Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Our main event this week has been Nicky’s interview, which was on Wednesday. I took her down to New Lynn library and though short, she felt that the interview went very well. Most people have now had their interviews which for a little while relieved the levels of anxiety. What is not yet know is the outcome - what job, where, and for how many hours. It could be 2-3 weeks before the job offeres are made, so we are not completely out of the woods yet. The other notable event has been the weather. A southerly blast at the beginning of the week gave us a couple of nights with lows of 3°. Heaters out of storage and winter duvet on, but we are back to the low teens now. The rain has also been messing around with my laundry routine. Work has been relatively quiet for me but has occupied the second half of the week. Shopping and cooking have progressed as usual, and I have enjoyed listening to John Lanchesters’ Capitol. Nicky has had a couple of evenings out at church and alpha, ...

Sheffield Wednesday have again (like last year) failed to get through the playoff’s and win promotion to the Premier league, beaten on penalties. With Sheffield United having won promotion to the Championship we will be having Steel City derby’s again next season. Go The Owls!! Aside from football machinations, we have had a somewhat different week. Nicky has been on annual leave all week. She booked it in order to attend as many events as possible at this year’s Auckland Writers Festival. It turned out the first event on her schedule was on Friday, so she has spent most of the rest of the week sewing, which she has really enjoyed. She has also had her hair done and been to life group. My week started quietly so I managed to finish Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The bulk of my work for the week has been for a new customer with a broken hard disk and no backup to speak of, so much rushing around and data recovery. I only did a couple of loads of...

We have said goodbye to Jancis this week. She returned to the UK on Tuesday and arrived safely sometime after that. The place is quieter without her, and we look forward to her return next year. Just in passing, watching the Jancis Barlow Show this evening on the telly (aka Country Calendar), we realised we had met the lady farmer. The programme was about a couple who grow blueberries and produce hand made ice cream. We had stopped in Waharoa last February on the way to Mt Maunganui and Nicky really enjoyed the blueberry ice cream. It’s a small country. The library has not been too busy again this week, but the general work situation for Nicky is still very stressful as the Fit for the Future process continues. Interviews and appointments have begun, starting at the top and working down. We are still living with the uncertainty of the unknown. Work for me has been a little busier this week, though there was only one long (and ultimately frustrating) job. The rest has been made...

I don’t remember a week when we have had so many meals out as this week, even coming up to Christmas. We started on Monday with a prison prayer group gathering to farewell John and Kim who are moving down to Waiuku. We were given a lift to Chapati on Lincoln Road in Henderson by Renee and had a good evening with excellent Indian food. The restaurant was quiet (apart from us) with it being a Monday evening. The next event was Wednesday at Bricklane in New Lynn where Nicky’s house group got together to farewell Jancis who returns to England again next week. Another good evening and as ever we enjoyed Bricklane’s food and hospitality. Nicky had Summer Chicken and I had fish and chips. Thursday evening I was out at Deep & Meaningful and had my usual pizza (Hawaiian this time) and then last night Jancis took Nicky and I out to Mt Everest Kitchen here in the Bay. Indian again but Nepalese style this time. We shared the platter for two (which was sizzling on arrival) prior to our mango c...