22 April 2012

22nd April 2012.

Dear All,

Kate and I travelled to Godalming on Monday morning returning Wednesday afternoon. We managed to sort a few jobs as well as catch up with Mary-Ann, Andy and of course Amélie. The drought has certainly broken in that part of the country and we managed to get wet each time we left the house.
Amélie now has 4 teeth and rapidly becoming a jet propelled crawler, so fixing stair gates has been a recent priority. She continues to smile in a winning way (I expect all grandparents say that?) and take an interest in anything that fits in her mouth – mostly, but not exclusively food! I think the main downside for her parents is that she seems to have lost the knack of sleeping through the night.

Amélie at 8 months

We visited Wisley on Tuesday principally to see the rhododendrons and azaleas on Battleston Hill but these were not yet at their best and the camellias were past their best. However there were spectacular orchids in the hot house, carpets of dog violets and a good show in the alpine house.

Wisley Rockery

Dog Violets



Camelia

Cherry blossom

Alpine Daphne

Orchid

On Wednesday evening we attended the Christians in Sport Quiz at St Neots as defending champions. We only managed 3rd this time mainly due to an injudicious choice of round for the joker – in fact our worst round – but it was good fun and over 70 attended. The speaker was Ian Lancaster a legendary? ex Carlisle footballer.
We had a rare wet walk this week starting on Royston Heath, climbing to Therfield and Reed with lunch in the Golf Club. In fact we did not get too wet and as it was mainly chalk underfoot the going was not too sticky.
An exciting week on the computer: first someone sent an attachment so huge it ground the emails to a standstill and repeated 2 days worth 10 times. Then someone hacked into my seldom used Facebook page claiming that I had an accident in Madrid and had lost all my money “please send some emergency cash to…” I have now suspended my account.
Plenty to do in the garden this week planting, sowing, weeding, mowing and harvesting – but I won’t bore you with the details.
John Law and I should be off to Moldova on Thursday so no letter next week.

love
Mike & Kate

15th April 2012

15th April 2012.

Dear All,

Tom Webster is currently down from Scotland so I have had three outings with him this week. He is 88 and now on his 3rd artificial leg. He walks for 2 hours every day and with his latest leg is able to climb and descend hills. His target is to reach the summit of The Cobbler for his 90th birthday in August 2013.
He accompanied me for my talk on Costa Rica to the St Neots Aviculture meeting on Tuesday and to Horringer near Bury St Edmunds for a Garden Club on Wednesday. Kate joined us for a visit to Saham Toney near Watton in Norfolk on Friday to visit an old NIAB colleague Bill Chowings who has recently moved there from Swavesey.


Bill, Kate, Joyce & Tom

We now have Geoff Barnes staying for the weekend. His wife Doreen has Parkinsons and was due to have a couple of weeks respite care in Finborough Hall but was taken to Ipswich Hospital with complications.
The cricket club motor roller is rather ancient and sprang an oil leak when some of the lads were rolling the outfield. When it was taken apart (with difficulty) it was found that a hydraulic ram had split – not the rubber gasket but the metal sleeve. The mechanic said he had never seen this before in 30 years. We marked the square out yesterday so it is that time of year again.
Our Thursday walk began at Chippenham near Newmarket and touched on Red Lodge, Horringer and Kennet. The woods were full of Mahonia and the field full of free range pigs. We had just completed it in good weather when the heavens opened for a violent hail storm.


Mahonia



Free range pigs

Plenty of gardening this week planting out lettuce and cabbage, sowing parsnips, Scorzonera, land cress and digging in the sprout land.
We hope to visit Godalming for 2 or 3 days from tomorrow.

love
Mike & Kate

8th April 2012

8th April 2012.

Dear All,

After an unscheduled visit to the dentist on Monday morning (another split tooth!) we travelled to Lavenham. I had forgotten how quaint it is, it must be like living in a museum. There are so many wood fronted cottages of all colours with hardly a straight edge in sight.

Lavenham

We had a rare shopping trip to Cambridge on Tuesday, Kate needed to buy some sowing materials for Esther’s visit later in the week and we replaced our toaster, I also started shopping for Moldovan handouts. The toaster did not work when we tried it at home so it had to be returned next day – and being John Lewis they replaced it with a superior model.
At last a decent rain on Tuesday, we had almost 0.5” but it tailed off towards Cambridge and Thriplow did not get any.
I had to address Cambridge Geranium Society in the evening – an even more ancient gathering than usual for my talks1
Esther came up on Wednesday evening to do some serious sowing machine work and stayed a couple of nights. She helped me sort some of the Moldovan seed, we have been given over 1500 packets by Suttons, Mr Fothergill and Tozers.


Esther Seed Sorting

Kate stayed to help Esther on Thursday so missed the walk which started at Coton and travelled through Hardwick, Dry Drayton and Madingley.
Tom Webster arrived on Thursday and I am planning to see him a couple of times next week.
We did a practice short walk yesterday for one we are leading in the village this afternoon. I watched Over draw with Chatteris then we went to the ADC theatre in Cambridge to see a production of “The Sound of Music” featuring the son of one of Kate’s ex work colleagues. It was actually very good – if you like that sort of thing.
We had a 6.30 am sunrise service this morning; although “sunrise” would fall foul of the Trades Descriptions Act.

Sunrise Service

love
Mike & Kate

1st April 2012

1st April 2012.

Dear All,

Monday did not turn out quite as expected as we had a 2 year old dumped on us whose parents are going through difficulties. He slept most of the morning and was cheerful enough in the afternoon so it could have been worse. In the evening it was the annual chapel trip to Pidley for 10 pin bowling. There were more than 20 of us for a meal and 2 games.
John Law came over on Tuesday to plan the next trip to Moldova a little more. He has negotiated 20 kg extra baggage allowance free for each of us as it is a charity. All we need now is a couple of sherpas. We plan to depart on the 26th April. John is a bit creaky at present with skin cancer spots on his back, a stiff neck and gout in his knee.
He is on a team that have been negotiating to buy 45 acres round Moggerhanger and this has just gone through after long and painful deliberations. Kate and I went over on Friday to look at the land and anchor some of John’s plans to the floor as he tends to get a bit carried away.


Moggerhanger Walled garden

Moggerhanger Hall

I have been asked to give a talk on Costa Rica to a bird group in St Neots. As this is a new venture I have been sorting the photos from our 2010 trip which has brought back many memories and a realisation of how much wildlife we saw – a sloth a day keeps the boredom away!

Costa Rican wildlife

Our Thursday walk started at Howlett End and took in Thaxted. Undulating countryside and firm under foot so very enjoyable.



Thaxted

We finished to ACC Pastoral care course yesterday with sessions 9 and 10. Kate was chief cook again. 19 of the 22 starters were present and the others had good excuses so it has been a worthwhile – if long exercise.
We currently have two ladies from the Faroe Islands at our church and one has been to lunch today with her geologist husband and lively 2 year old daughter.

love
Mike & Kate

25th March 2012

19 Willingham Road
Over
Cambridge
CB24 5PD

25th March 2012.

Dear All,

We had a great week in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria as you have all doubtless read in your postcards. We arrived in drizzle and left in snow otherwise it was more or less wall to wall sunshine, far warmer than Italy last year so we tended to have packed the wrong clothes. There was plenty of snow – still a couple of feet on the highland but beginning to melt in the valleys. We had three days of valley or gentle slope walking and three of ski lifts or gondolas to the top of mountains followed by walking downhill.
Travelling was a bit complex with the return journey consisting of taxi, two Austrian trains, trolley bus, plane, shuttle bus, 3 UK trains, bus, then collect our car from Harrow to drive home.
As usual the Travel Agent (Graham) was faultless with transport, accommodation, routes all immaculately planned.


4 feet of snow

Knollhof Hotel


Gondola to Dachsteingletsher

View from the Gondola

View at the top

In the Ice cave



Descent from Turlwand

Descent from Hochwurzen



Sun worshippers

Local transport

As the fine weather continued here it has been a good week in the garden – but I won’t go into details for fear of boring my readers!
I have received two more donations of seed for Moldova making four in total, fortunately John has managed to negotiate a charity baggage allowance of an additional 20kg FOC with Austrian Airlines – all we need now is a sherpa to carry it!
Our local walk started in Great Chesterford on Thursday and as the going was firm and sunny and the countryside undulating it was very enjoyable.
Kate and I travelled to Hutton yesterday to meet Mandy and Natasha then later Ben before attending Esther’s concert at the Brentwood Centre. Five choirs combined to produce 200 singers and an orchestra of 75 for “Te Deum” by Berlioz – any questions? Please address Esther.
love
Mike & Kate

11th March 2012

11th March 2012.

Dear All,

We didn’t travel very far this Monday as I had an X-Ray on my foot at Hinchingbrooke but we managed to explore Huntingdon, Houghton Garden Centre and Houghton village.

Huntingdon Centre

Catkins

The Cromwell museum

Catkins cu


Huntingdon bridge

Houghton centre

The Tuesday film was “The Big Sleep” starring Humphrey Bogart, a 1946 B&W adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. It was excellent and cracked along at an impressive pace.

Kate and I attended a seminar at Eden chapel, Cambridge on Wednesday on “The Doctrine of God” by Mike Reeves from UCCF. It was a bit heavy! In the afternoon my Art Appreciation class resumed after a months absence studying Caravaggio and El Greco.
The Thursday walk started at Godmanchester and circled via the Hemingfords, St Ives and Houghton. It was 11 miles but not too bad as it was flat and there were no ploughed fields to traverse.

Heminford Abbots

Hemingford Grey

The change back to cooler weather slowed down gardening activities apart from digging so I have been working on updating one of my Garden Club talks and preparing some talks for Moldova.
We did a recce round Over Fen yesterday as we are leading a church walk today. There were swans, a new badger set and new born calves as well as plenty of other birds.
I watched Over held to a 1 v 1 draw by Cottenham yesterday – the first points they have dropped since the new manager took over.
No letter next week as we are due to fly out to Austria with Graham and Mary tomorrow.


love

Mike & Kate

4th March 2012

4th March 2012.

Dear All,

On Monday we visited Bishops Stortford. We took the town trail in the morning and I gave a talk to the U3A Plants Group in the afternoon. I had never been in the centre of the town before and the most noticeable feature were the number of old coaching inns from the time it was on the route from London to Cambridge.

Bishops Stortford The Black Lion

The Boars Head


The Corn Exchange

The George

The Stag

Carved Pew

The Tuesday film was “La Terra Trema” a Viconti film from 1948 about exploitation of fishermen in Sicily. It was largely acted by the locals and not professional actors and commissioned by the Communist Party.
The Home Group meeting was a birthday do for Norman Ingle was has the distinction of being born on the 29th February so has therefore only had 17 birthdays in 68 years. Question “How many Norman’s were registered in 2005?” Answer: 2.
I have planted or sown early potatoes, broad beans, beetroot, carrots, shallots, onion sets, garlic, lettuce and cabbage this week and purchased a greengage tree, a red gooseberry and some yellow raspberry canes.
Our walk on Thursday started at Much Hadham and circled round the River Ash valley. It was sunny and firm underfoot and an excellent walk albeit 11 miles long.

Much Hadham

Ash valley

The ACC course in the evening takes a bit of concentration as it is 2.5 hours long.
The Twisses (opposite) came for coffee on Friday and we were in Whittlesey last night for an area officers meal.


love

Mike & Kate