July

On Wednesday 1, following two nights of sleepless and breathless conditions in her vacation accommodation at LMH, Jay appealed to the Bursar for any alternative, and was offered a more modern room, near the library and with a large window overlooking the main quad. Roger and Teresa immediately drove up to help her move. Still without an en suite and perhaps a little noisier, the room was nevertheless a big improvement, and Jay was much relieved. However, a hiccup in starting her project meant she could return with us to spend a few days at home.

The following Monday, Jay started in the labs, and found the work fascinating – not unlike the time she spent at the Sanger Institute a couple of years ago. As I understand it (which is not very well), she is mapping DNA sequences in chromosomes, and has already been lucky enough to identify a new allele (a type of gene) and will be recorded as its discoverer.

Helen had also been lucky, winning tickets for Wimbledon in this year’s public draw. They were for No 1 Court on the final Friday (3), the main scheduled matches being the semi-finals of the Ladies’ Doubles. Teresa and Helen went together and first saw the Williams sisters, fresh from their singles semi-final triumphs, make short work of their doubles opponents. Then, in a particularly enjoyable piece of scheduling, there was a Ladies Doubles (‘veterans’ though they don’t call it that in these PC days) involving Martina Navratilova – long Teresa’s favourite player – and other notables from the past (Helena Sukova, Kathy Rinaldi and Tracy Austin). Short of being on Centre for Murray’s match (though they saw some on the big screen), they could not have had a better day.

On Tuesday 7, a medical day for Roger: first he visited the doctor who diagnosed tendonitis in the sore ankle. No real cure other than rest, and it can take a long time, so Roger has cut back his bowling to a minimum. Later in the morning, his scheduled annual check-up with the dentist, which involved replacing a couple of fillings which had dropped out a few months ago.

Jay was home again for the weekend of the Stanway Fete on Saturday 11 July: it was a grey day though dry, and, according to press reports, the fete was the best attended ever. Teresa and Jay enjoyed the traditional display of morris dancing.

The morris men A good attendance

By the end of the month we were still waiting to try our potatoes – they were late in this year – but the tomato plants were looking good and full of fruit. And a small bonus was some strawberries on the accidental runners which have survived on the paths.

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