Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

This week has been bookended by a public holiday (Labour Day) at the beginning, and a family day at the end. Labour Day started chilly but quite bright, even though there was some cloud around. We started off with a gentle breakfast of scrambled egg and avocado on toast followed by toasted cinnamon brioche. After some obligatory mowing of the grass and ironing of the clothes, we went off to Dress Smart in Onehunga and Sylvia Park so that Nicky could buy me Christmas gift clothes. It wasn’t as much fun as last year but the trip was successful. Nicky then nipped over to Henderson for Scrabble. In the evening we watched a film on DVD, Eye in the Sky, which Nicky had brought home because of Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman featuring in it. The film was very good - basically an analysis of the complex moral and logistical issues around drone warfare. Well worth watching. The rest of the week has been pretty routine, with the library being busy, the washing machine and clothes line get

It is eight years ago today that we moved into our current abode. Eight years ago it was a Thursday, and we had some rain, but Claire and I managed, and I remember one of the removal men being very interested in our German bed and he kindly helped my re-assemble it. Work has been busy for both of us this week. In addition to the usual at the library, they were without water for two hours when a chap working with a stump grinder in the courtyard broke a draining pipe. Diwali celebrations have also started and they had a very good morning tea on Thursday. Nicky wasn’t feeling too good on Thursday, and was quite wobbly on Friday morning at a PSA meeting over in Henderson, so I made her take the afternoon off to rest. We had both had a poor night’s sleep and it seems to have quite an impact on us these days. I have had work in some shape or form everyday, and on Thursday had my packed lunch on the beach at Okahu Bay, which was a treat. The weather has been reasonable and even on t

In comparison to recent times this week has been very un-eventful. I have had a bit more work, the library has been busier, and the weather has been spring-like: lovely when the sun comes out, very wet when it rains. Nicky’s had a couple of evenings out with prayer group and life group, I have upgraded the OS on my Mac, and Luna has had her new front bumper fitted. We have watched a couple of good films on DVD; “It’s a Wonderful Life” which Nicky hadn’t seen before and I had not seen for 40+ years, and “Sunshine on Leith”, a musical based in Edinburgh with music by The Proclaimers. We enjoyed them both. Yesterday started a little damp but the afternoon was lovely. Nicky baked in the morning and me in the afternoon while she was at quilting. Steve and Stella came over for Scrabble, and we had a pleasant impromptu visit from Paul and Jenny. Nicky was in prison this morning, and due to the weather being variable we binged watched Hillary this afternoon - a local drama about t

What a packed week it has been, but of the three significant events, it’s easy to pick the highlight: the visit of the daughter from the Deep South. A new computer system required Claire to visit the Auckland office this week. We picked her up from the airport on Wednesday morning and returned her there on Friday afternoon. We had a very good evening together on Wednesday, and really enjoyed our meal up at Mt. Everest Kitchen. We had some appetisers as well as mains and probably ate a little too much. We will be finishing off the (frozen) doggie bags tomorrow. Claire enjoyed seeing Ayesha (who she worked with at Whitcoulls) on Thursday evening, but we had a disappointing Heritage Festival evening as the event we went to didn’t happen. In addition to collecting Claire on Wednesday (Nicky had taken the day off) we had Zostavax vaccinations (prevention of shingles) and saw a solicitor about our wills and EPA’s. Nicky also had an interesting Heritage Festival workshop on how to da

The beginning of October has been dryer than the end of September, but it has been quite a close competition. The highlight of our week has been the weekend with the second instalment of Heritage Festival activities. Some re-scheduling of our plans was forced upon us by the cancelation of a couple of events. So, yesterday morning saw us back in Ponsonby for 10am with another tour guided by the wonderful Mr Edward Bennett. The man deserves his salutation for his dress sense alone. Today was a morning coat-type-jacket with a silver patterned waistcoat (last week he was going with a mustard theme). The subject this time was the architecture and history of four of the churches. Three dated from the late 19th century and the fourth, the Anglican, from the 1950’s. All were different and interesting and had special features. In the Baptist church, complete with sloping floor and excellent acoustics, we also enjoyed the sound of a chamber organ, bellows filled by yours truly.  Aft