Sunny wanderings

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The beginning and end of the week have been wet, but in-between we have had some lovely clear winter days, though a couple started with some fog.

Things have been quieter at the library with the school’s having gone back, at least until 3-ish when they close. I have had another quiet week too, doing two on-site jobs which filled my Tuesday afternoon.

Nicky was at prison prayer group on Monday night; Tuesday night we watched the Stephen Hawking film and Wednesday night “Pride”, both on DVD and both much enjoyed. Thursday night Luna was out - up at the garage - her service and warrant revealed new front suspension mounts were required. We were re-united on Friday afternoon so I celebrated with some food shopping.

Wednesday was an interesting day. Nicky had a couple of visits to make for work - the Blind Foundation in the morning and a Staff Feedback meeting in Kelston in the afternoon. As I didn’t have any worked booked and parking in that part of Parnell is very difficult, I offered to drop Nicky at the Blind Foundation and then collect her later. We managed to get parked right outside as luck would have it, but only in a 2 hour slot and her visit was scheduled for 3 hours. So, while Nicky had a very interesting tour of the Blind Foundation and the work they do, I had a tiki tour of Auckland. 

I started off with a walk down Parnell Road, had coffee in a contemporary luxury French pâtisserie which had been recommended called Vaniyé (very nice but not quite as good as I was expecting) and then collected the car. I parked in Mission Bay and had a wander down the shop/café front, then sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a little while (see picture below). After removing my shoes and socks I walked back along the beach having the occasional paddle and was amused by the fact that the beach appeared to have been swept. I drove up to the domain to be near Parnell and had a wander round the Winter Gardens and enjoyed a bit more of the sun, before collecting Nicky. After lunch she went back to the library for a little before going off to Kelston, and I did some ironing.


Yesterday was also a very enjoyable day. We had some fog to start with but it burnt off by late morning (though the airport was closed for 10 hours). We had a late breakfast and then Nicky made savoury muffins and I raided the supermarket. Mid-day we went off to the Kumeu Art Centre to see their exhibition of work by local artists. I occasionally model for them. The exhibition was only small but there were some very good pieces. We stopped in Avondale on the way home to have lunch with a discount voucher at The Coffee Club, which was a nice treat. The sunshine inspired Nicky to cut the grass when we got back and we enjoyed the last of the afternoon sun on the sofa. After a tea of soup and muffins we watched Country Calendar and last weeks Endeavour which I had recorded.

Today started with a pink sky which soon turned to rain. Nicky went off to church and then over to Henderson this afternoon to Scrabble. I have just been reading and pottering about.


Take care, Rick

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