Very summery Birthdays

Nicky has been on holiday this week, which I think has been good timing because she still has a lingering cough from her chest infection, and was not 100% when she was back at work.

Gill and Dave spent the last two days of their NZ visit in Auckland. On Monday we got the ferry over to Rangitoto so that they could walk up a volcano for the first time since their honeymoon. Gill and Dave went to the summit via the shortest route, which also has the greatest incline. Nicky didn’t think her knee would cope with the slope so she and I headed out on one of the gentler but longer ascents. We didn’t make it to the summit before having to rerun for the last ferry back of the day, but we do expect to go again in the New Year with Jancis, so will catch an earlier ferry to give us more time. The weather was very good for visiting Rangitoto - dry and sunny but not too warm.

After we got back to town we drove down Tamaki Drive to enjoy the view and have a cup of tea. After dinner Gill came round to us so that we could take her on a tour of the city lights; the harbour bridge both ways, Franklin Road and Mt Eden. We all enjoyed seeing the city at night. I finished off the day, very late, by making a chocolate cheesecake for Claire’s birthday.

Tuesday was initially overcast but warm and dry, so two loads of washing were done and hung out. Nicky made cakes and in the afternoon I went into town to pick up a Mac and a PC for data migration, then out to Piha to have a look at a poorly Mac. Gill and Dave wanted to have a quiet last day, so we didn’t see them until we picked them up at 7pm to take them to the airport. They departed safely and have arrived back home safely too. I think they enjoyed their time here. I finished the day off by making cheesecake again, this time lemon for Nicky’s birthday.

I worked on the PC to Mac migration job on Wednesday morning, Claire’s 25th birthday. Claire came over late morning and we went to The Block for lunch to celebrate. The food was, as ever, excellent. Claire had corn fitters, Nicky bagels with avocado and salmon, and I had liver, bacon and black pudding (yumm). After lunch Nicky went to the library for Book Chat and I gave Claire a massage. It was good to share some time together before Christmas and before Claire and Ryan depart for the south.

The weather came to the party for Nicky’s 60th birthday on Thursday, with a lovely hot and sunny day (so I whipped two more loads of washing onto the line via the magic machine). We had hoped to organise a ballon ride for Nicky’s birthday, but we couldn’t muster the funds. However, to mark the event Claire and I chose a really gorgeous turquoise glass bowl in a shop in Parnell, and Nicky is very pleased with it. It looks very good on the high window sill above our bed.

I had to deliver the Mac which I had set up with the data from the PC, and while I was away Nicky had a stream of birthday visitors and phone calls. When I got back Nicky put together a picnic lunch together and we set off for the macadamia farm on South Head. We had discovered the farm in May 2010, and its large lily pond, but because of the time of year the lily’s weren’t out. We returned on Nicky’s birthday in 2011, but it was a Monday and closed to visitors, so we thought we would have another go this year. Our journey ended up being a bit of a tiki tour (Wikipedia will explain what this is for the un-initiated) as there had been an accident in Waimuku and the police had closed SH16. The diversion just consisted of one sign it turned out, taking us off SH16. We ended up at Muriwai on the coast, but approached from a road we had not used before and were reward with a spectacular view up the coast. After a bit more wandering to see if we could use a “B” road and discovering is was only suitable for 4WD, we retraced some of our steps and back to the 16 and continued our journey north.

When we finally reached the farm we discovered the café is under new management, but the lily pond is still there and this time they were in full bloom. You don’t quite capture the abundance of flowers in the photo (taken on my phone) because the reflection from the leaves distracts from the flowers:

We had our picnic lunch, then walked round the pond and the lake before having a pot of tea in the shade on the decking. On our return journey SH16 was open again, and we stopped in Kumeu to have a look round a couple of show houses. We liked the GJ Gardener one but unfortunately the Lockwood one was closed because we were too late, but we had a good sticky through the windows.

In the evening Stella and Katie came over to help with the consumption of cheesecake, and it was a very pleasant end to a lovely day.

Friday was another lovely sunny day. I was up early and let Nicky sleep in, so I did a load of washing and made a fresh batch of lemon curd (don’t want to run out again, it was very hard last time). I had to be over in Remuera first thing, but when I got there my customer had forgotten (for very good reasons) and had gone to work, so we re-arranged for next week. On my way home I did a supermarket raid and had a long chat with Jan Clearwater and then a short chat with Cherry the Elections Returning Office I worked for 2 years ago. Nicky took over the use of Lilly when I got back and collected Stella and Katie and went to the museum. They all enjoyed to fashion photography exhibition and the cakes that Nicky had taken for afternoon tea. I soaked up some sun and did some ironing (which wasn’t quite as much fun). I think we ate on the Ratigan but I haven’t made a note of it as we are doing so quite often now. The fly season has started (yes, the farting asthmatic cat had been put to work again) and they seem a little less bothersome outside.

Yet another glorious day greeted us on Saturday. After scrambled eggs on the Ratigan I went to collect a parcel for Nicky (from the Family Hughes) which was too large to fit into our post box, and then onto a Mac job at a work colleague of Nicky’s. Stella and Steve came over for Scrabble in the afternoon and I did some more sunbathing (tan now coming along nicely and the white bits not too obvious this year). Nicky had an early night and I watched most of The Last Samurai on the tellybox.

Today Nicky was in prison this morning, which was followed by a volunteers Christmas lunch at the prison. I headed out west to the beach at Whatipu, and delivered Shani’s birthday gifts from us on the way (it was good to see Kim, Sean and Tai). My three hours on the beach were glorious. I had to walk by the waters edge to find sand cool enough for bare feet, but this also meant I was in cooler air, which was lovely. Until the end of my walk when I was returning to the car park, I only saw two other people. Very peaceful.

By the time I got back, Nicky had returned from prison and was having a lie down. She started doing some ironing while I had a late lunch, followed by more sunbathing (really helps the lunch settle!) and a quick trip to the supermarket for milk. It was 43C in the roof space and I could hear some thunder while I was in the garden, but we didn’t get any of the rain. Nicky has also finished watching Ros’s DVD’s of The Pallisers, which she has thoroughly enjoyed, along with a carol concert on the BHB green this evening.

That’s enough for this week,
Take care,

Rick