaves. Kate produced: Braised Celery, Fennel salad & Squash and quinoa salad. Afterwards I met up with a couple of walking colleagues for lunch and catch up with one who is no longer walking with the group. In the afternoon I sowed Broad beans in modules in the green house and pricked out a few early Brassicas.

Tuesdays French History was the story of Louis XIV – the Sun King.1661-1715. He was short at 5’ 4” so wore high heels but was charming, conceited, un thinking but an absolute monarch with control over the whole of France, had serial mistresses and famously commissioned Versailles as his HQ,

Louis XIV

We called at Oakington Garden Centre again this week and were successful in procuring onion and shallot sets – as well as lunch!

The Cricket Club have again been commanded by the Parish Council to vacate the Mower Store in the Green Pavilion ostensibly for redecoration but have been told to transfer to an adjacent portacabin as they want the space to store Christmas lights and parish records. Needless to say, we are not overjoyed by this but fear we are fighting a losing battle. The Portacabin has a burglar proof lock which you need to be a career lock picking criminal to enter!

The Portacabin is shared with the Football Club and quite full already so we had to spring clean and tidy it, which was not a quick job.

Portacabin

Tidying

Kate led the Church group this week back at the Kitsons on the subject of Isaiah.

Thursday’s walk was definitely not for the faint hearted as apart from the rain, the cold, the wind and the mud – it was almost perfect! Still there were 8 hard souls on one walk and 9 on the other. Thankfully the pub at Balsham had a log fire to aid recovery!”

The walk started at Balsham and took in West Wratting.

Gathering

Underway

 

Three Soggy Musketeers

 

Aconite bank

 

Friday was a bit hectic as I had to rush from Biographies to a funeral the other side of Cambridge, The Biographies subject was Jeremiah Horroocks a 16^th century Astronomer who should have been famous for predicting the transit of Venus across the sun, accurately estimating the size of the sun and other planets and the distance to the sun. All before an early death at 22 years old. In fact, he has almost been forgotten as his death coincided with the beginning of the Civil War and records were largely lost.

  

Jeremiah Horrocks -artists impression as there are no actual portraits

 

The funeral was for Aubrey Bould an ex NIAB colleague as well as a Thursday walker. When I started back at NIAB after graduating I took a job that he had recently vacated.

He rose to be Head of the Official Seed Testing Station and DEFRA/NIAB Liaison officer and retired with an OBE. There were over 30 walkers present as well as a handful from NIAB/DEFRA.

I had an early start on Saturday as due to David’s sabbatical I was drafted in as assistant cook for the Ladies Breakfast at chapel. This involved a 7am start and cooking mushrooms, bacon and fried eggs to go with the hash browns, baked beans and sausages for 30 ladies. This was followed by croissants and toast so they were well fed. After I pruned the autumn raspberries and planted onion and shallot sets in modules in the greenhouse. Due to Over being blessed with 46mm rain in four days our garden is flooded again and Over’s Football pitch was waterlogged and their game postponed. Dave and I went to watch Cherry Hinton v Ely Res. But it was rather one sided as Ely won 8 v 0 and we left after the 5th goal.

 

Regards

Mike & Kate