We are not alone

By -

It would appear, dear reader, that we are not alone. It has come to my notice this week that there are at least TWO other regular viewers of the blog. Amazing!


Anyway, on to this week's exciting adventures. Nicky has been back at work. Not fully recovered but gradually improving. I have had some Mac work too, Friday being a very long day by recent standards.


Claire came over for lunch on Tuesday, and sneaked in a watching of Notting Hill and a massage from me around our trip up the road to Bay Kebab for a burger and a falafel. A couple of weeks back I had a yin to watch "The Full Monty" again, but we don't have it on DVD so I ordered it from the library and it came this week. I watched it one lunchtime and was reminded why it is one of my favourite films. So many of the scenes in Sheffield appear familiar, and I can so easily identify with the characters and their situations. I first saw it not long after being made redundant. I had gone to London for a sales presentation of some new software, but because I was on a SuperSaver ticket I had a few hours to kill before being able to catch a train home. The film was on general release at the time and there just happened to be a cinema showing it in the next few minutes as I walked past.


On Thursday Nicky took a couple of hours out from work to attend the funeral of Gordon Campbell who I think was almost 102 when he died. I made a smoked fish pie with the help of the Hairy Bikers which we thoroughly enjoyed for dinner, twice.


Yesterday we did a couple of loads of washing in the morning (you knew it had to happen, didn't you?) even though the weather wasn't looking as promising as the forecast had suggested. We then caught a bus to Western Spring to visit the Pacifica festival. This is a celebration of the Pacific Island cultures which happens every year. Nicky hasn't been since 1999 I and had never been. It is basically music, dancing, food and crafts. The park has 10 villages, one for each of the main cultures represented in NZ, and they all do their own thing. We sat and watched a number of the stage shows (I liked the hula girls the best 'cos they were the wigglyest (can I have wigglyest?)), enjoyed the sights and smells of all the food stalls, and bought earrings and sarongs from a couple of the craft stalls. We queued for galette's and crepé's for our lunch, which even though they took awhile to get to us we enjoyed. Nicky had a tomato and ricotta galette and a crepé suzette; I had a cheese and ham galette and an apple and cinnamon crepé. We had fun getting the bus home as it just didn't turn up, so we started walking towards St Lukes and found a bus stop with a bus due on its way to New Lynn, so we decided to ride that as far as the lights at Avondale and then walk home along Blockhouse Bay road. By this time, we had had some sun and it was much warmer than we had left home in the morning.


We thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely visit to Pacifica and will go again in a few years. I found the "cultural exposure" quite interesting. We are still watching a series of programmes on DVD about the history and experience of immigrants in NZ. Each programme looks at a different incoming culture; Scottish, Irish, English, Indian, Chinese, French, Dutch etc. I have experience all of these before either in the UK or on my travels in Europe. What is different for me in NZ is the influence of the Pacific Islands cultures, and their much more relaxed approach to life. The importance to them of family, food and music came across very strongly at Pacifica. The events tag line was "Turn your clocks to Island Time".





Today has been quiet. No laundry due to damp weather (though I have squeezed some ironing in). Nicky was at church this morning and then made up some lunch to take round to a work colleague in Green Bay who is off sick at the moment, and stayed to chat for awhile.


Weather has been variable this week, with lovely sunny warm days (with cool starts) at the beginning of the week, then a couple of overcast days, followed by a gorgeous blue sky day on Friday and then dry but cloudy yesterday.


Take care,

Rick

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Challenging week

By -
Image
 It has been a challenging week. At the beginning of the week Nicky was still getting worse, so she arranged an appointment with the GP on Tuesday afternoon. The GP confirmed that Nicky had bronchitis and sinusitis, but that her chest sounded clear. With the infection being viral, there was no medication that could be prescribed, but some additional painkillers were in order to manage the symptoms and assist with the pain caused by congestion, coughing and vomiting. As the week progressed Nicky started to improve slowly. The periods of incessant coughing and coughing induced vomiting started to subside yesterday. She was able get a little more sleep and keep a little more food down. The washing machine has been very busy with regular changes of PJ’s, dressing gowns and bedding. Some of the laundry has been dried outside but the winter weather has deteriorated over the last couple of days. While Nicky has been unwell she has cancelled all her commitments. I have been running errands...
Read more

Tea and Tissues

By -
Image
 We have had a quiet week at home, doing jigsaws and listening to Harry Potter. Nicky seemed to be getting better at the beginning of the week but it was short lived. As the week has drawn to a close she has actually started getting brighter and felt like doing some things round the house. Nicky got dressed for the first time this week on Friday to go to the hospital for a blood test, and we did a little shopping on the way home. Yesterday she made a couple of lemon cakes and delivered one to Eleanor for her birthday. Nicky found the few minutes walk there and back exhausting. Meanwhile, I gradually got worse through the week until Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday I ploughed through a whole box of 240 tissues, and most of a packet of throat lozenges. Paracetamol helped with the general aches and temperature fluctuations. This weekend is the first time I have done my morning exercises in over a week, and I even managed a short amble this morning in the lovely (almost spiring-like) ...
Read more

Easter

By -
Image
 Steve continued his convalescing with us at the beginning of the week, and continued to improve each day. He decided to start the journey home on Tuesday by driving to Te Kuiti. As Monday was going to be his last evening with us he provided another take-away dinner from the Spice Guru, which we enjoyed as much as the previous one. Steve and I were a little early collecting it, so while we were waiting I was having a look at the buildings at the bottom end of Victoria Avenue and spotted this: I think Whanganui rivals Napier for the quality of its Art Deco architecture. Before Steve left on Tuesday morning, he and Nicky went to the Splash Centre to have a wallow in the thermal pool. This had been recommended by Nicky’s physio when she had seen her on Monday. Nicky had a short swim too and they both enjoyed their time. We were very pleased that Steve felt sufficiently recovered to start his journey home, as it was not good seeing him in as much pain, as when he first arrived. It was ...
Read more