Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

This week has been a little different. With Claire not being well she didn't make it to her final week of lectures, but she has improved greatly and was back at work on Saturday. On Friday Claire and I went to Ubertec in Parnell for their Shave for Cure event, supporting a leukaemia charity. Most of the staff were involved. It was good to see them again, even if they were a little hairless! Yesterday Nicky and I went to Eden Garden. Nicky has been wanting to go for a while. There was little in bloom but the entry fee is not very high so regular visits throughout the year should be possible. We enjoyed the peace and all the paths which invite exploration. In the evening we dropped Claire off at Ryan's on our way to wallow in the hot waters at Parakai. The water wasn't quite as warm as usual but it was still nice lazing in the water and watching the stars. Today we have had a quiet day at home, being industrious in the kitchen. I have made a Christmas Pudding for my birthday

We have had a quieter week this week. Nicky has had a good week at work. Things have been less busy in the library. Claire has been busy at ever at Uni, but has finished the week with a bug. She came home form work early on Saturday and has spent most of today in bed. It is a virus or cold of some variety which seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. I have had little work this week but remain optimistic that things will pick up. We have had a quiet week socially too - we have all been home each evening apart from Wednesday when Claire went over to Ryan's. On Friday I went to see Mary Drillion as it was her birthday, 97th we think. Yesterday Nicky had a felting day, where she actually made the felt from a fleece and than started working it into a bag. She went with three other ladies and had a very good time. Today Beccy has been over, so we went out to the Arataki Visitor Centre in the Waitakere's, and then had a walk round the nature trail there. It began to rain so we he

Nicky and Claire have had busy weeks again. Claire's possibly a little more than usual with having a number of assignment deadlines this week which meant she ended up driving up to Albany on Friday to hand in an essay. Monday was busy for me with lots of small jobs which kept me occupied all day without generating much in the way of income. The rest of the week has been quiet on the work front for me. The evenings have been another story. On Monday I went to the camera club which I have joined. This was the first time that I had submitted photos to the monthly competition. I put in a couple of pictures (3 is the maximum) and got a highly commended for one of them. On Tuesday evening Nicky and I went off to Auckland Hospital to visit Naomi, Doug and Alex. We didn't get to see Alex as he was sleeping in the baby unit, but it was good to see N&D and have a chat. Wednesday evening was a social night for Nicky's Life Group. They had arranged to meet at a local Malay restaura

This week was just routine Monday to Thursday (apart from Sheffield Wednesday being relegated), but Friday was exciting. I had a Mac job to do in the morning, but once I got home and had some lunch, I went in search of UK election result information. As ever, the BBC were on the ball with a website providing auto-updating information. Not only that, but to my great surprise, we were also able to see the TV coverage. Normally, we just get a message saying the video stream can't be viewed in our part of the world, but not this time. So Claire and I sat down to watch David Dimbleby and the crew present the results. I think about 15 seats had been declared when we started watching. I have watched the coverage in the past in the UK, but usually give up and go to bed around 1am, so it was a real treat to be able to watch the results being announced in warm afternoon sunshine with a mug of tea. Around 4ish we went off to Ranui, partially to pick Nicky up from work, but also to visit the R

It has been a pretty routine week work wise for all of us, though I could have been busier. Nicky and Claire has a frightening experience on Wednesday. Claire had picked Nicky up from work. On the drive home they were flagged down by a lady who jumped into the car. She had been beaten up and was in quite a state. Nicky and Claire got the Police to the scene after awhile, but they both found it an upsetting experience. Yesterday, Nicky went to the vicar's afternoon hen party, we she greatly enjoyed. Today, the weather has been gorgeous. Little wind and clear skies, so Nicky and I packed up a picnic lunch (egg and pancetta in yummy white rolls) and headed north up the 16 towards South Head. We stopped for lunch a few km's south of South Head enjoyed the view (see below) and then headed back home. We stopped at the MacNut Café (at a macadamia farm) for afternoon tea and a wander round the orchard, which was peaceful and refreshing. Claire has been over at Ryan's cooking Millio