A week of loss

By -
With the news about David Bowie and Alan Rickman this week, and a phone call from Paul on Wednesday to say that Nicky’s godmother Ruth had died, it has been tinged with sadness. We attended Ruth’s funeral yesterday, and met cousin’s we have only previously heard about. The service at Purewa Crematorium was followed by refreshments at St. Andrews where Ruth had been living since 2000. The day was hot and sunny, 28°, so maybe my suit wasn’t ideal attire. We enjoyed a quiet pot of tea when we got home.

The beginning of the week at the library was very busy, but the last couple of days were quieter. Nicky stayed late on Friday to help with a children’s Detective event, supported with fish and chips beforehand.

Work for me has been quiet again with just one short job, but I enjoyed Deep and Meaningful on Thursday evening and heard my first cicada of the season during Thursday lunchtime.

Some excellent drama’s have accompanied the week. Nicky really enjoyed the final episode of Downtown, and we watched Child 44 on DVD. This was built around the investigation of a serial killer, but was also an excellent portrayal of the de-humanisation of society in Stalin’s Russia. We have also binge-watched the first two series of The Fall, a detective drama set in Belfast which was excellent, both in terms of story-telling and characterisation.

We have some very summery weather, but it has not been wall to wall sunshine. El Nino is making the summer more changeable than usual, and we have had a number of cloudy beginnings. Today has been one such, with warm sunshine developing while I was out walking at Karekare and Nicky was at church. A strong wind changed things this afternoon and the day has ended cooler and cloudier. This doesn’t seemed to have troubled the mozzies who are still happily buzzing around.


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