Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Another quiet week draws to a close with a weekend of good weather and Nicky and I getting chance to spend some time together without Nicky worrying about Claire being on her own. Our weekends are now falling into a pattern of time to ourselves with Claire being at work all day Saturday, and usually with Ryan all day Sunday. I am starting to remember what life was like before Claire arrived. Yesterday, while doing general house work pottering of laundry and making lemon curd, I transferred around 200 photographs from an old album which was falling apart to a new album which we were given before leaving England. I had dug out the old album because while having our 7am Saturday morning cup of tea in bed we got to discussing the two houses we had rented in Maidstone, just after we got married. Nicky had just finished her degree and I had finished my second year and was doing my year out at Kimberly-Clark. In order to refresh our memories I popped into the garage and retrieved the album. A

I think the highlight of this week has probably been the weather. The clear skies of last week continued until Thursday night. Friday was wet, Saturday showery, and today has been sunny again. The sun is still warming, the downside being when you are out of the sun (like when it hasn't risen yet) and in the breeze, it is cold. We have also noticed the days starting to lengthen. Nicky had Monday off work with an upset tummy. We suspect it was the lovely but rich cake which we had for tea on Sunday, but even though the worst is over, she is still not quite right. She went to the Doctors to discuss arthritis and have a 'flu jab. Claire has been back at University this week. As ever the first week is a bit lighter with there being no tutorials; her World War Two module looks like it might be the most interesting this semester. I have had a quiet week work-wise, and have been adjusting to Claire being back on campus three days a week. Nicky and I spent yesterday pottering round the

Sport has made quite a contribution this week, what with the World Cup semi-finals and then the All Blacks beating the Springboks at Eden Park last night. I have been able to watch both the football semi-finals on TV as they were screened free-to-air live, with 6.30am kick-off's our time. I plan to watch the final tomorrow morning. Other than that it has been a normal sort of a week. Nicky has been busy at work, I have had Mac work to do, and Claire has been on holiday. She had a day with a couple of friends round here baking, watching DVD's and gossing. She also had Shani over for a day, so she has been keeping busy. On Friday I popped into JB HiFi to buy a blank DVD when collecting Nicky from the station. When I got to the checkout the cashier's mouth dropped open and she said "you look just like Hugh Laurie". This isn't the first time this has happened in NZ. I don't understand it because I don't have a limp. I guess it must be my accent. Anyway, it

We have had a quiet week this week, especially compared to recently. Claire and Ryan have both been on holiday again (apart from working at Whitcoulls) so we haven't seen much of them. Claire got her Year Two Semester one results on Thursday - two B's and two B+'s, so she is pleased. On Friday C&R cooked pizza for diner for the four of us which we enjoyed. We have had four days of gorgeous sunshine this week. It has been warm enough for just a short sleeve shirt and no jumper, once the day has got warmed up. First thing, when Nicky is off to work, it is still cold, but the warmth in the sun is lovely. We have passed the shortest day, but the days don't seem to be drawing out any yet. World Cup fever has calmed down, but the fact that the All Whites came home unbeaten still gets mentioned regularly. I got up to watch the England - Germany game and Holland - Brazil, both screened at 2am! Yesterday, Saturday, Nicky and I had a very pleasant wander round the Blockhouse