Since we installed floodlights to light the church during winter evenings, we have made disposable money boxes available for spare change as a relatively painless way of funding them. This has been very successful. However, this year, we feel that a shopping trip to try to purchase disposable cans and the difficulty of handing them out with the church closed, make this operation unwise. Also many people are using cash very little this year and so spare change may not be forthcoming. Please could we ask our congregation to find suitable containers and make a donation which will be collected at the Harvest Worship for All service, assuming that we have one. If we are still not gathering on the 2nd Sunday in October we will make other arrangements. Thank you very much in anticipation.
The dry April has seamlessly continued into a dry May and crops are desperately needing a rain and some warm nights. The night-time frosts we have had lately are proving difficult in the vegetable garden and I am quite relieved to have no sugar beet to worry about. May and tree blossom seems to be good but with insect eating birds nesting I hope that a bit of warmth and a shower will bring more blossom in the various bits of conservation mixtures we have sown ready for the chick feeding.
The wheat crop looks reasonably good in general and provided we get a couple of inches of rain to fill the grains in June it should be ok. Spring barley is poor. the dry April has caused some germinating seed to fail to emerge from cloddy seed beds. The least bad field is the one we tried out a cover crop on which will encourage us to repeat the process next year. The oil radish component of the mixture may have help to prevent the soil becoming consolidated by the rain and lack of frost. There was certainly no problem with sowing though the residue. Spring beans being sown deeper and more robust plants have emerged well and should produce a reasonable result if weather conditions are favourable.
How has lockdown and social distancing affected us? Broadly speaking, our style of arable farming has continued more or less as normal. Chemical and fertilizer deliveries have not been affected so far. We have been able to get any building materials and spare parts that are needed although understandably delivery times are much longer and in the case of machinery dealers. We have to go and collect from a box outside the stores. Dust masks to use in the grain-store have quadrupled in price and delivery before harvest is not guaranteed. Delivery drivers and store staff of the companies we work with have been help and careful without exception.
We have seen a large increase in exercisers and dog walkers on the farm. The sunny weather has obviously encouraged this which is very good to witness. On an average day we get 50 – 60 folks out with at least half of these coming through the farmyard. Sam has put up some new signs showing what is supposed to be growing where and indicating which areas we are trying to leave disturbance free for conservations purposes. Thank you all for respecting these. We have had very few causes for concern. We do still have some loose dogs going into the growing crops. I don’t think their owners realise that skylarks are on nests at the moment and a Labrador blundering past is not conducive to chick survival. We have several pairs close to the main footpaths. I hope that next year we will have even more.
For latest service info/times please see the website.
Give Me One Good Reason!
We’ve all had to adapt dramatically to the Coronavirus situation. How have you managed the changes? As a church it’s been very strange. We can’t meet together at all the time of writing. We now have a Sunday service online with a group Zoom meeting afterwards, and we also produce and distribute daily ‘thought for the day devotional’ videos via What’s App and YouTube. If you’d like to check out some of these short videos you can find them on our YouTube channel. Just visit YouTube and type Mickfield Evangelical Church.
In the midst of all this we have seen an increasing interest in Christianity. Many people have been engaging with the videos on our website, on Facebook and on YouTube. …Why not use the opportunity to have a peek and see what Christianity is all about without the (perhaps daunting) prospect of having to set foot in a church!
We want to continue to provide a means for all kinds of people to explore the Christian faith. So, over the next few weeks I will be posting 3 videos, exploring 3 very personal reasons for my own faith in Jesus. The first is, what I call, the Monty Python reason!
Sometimes people say: “give me one good reason to believe!” We’d like to present 3. And we’d love to know your thoughts. Feel free to begin a conversation and share your thoughts in the comments section on YouTube or via my email (listed above).
The Tennis court will re-open on Saturday in line with government guidelines. For 16th May 2020 to 31st March 2021 new period see the Tennis Club pages for updated details with Membership Form, Notes and Booking details.
Meanwhile Sue Hutt has been busy reading aloud some children’s illustrated books held in the library, and you can see the videos on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/DebenhamLibraryAndFriends. Watch them with your children! (Tony has had to learn video editing skills!) Cathy has provided a video tour of the library garden. More videos to come!
Join our film mailing list (email tony@tonyhutt.co.uk) so you don’t miss out in future! We can’t show films, but meanwhile details are being circulated of various free films you can watch at home.
When you have finished with your books, please put them in our black bin outside the library. All items have been renewed automatically until August.
As I sit to write this month’s article, we continue to live in incredibly challenging circumstances, with the Coronavirus restrictions continuing to impact upon our day to day lives. I’d like to start by thanking each and every one of you for playing your part and staying at home, helping to protect our NHS and saving lives.
During this important national fight against COVID-19, I have been given leave by the Government to return to the frontline of the NHS working as a doctor, but I want you to know that I am still here to help you as your local MP and continue to stand up for the best interests of Suffolk.
I am in touch with my office on a regular basis, where I am briefed fully and give regular instructions on constituency matters and how to help people locally who may be in need. My team and I are working extraordinarily long hours dealing with a hugely increased workload, helping people to access vital daily support, return home from overseas and providing advice to businesses to access Government grants.
We are very lucky indeed to live in Suffolk and I have been heartened to hear so many stories of communities coming together and individuals going out of their way to help elderly and vulnerable neighbours. It is times like these which bring out the best in people and I am proud to call Suffolk my home.
Many businesses have been in touch welcoming the measures put in place by the Treasury, but of course there are still some who are left behind and falling through the net. The likelihood of social distancing measures lasting for many months, or even a year, is likely to put considerable strain on our pubs and restaurants. That’s why I have written to the Chancellor to raise these concerns and I am hopeful that more can be done to help our local businesses and in particular, our pubs, cafes and restaurants in the weeks and months ahead.
As ever, I would like to close by paying tribute to my NHS colleagues, the Police and the many others on the frontline of our public services who are putting others before themselves to help in this crucial fight against Coronavirus.
If you would like my help, please visit my website www.drdanielpoulter.com for the latest information.
At the present time there will be no services held in the church building, however that does not mean that the people cannot worship together. With the aid of technology, services will continue to be held via Zoom at 10am on Sunday and Tuesday mornings, and at 7pm on Friday evening. If you would like to attend please email Ruth Dennigan ruthdennigan@gmail.com beforehand, and she will send you the link on which to click. We look forward to seeing you there!
What a challenging time we are living in, many anxieties but also much to be grateful for. No visitors to our house brings about a change in my routine, does it matter if my hair looks like I have been dragged through a hedge backward? Why would I spend time cleaning the house for it to get dirty again, no one is going to see it, and as we spend so much time outside not even we are seeing it! We are both so enjoying being in the garden, what a pleasure and how grateful we are to live in this wonderful community and with such a great space around our bungalow. Much of our time is being spent on our veg area, fruit cage, green houses and now a poly tunnel. We bought the poly tunnel from a friend in Mickfield last year, and Mr P is pretty chuffed with himself that he finally has it up and ready to use. I find great excitement each day from watching the seeds germinate, creation is amazing.
But I do feel a sadness that I am not hosting any get togethers. This has however been reduced greatly by Helen Brookson suggestion that the Ladies that Brunch meet up on Zoom each week. Thank you Helen, it is lovely to see and hear others, to chat about anything, just as we would have done here at Green Acre.
As I am not able to cook for guest, I am throwing myself into be inventive with our meals, using up the stuff that has been in the freezer for some time. It’s a great challenge and we have had some amazing results, topped of by the fact that ‘himself’ keeps an excellent stock of red wine. My greatest concern is the pair of trotters which sit at the back of the meat drawer in one of the freezers. It is almost as if they clip their heels together each time I pull open the freezer drawer, waiting to be eaten. Thinking about them makes my stomach tighten, will it get to the stage where one day I have to thaw them out…. I hope NOT! On many occasion in my life I have thrived from coming up with meals at the end of the month, when there was more month than money. My children loved toadless hole, I still laugh about it now.
We had rabbit (I use to tell visitors it was chicken…. Sorry God, I lied), and one of the children’s friends remarked on the number of times we had pheasant pies when he came to tea. Wild goose being another treat at Christmas and other occasions through the year. The house thronged with callers for cups of tea and home made biscuits, children friends were always in the cake tin. I am so grateful that I entertained so many times in quiet large numbers, never as many as the five thousand, but I have always been provided for and guest have gone away not aware that a miracle has happened.
I am looking forward to the chit chat and company of friends when we are able to get together again. Until then, let us appreciate our blessing and support each other through these challenging times.
Last month I wrote the notes on a sunny day while praying for a calm dry spell to allow us to get on with the spring barley and bean drilling. We were given just that, and the first 10 days of lock down allowed us to drill it all. The soil conditions varied from OK to poor but because we had not moved the soil before drilling, most seed went into moisture and is now emerging. This year will be a real test for our Claydon strip tilling system. Charles spent a fair time during the wintering tinkering with shims, spacers and tape measure trying to get all the coulters placing seed at the correct depth. My father would have been horrified to see spring seed going into such a rough seedbed. Rolling in spring beans was strictly forbidden in his day. The 7mm of rain that arrived yesterday may well have saved the crops. After having faith that the good Lord would send rain, we also have to have faith in the Claydon Hybrid Drill. Watch this space!!
As the virus situation becomes worse, we had a family discussion on how we were to manage it. Elizabeth and I, who are both close to, if not actually in the vulnerable category, were to remain confined to the farm and our needs would be fetched by our children. I could self-isolate to a degree by using one machine and Charles and Sam would each have a main machine with disinfectant cloths in the forklift and yard tractor to wipe down before a change of driver. Social distancing would be practical as far as possible and, after several forgetful actions to start with, things have been reasonably safe. I have to say folks exercising and walking dogs through the farmyard have been very thoughtful indeed. We are very lucky that we do not have full time staff and we have been able to continue working safely and so far with minimal disruption to the various supplies we need. We are taking the view that we need to stock up with wearing parts for autumn work and trying to think of other stuff which might run short.
One very positive side to the lack of necessity to travel, is that we have finally spent a bit of time sitting on the deck that we have had built at Halls Garden. When we moved out of Broughton Hall we realised that we had, for the first time, moved into a house with a view. Our veranda has an uninterrupted view across the Jordon Valley to Mowness Hall and Little Stonham which is very nice. Because the garden is a bit natural – I would say feral when the grandchildren are playing in it, we do get a lot of wildlife passing through. Muntjac, rabbits, squirrels, foxes and Mr Grieves lovely tabby cat. Woodpeckers (green and greater spotted), song and mistle thrushes, finches and titmice, robins, resident red legged partridges ad spotted flycatchers in the summer. Plenty of company which together with the wonders of email, Facebook, zoom and Whats-app helps to partially make up for the suspension of a pint with a chat at the Middy!!
David Tydeman
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