13t^h June 2026

 

           Dear All,

Not too much to report this week and we are off to Sutton Bonington and Derbyshire tomorrow hence the earlier posting. We are invited to our old college at Sutton Bonington because they are planning to pull down their 1700s Baptist chapel and build bigger. We are part of the history as when we were undergraduates we helped dig out the baptistery which had been filled with brick rubble during a quiet time for the church.

We are going to then join up with Kate’s sister and brother-in-law at Darwin Forest Country Park, near Matlock.

We have been picking Strawberries and Raspberries most days and now well into new potatoes. I also picked our first tomato but as it was less than 1cm diameter I will not be bragging about it!

The news from Moldova about Marius the lad we have been supporting through leukaemia treatment was not so good as the Turkish hospital wants another 50,000 euros to complete his treatment. However people have been incredibly generous so far.

We did a local walk on Tuesday renewing friendly conversations with Burling’s hybrid Stabiliser bulls.

 

 

 

 

The rain has been very welcome this week and everything in the garden looks more cheerful.

Esther had a second eye operation on Thursday at Southend. The operation is to put a film over the cornea to make it smoother. She says this time it has been more painful and she is off work for a few days.

I attended the last session of the U3A Travel writers group on Friday where the book for discussion was “Mirrors of the Unseen” by Jason Elliot written in 2006 about Iran. It was a very interesting insight to the history, art, architecture and daily life of the country but plenty long enough at over 400 pages. Some of the architecture is incredible especially as it so old.

 

 

 

 

Best Wishes

Mike & Kate

 

7^th June 2026

 

           Dear All,

After swimming on Monday I had an MRI scan on my arm which is often numb, I haven’t had a result yet. 13mm rain on Monday night was a welcome relief.

A special annoyance this week was my phone locking “As an additional security measure!” As I couldn’t unlock I couldn’t call Kate for a lift from the guided bus and had to get “Stan the Computer Man” to sort it. This required deleting everything and reinstating later.

In the garden the main task this week was leek planting but also planting additional sweet corn, squash and lettuce.

Raspberries and strawberries have come on stream, strawberries are good but the raspberries rather small.

 

 

I managed part of the Thursday walk from Fen Drayton this week. It was a good walking temperature but rather windy.

 

 

Three Horseshoes, Fen Drayton

 

 

 

Peacock Caterpillars

 

Holywell

 

 

Bracket fungus

 

Fen Drayton

 

John Lane called with a surprise gift of Marmalade and chili sauce on Friday. Both cricket matches were rained off on Saturday. 

 

Regards

 

Mike & Kate

 

31st May 2026

 

           Dear All,

Phew what a scorcher – another week of water carrying and trying to keep every thing alive. Geoff Pake heroically came up with the loan of a heavy duty fan which has helped no end.

 

 

Later on Monday I turned off the kitchen tap and it came away in my hand creating a few minutes of excitement with water everywhere.

The allotment is gradually filling up, this week with Sprouting Broccoli, Red Cabbage, Squash and more Sweet Corn. There was a minor crisis when Kate spotted Processional moth on the apple trees. This can be very destructive so we have been busy pruning out the infestation.

 

 

 

Processional Moth

 

I attended the last session of Biographies on Friday when the topic was Eleanor of Aquitaine a remarkable lady who married two kings and survived 80 years

 

 

Eleanor of Aquitaine

After we had an end of term meal at the Maypole.

We met Glenn Firth while we were watering the allotment on Friday and he passed on the sad news that his partner had collapsed and died at work in April.

Cultural highlight of the week was Over Players production of “Murder on the Nile”. It was very well done starring Roger Hetherington as the detective.

 

 

 

I accompanied Kate to St Ives on Saturday for another Covid jab.

It has been an exceptional year for Broad Beans – I think our freezer is nearly full.

 

 

 

Today’s New Potato Harvest

 

Variety Jazzy 39 tubers

 

 

 

Regards

 

Mike & Kate

 

24th May 2026

 

           Dear All,

Another session at the Spire this week without spectacular progress – I have been prescribed an antidepressant which knocks me out and have an MRI scan for the numbness in my arm in a weeks’ time.

I managed to attend the Local History class on Tuesday where the topic was the not too gripping heraldry in Orwell church.

I sowed more squash on Wednesday as the first batch did not emerge too well.

Wednesday evening was Garden club and the topic was “Rewilding” The speaker was interesting even if you have reservations about the subject.

We picked our first Strawberries thus week variety Malling Centenary.

 

 

Kate helped me put the net on the Brassica bed at the allotment and I planted Brussels sprouts this week.

There was a Men’s breakfast on Saturday with a speaker from the Prison Fellowship.

Over won at cricket on Saturday beating Steeple Morden by 8 wickets.

Mary-Ann, Andy, Amelie and Albert departed for half term in Spain yesterday

 

Best Wishes

 

 

 

Mike & Kate

 

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