Yet another party

By -

It has been quite a full week, one way and another. I was pretty busy with Mac work on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday at Claire's as she had her wisdom teeth out on Tuesday and was in need of some company.


Nicky had a busy week at work, culminating in a special event on Friday evening as part of Pacifica. She organised people to come and read stories in different languages from the islands, and discus the stories.


Nicky and I spent Wednesday evening cooking, in preparation for the International Food evening up at church on Thursday evening. Nicky made Apple Strudels, and I made the filling for Banger Pie (pork sausage, black pudding and apple in an onion and cider sauce). I made the pastry on Thursday morning before catching to bus to Mt Eden (Lilly was in for her service and WoF) and then put the pie together and cooked it just before going up to church. We had a good evening with a great range of foods to sample - I even managed to get the last-but-one piece of my own pie, which I thought tasted OK.


On Saturday after getting going with the laundry (inspite of the indecisive weather) we walked round to Heaphy Street to watch a house auction. It was a three bedroom place similar in size to our home. The bidding was very interesting and the house finally went for $585,000, just $15,000 above its reserve. We then walked up to the shops and on the way to the supermarket Nicky bought a very nice new raincoat. She had been looking for something since we get here.


We then drove over to Epsom for a open house. This is how most houses are sold here. There will be a number of open house events for half and hour or so for two or three weekends before the place is auctioned. This one was 84 The Drive - where Nicky lived for most of her formative years. In addition to the changes that Clem had made many years ago, there were many cosmetic changes too, but Nicky was pleased to see the "old place" again. We then called in on Claire and Ryan before heading home for lunch. Claire has been having a rough time since having her teeth out with pain, swelling and vomiting, but is slowly improving. Ryan is very good with the TLC.


Then after lunch it was time for more cooking (apple strudel again) in preparation for Tim and Netta's leaving do which we were hosting. The weather stayed dry so I was able to BBQ as planned, and we had a good house-full with the usual quality and range of food and an excellent evening. It was a shame to have to say good bye to Becky's parents (they flew out today) but it has been good to see them and I think they have quite enjoyed their experience.






Today has been quieter. Nicky was in prison this morning while I made inroads with the ironing which she finished off this afternoon. This evening we will be watching telly as there is a film on at a reasonable time that we have both wanted to see.


The weather started off wet this week, but Tuesday was dry, and Wed, Thurs, and Fri fine and sunny. With us both being out and the house closed up on Thursday, the temperature in the lounge was 32°C when I brought Nicky home from work. Last night it was 18° in the roof. We are starting to get cooler nights on the whole, but the beginning of autumn has been better than much of the summer.


And finally, Wednesday was our four and a half year anniversary of arriving in New Zealand. We didn't do anything to celebrate. I don't think that will be the case on September 14th 2012.


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