Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Sometimes when I sit down to write the weekly blog entry, I am very tempted to paraphrase Arkwright with "It's been an interesting week". (Anyone who doesn't know who Arkwright is should Google Ronnie Barker). This week I have given into to temptation on the grounds that I have not eaten much chocolate. Nicky has been very busy, both at work and with other commitments. On Tuesday evening she started her free Maori languages class in Henderson. Wednesday evening was her fortnightly life group with fellow parishioners, and Thursday was sewing with the Ranui Quilters. So, she was pleased to spend Friday evening at home, especially as she knew she would be out most of the day yesterday with other family members forming a working party at Clare Cottage. I have been busy meeting prospective MacOnSite customers and doing some actual work. One of the meetings has produced some work for next week; the other two were very positive and will hopefully lead to work also. I have al

I almost forgot that I hadn't done the blog. We are busy watching the F1 Grand Prix on the Radio Five Live website (they provide a text based commentary for those of us in the colonies) and a feature opening episode of Merlin - the BBC production with Richard Wilson. The week began of course with Easter Monday, and we had another stroll up a volcano - Mt Eden this time. The weather wasn't as sunny as Good Friday, but it was fine and pleasant none the less. On Tuesday Nicky was back at work and has had a reasonable week. On Wednesday Claire was looking after Shani for the day and I went into town and had a wander round the Viaduct Harbour and a swim (not in the harbour). Friday was another technology first - an iChat with Gill, Dave and John at the farm in England. Like with skype the picture quality wasn't brilliant, but it is free and shrinks the planet a little more. On Saturday we had Ros and Steve over for a roast dinner to celebrate Steve's birthday which was earli

It has been a week of endings - half term for Claire and I, and the glorious spell of weather had ended with autumnal temperatures and some rain. We put the clocks back last weekend which has given us earlier sunrises, but the night time temperatures are now dipping into single figures. This gives us chilly mornings but by mid-day when the sun is out it warms up nicely. The end of the first half term for Claire was marked with a test essay in Social Policy and a short tutorial in Maori so that the lecturers could go home early! For me it meant a day of practical assessment on Tuesday followed by an Anatomy and Physiology theory exam on Wednesday. I passed the practical but won't know about the exam for a couple of weeks. I will reserve comment on the exam until I know the outcome. We then started our surface anatomy course - identifying the muscles which lie directly under the skin, and by mid-afternoon we were all feeling quite drained and looking forward to the Easter break. Good

We have had another wonderful week of weather. A bit more cloud than last week, especially first thing in the morning, but still plenty of good warm sunshine, and today as been particularly good. However, autumn must be on its way as we have put the clocks back this weekend and by 6 this evening it was going dark. It has been a quiet week, with things just progressing as normal. Nicky has had a better week at work and Claire has been continuing with her studies. I have done a couple of small MacOnSite jobs and am starting to get more enquiries now the new Yellow Pages is out. The end of the week has been all studying for me as I have my first theory exam at college next week, and second practical assessment. So, I have been revising all weekend. Yesterday Nicky had her monthly quilting day in Ranui, which went quite well. Today she has been up to Claire cottage to do some cleaning after she and I went to have a look at a housing project in Glen Eden. It is a new project to provide affo