Not really summer

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We are slowly working our way into the New Year. There are still quite a few places which are closed for the holidays and traffic is quiet. Nicky had Monday and Tuesday off with them being public holidays. This gave us chance to finish our Harry Potter film marathon on Monday with the last three films. When ever we saw the films for the first time they were always a disappointment because of so much of the books being left out, and things changed for no good reason. However, watching them all back-to-back improves the experience because of the development and flow of the story. The books are still better (I am now re-reading them and Nicky is re-listening) but we found our marathon a more enjoyable experience than I think we expected. This was aided and abetted by the weather which was still poor, but by late Monday afternoon the rain had stopped and we had some clear patches of sky so we had an enjoyable evening walk down to the beach.


On Tuesday morning Nicky went to Spotlight, a big fabric and haberdashery shop, to take advantage of their sale and a couple of vouchers which they had sent her. At midday we went off to Mt Eden to attend Neil Turner's funeral. The Turner's were next door neighbour's in Epsom, and their eldest daughter Carol was great friends with Nicky. It was an emotional experience and left us both moved.


Wednesday was back to work for Nicky, and more usual routines for me. I have had a couple of Mac jobs along with getting back into the household routine. The weather has been dry for most of the week, but not up to our usual standards for summer weather, though Friday afternoon was glorious.


The rain returned on Friday night and has lasted until this afternoon, so yesterday we attempted to go and see the new Sherlock Holmes film. Unfortunately a lot of other people had had the same idea, and by the time we got to the front of the queue to buy our tickets there were only front row seats left, so we declined. This gave us more time to call in and see Stella (it was her birthday on Friday) and we had a mug of tea and a good chat. Then we called in on Claire and Ryan so that I could collect my external backup drive and we all went to De Post for a drink and a catch up which was really nice (so were the chips). Claire and Ryan were staying in the "village" to eat and Nicky and I came home for pancakes and Downton Abbey Series 2 on DVD (courtesy Ros).


We have had another quiet day at home today, and the weather forecast is for a much wetter week. We only seem to get the storm parts of the tropical storms, not the tropical parts at the moment. Never mind. This is the first poor summer we have had since getting here and I expect we will have some great summers again in the years to come.


Take care,

Rick

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