17th August 2014

17th August 2014.

Dear All,

Yesterday was the annual church outing to Hunstanton. It was a little more fraught to organise than usual this year. Firstly we could not hire the usual church hall as a base as they were hosting a beach mission so we had to shell out for the Town Hall basement. Secondly the day clashed with the Over Produce Show and both Kate and I were judging so could not get away until 12.15. Thirdly several of the normal attendees were unavailable for various, mainly holiday related, reasons. Fourthly when we put up the list to sign 10 people asked for lifts and only one place was offered in return. Fifthly we normally stop for a BBQ on the way back at Kate and Gordon’s – but they have moved and it is no longer practical.

However, we managed to hire the Day Centre minibus and people seemed to enjoy the day especially as it coincided with a flower festival at Old Hunstanton church.

  Old Hunstanton, Flower Festival & Day Centre Minibus

The produce show has been moved from its usual slot at the Carnival due to a shortage of suitable marquees and was held in the Community Centre a month later than previous years. There were gloomy forecasts of reduced entries but these were blown apart by a new young competitor (James Desborough) who swept the board with some startling high quality produce. We eventually arrived at Hunstanton at 1.45.

 Over Show

Otherwise it has been a fairly quiet week. Quite alot of work on the cricket pitches as a couple of games were played in damp conditions. The second of these was the last chapel match of the season which was washed out on Thursday after 5 overs, not before considerable damage had been done to the hallowed turf!

I watched Over’s first football match of the season at Fulbourne on Tuesday and this ended prematurely as one of Over’s players collapsed after a clash of heads and was rushed to hospital.

I had to miss the walk again this week as my feet were still painful but Kate went to Chevington beyond Newmarket.

Love

Mike & Kate

10th August 2014

10th August 2014.

Dear All,

How was Friday for you? We had a terrific downpour in Cambridgeshire and our return journey from Hutton took 2.5 hours instead of 1.25 with several traffic jams due to flooding.

“Dry” Drayton!

Bar Hill

Friday’s Collection

Pond Extension

Kate and I had been to Hutton to help Esther with a few jobs mainly safety measures associated with her application to take children for respite care, so bookcases have to be strapped to the wall and the greenhouse covered with strengthening plastic.

“Safe” Greenhouse

Otherwise it has been a fairly quiet week. The cricket pitch has needed a deal of TLC as it was cracking in the hot weather – that has been cured now. We beat St Neots Evangelical Church on Wednesday and I was drafted into Over IIs yesterday for a thrilling top of the table clash which we lost in the last over.

I missed the walk on Thursday as my feet were rather sore but Kate went starting locally at Wilbraham.

John and Vera Lee are celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary today so there is a “bring and share” meal after the service.

Love

Mike & Kate

3rd August 2014

3^rd August 2014.

Dear All,

It has been Holiday Club at chapel this week. Kate and I were in charge of the oldest group of 12 or so and it seemed to go very well thanks to the enthusiasm of Rachel who headed the whole thing up. Several parents came for the meal at the end.

Holiday Club

Yesterday we met up with Esther, Mary-Ann, Amélie, Mandy, Natasha, James,(Kate’s nephew) Joanna and their baby Mila at Kew Gardens. Esther is entertaining Mandy and Natasha for the weekend and as usual earning a medal the size of a cartwheel! We had not been to Kew for a long time and it seemed to have grown since we were there! As it was a Saturday there were extra entertainments/educational features explaining how chemicals are extracted from plants and analysed and seeds preserved. We also climbed up the “tree top walk” and some attempted the “barefoot trail”.

 Kew Gardens

Mary-Ann and Amélie had an extended stay in Dusseldorf  last weekend as their plane was delayed due to the storms in Sussex, so did not get home until late Tuesday.

Our Thursday walk started at Haynes in Bedfordshire and took in Clophill and Chicksands. It was remarkable for the number of less usual crops we saw including; Amaranth, Triticale, Linseed, Sorghum, Borage and Peas.

We managed another cricket victory with the chapel team on Wednesday and modesty forbids me to say that I took 4 wickets in 2 overs!

Love

Mike & Kate

27th July 2014

27th July 2014.

Dear All,

I hope you have all coped with the hot and humid weather this week. Our esteemed walk leader actually cancelled this week’s ramble after hearing the forecast for Thursday claiming it was” too hot for elderly participants”. Kate and I decided to get up early and walked along the river to St Ives. It was a good walk but fairly full of insect life, some interesting like the dragonflies and butterflies, some annoying like the mosquitoes and horseflies.

 

Comma Butterfly

St Ives Marina

We attended one of the “The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival” plays on Friday at Kings College garden. It was “A Midsummer Nights Dream” and as the weather was set fair there was a large audience of over 500.

  Kings Garden

Two cricket matches this week, on Wednesday the chapel team managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory losing to Cambridge Police by 6 runs despite me taking 3 wickets in one over! Yesterday I was called up for Over 2nds as we beat March 4ths to remain top of the league.

We have beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes coming out of our ears. Truly a good growing season.

We still have our South African lodger as she is wrestling with either returning home or sticking it out to try and find a job after many disappointments.

Love

Mike & Kate

20th July 2014.

Dear All,

Mary-Ann, Andy and Amélie have been visiting this weekend – hence the delay in this dispatch. It has been Over Carnival weekend and apart from the usual Chapel stand we were asked to take on the refreshments in the Pavilion which Kate volunteered to head up, with any profit going towards CEEM/Moldova. We were fortunate with the weather in that the threatened storms did not arrive although it was very humid. The Quiz (photos of old and modern Over) went well and there was also a game and balloon craft advertising Messy Church. The refreshments also went well with plenty of help and a margin of over £200. The chapel also volunteers to pick up the post carnival litter so we had a fairly early start this morning.

Amélie has been in good form and must think Over is a fun place as it usually carnival or Christmas when she comes!

On Wednesday I went to Colchester to watch Day 4 of Essex v Hants and it proved to be very exciting with Essex taking 9 wickets before lunch and just hanging on to win by 2 wickets after being 29 for 4.

Colchester Castle

Ravi Bopara seeing Essex home

Our Thursday walk was fairly local at Eltisley taking in Caxton and Gt Gransden. Again it was hot and humid but a decent walk.

Eltisley

This afternoon our guest speaker was Hugh McCurdy the Archdeacon of Ely and he spoke well and attracted a decent audience.

Mary-Ann, Andy and Amélie plan to leave at 3 am tomorrow dropping Andy off at Gatwick on the way to Hove. Thankfully Mary-Ann does not work Mondays.

Love

Mike & Kate

13th July 2014

13th July 2014.

Dear All,

On Monday Kate and I travelled to Cambridge to watch the start of the 3^rd stage of the Tour de France. There were huge crowds but a very friendly atmosphere – much like the Olympics. We watched from Parkers Piece where there was a large screen and a stage where all the riders had to sign in before the start of the race. As there were 196 riders it took a long time but the commentators somehow managed to blurb on for 2 hours and we had a close look at all the competitors as well as film of previous satges. After a couple from our walking group had laid on a lunch so it was a good day.

Vincenzo Nibali & Chris Froome

Vincenzo Nibali

Cyril Lemoine

I had lunch with some of the ex NIAB “wrinklies” on Tuesday. Kate was down at Hove Tuesday/Wednesday while I had another session at Wisley. As I was travelling alone I took Ken, May and Carol for a look round. We were judging Crisp Lettuce and Garlic. The garlic was not especially good but we had Colin Boswell, the national expert from the Isle of Wight, to guide us through so it was very interesting.

Colin Boswell & Garlic trial

Herbaceous Border

 We had a wet walk on Thursday starting at Arkesden, south of Saffron Walden. The rain meant it was cooler than of late.

On Friday evening we had a chapel guided tour of the new “Eco House” in Willingham Road. John & Sally explained how the house evolved and the various green features. It is an achievement but at a price - £620,000!

Eco House external

Internal

Sedum Roof

Yesterday the cricket club had an open day for juniors so we had to prepare pitches at 7 am as it had been too wet before.

We currently have a lodger – Cathy Nel from South Africa. She is a mature lady who has been trying to make a new start after a broken marriage in South Africa but has found it very difficult to get a permanent job so may well have to return to Africa.

Ben completed his 2 weeks climbing mountains in the Pyrenees ending up in Barcelona via Andorra. It sounds like hard work but he claims to have enjoyed it.

Love

Mike & Kate

6th July 2014

6th July 2014.

Dear All,

The long running saga of the Cemetery path has now hopefully been laid to rest as following our work party to remove loose concrete last Saturday it has been coated with tarmac this week and looks reasonably presentable. It has been on the agenda for about 5 years as various schemes have been presented and dismissed due to cost. Either people are not dying quickly enough or the cost of a plot is too cheap to balance the books!

My car blew its exhaust this week which proved an expensive incident as the whole system needed replacing – still it was the original which had been in place for 11 years.

Our neighbour opposite (Mrs Twiss) is chairwoman of the local “Dignity in Dying” group and organised a large debate at Newnham College on Monday evening. As she had personally invited us we felt obliged to go. The attendees were largely supporters so the anti speaker had a fairly tough task.

Newnham College

I  attended the NIAB Open Day on Tuesday. It is largely a combinable crops event but the “Innovation Farm” was also demonstrated and there were some interesting exhibits such as the programme to recreate wheat from wild ancestors, genetic improvement of sanfoin, novel oil crops such as Ahiflower, wild flower mixes for bees, opium poppies, buckwheat and dye crops.

Ahiflower

Buckwheat

This week’s walk started at Little Walden, near Saffron Walden and progressed close to Chesterford Park where Kate used to work.

Little Walden

We had a “Men’s breakfast” and talk yesterday at chapel with 21 attending. I then had to hot foot it to Stapleford where I was judging. This was quite a small show so did not take too long.

Class 16 – 10 Gooseberries

 Cricket was actually on yesterday despite morning rain and Over won again in a close finish with St Ives II.

It was Amélie’s 3^rd birthday yesterday and Mary-Ann and Esther took her to Germany to celebrate with her father – as you do! Ben has been cycling the mountainous section of the Tour de France for a couple of weeks – we assume he is OK!

Love

Mike & Kate