27^th January 2013.

Dear All,

Dave Garlick has been here today taking both services. He was worried about the weather so came up Saturday evening. In the event the rain and warmer temperatures have seen off all the snow. John Law came to the evening service and stayed for tea with Dave.

We walked round Swavesey Pits on Monday after heavy overnight snow and took a few photos.

Guided bus  

    Swavesey Pits

We have been sent another batch of seeds for Moldova so I have spent some tome sorting them out this week. We have booked our next trip to Moldova this week for the last week of April. Three of us are currently booked in.

I started a new U3A course this week entitled “Science and Religion” This week was about Hinduism.

Our Thursday walk started fairly locally at Conington and was a rather brisk journey to Elsworth, Hilton and Fen Drayton.

Conington 

                                                          Waiting to go

 In the Bleak midwinter  

                                                           Hilton

The “Biography” subject this week was Charlotte Bronte and although the exposition was lengthy it was still interesting as the presenter dwelt a lot on what drove her to do what she did including the suppressed role of women in Victorian times, her not wishing to be a financial burden and the tragedies which meant that all 5 of her siblings died before the age of 31.

Kate had both her feet injected on Friday for her neuroma problem then we drove down to Hutton. I planted the hedge we bought for Esther at Christmas and Kate was finishing curtains.

Esther’s hedge

Love

Mike & Kate

20th January 2013

20^th January 2013.

Dear All,

An exciting weeks worth of weather, but fortunately the days which involved most travelling were those with the clearest conditions.

On Tuesday I was speaking at Elsom’s “Diverse Crops” conference at Spalding. The roads were fine from Cambridge and folk drove up from Devon but ironically those from Norfolk did not make it. I drove back through the fens and Whittlesey still has its share of flood water. Elsoms now lead the country in seed treatments including cleaning, dressing, priming, film coating and pelleting. They have recently invested £1m in seed coating equipment so it is quite big business.

Elsoms Seed Processing Plant

Whittlesey Mere

We managed a swim on Wednesday when it was misty and murky all day here, but Thursday the weather was excellent for our walk – clear and crisp and sunny which beats wet and sticky and muddy any day. We started at Great Easton between Thaxted and Dunmow and walked to Little Cambridge, Monk Street and Titley.

Great Easton Walk

My “Biographies” class started again on Friday, this weeks subject was Viscount Alanbrooke of military fame. He came from a long line of soldiers, his ancestor was involved in suppressing the Irish in 1641 and rewarded with a 30,000 acre estate in Co. Fermanagh. 26 of his family fought in WW1 and 27 in WW2. Most interesting was his relationship with Churchill as they argued all the time and his views on other heads of states recorded in his diaries - very few received compliments.

It was “Messy Church” again yesterday and we are still getting new faces attending which is encouraging.

Messy Church

I saw the chest specialist at Addenbrookes on Monday and he showed me pictures of my lung where there is a small nodule. He does not know what it is but said it could be something to do with arthritis. They took numerous blood tests and I have to go back in 6 months to see whether it has grown. An example of technology telling us more than we need to know.

Overcote Road

Muntjac Deer at bottom of our Garden

Love

Mike & Kate

13^th January 2013.

Dear All,

It was the Church Social at chapel last night which has occupied Kate this week as she was cooking for 50 and me as I was presenting a Review of the Year. It all seemed to go quite well but was a lot of work for Kate.

We managed to swim on Wednesday and walk on Thursday. The walk started at Bartlow and featured 3 Roman tumuli and probably some nice scenery but it was misty all morning so visability was very limited.

 Bartlow” Three Hills”

 Warning sign

Steventon End windmill

 near Ashdon

I took some photographs for Adrian on Monday as he has recently had a wood burning stove fitted in his thatched cottage and it is making his Insurance company rather nervous.

 Adrian’s stove  

  

 and chimneys

Otherwise Stan has been to give my computer a MOT as it was getting very slow, I have written February’s Garden Column and been preparing a presentation for a talk at Elsom’s Vegetable Crop Conference next week at Spalding.

I watched Over 4 v 1 Littleport yesterday – a fairly lively encounter as the fen boys were all large and strapping with more physical presence than finesse!

We have been out to lunch at Merv & Pat’s today together with Adrian and Jane Gregory.

Love

Mike & Kate

6th January 2013

6^th January 2013.

Dear All,

Happy New Year to you all. Esther, Mary-Ann, Andy and Amélie left at various times on Monday in various states of health. Some of us had visited St Ives in the morning where the floods were still in evidence.

St Ives

Parting was not for long as Kate and I travelled to Godalming on Tuesday afternoon for the Wednesday childminding session.

We used our recently acquired National Trust ticket to visit The Devil’s Punchbowl on Wednesday and although it was misty the views were still spectacular.

Devil’s Punchbowl

Our Thursday walk started at Ashwell near Baldock and took in Hinxworth.

Friday was Rosemary Doggett’s funeral – an old church member who had not been quite with it for sometime. In the afternoon I took Mary Watts new Zimbabwean carer to St Ives to try and sort some bank issues.

Saturday was the U3A Ramblers Party at Newnham College. Preparations are always somewhat fraught as our Lt Colonel leader and the elderly spinster don who is a member of the college have slightly differing methods of preparation. Nevertheless the party was excellent. Members bring food so there is always a slight air of competition resulting in excellent food. Kate made a raised chicken and pork pie and received many compliments.

This year the emphasis was on celebrating our oldest member who reached 80 the week before Christmas and is still rather sprightly. I had to do a PowerPoint presentation of her exploits.

Love

Mike & Kate

30th December 2012.

Dear All,

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas, we did despite a certain amount of ill health. Ben took 5.5 hours to bike up but 7 hours for the return journey on Friday due to head winds. Esther, Mary-Ann and Amélie left on Thursday to prepare a party for Esther’s friend’s children on Friday, but Esther was revisited by violent sickness so the party was cancelled and they returned on Friday. Amélie has a chesty cough but remains fairly cheerful. Andy returned to work on Thursday but came back on Saturday so we have nearly a full compliment again which is, of course, no hardship. Meanwhile Kate has a sore throat and cold symptoms.

The river and local pits at Swavesey and Fen Drayton are exceptionally flooded. We tried to walk there on Boxing Day but both car parks were cut off and only a short stroll and long paddle were possible.

Overcote

Fen Drayton Pits

Swavesey Pits

We  led a U3A walk on Thursday starting at Dalham and it rained all morning only clearing up as we drove home. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable outing and 17 turned up.

There was an Open House at the Manse on Friday evening to show off recent redecoration. Last night there was a similar event at one of our walkers homes in Shelford. He is called Dr Brian Cox (but not that one!) and his wife is a JP.

Esther gave a report on her trip to Bulgaria in this mornings service as the church and individuals had contributed towards the  expenses.

So Happy New Year to you all. Hope it goes well.

Love

Mike & Kate

23rd December 2012

23rd December 2012.

Dear All,

As an appetizer for Christmas I managed to dine out 5 days this week. Monday was the NIAB retirees (wrinklies) lunch at the Royal Cambridge hotel. It was good to see old colleagues, but the meal was comfortably the worst of the week – and the most expensive. On Tuesday Kate and I did a reccy for a walk on the 27^th starting at Dalham near Newmarket. Sheikh Mohammed of racing fame, brought Dalham Hall for £45m on 2009. It was a good circular walk taking in Gazeley, with ancient wooden pews and a 14^th century font in the church and Moulton with a medieval pack horse bridge.

Moulton Packhorse bridge     

                       

Dalham cottages

Wednesday was Carol Kitson’s birthday so 6 of us ate Chinese at Longstanton Black Bull. Thursday was the U3A walking group Christmas walk and meal in Cambridge. We started with a walk round some unfamiliar and recently developed areas of Cambridge, stopping for mulled wine and mince pies at a member’s house. We then continued along the Backs to “La Mimosa” and Italian restaurant by the river. They coped very well with 51 of us and the food was very good.

New Microsoft Research building 

                            The Belvedere, Cambridge

On Friday I collected the usual car load of Brussels sprouts from Biggleswade (50 stems and 2 nets). It was like driving through “the Drowned World” as every field had either a pond or a lake. The rest of Friday and Saturday morning was spent distributing his bounty – more satisfying than Christmas cards for people you see regularly.

Friday evening Jim & Janet Burr held an open house to celebrate their birthdays. The balance between walking and eating is a bit delicate at present!

Hopefully Ben (on his bike), Mary-Ann and Amélie should arrive sometime today. Esther and Andy both have to work tomorrow so should arrive after that.

Best wishes to everyone, especially those we will not see over the holiday.

Love

Mike & Kate

16th December 2012

16th December 2012.

Dear All,

Kate and I have been to Derbyshire for a couple of days this week to reccy a walk for a U3A trip next March and deliver Christmas presents. It was very cold but the combination of mist and frost produced some beautiful scenery. The March trip is staying at Hathersage but we are stopping at Wirksworth on the way up so Kate has been invited to lead a walk on home territory.

On Wednesday we started at the railway station where a conservation group have taken over the line and done a magnificent job renovating engines and coaches. We were given a long talk by an enthusiastic local so we were rather late setting out on the walk and consequently finished in the dark. We had a meal at Ash Farm but as the house at Bolehill is rather cluttered and dominated by a far from docile dog “Rex” we stayed at the village pub “The Malt Shovel” which was basic but cheap. We checked out some alternative routes on the Thursday including walking one of the large disused limestone quarries.

  Wirksworth, Derbyshire

Brother-in-law, John Bailey stayed on Monday night as he was visiting some local farms next day. His mother died recently so the family are currently trying to sell her house in Swindon.

The U3A film on Tuesday was “Le Havre” about an illegal immigrant which was well done and amusing.

I fetched a Christmas tree from Richard Fenwick’s plantation yesterday – still the best value around at £1 per foot!

It was Christmas “Messy Church” in the afternoon. Attendance was a bit down but still enough to be enjoyable and worthwhile.

Kate reported that her car was smelling of burnt coffee so we opened the bonnet to check the oil and water etc. The cause was soon identified as some animal: mouse, rat, bird, squirrel? had built a large nest, mainly from onion skins on the cylinder head. How and when this had happened, and who was the culprit remains a mystery.

Kate’s Engine

Love

Mike & Kate