1st March 2009

1st March 2009.

Dear All,

It was good to see nearly everyone last weekend at Mautby, congratulations to Esther, Rosie and Mary-Ann for organising the event, activities and food and everyone else for joining in. We left at 9.30 am on Monday but detoured to Caistor to view the Roman remains. We were back in Over by 11.30 am and Jackie stayed for lunch before departing for deepest Derby.

Lower Wood Farm, Mautby

Roman Caistor

Smiley faces

We had a church outing to the 10-pin bowling rink at St Neots that night. 37 turned up for a meal and most stayed to bowl. I would tell you that I got joint top score – but that would be immodest!
At work we had a visit from another group promoting the use of zeolite as a soil additive to improve texture and for controlled fertilizer release. It is used at present for recovering heavily polluted soils and they wish to demonstrate its usefulness in normal agriculture.
I started sowing seeds in the greenhouse this week and cut the lawns for the first time yesterday.
On Thursday we studied “People, life and the Antarctic Treaty” in U3A then I had to travel to London for the “Grower of the Year” awards dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park. I had been asked to present one of the trophies for “Science into Practice”. It was just like the Oscars: nominations listed on the screen, a drum roll then open the envelope – “the winner is…” The MC was John Inverdale of BBC sports fame and he did a good job despite laughing when my job description was read out as “Vegetable Consultant” The ticket for the meal was £160 + VAT (I was not paying) and as the cheapest room was £160 as well I decided not to stay and eventually arrived home at 1 am.


John Inverdale

We had an emergency meeting on the Village Green on Friday because the Parish Council have decided to drain the field 2 weeks before the beginning of the cricket season.
On Saturday I had the honour of accompanying my wife to the curtain shop to pick up material ordered by Esther and choose some for the dining room. Kate then cooked a meal for 30 for the annual area church officers gathering.
I watched Over beat the top of the table Littleport 2 v 1 yesterday. A lively encounter with the opposition ending with 9 men.
I have spent time this week preparing for Moldova, gathering seed and gifts and talks. We should be flying out on Thursday until the 14th so no letter next week.

Love

Mike & Kate

15th February 2009.

Dear All,

We had another heavy snowfall Thursday afternoon but it was damper and has nearly all gone now – funny how quickly the novelty wears off.
One of my new acquaintances from U3A (an ex schools inspector who knows Gervase Finn well) phoned with the sad news that his wife had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer and the family had come across a German vegetable juice remedy. He needed a source of beetroot, carrots, celery, potatoes and black radish and they all had to be organic. As he had not heard of black radish he wasn’t sure where to begin. I think they might be clutching at straws but it probably helps to be trying something. Anyway I managed to source all but the black radish, which I suspect does not exist in organic form in the UK, and he was arranging to fly some in from Switzerland. Later he phoned to say that his son had located the actual juice already prepared in a health food shop in Cambridge! The whole family are going to undertake the diet of nothing but the juice for 42 days!
Geodyssey this week was on Volcanoes and Tectonic plates; I have sent our lecturer my photos of Cotapaxi and Fuji as he was asking for “copyright free” material.
“Finished” is always a dangerous word re a decorating project so this week I cleaned out the cupboard under the fish tank and painted it. Our new furniture arrived Wednesday and we are very pleased with it – a sideboard with top unit, We have been gradually sorting and replacing all the other “stuff” that we moved for the decoration and I took the remainder of the wall units to Emmaus at Landbeach (Kate had already taken half the load).

New furniture

Krakatoa

It was “cancer week” I am afraid as I went to visit one of our old NIAB directors, John MacLeod, on Wednesday. He thought he had pulled a back muscle but has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It was half term for Antarctica this week so I rejoined the Ramblers on Thursday. We met at Great Abington and walked via Hildersham and Babraham roughly 9 miles but it seemed like longer as the ground was beginning to thaw. The pace was telling as one chap (Jess Cartner-Morley’s father-in-law) collapsed, but recovered eventually.
It was time to write the next gardening column this week – difficult to raise enthusiasm for sowing when the garden is covered with snow.






Great Abington

Esther came up Saturday to go curtain shopping with Kate and has stayed the night as we expect Ben for lunch today. He cycled up from Streatham to Cambridge on Friday (as you do) for a gathering of mates.
We have Peter Jackson, the blind pianist, at chapel this weekend. He gave a concert last night and is taking services today. As a failed pianist it is very humbling to see and hear someone who can’t see the notes performing so expertly. Classic quote from one of our Irish ladies “How old is Peter?” “74” “and does he still drive himself?”


Love

Mike & Kate

8th February 2009

8th February 2009.

Dear All,

The main irony this week must be that I could not get to my “Antarctica” course on Thursday due to heavy snow! We had heavy snowfalls on Monday and Thursday with lighter showers on Friday. Kate was sent home early on Monday and did not go in until lunchtime Thursday. This, of course, gave the decorating a shot in the arm and we have now finished. The walls are “Niagara Blue” to match the new rug with the new, as yet unpurchased, curtains supplying the brighter colours! Trickiest job this week was moving the fish tank so that we could strip and paint behind it. This involved siphoning out 80% of the water through a rubber pipe into the outdoor drain. I checked half way through and found 4 baby fish swimming around in the fortunately blocked drain amongst flakes of ice. Just the job for tropical fish but 3 have survived.
Anyway the room has been cleaned, the new rug laid and the first meal with guests partaken today. So far we are going for the “Japanese minimalist” look as the new furniture has yet to arrive.

Finished

New Rug

I have had a couple of good snowy walks round the fens this week, one on my own and the other with Kate in bright sunshine yesterday.
I did an afternoon Garden Club talk in Cambridge on Thursday, which is unusual. I wondered whether they would be an ancient audience who might not brave the weather, but in fact they were quite lively, evidently numbers swelled by people who couldn’t get to work.
I was supposed to give a talk at St Neots as part of their evangelism week entitled “Unusual vegetables and Christianity!” make of that what you will, but it was a casualty of the weather.
We have had a man from the London City Mission guesting at church today and he has been here for lunch. He is an ex druggie, alcoholic, Rastafarian, JW, so has some experience for his current job as chaplain to the London Ambulance Service.

Cambridge Monday

Over Wednesday

Over Saturday

Overcote

Love

Mike & Kate

1st February 2009

1st February 2009.

Dear All,

I have spent most of the week decorating so not much to report apart from progress. As the walls were wallpapered. and have been since the house was built. there was a deal of stripping to do followed by scrubbing every square inch to remove old glue. As has been the case in other rooms the plaster was rather cracked so I have spent a minute or three filling and sanding. This was followed by a white undercoat to show up any imperfections and more filling. The walls now do not look too bad. The floor is wood parquet and over the years gaps and unevenness have appeared (how like life!) so we hired an industrial sander yesterday. This was OK once you got the hang of it, but prone to shredding sandpaper in spectacular explosions when it met with resistance. It also creates storms of dust, but has done a reasonable job. There is an additional disc sander for the edges so not a 5 minute job. Kate has been cunningly filling the cracks with a mixture of sanded dust and resin and is currently busy cleaning up as far as is possible.

Sander

Result

Next stage is the clean the floor with white spirit before brushing in the sealer (3 coats), painting the woodwork and choosing and applying the topcoat to the walls.
There I bet you didn’t know decorating could be so interesting!
In “Geodyssey” we studied the history of geology, in “Antarctic in a Nutshell” it was the “Flora and Fauna of Antarctica”. This was very interesting covering penguins, seals, whales, fish, birds, krill, squid, woodlice, mites, springtails, lichens, moss and grasses.

U3A HQ is near Magdalene Bridge

The Arsenal back four?

Otherwise it has been all meetings: Monday to plan the Moldova trip, Tuesday a church group meal, Wednesday the Events Committee, Friday a Deacons and Wives meal and discussion.

25th January 2009

25th January 2009.

Dear All,

‘Tis the season for Decorating – we have started in earnest on the Dining Room this week and as in most of the old rooms it means stripping wallpaper, then degluing the walls, followed by a great deal of filling and sanding. In this room we also have to sand and reseal the parquet wooden floor. So we might not be finished just yet. On a brighter note the ceiling is not too bad so I have already painted that.


Dining Room

I have had an Ice week – in “Geodyssey” we studied Ice Ages (3, 4 or 8?) and in “Antarctica in a Nutshell” the topic was Ice, including a lecture by the country’s leading ice core sampler and interpreter. There is air trapped in the ice cores and they can tell what air quality was like up to 700,000 years ago! And did you know that there is a 14,000 km² fresh water lake 4 km under Antarctica? And if all the ice on the Weddell Sea melted sea level would rise by 5m? – just say if I am boring you!
I took another Garden Club this week at Great Wilbraham; it was not a large group but very friendly.
On Monday I visited Adrian Hart in Addenbrookes, he was taken in the previous Thursday passing blood and proved to have an ulcerated colon. They kept him in for a week but he is out now and called round yesterday. Being a bachelor I think he enjoyed being fussed over by nurses for a few days.
Two church meetings this week, one a normal business meeting where the main controversy was whether the Play group can have wine at their fundraising event! Who says we don’t meet the real issues of the age! We also had the yearly events planning meeting.
Missing the Rambling as it clashes with the Antarctic so did a walk round the Fen Drayton pits with Carol on Thursday.
For those here at Christmas you will be pleased to know that Kate finished the jigsaw puzzle this week and has had a deal of trouble with a second hand gamma counter – a fresh update every day.


Spot the missing piece!

For those with green fingers have you tried a seed sprouter to provide fresh veg during this cold weather? I can recommend it.





Sprouter Fenugreek & Mung Beans


Love

Mike & Kate

18th January 2009

18th January 2009.

Dear All,

I started my new U3A class this week “Antarctica in a Nutshell”. The first lecture was excellent introducing geography, climate, exploration and research bases with some spectacular photography.



Antarctic Ice

It was much easier to follow than my other class on “Geodyssey” which this week was on the “Proterozoic Eon” evidently a period of 2000 million years where not much happened apart from bacteria appearing and most of the worlds iron being laid down.
We have started working on our dining room this week by clearing most of it, ordering a new sideboard/dresser combination and taking delivery of a Persian carpet.
I was at Wisley on Wednesday on a gloomy day when the mist and fog did not really lift (but was sunny all day at Over). We were judging late cauliflowers and leeks and tasting sweet potatoes.
On Friday I walked to the Post Office – which used to be a 5 min. toddle into the village but now thanks to the recent closures means a 45 min walk to Willingham. I was posting a parcel and card for Mary-Ann who celebrates another birthday today, I am sure she appreciates the effort even though I have learnt that only the card turned up on time.
In the evening we went to the cinema to see “Slum Dog Millionaire”. It was excellent and easily the best (and only!) film I have seen this year.
Yesterday we held a CEEM Training Day at St Neots for any one interested in Moldova either supporting or visiting. There were 32 there and I did a couple of presentations about the agricultural projects.
We have been entertaining today, Janet and Jim Burr; Janet has been struggling following a heart valve operation. Kate has now popped into work to feed and divide her latest batch of cells.
My other purchase this week was a half dozen Rummy Nosed Tetras, small fish which look as though they have bloody noses.

Rummy Nosed Tetras

Love

Mike & Kate

Letter 11th January 2009

11th January 2009.

Dear All,

Almost back to normal after the holidays but the cold weather and continued local sick list have coloured things somewhat. The main event this week has been the chapel New Year Social. Kate, as ever, was in charge of the catering, not so many this year due to the sick list but still a reasonable undertaking for 40.
Menu:
Escallops de melon avec la sauce ginger

Le roast bouef avec pudding de Yorkshire
Le petit pois avec le grand chou
Les Carrottes julienne
Pastinaca avec beurre
Le gravy avec vin rouge de bon marche

Choice of dix puddings

Fromage avec les biscuits

Café au lait, sens lait ou le the

Anyway it was excellent. I produced a power point review of the year which took me most of the week and there were divers other entertainments.
Monday we had an extra “Geodyssey” lecture this time on gold and diamonds, Tuesday at work I wrote a New Year Newsletter and on Wednesday we had a planning meeting I Peterborough Tescos for the next trip to Moldova. We should have been there this time last January you will remember but spent 8 hours in Luton Airport waiting for a plane that was snow bound in Bucharest.



Romanian/ Moldovan border January 2008

Incidentally the lady from the Foreign Office that we met at Colin’s party contacted me this week, the British ambassador from Moldova is in London this week and she would like to give him more information of our activities. I went to check on the Fen Skating on Wednesday on the way to Peterborough. The washes between Somersham and Earith froze sufficiently for skating practice this week but each time they planned to hold the championships there was a slight thaw so I don’t think they have taken place so far.



Earith Skating (ex me and the Guardian)

Our walk on Thursday started at Reed near Royston and progressed via Therfield and Buckland. There was more snow south of Cambridge than here so the fields were photogenic (but I forgot the camera!)
The Kitsons had a pedometer for Christmas and are trying to achieve 10,000 steps per day so we helped by walking them round Over fen this afternoon.
There were only 13 hardy folk out for this evenings service which was rather discouraging but illness, old age, other commitments, apathy etc all play a part I guess.


Love

Mike & Kate