Dear Brethren All, 

I have delayed compiling my weekly letter so that I can bring you all up to date with the proceedings of the Annual Mark Provincial Meting at the Guildhall in Portsmouth. What a day of a few surprises, the first one was the Provincial Grand Master, Rt. W. Bro. George J. Deacon had caught covid and was unable to attend. V. W. Bro. Brian Ridler, Deputy Provincial Grand Master, presided over the meeting in an excellent and efficient manner.

Dear Brethren All, 

I sit here with the sun shining brightly, but a frost on the lawn. The weather has damaged Pat’s first lot of French beans and she has now planted some more seed which is being kept in doors to give them a better chance. Once the weather has warmed more planting will begin in earnest.

Dear Brethren All, 

The saga of the fence is now over, workmen came in during the week and made a good job of erecting a new one. The garden now looks in order again, but having said that, one job always seems to lead to another so there is now some tidying up to do to make the edges of the barbeque area neater.

Find the relevant documents for the forthcoming Provincial AGM of 16th April 2022 here.

Dear Brethren All, 

Once again we have another sunny morning, so get those sleeves rolled up, if you can, and get out in the garden to enjoy the good weather. The seeds that Pat had sown last week are now showing through so we have French beans and sun flowers beginning to raise their heads above the compost. I had to carefully cut the grass in the week because there are some lovely white hyacinths showing their beautiful white flowers very close to the edge of the lawn in one place.

Dear Brethren All,  

What a lovely sunny day we have in front of us, I hope that you are able to make the most of it. I will be in the garden dismantling that part of the fence which was not damaged, ready for the new fencing to be erected, hopefully this coming week. Pat has planted a few seeds, sunflowers and French beans. We are also in the process of tidying up the garden ready to start planting. It is not advisable to start too early in this part of the Province, as we still have experienced some frosts recently, cannot be too hasty.

Dear Brethren All,

Well another week has flown by in my opinion, where are the days going!!! Today I have attended a Seminar on Mental Health, which was approved by the Rt. W. Bro Jon Whitaker, PGM and set up by the Craft Provincial Grand Almoner, W. Bro. Neil Morse, ably assisted by W. Bro. Malcolm Collier, at Eastleigh Football Ground. It was well attended both by fellow brethren and their wives or partners. We were treated to some professional presentations and some lively discussion. This was the Province’s first attempt at such a venture and I hope that others will follow. I congratulate Neil and Malcolm on their venture, well done.

The Provincial Grand Master has received a copy of an email from the Grand Master of Romania detailing the scope of activities being carried out by the Romanian Inspectorate for Ukrainian refugees.

Dear Brethren All,  

I do apologise that I am writing this on a Sunday instead of Saturday but yesterday was somewhat busy with the Annual Meeting of another Order where I was asked to assist. The meeting was held at Botley and what a pleasant surprise it was to be able to travel on the M27 at 60 M.P.H. and no traffic cones in sight. Let us hope that this might encourage a few more brethren to attend meetings.

Dear Brethren All,  

What a difference we have this weekend in the weather. I have woken up to a frosty lawn, which was fertilised yesterday, ready for the forthcoming seasons. We have now started on preparing the ground in preparation for the spring when seeds and plants will be planted. The seed potatoes are sitting there awaiting their placement in trays for chitting. The fence is about to be shored up to look a bit more presentable then we will work on that in a few weeks. The birds will be starting to make their nests and Pat feeds them well during these harsher times.