13^th October 2024

 

Dear All,

It has taken Kate sometime to recover from the COVID spending the best part of 3 days in bed and then having to rest for periods thereafter. However, she has managed two walks and a demanding Quiz night so is not one for succumbing easily!

This has been the first week of a new U3A term so the week has been quite busy again. On Monday Merv and I had a swim then I had two U3A classes on Zoom. First, I enrolled on “the Balkans” again as our tutor was taken ill last year and did not finish the course. This was followed by a second Zoom session “Eat well, Live longer”. I then had to rush off to the dentist in Bar Hill and still had time for a digging spell at the allotment.

On Tuesday I began a short course for 3 weeks entitled “Adventures in High Places”. The tutor has been a climber all his life and knows the Himalayas intimately. His photos are amazing and some of the climbs make your hair stand on end – and that takes some doing with my haircut! He has published a book:

 

 

Wednesday was the annual excursion to Lincolnshire for the Seed Trade Open Days. This time there were five us: Lawrie, David and Howard from walking and Vaughan who like two of the others volunteers in the walled garden at Wimpole Hall. We managed the usual 6 displays despite some rather muddy conditions.

 

 

Seminis Calabrese Titanium

 

 

Hazera Cauliflower Boris

 

 

Clause Pumpkin Collection

 

 

Sakata Pumpkin Pigs!

 

 

Sakata Red Calabrese Purple Magic

 

 

Syngenta Brussels Sprout Marcantus

 

 

Elsoms Vegetable Collection

 

We were due to lead the Thursday walk starting at Fen Drayton, unfortunately due to recent rainfall about 50% of the prescribed route was under water so Kate had heroically recced an alternative route while I was at U3A. In the end we headed for Swavesey and Over and back along the raised river bank. The floods had reseeded a little but there was still water, water everywhere.

 

 

Swavesey Fen from Over Flood bank

 

Swavesey Fen from the Ouse River Bank

 

 

The Great Ouse

 

 

The Great Ouse near Fen Drayton

 

On Friday it was Cambridge again for “Biographies” and the first session covered Nancy Pelosi the American speaker in the House of Representatives. She is 84 and still battling away trying to hamper Trump and still highly regarded by at least one side of American politics!

 

In the evening it was the annual Quiz Night which the chapel puts on to raise funds for the Day Care Centre. As usual Kate thinks up most of the questions although I get roped in for the Sport round. There was an excellent attendance of 111 people and 15 teams and the unconfirmed estimate is that it raised about £1,500.

Football was exciting on Saturday as Over beat top of the table West Wratting 3 v 1.

Stop Press after an uncomfortable night I have eventually succumbed to COVID myself today.

 

 

Regards

 

Mike & Kate