Bye Jancis....hello Mrs Fortnum

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Later this evening our Jancis sets out on her return journey to the UK. It’s been grand to enjoy her company again for a few months, and we look forward to her return next year. However, she will not be forgotten especially as her triffid, Mrs. Fortnum,  has taken up residence by our front door. This succulent is of the “could terrify a guard dog” variety. I have to count my legs every time I walk past it.

We started this week with Anzac Day and a public holiday. I dropped Nicky off at New Lynn RSA on my way to Karekare, and we spent much of the rest of the day reading and sewing. We finally got to see “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” at the cinema in the evening (by getting the tickets in advance), and enjoyed it, but didn’t find it as funny as we expected. A little over-hyped possibly.

Nicky has had a better week at the library with it just being very busy most of the time, instead of frantic. She was out two evenings with life group and prayer group.

Jancis joined us for a final dinner on Wednesday evening, so I put a bit more effort in than usual and cooked chicken breast stuffed with sundried tomato, cashew nuts and parmesan and wrapped in bacon, along with rosemary spuds, carrots with toasted almonds, endame beans and mushrooms. For dessert we had Hairy Biker apple strudel and Puhoi Valley caramel custard. With the lovely wine that Jancis provided, I spent the evening feeling decidedly stuffed.

I have quite a good week for work, and shopped, cooked and laundered as usual. April has ended up being quite a good month for MacOnSite.

The weather has started to change this week. The sun is still nice and warm, but we are not getting as much of it, and towards the end of the week it has defiantly become “2-layer” weather (the MetService helpfully indicate on their website how many layers of clothing we should wear each day, just incase we are not sure).

Nicky worked in the garden yesterday and I ironed, then after a late lunch we went off to the new Onehunga Waterfront Reserve, which we though was brilliant. They have installed three beaches, a dog-free bird sanctuary area, and two foot bridges over the motorway which also provide access to a lagoon with a range of water sport attractions. It is a great place for a stroll in the sun and a picnic should the fancy take you. The noise from the motorway was surprisingly low.
One of the beaches

The view to the Manukau Heads


The Lagoon


Today I went off to Karekare and Nicky to church, then Stella collected her and they went (along with Mary) to a quitting exhibition in Parnell which was very good. On their return they were joined by Steve for Scrabble. I went to a house auction round on Mitchell Road for a two bed brick 1940’s bungalow, on a quarter acre section. It went for $1,265,000. Stunning.

This evening Mastermind NZ starts on the tellybox, so we will be able to test our local knowledge and one of the contestants has apparently chosen Harry Potter as their subject. Looking forward to that week!!


Take care, Rick

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