9th May 2010

9th May 2010.

Dear All,

After Mondays family gathering at Hutton the week has mainly been report writing, photo downloading and catching up in the garden.

Swan & Cygnet wood, Stock

63rd Birthday gathering

I have sown courgettes, squash, gourds, pumpkins, water melons, cucumbers, beetroot, peas, carrots and radish this week and planted out runner beans, French beans, celeriac and cabbage. The rain has been useful but outdoor crops are slow due to the cool weather.
Our Thursday walk began at Hail Weston near St Neots and proceeded via Great Staunton for 11.2 miles notable for vivid blue swaths of bluebells and yellow splurges of rape.

Royal Oak, Hail Weston

Hail Weston

Cricket got off to a traditional damp start with both matches cancelled on Saturday.
Alpha seems to be going OK with 8 guests turning up for the third week.
Our Labour candidate was deselected at the last minute due to unwise utterances so we must have been the only constituency in the land not to have that option.

Love

Mike & Kate

3rd May 2010

3rd May 2010.

Dear All,

We have just completed another successful trip to Moldova. The preparation was a bit fraught with the volcano ash threatening the flight so we were not sure how psyched up to be until we were actually airborne. This time there were three of us: John Law, Chris Chanter from Southampton and myself and for the first time we flew direct to Chisnau via Bucharest instead of travelling overland from Romania. The other two had trouble in the transit customs in Bucharest and for a time I thought I might be in Moldova on my own!



Chisnau flats

In Chisnau we stayed with a new family who were friends of our translator Igor. On Saturday we shopped for seed and travelled to Leover where CEEM supports 2 pastors. Leover used to have 90,000 inhabitants in communist times this has shrunk to 15,000 with emigration and resembles a ghost town. We then finally arrived at Burlacu where we have the agricultural project and were due to stay the week. All three were housed in one small room which was cosy! But as usual the welcome was warm and fantastic. We took the service Sunday am and there was a 40th birthday picnic in the hills in the pm.
On Monday we measured up the field they had hired for experiments and we had to apply fertilizer to a hectare by hand. This was cultivated in by a contractor and then we drilled 4 maize varieties on 75% of the field, and hand broadcast large plots of Lucerne and red clover. Next day we filled in the rest of the field with 48 different grass and clover plots so we had a flying start and finished the field work by Tuesday lunchtime. A family from St Neots, who had raised money for Moldova arrived en route for Australia overland with a Land Rover, caravan and 2 small children. They




Picnic

were able to see how the money was being spent at the school and the children joined in classes for the day. The locals made them very welcome and fed them for the rest of the week.
On Wednesday we sowed vegetable seeds and visited some of the growers who had received tunnels and they all seemed to be using them very constructively.
Our highlight was a training seminar for the local growers on Wednesday afternoon. We were helped by a Moldovan grower and Christian called Daniel Apostu who gave two excellent talks on “Using your tunnels” and “Using your garden for profit”. In between I gave a talk about “UK Vegetable growing and seed production”. We were due to start at 4.00 pm when about 7 people were present, we eventually started at 4.45 pm when 38 were present.



Burlacu mechanisation

Thursday we went to Cahul to visit the vegetable market while John visited the local Baptist supervisor. After we travelled to Hiratop to see the 4th pastor Oleg who is by far the best grower, he had tomatoes almost ready and does a great job employing local lads without jobs.



Oleg

We travelled back to Chisnau on Thursday evening and rose at 3 am to travel back, I was just in time to help prepare the wicket for the first match of the season.
After it has been a birthday series Donna’s 40th Saturday, Bob’s 60th Sunday and today we have been to Hutton to celebrates Kate’s birthday with Esther, Mary-Ann and Ben including a good walk in the “Swan and Cygnet Wood” at Stock.

Love

Mike & Kate

18th April 2010

18th April 2010.

Dear All,

It has been a busy weekend or end to the week. On Thursday our walk started at Cavendish and went to Clare, both villages are chocolate boxy or contain several very picturesque buildings. The weather was bright, sunny and cold and just right for walking – only 10.1 miles this week, hardly worth getting out of bed for!


Cavendish Cottages


It was a 35 mile journey from Over and I had to return to the next village, Hundon, in the evening for a garden club talk.
On Friday I hired an industrial sander to attack the chapel school room floor, which was quite a job as the floorboards were full of nails and none of them was level. The chapel itself is being repainted by Ray Asplin so goodbye pink panels, hello tasteful magnolia and mushroom with gold trimmings.


Chapel Refurbishment

Esther and Eirwen came to collect our 25 year old rabbit hutch at lunchtime. In the evening Kate and I drove down to visit Ben and inspect his new flat. The M25 was closed anticlockwise so we had to use the Blackwell tunnel – a bit daunting for simple country folk! – but not too bad thanks to exemplary map reading by Kate and the Sat Nav. We ate at the local Vietnamese restaurant and slept on the new sofa bed.
The flat is quite smart and quiet but only 100 yards from Streatham High Street. We helped hang a few pictures and purchased a rug but did not have long to finish jobs as Ben was involved in a vital relegation battle at 2 pm at Sydenham. We went to support in baking sunshine, but due to the absence of numerous key players the task proved too much for the plucky Hampstead Heathens who eventually succumbed by 4 goals to 1.


39 Gleneldon Road (right of semi) 1st floor back


Watchful defender sees off Chertsey’s 13th corner

This afternoon I have been to Grantham for a CEEM meeting about Moldova. We are due to fly out next Friday but at present that looks to be in some doubt!
Kate has spoken to Gwen re the cousin’s reunion offering accommodation. At present they plan to hire a car to take John and Muriel out and about and bring them up to Cambridge but plans are not set in concrete.
The garden has started to move with potatoes well up and several other crops emerging. We had a slight frost earlier in the week but it did not seem to hurt much except the frog spawn.
I have put some Ecuador photos on Facebook for those interested in that sort of thing.
Love

Mike & Kate

11th April 2010

11th April 2010.

Dear All,

Kate and I spent most of yesterday at a wedding – Jo Colquhoun for those that know her, daughter of friends from Cottenham for those that don’t. It was a very grand affair with the reception for 140 in a marquee in the parent’s garden. It went very well but as often is the case it seemed to go on for ever so that we did not finish the meal until 9 pm – then there was the evening rave up. The weather was brilliant and the food and flowers probably cost a fortune.

Duncan, Sue, Mike, Jo & Mr & Mrs Newman Snr.


Cottenham Church

This week’s garden club talk was at Henham near Stanstead with added excitement of the beamer cutting out half way through!.
I decided to do the shorter walk on Thursday as I had an evening meeting; however it turned out to be 10.2 miles as opposed to 10.6 miles for the longer walk! We started at Sturmer near Haverhill and again the weather added to the enjoyment of the day.

Kedington Church

I collected the heavy roller from its winter quarters on a farm and started the cricket wicket preparation on Friday. It does not seem too bad at this stage.
Otherwise it has been digging, planting, sowing, hoeing and grass cutting – things are really starting to move.

Love

Mike & Kate

4th April 2010

4th April 2010.

Dear All,

Happy Easter to all readers! We started with a sunrise service at 6.30 am and the sun did rise after an initial delay at about 6.50 am. The temperature was 3°C so not a morning for hanging around. This was followed by an 11.00 am Family service and with Communion and evening service to come it is reminiscent of the never ending Good Fridays at Upminster!

Sunrise 6.50 am

I have given two talks on "Hand in Hand" and Ecuador this week, one to the after church gathering last Sunday and another to the Women’s meeting where only one person fell asleep – practically a record!
Monday evening Kate and I joined some of the U3A walkers for a Thai meal at the Barley Mow in Histon and on Thursday Kate was not working, and joined the walk starting at Preston near Hitchin. It was one of the more scenic routes and will look even better in a month when the bluebells are out.

Preston Almshouses

Approaching Preston

Mary-Ann has been offered a permanent job at Millers, one of the places she has temped. They are architech/designers/engineers and have been trying for Olympic projects.
Otherwise it has mostly been gardening and mending a rabbit’s hutch for Esther to collect.

Love

Mike & Kate

28th March 2010.

Dear All,

We spent the day with Esther yesterday catching up on a few jobs and listening to her sing Handel’s Messiah with Havering Singers in St Peter’s church, Harold Wood.

Havering Singers warming up

Mary-Ann joined us in the afternoon and she should have met up with Andy who has been travelling in Spain, France and Holland last week. The jobs included removing a box round pipes, mending guttering, cutting the grass, planting apple trees and pruning raspberries.

In the afternoon Esther had to practice with the musicians and soloists so Kate and I went to Hyde Hall, the RHS garden near Chelmsford. It was very neat and orderly and showing quite a lot of colour for the time of year.

Hyde Hall Pond

Hyde Hall Winter Border

I have caught up with the garden by planting maincrop spuds and some late shallots but mainly sowing has been under glass. We appear to have another water leak from the mains as a small bog has formed near the rhubarb. The Water Company came to check and think they have located yet another leak in the road. This makes about 12 in the last 5 years.
I went to Thornhaugh near Peterborough on Saturday to talk to an organic vegetable box scheme company who want some help with trialling. They quickly expanded up to 9,000 boxes delivered a week but the recession has seen this contract back to 6,200.
Our walk on Thursday started at Quendon near Saffron Walden and circled round Berden and Rickling, just over 11 miles. Addenbrookes put me on some new medication for rheumatism and so far they are not helping as I felt dreadful after the walk and have had four migraines!

Extra Pictures from Costa Rica from colleague with telescopic lens

Love

Mike & Kate

21st March 2010

21st March 2010.

Dear All,

We seem to be back in routine after an exciting month away. The new premises in Ecuador are much nicer than the old so it did not seem so bad abandoning all the work we did before. Dave and Ana have a 3 story house plus basement with two separate bungalows which have been turned into classrooms. In addition, there are other outhouses in various states of repair, one of which houses the “Latin Link” dentist. The garden currently includes five large avocado trees, several citrus bushes as well as figs, custard apples and peach trees. Humming birds visited daily and condors circled above doubtless waiting for a “gringo” to collapse.

Mano e Mano

Our initial charge was to build a sort of grandstand to shelter parents when they have open and community days. This would have been taxing without metal work but we spent a day planning and quantity surveying before they changed their minds and we turned our attention to building a classroom on the site of a damp rubbish dump and making an adjoining building waterproof. The tasks also included digging a soak away, repairing leaking roofs and rewiring areas with dodgy electrics. In addition, John and Jen were temporarily seconded to the nearby catholic school to install electricity in their classrooms. I was mainly in charge of the cement mixer and this is quite good for the figure at that altitude and in those temperatures.

Initial site

Nearly completed

I had been asked to take out some vegetable seeds and was happy to establish a vegetable garden. Radish emerged in four days and French beans in a week! A first for me was planting a banana tree.
If it is any consolation for those of you who were feeling the cold, insect activity was intense and both Jen and Jean-Claude were bitten so badly that they needed medical attention. Also we spent quite a lot of time being wet, not just from sweat but we arrived during carnival and a quaint tradition is to squirt folk with shaving soap and then empty buckets of water over them. In addition, the culmination of the children’s holiday clubs was a quiz where correct answers were rewarded with the opportunity of throwing water over an Englishman.
Costa Rica was very exciting, after meeting up in the capital San Jose (including Kate flying out from a freezing UK) we spent a day there before we travelled to five other sites in contrasting regions. There were 11 in our group representing Canada, USA, South Africa, Germany and 6 from the UK. Our guide Alan was only 21 but excellent. We used public transport mostly which was a challenge as it was usually crowded. First stop was Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast, which necessitated a boat ride as there were no roads. This area is famous for turtles laying their eggs on the beach (but later in the year). We arose at 5 am and took canoes round the nearby jungle and were spoilt by seeing so much wildlife during the first trip: howler monkeys, sloths, otters, river turtles, caymen, iguanas, lizards and a host of birds.

Cayman

The temperature was well over 30°C so Dave and I swam in the sea for 30 minutes before were advised to get out as someone had been attacked by a shark. We visited the turtle research centre and took a jungle walk before moving on the second site Sarapiqui in the rain forest. We stayed at a site run by a hunter turned conservationist called Alex and he was quite a character. The rain forest lived up to its named and it did not stop for 3 days – they get 240” a year! Again we explored the jungle this time via aerial walk ways but actually saw more at the living quarters as Alex fed birds and there was a constant stream.
After the rain forest we moved onto the cloud forest at La Fortuna – less rain but higher and mainly cloud covered. There is an active volcano Arenal nearby and although we climbed some way up it the skies did not clear to see the summit but we could hear it rumbling away. Dave went horse riding and we spent a happy evening in a large thermal spring site. The wild life count was mounting with spider monkeys, toucans, snakes, insects, coati, kinkajou etc.

Iguana

Next stop was Monteverde higher in the cloud forest with even more wild life. This time we had a night walk in the jungle and were able to see much more. In the town were a butterfly farm, frog pond, orchid garden, serpentarium and insect collect just to fill in the flora and fauna we had not already seen.

Friendly Tarantula during night walk

Onwards to the Pacific coast at Quebos and the temperature rose to well over 35°C. The sand was too hot to stand on and the sea like bathwater. We explored the mangrove swamps by boat then returned to San Jose.


Kate with scorpion

The Pacific Coast

I have a few photos which I will lodge somewhere this is a brief outline of our travels.
Thanks to all who remembered my birthday.


Love

Mike & Kate