19th July 2015.

Dear All,

It was Over Carnival yesterday so a fairly busy day with Kate in charge of refreshments in the Pavilion and the usual chapel stand with quiz, game and craft. Esther, Mary-Ann, Andy and Amélie all came to help or participate and the sun shone all day so there was a good turnout. Our former lodger Cathy came to help with the refreshments a) she got lost getting here having lived in Over for 10 months! b) she was rashly assigned to the cash point and was largely the reason for increased profits as she was extremely approximate with the change. We picked up litter this morning but it was not too bad.

Quiz

Game

Crowds

Refreshments

Joy rider

Entertainment

Litter pickers

I called in at NIAB on Tuesday and found them in the middle of another round of redundancies “not because we are cash strapped but we need to change direction to more profitable areas”. That does not particularly cheer those affected.

Our Thursday walk started at Godmanchester and was reasonably familiar taking in Houghton, St Ives and Hemmingford – 11.4 miles but it was dry and not too hot.

Houghton Mill

Hemmingford

Harvesting continues at a pace with runner beans and tomatoes starting and French beans, cucumbers, lettuce, beetroot carrots, onions, shallots and garlic all producing well. On the fruit side of things raspberries and cherries have replaced strawberries and currants.

Our visitors all left this afternoon, Esther via Addenbookes to visit a work colleague. No news from China so hopefully Ben is having a good time?

Love

Mike & Kate

12th July 2015

12th July 2015.

Dear All,

On Friday Kate and I had a day out visiting Naseby Battlefield and the nearby Coton Manor Gardens near Kettering. There is not a great deal to see at Naseby but it was interesting to see the terrain they fought over in what was a decisive battle in the Civil War. The gardens were well worth visiting with terraced beds, woods and water.

Naseby Battlefield

Coton Manor Gardens

Thursday’s walk was a circular route around Ely and although largely familiar we did find some areas we had not seen before.

Ely

Red currant picking entered the second week but has finally finished for this year but raspberries are beginning now and the dwarf cherry tree has excelled this year.

Otherwise we have been preparing for next Saturday’s carnival, preparing wickets and generally keeping on top of watering and weeding.

I went to a NIAB “Wrinklies” lunch at Girton on Tuesday watching the differing rates that people age!

Ben flew to China on Friday for a 17 day visit.

Love

Mike & Kate

5th July 2015

5th July 2015.

Dear All,

We were on duty in the “Street Pastors” cafe last night so did not get to bed until 4.45 am - hence the belated epistle this week. It was a fairly lively evening in “Nightlife” with numerous hen parties, celebrating students and general revellers. The usual street folk and intoxicated youths were augmented by foreign students at language schools to learn English. As several of these are non drinking Muslims they are a welcome change when they drop in for a chat to improve their language skills. We had one serious casualty from South Carolina dripping with blood as he had been beaten up and a couple of heavily intoxicated girls who, atypically were not very grateful for help received. In addition, our 6’5” Nigerian security guard was suffering from a migraine so was packed off home. We were asked out for lunch at Merv & Pat’s today for which we were very grateful.

Monday was exercise day as we followed our normal swim with a 8.5 mile recce then cricket pitch repairs and an evening meal at Girton with some of the walking group. In fact we had 5 matches on the Green in 8 days so no respite for the groundsman in the testing weather!

On Tuesday evening we went to Warboys to hear a talk by Garry Williams from the John Owen Centre at the London Theological Seminary and Wednesday I painted the bottom shed with Cuprinol which proved an extremely warm job.

The chapel cricket team were out against St Neots Evangelical Church in the evening and we won fairly easily.

We led the walk we had recced on Thursday starting at Stow cum Quy and crossing Quy Fen to Clayhythe, Waterbeach and back along Bottisham Lode via the Cambridge Polo ground – which we had no idea existed and the disused Coprolite Pits.

Quy Fen Coprolite Pit

Overgrown section of the Walk!

We attended another session of Street Pastor training on Friday night which was better than some and in the night were woken by overhead thunder and lightning followed by 1.5” of very welcome rain.

We have been picking red currants most days this week – I have never seen such a heavy crop.

It has been Amélie’s 4^th birthday today. Esther went down to help with the celebrations with a “Creepy Crawlies” theme.

Love

Mike & Kate

28th June 2015.

Dear All,

We were in Sussex this week and on Wednesday we started by climbing the South Downs at Malling Hill near Lewes. It was a beautiful day and there were huge carpets of orchids. However the highlight for Amélie was extracting the small hoppers from the cuckoo spit.

Malling Hill

Orchids

In the afternoon we explored Rottingdean which combines impressive chalk cliffs with Kipling’s Garden and a picturesque village pond.

Rottingdean front

Kipling’s Garden

Rottingdean Pond

Our Thursday walk started at Great Chishall which contains the highest point in Cambridgeshire at 146m above sea level! – and a little known fact is that this is lower than the lowest point in Switzerland!

I was judging at Stapleford yesterday – a small show so not too demanding and I was able to combine this with taking the cricket mower to “Gog Magog Mowers” and visit Wandlebury while waiting.

Wandlebury

Kate has had a difficult week with the rash she picked up in Guernsey. She went to the local Dispensary for some cream and they insisted on consulting a doctor who prescribed cortisone cream and Erythromysin antibiotic. Unfortunately she had a hyposensitive reaction and was covered with a rash from head to toe. She has now been given alternative treatment and is slowly improving.

We have a glut of red currants (currently!). Any offers greatfully received.

Love

Mike & Kate

21 June 2015

21st June 2015.

Dear All,

The “Cousins Outing” to Guernsey was a great success. Gwen and Rob looked after us all very well including fetching us from the airport, a BBQ, walk, Guernsey High Tea, trip to Herm and an evening meal at a sports club.

Kate and I flew from Stanstead together with Dave & Jen on Tuesday afternoon. Graham & Mary, Peter & Annemarie had already arrived in the morning. As soon as we arrived we set out for the nearby Fermain Bay and a coastal walk. The cliffs and bays were spectacular and the path reasonably challenging. Both Dave & Jen have painful joints at present so did well to endure/enjoy the walk right round the SE peninsula. We met up with the others when we returned and went for a pub dinner.

Coastal Walk, Pea Stacks

On Wednesday morning we all caught the no.91 bus which circumnavigates the whole island for £1. Kate and I stopped off in St Peters Port to explore a little before returning to the hotel in St Martins. We then walked to Gwen & Rob’s (the Nunns were collected) for a BBQ, walk and then a magnificent “Guernsey High Tea” based on local lobsters, shrimps and prawns all artistically arranged. Ancient photos were brought out to cement the family bonds for some and fill in historical gaps for others.

Cousins of 2015

Guernsey High Tea

On Thursday we all caught the ferry to Herm, a small island to the east of Guernsey – population 60. It is only 1.5 miles x 0.5 miles so we walked round the coast in sunny weather which was most enjoyable with some distinctive plants. In the evening Gwen & Rob took us to a Sports Club in the west of the island for a parting meal and an evening exploration of some of the coast there. Kate had rubbed up against some umbelliferous plants on our coast walk and these had raised an itchy rash on her legs.

  

Herm Shell Beach

We all departed at different times on Friday. Dave, Jen and ourselves visited “The Museum of the German Occupation” near the airport which was very comprehensive and well presented. We had a good flight home followed by the train to Cambridge and the Guided Bus home.

Museum of German Occupation

Yesterday we had an afternoon training session for Street Pastors on “Listening” then in the evening we went to Sally Lane’s 60^th birthday celebration at the Eco House – so a good end to the week.

Love

Mike & Kate

14th June 2015

14^th June 2015.

Dear All,

Highlight this week has been a gathering of the U3A class that we taught last autumn. We invited them for lunch and a look round the garden and 20 took up the invitation.

The weather was kind and Kate prepared an excellent spread so no complaints. We had early potatoes, French beans, carrots and broad beans all ready and autumn shallots and onions already lifted.

U3A Visitors

Exotic Salad

Kate missed the Thursday walk to prepare the food and consequently we arrived at the wrong Brockley Green grievously mislead by the Sat Nav. There is both a Brockley and a Brockley Green between Bury St Edmunds and Haverill and the Sat Nav chose the wrong one even though the correct words were inserted. Kate would not have trusted the machine and followed on a map to check. Our car load arrived 20 minutes late and had to hurry to catch up the shorter walk which started at Brockley Green then took in Hundon.

Hundon

We had a tense cricket match with Cambridge Police on Wednesday, they scored 156 and we managed 153 needing only 5 to win from the last over our incumbent pair only managed 1 run. I have sustained a career threatening muscle tear in the lower abdomen which is bothering me a little.

I have worked on the Marshalls Seeds project this week and apart from wicket repairs and preparations have spent most of the rest of the time smartening the garden ready for the visit.

Over 2^nd XI started their match on the Green yesterday in moist conditions and were predictably rained off after an hour, not before doing considerable damage to the wicket, much to the annoyance of the groundsman!

We were on late shift at “Nightlite” again last night. We had one very serious sick case, a steady stream of happy revellers and several rough sleepers including one with two (well trained) dogs who was present for the whole 6 hours. There seems to be an increase in rough sleeping in Cambridge, whether this is seasonal or a result of  Mr Cameron tightening the benefits conditions I am not sure. So it was bed at 4.45 am and bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning!

Love

Mike & Kate

7^th June 2015.

Dear All,

We had an enjoyable week at Nortrepps in our friends converted barn. No expense seems to have been spared in the conversion so no complaints about the accommodation.

The barn – Outside and in

On Monday we explored Cromer: beach, pier, art gallery then on to “Amazonia” a collection of South American animals and birds.

Cromer Pier

Patagonian Mara

Rare South American Wildlife?

Tuesday the weather forecast was not promising so we visited Alby Craft Centre which was moderate but in the dry then looked round the attached gardens which were good. We then called in on Overstrand in a downpour then Mundesley where it cleared up we were able to paddle.

Mundesley

Wednesday was sunny and we headed for Sheringham, calling first at the “Shire Horse Sanctuary” which housed many other rescued animals as well as the horses. It also had an interesting collection of old farm implements. In Sheringham we visited the Wind Power exhibition, Shell Art display and the beach before the first putting tournament of the week. Andy and Ben arrived at Cromer station late that night.

Shire Horse Sanctuary

Shell Art

Thursday saw a return to Cromer for serious crab catching off the pier. Our first haul was a large edible crab and we also caught swimming crabs and shore crabs, all of which must be a bit confused at being caught and returned on a regular basis! The second putting contest was held on the demanding Cromer seafront course.

Serious Crab Hunting

First Catch

On Friday we caught a boat to go and see the seals off Blakeney Point. There were about 200 scattered around but no pups yet. Next stop was Wells-next-Sea, finishing up at Holt where Esther met up with an old retired colleague.

Blakeney Seals

So an action packed week, with decent weather and of course excellent company!

Love

Mike & Kate