17th August 2009

17th August 2009.

Dear All,

We have had a weekend entertaining Derbyshire folk, so no time for letter writing. There was a chapel trip to Madingley Hall gardens on Saturday morning which was well attended and brought to life by the head gardener who had been there for 22 years. The house was built in 1543 and been added to on numerous occasions. The gardens were designed by Capability Brown, of course, and the whole estate of house and 5000 acres of land was purchased by Cambridge University for £50,000 in 1948. It is now the home of the University’s Institute of Continuing Education offering courses and conferences to the public and business groups.


Madingley Hall

Kate took the visitors to Denny Abbey Farm and Countryside museum in the afternoon while I played cricket. Esther came up on Sunday to help with the entertainment, so several small card board boxes made from Christmas cards should be making their way to Derbyshire as I write!
The garden needed a bit of attention after a week of wet weather while we were away. I picked 2 large crates of runner and French beans as well as several cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, beetroot and carrots. Raspberries and blackberries are also cropping well so nature is bountiful at present.
Thursdays walk was the 9th section of the Icknield Way from Gazeley to Icklington, via Herringswell, Tuddenham and Cavenham Heath. The weather did not look promising but once again it turned out fine and no waterproofs were needed.


Tuddenham


River Lark


Cavenham Heath

Love


Mike & Kate

10th August 2009

10th August 2009.

Dear All,

Kate, Esther and I arrived back safely on Saturday evening from a week in France with the Brown tribe. We stayed in a hamlet of three houses called Fretay in the middle of a prosperous agricultural region. The nearest town was Savigny-sur-Braye and the nearest city was Le Mans. We crossed from Dover to Calais and had a 300 mile journey which was fairly painless apart from the tolls. The house was a large converted barn standing in a large garden with a swimming pool. One of the neighbouring houses was a chateau complete with moat.

House at Fretay

Neighbours!

The weather was very hot so the local wheat harvest was completed while we were there. All the grass was burned brown and maize was being heavily irrigated. One downside to the rural location was a pig unit in the next hamlet which sometimes wafted country smells especially when slurry spreading! and always seemed to encourage a host of flies. There was plenty of larger local wildlife including a wild boar and several deer.
The pool was very welcome and used to cool off most days.


Pool Lifeguards!

The scenery was not spectacular but we were close to Le Loir (which is a smaller tributary of La Loire) and there were a number of interesting towns on it which we visited in turn. All were decorated with window boxes and flower borders and most had troglodyte cave dwellings as the rock was easily excavated.



Lavigny

Verdome

It was a restful week with a craft or activity rota each night and a chance to get to know younger relatives much better!

Aunty Kate’s homemade volcanoes

Love


Mike & Kate

26th July 2009

26th July 2009.

Dear All,

I had to go to London for a RHS meeting at Vincent Square on Monday. For the first time in their history they are feeling the pinch and facing 10% cutbacks across the board. The Board Room at Vincent Square is just as you would imagine with wood panelled walls hung with the portraits of past luminaries and benefactors – hardly one without a title. There is however a fantastic library with just about every horticultural tome ever penned.
At Kings Cross station I was waiting for my platform to be flashed on the Departures board when who should be standing next to me but Sir Ian Botham fresh from the victory at Lords. I thought I had better say something so I asked whether “It was an anticlimax being over so quickly that day?” “No” he replied “It is never an anticlimax winning”. I wish I could have thought of something smarter to say but at least I tried.
On Wednesday John Law and I visited J. Brock & Sons at Thaxted, purveyors of new and second hand agricultural machinery looking for a maize drill for Moldova. I found a blog on the web:
“I have bought and sold to brock several times excellent people to deal with, but religious as said don’t swear and that’s why they don’t use computers all invoices still hand written, they have only just started emailing pictures and ringing mobile phones, i think they are plymouth brethrin.” (sic)
Our ramble this week was a rare expedition north of Cambridge and the closest it has been to Over so far. We started at Haddenham and circumnavigated Grunty Fen via Witchford and Wilburton. Unfortunately it was difficult walking with horses footprints hardened under medium length grass so tough on the ankles. The scenery was very flat and Fenish as well, but the pub lunch was excellent!

Haddenham Three Kings

Haddenham Orchards

We began packing and weighing the goods donated for Moldova on Friday. There is always more than you expect and it looks as though we will need a larger lorry. I will send you a copy of the latest CEEM newsletter in case you have not seen it yet.
Another win at cricket this week – unbeaten with one match to go, next year we will have to try playing men!
Kate and I played “Groundforce” at Esther’s yesterday together with her friend Lorna. It is surprising how much difference a willing work squad can make in a few hours.
Today our Home Group was responsible for the Family service which was based on the Lost Sheep and went quite well.
France next week hopefully so postcards instead of a letter.

John’s photos from the Open Gardens Day




Love


Mike & Kate

19th july 2009

19th July 2009.

Dear All,

It was the Over Carnival yesterday and it turned out well in the end after serious rain on Friday. The chapel had a pitch with tennis ball game, photo quiz, book stall, kid’s colouring and baby feeding station. The game and quiz created lively interesting. The produce show was also on and I am sure you would wish to know that despite achieving 9 x 1sts, 6 x 2nds and 5 x 3rds I was only 2nd overall as a new serious competitor has emerged I am glad to say.

Intense interest in Chapel stand


Produce Show


Clear up squad

We held a BBQ in the garden afterwards for more than 20 while being entertained by the full volume music at the Carnival. This morning the chapel had volunteered to clear up the litter and although it was fairly grubby enough folk turned up to make a good job of it.
I went to work on Monday instead of Tuesday this week as an RHS meeting was planned for Tuesday. In the event it was cancelled so I went shopping for a gazebo for the carnival.
We had another CEEM meeting at Peterborough on Wednesday planning the contents of the next lorry for Moldova. It has been booked for 4th September but we need to do a bit of fund raising to pay for the lorry and some of the contents.
On Thursday we had an 11 mile walk starting at Arkesden, via Brent Pelham and Clavering back to Arkesden. Clavering in particular is a very pretty village and the walk was one of the best we have had. We had a chapel cricket match afterwards at Huntingdon v Anglian Water which we duly won but again I was not too frisky afterwards!


Clavering




Love


Mike & Kate

12th July 2009

12th July 2009.

Dear All,

Yesterday I did not have a cricket match so on impulse we travelled to Norwich, a self proclaimed “Fine City”. Actually as an Ipswich supporter I must say that it was! I had driven through a few times but not explored the city since a trip with junior school on the day that the Rev. David Shepherd made a comeback for England opening with Cyril Washbrook.
We visited the castle, which is now a decent museum and art gallery, followed the Wensum River walk, explored the cathedral, market and the Coleman’s Mustard museum – not bad for 5 hours.

Norwich Castle

River Wensum


Cathedral from the river


Pullis Ferry


Coleman’s Museum & shop

I took Geoff and Doreen Barnes for a fen ride on Monday and put in two days at work this week as we had a couple of open days. We had 150 lettuce varieties on show at Shippea Hill and as we were short handed I hoed them all single-handedly on Tuesday before the open day on Wednesday. For once it did not rain although it threatened a few times.

NIAB Salads Day at Shippea Hill

On Tuesday afternoon I attended a thanksgiving service for Janet MacLeod, the wife of one of our NIAB Directors. She was an excellent sculptress and had a large stand at Chelsea last year. I rushed home to check whether our chapel cricket match was still on against the City Council on Parker’s Piece as it was pouring with rain in Over. “Yes no problem” said the opposition so I phoned our entire team to tell them it was still on only to receive a call “It is raining hard in Cambridge now – we had better call it off!”
On Thursday our walk started at Graveley and preceded via Toseland, Croxton and Yelling back to Graveley. Our regular military leader was away on holiday and his stand in managed to lose the route a few times and got us lectured by an irate farmers wife for stopping for refreshments in the wrong place (stroppy farmers – think they own the countryside!!!)
We had a chapel meal out at “Spiceland” in Sawtry parallel to the A1 on Friday night. It is an Indian “eat as much as you wish” buffet and was excellent value and atmospheric, complete with an Indian wedding thrown in.

Love


Mike & Kate

6th July 2009

6th July 2009.

Dear All,

Too busy to write yesterday: entertaining, open garden and services. Geoff and Doreen Barnes, late of this parish – or at least nearby Rampton, are staying in Cottenham for a week, having moved to Fressingfield, Suffolk a few years ago. They came for lunch together with John and Pat Law, as all of their church had gone for an away weekend. The open gardens event was deliberately low key to see how it worked, there were only 3 gardens on offer, but it was enjoyable. Clashing with the Wimbledon men’s final meant that numbers were not overwhelming but it ensured that the garden is more weed free than usual at this time of year.
Kate is feeding cells at weekends again so she had a long day.
I was at Wisley on Monday, the temperature reached 31°C on the M25 – thank heavens for air conditioning! We were judging mange tout and sugar peas and cucumbers.

Sugar Pea Assessment


Cucumber trial


Delphinium trial


Wisley Dry Garden

Wisley Rockery

Two exciting cricket matches this week, on Wednesday the chapel team beat Elsworth by one wicket and on Saturday Over IIIs lost to Little Thetford by one wicket. I scored 28 in the latter and was twice as old as the next oldest in the team.
Icknield Way section 7 took us from Linton to Borough Green via Great Chesterford on Thursday, again it was very hot but fortunately not too demanding

Love


Mike & Kate

28th June 2009

28th June 2009.

Dear All,

By popular demand I am beginning with photos of the new kitchen (which will be dull if you can’t open the pictures). A new cooker was also included in the transformation and we are still getting used to it.


There has been plenty of gardening this week to catch up from a week away. The rain has helped freshen things up and last Sunday’s lunch included new potatoes, peas, broad beans, cabbage, carrots and strawberries all from the garden. Next Sunday we have our first “Chapel Open Gardens” afternoon.
Our chapel projector has been playing up recently throwing excess green colouring but only intermittently. We have tried changing the bulb, tightening cables etc and contacted a few likely experts. It was OK today but it is difficult to trust it.
We attended a U3A BBQ for the Travel and Walking groups on Wednesday at Dry Drayton. It was a remarkable venue, a cattery on land formerly church owned, on which someone built three houses for his sons. The grandmother is still alive and a keen weaver so one shed is full of looms, one of the houses seems to be a sort of commune with 16 people on site and the grounds are massive including the croquet lawn. The food was cooked by an old Africa hand “bush style” and was excellent.
We had another Moldova planning meeting this week and decided to buy some more equipment, a pump, ride on mower, hand grinding tools and possibly a maize drill. We have found all but the drill so far and the next lorry is booked for early September.
Thursday’s walk was Icknield Way section 6 from Elmdon to Linton via the M11 and Great Chesterford. It was pleasant enough without being spectacular. 10 miles followed by cricket in the evening meant I was not too frisky that night! The chapel beat Cambridge Police and are unbeaten so far this season


Great Chesterford



Linton

The largest garden in Over, belonging to the Hooks next to the chapel, was open last Sunday. He is a venture capitalist and has invested substantial sums into the garden. It was very impressive.


Hook’s garden

Love


Mike & Kate