Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

The big news this week has been the preliminary results of the flag referendum: no change. 57% of those who voted wanted to retain the existing flag, and 65% of the electorate voted, which is the highest response for any postal ballot in NZ. I can’t say that I am surprised, but I am disappointed. I think it is indicative of how insecure New Zealand is as a nation in it’s own right in the 21st century, but it could also be that more than 43% of people wanted to change the flag, but not to the alternative on offer. The weather continues in largely summer mode at the moment. We had a very dark and stormy night on Wednesday and some heavy rain on Thursday, but El Nino is keeping it warmer than usual. We are still having plenty of good sunshine, though at times it is either quite windy or quite humid. Nicky has been very busy at work again. On Monday she had a few minutes to enjoy the art exhibition at the International School (which used to be the Hilltop School) before going off ...

It has been a quiet week, especially for me on the work and social fronts. I had a long visit to a school on Thursday, but other than that no paid work. Nicky has been as busy as ever at the library, and has also been occupied in the evenings with prison prayer group, church AGM, and to have her hair done. We also had a trip over to Botany for Nicky’s annual hearing check. The weather has started to become more variable in an autumnal sort of way, but still mild even for March. Highs in the mid-20’s most of the time which look set continue into next week. It got to 29º in the lounge on Wednesday with all the windows open, and before I put the oven on (excellent planning on my part, but I believed the weather forecast). We have had some lovely sunny days, and some rain and wind towards the end of the week, which has lead me to be a bit more aware of its variability for getting the washing dry. The flag referendum continues to be a regular topic of conversation as the postal vot...

Work-wise it has been a pretty routine (for N) and good (for me) week. The library has been busy as ever, but has also had some additional staff from time to time. New Lynn, Avondale and BHB libraries are being refurbished. Avondale was first and now New Lynn has been started, and at times when the staff can’t go into their usual library they are being sent elsewhere. I have had work most days, and a couple of the jobs were quite long which was good. The weather has continued to be good most of the time. Today has been gorgeous and we had dinner on the Rattigan on Wednesday. Nicky removed our sheet and American quilt on Thursday (the quilt is only a thin top cover) and put our summer quilt back on as the temperature dropped to a chilly 13° on Wednesday night. It was down to 21° on Thursday (!) night, but has cooled down again since. The mornings and evenings are getting cooler, but the sun is still hot during the day. We started watching The Night Manager on Monday night (reco...

Back to normal at last - posting on a Sunday evening again. We really enjoyed our weekend in Mt Maunganui with Bruce and Wendy, but it was back to work properly this week. Nicky has been very busy again at the library. I had a long and fruitful day with a new customer on Tuesday, and then a couple of other jobs later in the week. I’ve been getting back into the laundry-ironing-shopping-cooking routine too. Nicky had a good evening at life group, and I have been out at Deep & Meaningful in Orewa and drinkies up at The Block, so our social lives are getting back to normal too. The weather has been pretty good all week. We are now getting cooler mornings and coolish evenings as we move into autumn, but still often having very warm periods in the middle of the day. It was 28° in the lounge yesterday even with all the doors and windows open. We had poached egg and avocado on toast on the Rattigan for breakfast to start the day. Late morning we were both interviewed by a PhD...