7^th April 2024

 

Dear All,

Gardening this year has been like they do in Egypt: as the Nile retreats and leaves dry land so they cultivate. With no meetings this week it has mainly been gardening and home-based activities. On Monday it was dry enough to dig the winter brassica patch at the allotment and the parsnip area here, then I emptied one of the compost bins and planted half the tomatoes in the greenhouse. News then reached me that Dave Harrower the friend who I go to football with had wrapped his car round a tree after a temporary blackout. The car is a write off and he was lucky to escape with a black eye and blurred vision in one eye which turned out to be dried blood.

On Tuesday I scarified the lawn again – it is surprising how much thatch you collect then mended and painted the outdoor table that Dad helped me build. We then had a call to say that Esther and Emma were 10 minutes away having made an work call in Lincolnshire. We were of course pleased to see them but we hadn’t enough time to line up the usual series of jobs for them!

Adrian had an operation on his back Tuesday morning to remove cartilage which had grown in some of his vertebrae causing a deal of backache. He stayed the night before at Merv and Pat’s who took him in to Addenbrookes. He stayed a night in hospital then returned to theirs afterwards. Let’s hope it does the trick but at present he is still rather sore.

After a trip to the dentist on Wednesday I called on Dave Harrower then later visited Adrian so a day for bedside manners! In the afternoon Kate and I took the Guided Bus to St Ives to begin stocking up for the Moldova visit.

On Thursday the walk began at Nuthampstead a small hamlet beyond Saffron Walden where there was an American Bomber Unit in WWII. As it had rained heavily the night before there was plenty of standing water and a return to familiar mud scenes! The walk looped through Barkway and Reed and the first bluebells were just blooming in the woods and several hedges were lined with blackthorn flowers.

  

Blackthorn hedges

 

First Bluebell

 

 

Soggy Sorghum field

 

 

A Damp Patch

 

 

Three wise-ish Men

After Tesco’s on Friday, it was more gardening including planting red onion sets and on Saturday I managed to sow Parsnips, Beetroot and Carrots before watching Cambridge University Press 1 v 2 Over in an end to end if slightly windswept game.

Amḗlie returned home safely on Saturday from her skiing trip to Andorra in good health and with no broken bones. We look forward to them all coming here on Monday.

 

 

Safely Back

 

One I had prepared – just in case!

Regards

 

Mike & Kate