25th November 2018

Dear All,

So it will be Christmas Day a month from today Ho Ho – I just thought I would remind you in case it had slipped your notice!

It has been a quieter week finishing winter digging and clearing, mucking and digging both greenhouses but still harvesting the first Brussels sprouts, cabbage, parsnips, leeks, oca, sweet potatoes, artichokes and scorzonera – the last four are for “Just Vegetating” as we begin “Minor Crops” tomorrow. Last Monday it was “Potatoes” and Kate produced: Hasselbank potatoes, Homity pie, Olive oil mash with herbs, garlic and lemon and Mrs Beetons Curate’s pudding. Very little was left!

It was a Church Business meeting Tuesday evening and Over Garden Club on Wednesday where a Hungarian lady talked about how they celebrate Christmas and made traditional decorations.

Our Thursday walk took us to Castor near Peterborough. We do not get a large turnout when it is north of Cambridge as people are put off by the A14 but it was a very interesting walk. Castor was the site of a Roman settlement including the second largest Roman building in Britain. The route took in the Nene Valley Park with large lakes and a good scattering of water birds including cormorants,

Castor Church

Bridge over River Nene

Nene Park Lake with Cormorants

Guelder Rose berries

Castor Water Mill

Our car greeted the first signs of winter by refusing to start, eventually needing a new battery. Extracting the old battery took the garage about 15 minutes – come back the Austin A35 and the Morris Minor!

The “Biographies” topic was “Horatio Nelson” presented by Gill a formidable old lady who graduated before ladies were allowed to receive degrees! In the evening we were in Cambridge again for another “Homeless” briefing – a better one than two weeks ago. People who do fantastic work in helping in Day and Night shelters are not necessarily good at speaking and putting the message over.

Football was a little chilly yesterday but we watched Bar Hill 1 v1 Linton. Ipswich continue to be the strongest team in the Championship by holding the rest up!

Love

Mike & Kate

18th November 2018

Dear All,

“Just Vegetating” this week covered “Legumes” – mainly Peas and Beans and Kate presented Bean Burgers, Courgette & Chickpea pancakes, Hummus with cinnamon, lime & ginger and All in one pasta with chickpeas and tomato sauce. In the evening Terry Rugg came over to discuss plans for Moldova. He is doing a good job keeping the website up to date and getting stories and photos from the locals. Check http://www.moldovamatters.org if you are interested.

On Tuesday we were back at Bishops Stortford for another U3A group and Kate came with me for company. In the evening we had a “Homelessness” briefing in Cambridge from the City Council, The Community Safety Team and “Winter Comfort” the Day centre for the homeless. The presentations were not the best but you could glean some interesting information. There are now 500 hostel places for homeless people in Cambridge, 90 rough sleepers known by name by the Safety Team and Winter Comfort help 75-80 each day with food, showers and clothes washing.

Wednesday I had another talk, this time at Hitchin Garden Club on “Growing in Cuba”. They are a moderately large group who are all ageing together and likely to pack up as “no one can work a computer!” This was my thirteenth talk in a month so it is about time I retired!

There was a large turnout for the walk on Thursday: 22 in one group and 29 in the other. We started at Croydon (Cambs not Surrey) just beyond Wimpole Hall and took in Shingay and the deserted village of Clopton with good views from the ridge.

Little & Large

Shingay fron Clopton Ridge

Clopton deserted Village

The “Biographies” subject was one nobody had heard of “Mary de Rachewaltz” who it turned out was an illegitimate daughter of Ezra Pound. Her mother Olga gave her away to a peasant woman at birth to be brought up on a farm with 13 others on the Italian/German border. She remained there for 10 years then Ezra and Olga took some interest in her and sent her to school for the first time. She was able to translate some of Ezra’s poetry but then he was imprisoned after the war as he had backed Mussolini. She returned to the Tyrol to be a shepherdess, but a handsome man swept her off her feet and they brought a run down castle in north Italy where the lady who presented the biography had met her with her journalist husband, who was writing about Ezra. She is still alive aged 96.

Over v Milton was a lively affair yesterday with a couple of mass brawls – one involving the spectators – there is nothing like sport for building up understanding between communities!

In the evening we attended “From the Trenches to Tipperary” in Over Church Hall. A music hall type presentation of songs and stories to celebrate the armistice, together with a WWI menu of Surrey Stew, Apple tart and Trench cake. It was performed very well by our local postman and his wife.

Love

Mike & Kate

11th November 2018

Dear All,

I’ll begin with a heartwarming story that I should have mentioned last week. On Friday I caught the guided bus into the centre of Cambridge, getting off at Drummer Street bus station before “Biographies”, in order to send some money to Moldova via Western Union. As it was chilly cycling down to Swavesey to catch the bus I had worn gloves for the first time this winter. When I got to “Biographies” I found that I only had one glove and returned home muttering. It happened that we were on Street Pastors that night and while on patrol just before midnight we found the glove just outside the bus station about 14 hours later.

“Just Vegetating” this week covered “Salads – Fruit” and Kate produced: Tomato, Strawberry & basil salad, Mutabbal, Aubergine bake and Roasted Stuffed Peppers.

Following on from the large delivery of FYM last week, I mentioned to a few people that they could take some including one of the neighbouring allotment holders and a couple of fellow walkers. David Cook one of the walkers turned up on Monday afternoon to collect a share but when we got to the cemetery we discovered that Peter Kerley from allotment No. 1 had cleared the whole heap! As I had spread my area too thickly we managed to find enough for David but it was a bit of a surprise.

On Wednesday we managed to get double booked – Mary had mentioned the possibility of a Day sibling lunch but did not confirm the date and I did not check back. Meanwhile it was Gordon Foster’s birthday and we were invited to lunch at the Sutton Gault Anchor. Maybe it was judgement but Kate and I did not feel well internally after the lunch blaming the chicken!

In the evening I had a Garden Club talk at Fordham and called on a former NIAB colleague Stephen Morley afterwards. He wished to be remembered to those who remembered him.

Our Thursday walk started at Kimbolton and took in Stow Longa and the edge of Graffham Water. The weather was kind but the combination of rain the day before and several freshly cultivated fields made for slightly challenging going.

The Sun Inn, Kimbolton

Kimbolton High Street

Looking back at Kimbolton

Looking towards Stow Longa

Graffham Water at low tide!

On Friday we were pleased to entertain Ali & Robin who are about to move to Devon and start the “Good Life” in a converted chapel with some land, a tunnel and a greenhouse. They came to “pick my brains” which usually does not take long! It was good to see them and wish them well for the venture.

It has been a good week for digging and I turned over half the allotment in two days and planted out over wintered broad beans.

Football was “a game of two halves” yesterday as sunshine gave way to an almighty downpour – fortunately we were at Cambridge University Press ground where there is a pavillion with a view of the pitch.

Love

Mike & Kate

4th November 2018

Dear All,

We managed to fit a swim in before “Just Vegetating” on Monday but it is a bit of a squeeze leaving the car in Histon and catching the guided bus into town. These have become less reliable recently as they have a chronic shortage of drivers.

“Just Vegetating” this week covered “Salads – Leaves, Roots & Shoots” and the recipes included: Fennel, Pistachio & oven dried Grapes, Warm Butter Bean salad with olives and various nuts and flowers to add to salads.

We both travelled to Cambridge on Tuesday, Kate shopping and I turned up at the Cambridge U3A Garden Club where I thought I was speaking only to find that I had the wrong day!

On Wednesday Les Cook delivered a large load of FYM to the allotment. We covered most of the allotment and still have a rather large heap left if anyone would like a helping – it could solve our Christmas present offerings this year.

Thursday was not a great day for walking as it was a little moist throughout and the journey to Halls Green near Stevenage was interrupted by a couple of accidents. The walk was still interesting with the leaves starting to change colour and various sorts of livestock in the fields.

Autumn Colours

Walkern Dovecote

Alpacas at Hall Green

That sort of day!

This year the chapel have volunteered to help with the Poppy Day collections as the British Legion men are getting long in the tooth. We were due out on Wednesday but decided that knocking on doors on Halloween evening was not a great idea so we postponed until Thursday evening. It took some time and it is a sign of the times that several folk did not have any cash in the house.

“Biographies” was a little different this week as our Australian history lecturer chose “The Aborigines” as whole rather than an individual. In Tasmania they used to organise Abo shooting expeditions for sport!

We were out on the streets Friday night, it was not very busy but we had two difficult cases which took a long time. We were summoned to the first just as we were due for our break and found a girl collapsed in Rose Crescent after drinking and smoking weed. Her father was summoned but he had been drinking so arrived on a bike. Getting her home was a problem as taxis won’t take anyone who looks drunk. Eventually she was able to reach a seat in the market place and given water and blankets until in shape to get a taxi.

The second was a lad face down outside Vinyl the new club under Waterstones. As we couldn’t get any response from him we were forced to summon an ambulance and they revived him sufficiently to get a taxi.

Our walk leader Philip came round on Saturday as he is wrestling with putting a PowerPoint presentation on his cruise round South America and wanted some extra photos from our Ecuador outings. We were back at West Wratting for football in the afternoon and fortunately the weather was kinder but still a little chilly!

We harvested the first Sweet Potatoes this week.

Love

Mike & Kate

28th October 2018

Dear All,

A quieter week once Monday was over as on that day we had the usual “Just Vegetating” followed by a dash to Bishops Stortford U3A to address one of their garden groups. It was bad planning caused by “JV” changing from Tuesday to Mondays. The “JV” topic this week was “Brassicas” and Kate introduced Kale crisps, Cauliflower rice, Cabbage with carrots and Cumin, mustard seed and lentil pie with mashed cauliflower.

On Tuesday we recced the Thursday walk which we were due to lead starting at Nuthampstead and taking in Barkway and Reed. There was a large turnout on Thursday with 19 on our walk which was 8 miles and 23 on the longer one. Nuthampstead was on the short list for the third London airport when Stanstead was selected and hosted a substantial American airbase in WWII. Barkway was on the old stage coach route from Cambridge to London and has some very attractive old houses and two large estates: Cokenach which stages celebrity cricket matches and Newsells which houses a stud farm.

 Barkway

Barkway

Inquisitive Charolais

Our “Biography” subject this week was Lady Rhondda, born Margaret Haig Thomas, a Welsh suffragette and leading female business woman in Victorian and Edwardian times. She was the only child of  David Alfred Thomas who was a successful industrialist in coal, steel and shipping and as Margaret was an only child her father treated her like a son and trained her up to take over the businesses. When David died she inherited the entire business which employed 60,000 men and was worth £80m. She married a Baron but was not allowed to sit in the House of Lords so became a keen supported of women’s rights. She was returning from the USA having visited one of the company’s American steel works on the “Lusitania” in 1915 when it was torpedoed and sank in 18 minutes. She was in the sea for 3 hours but survived. She was a great supporter of writers and founded the “Time and Tide” magazine which published just about every known writer of that age. Quite a CV – so how come no one in the group had heard of her?

Lady Rhondda

There was time for some gardening this week finally finishing the runner beans and beginning digging in earnest.  Watching football yesterday necessitated an extra layer or two as the temperature was on the chilly side!

Love

Mike & Kate

21st October 2018

Dear All,

It has been another fairly busy week as it included two days in Hove and so far four Powerpoint outings with three to come in the next two days.

On Monday we managed fit in a swim before teaching “Just Vegetating” this week it was “Aliums” and Kate’s recipes were: Chestnut & Shallot Tarte tatin, Stuffed onions, Leek, Saffron & Haricot Beans and Caramalised onion marmalade. Recipes can be negotiated for a fee!

On Tuesday I did a report for Riverford on the previous week’s Brassica open days then we drove down to Hove, happily an uneventful journey. Mary-Ann had a parent/teacher meet up on Wednesday so we were minding Amélie and Albert. Amélie has settled back into school very well and the teachers seem pleased with her, but she has a lot of catching up to do. On Wednesday we walked into Brighton or rather Kate, Mary-Ann and I walked, Albert has a “motor bike” that he is keen to ride everywhere. The streets were decorated with 50 brightly coloured snails to raise money for a hospice so this made the journey more interesting.

Simon Says

Easy Rider

Snail Trail

Our Thursday walk started at Arkesden and took in Wicken Bonhunt, Rickling and Clavering. We started in quite thick mist which did not clear until nearly midday but it is an attractive area. In the evening I had to nearly retrace my steps to speak at Ashdon garden club which was quite lively with over 40 present.

Arkesden

Familiar to David?

Atmospheric Mist

“Biographies” on Friday featured “Eamon De Valera” of Irish presidential fame. He had a tough upbringing and spent his life being in the right place at the right time and was the 2^nd longest European ruler in the 20^th century (after Franco). In the evening we ran a fund raising quiz at the Day Centre. Kate thinks up most of the questions and seemed to go well.

The Quiz

Saturday I was speaking at Willingham Men’s breakfast mainly on Moldova then the Parish Council had ordered 10 tons of soil to fill in the drainage cracks on the Green. Fortunately several volunteers turned up so we managed to finish in 3 hours or so.

Fun on the Green

Then Mary, Graham and Rosie arrived and we were pleased to see them and share lunch. Jonny, Charlie and Danny were attending a “Living History Fair” at Wood Green. I managed the first half of Bar Hill v Cambridge City Res. Then it was a surprise party for Richard Fenwick for his 70^th birthday.

Love

Mike & Kate

15th October 2018

Dear All,

Belated letter as my computer was playing up – Windows 10 updated automatically and failed to speak to any Microsoft applications.

U3A kicked in again this week so we were teaching “Just Vegetating” – Carrots & Parsnips on Monday, Kate was at “Polar Studies” on Tuesday and I was back at “Biographies” on Friday. “Rambling” on Thursday rolls on uninterrupted!

We are in a bigger room next to the kitchen in the Friends Meeting House for “JV” which is a big advantage.

On Wednesday it was the annual pilgrimage to Lincolnshire visiting the Seed Trade Brassica trials with David & Lawrie from walking. We managed to visit seven sites, some were very good, others were showing the effects of the drought. In the evening we had Street Pastor training at Impington so it was a long day.

Ornamental Cabbage

Pak Choi

Beetroot & Turnips

Parsnips

Kale trial

Our Thursday outing was fairly local starting at Godmanchester and taking in Hinchingbrook Park and Brampton. The weather was kind with sun throughout.

Godmanchester

Hinchingbrook Park

The Biography subject was Caroline Herschel a lady astronomer who discovered 8 comets and has a crater on the moon named after her. In the afternoon it was time to plant garlic, shallots, onions and Elephant garlic.

We were on the streets again on Friday – it was fairly busy as students were back in numbers and still have money to spend. Our first customer was a student from Jesus College who spread eagled at our feet and lay there saying “I must be drunker than I thought!” It turned out in conversation that he had been to “Soul Survivor” in the past and was quite chatty. We marched him back to college as it was not far away.

On Saturday I went to watch Over at Milton then there was an area meeting at chapel followed by an interesting session at the Community Centre entitled “Over Voices” by Caroline Redmayne tracing the history of Over through families, houses and land enclosures.

Love

Mike & Kate