17th May 2026

 

           Dear All,

After swimming Monday it was gardening and I planted cucumbers in the GH and squash, herbs and exhibition onions outside. In the evening we had a work party on the Green to fill in the drainage cracks which still open up during prolonged dry spells, even though the drainage was carried out over 10m years ago.

 

We panicked and covered everything vulnerable to frost in the evening, which was as well because a few things were tinged even under covers.

On Tuesday I had an appointment at the Spire private hospital to try and shed some light on how I am feeling. The lady doctor was very nice and seemed to grasp my symptoms but unsurprisingly did not come up with instant solutions. She took further blood tests for which I am waiting for results.

We actually had two showers this week – a drenching 3mm each!

I had another Travel Book club meeting on Thursday, this time discussing “The Immeasurable World” by William Atkins. It described 8 deserts in various continents. It was interesting enough but a tad long at over 400 pages. When I arrived home both Lorna and Adrian were drinking tea and Kate was rather keen to finish some gardening!

After the Tesco run on Friday we decided it was time to re-erect the electric fence round the strawberries as they are beginning to change colour. It is always a challenging job but we are getting better at it. After I finished digging the Brassica patch at the allotment as the showers had softened it a little.

We were due to entertain our former elder Geoff Barnes this weekend – he now lives in Fressingfield, Norfolk but he had to cancel as he was not well.

We went to Coton on Saturday to stock up on Tropical fish and purchased 6 Platys and 6 Silver Mollys.

 

 

 

As Over 1^st team were playing away I watched the Cup Final and managed to stay awake!

 

Best Wishes

 

 

Mike & Kate

 

10th May 2026

 

           Dear All,

Monday was Kate’s birthday and we were invited to join Esther and Emma for a visit to the RHS garden at Hyde Hall near Chelmsford. It was a good outing and as it was a Bank Holiday as well as a craft fair quite busy. It was also good to see the changes that they have made to their house and garden as we had not visited for some time.

 

 

Hyde Hall Entrance

 

 

 

Vegetable Area

 

 

 

19 Alpha Road

 

 

Esther & Emma

 

Another good gardening week despite the drought! I have strung the tomatoes and sown more sweet corn, lettuce, parsnips and squash and planted courgettes, melons, gourds and marrows.

I had another Covid jab on Wednesday and I have booked a session at The Spire private hospital to see whether they can decide what is wrong with me.

Kate did the U3A walk this week from Conington while I mended our outside table.

In the evening we had another Over Show committee meeting with only 19 items on the agenda.

Friday lunch time we were invited to a meal at Ray and Judith Gay’s, Judith is an Irish walking colleague and Ray was a professional trumpet player once appearing on “Top of the Pops” accompanying Mike Oldfield on “Tubular Bells” before retiring and working at the BBC. Judith is an excellent cook and she had prepared Beef Wellington. There were four couples present all with one partner having reached 80.

In the evening we attended a singing concert in the Anglican Church as Mervyn and friend Dave Boothroyd have recently joined the presenting choir.

Planting at the allotment on Saturday was painful as the soil has set like concrete.

Over made another good score of 197 on Saturday but narrowly lost again as their bowling is a bit weak this year.

Irises have been excellent this year and Kate has quite a few at the allotment.

 

 

Best Wishes

 

 

Mike & Kate

 

3^rd May 2026

 

           Dear All,

There was excitement after swimming as Merv somehow lost his false tooth plate and despite retracing his steps and thorough searching it did not come to light so had to be replaced at some expense.

Plenty of planting again this week including Lettuce, Sweet Corn, Runner and French Beans, Radish and Beetroot.

On Tuesday we had a chapel outing to Oakington Garden Centre for a conducted tour including a look behind the scenes at their glasshouse and tunnel areas where they are growing more of their own plants.

 

 

 

Glasshouse

 

 

Tunnels

I had another doctor’s appointment on Wednesday but did not get any further forward.

I watched Over’s last football game of the season Wednesday evening – they won 2 v 1 to finish 4th but it was a poor game due to a rock hard pitch and keen wind.

I managed to join the Thursday walk as it was a bluebell walk in Waresley Woods. The flowers were slightly past their best but still worth seeing.

 

 

Waresley

 

 

Waresley Woods

 

 

 

Bluebells

 

Early Purple Orchid

 

 

Little Gransden

In the afternoon there was meeting of the NIAB retirement Association for a talk on Fibre crops concentrating on Flax and Hemp showing a range of building and insulation products that can be made from them.

On Friday Kate had an audio session to be fitted with hearing aids while I pricked out Leeks.

 Derek Medlock appeared Saturday morning with anther boot full of bags of rabbit muck – that is 18 bags so far and counting! This was followed by David Cook arriving to collect Kate’s spare flower plants as he has just moved house.

The cricket season began on Saturday and despite Over scoring a decent total of 218 – 8 Bar Hill over took it in the last over.

 

Best Wishes

 

Mike & Kate

 

26th April 2026

 

           Dear All,

After swimming on Monday I met up with walking mates David, Laurie and Howell for lunch at Cambridge Weatherspoon’s.

On Tuesday there was a small gathering of ex NIAB employees for lunch at Girton Golf Club. In the evening there was an excellent talk in the Local History club featuring the History of Cambridge firm Pyes. They started in 1896 and grew to be the largest employers in Cambridge starting producing Scientific Instruments then moving on to Radios, then TVs, then electric components, then mobile phones. Staff numbers grew to 28,000 in the UK with 7,000 in Cambridge. In 1966 they were taken over by Phillips and went into decline. We had a phone call from Geoff Barnes asking to come and stay for a couple of days. In the garden I planted out Celeriac, earthed up Potatoes and were blessed with a visit from a mouse eating cucumber and courgette seeds!

We have been moving potatoes and other frost susceptible plans in and out of the greenhouse all week. Our rainfall has stuck on 0.5mm for the month of April and our 1000 litre rainfall tank is already empty.

 

 

Early Nomadic Potato

 

On Thursday I had an educational bird spotting walk with Laurie in Over Fen. He was disappointed in the haul but we saw 25 different birds and heard a Bittern booming. List: Wren, Cetti warbler, Sedge warbler, Coot, Golden Eye dusk, Tufted duck, Mute swan, Blackcap, Swallow, Cuckoo (first of the year), Mallard, Canada geese, Graylag geese, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Robin, Buzzard, Kestrel, Black headed gull, Heron, Yellowhammer, Pigeon, Rook, Crow. Also a hare and 2 lots of deer. Laurie is one of those people who can identify every birdsong.

 

 

Over Fen

 

 

 

Laurie

 

 

River Ouse

After Tesco’s on Friday it was woodwork day as I replaced the rotten frame round the pot and tray cupboard under the water tank.

 

 

DIY!

 

Over won their penultimate game v Foxton 3 v 0 in cricket temperatures!

Derek Medlock called with 6 more bags of rabbit muck.

 

Best Wishes

 

Mike & Kate

 

19th April 2026

 

           Dear All,

After our swim on Monday we had a search for Merv’s false tooth which is on a plate but was not present when he went to reinstate it. Searches were in vain so a replacement is needed at a cost of £320. A serious seed sowing week including Runner beans, French beans, Leeks, Salsify, Parsnips, Sweet Corn, Courgettes, Squash, Cucumbers, Melon, Pumpkins, Marrows, Gourds, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage & Romanesco all finding a place in the ground or module.

On Tuesday I had my first ever session with a Dental Hygienist – normally the dentist does the scrubbing and scraping. In the evening we had a farewell meal for our walk leader Trevor who is immigrating to Australia.

 

 

Farewell Meal

 

 

Marina & Trevor

 

I survived a trip to the barbers on Wednesday while Kate had a meeting with the Hygienist.

In the evening we had a Moldova committee meeting preceded by a Moldovan style meal courtesy of Geoff & Janet Pake.

U3A was back on schedule this week and there was a meeting of the Travel Book Group. The book this moth was “Footsteps” by Richard Holmes which received mixed reviews because it was more of a biography than a travel book.

This was followed on Friday by a real biography the subject being rather obscure in the form of William Maclure who was Scottish industrialist born in 1763 who made a fortune from cotton then moved to the USA and started settlement at New Harmony, Indiana based on good education and equal opportunities. I do not usually go for classes in the summer term but the chap presenting asked me to help with his PowerPoint.

 

 

William Maclure

Saturday’s task was erecting the climbing bean canes.

 

 

Over beat Isleham 5 v 0 and have just 2 games left this season.

The Wisteria has flowered very early this year.

 

 

 

 

Best Wishes

 

Mike & Kate