Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

The traveller has returned, jaded but happy. The flight from Singapore landed at 10.20am on Friday, and we were home a little after 11.30am. We had a very gentle afternoon slowly unpacking, looking at photos, and catching up on all that had happened since July 29th. I made us a smoked fish pie with proper shop-bought puff pastry for dinner which went down well. The quiet theme continued yesterday. The morning showers largely turned to sun and laundry was dried inside and out. Ironing was done, photos were sorted into an edited set, some zeds were had, and Stella came over for Scrabble. In the evening we watched All the Presidents Men on DVD, though one of use slept through some of it.  Today has been similar, with church first thing and Mary coming back for a brew afterwards. I stayed home as a customer was dropping in a machine to me to take a look at, which I did, and she collected later. Nicky had bought me a 300-piece Marauder’s Map jigsaw in LA which we did after lunch an

For many years before he died, our landlord and neighbour Barrie had a strict “no daisies” policy. I think sometimes in the summer he would cut the grass 3 or 4 times a week in order to attempt to maintain the policy. This mantle was passed onto Nicky, and now in her temporary absence it’s down to me, but it’s hard when the weather doesn’t play ball and the mower is aquaplaning. Still, I had a go today but I’m sure the daisies were laughing at me and just ducking. I have had a quiet week. All the Mac work I have done has been at home, either doing remote support or working on some old kit which I brought back with me last week. I did a modelling job yesterday morning, which was good. Last Sunday tea time I bit my tongue really badly and it’s only today that to has stopped hurting, so the beginning of the week was a tender time. I have read Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh which was gripping - she certainly knows how to introduce twists into the tale. We have had a week of wet an

The highlight for me this week has to be my day trip to Dunedin yesterday. Claire had found the photos that Nicky sent of my mother very challenging, and it had been 18 months since we had last had some time together, so I booked some flights. I had quite an early start and arrived in Dunedin around 9.15 where Claire and Ryan met me at the airport. The weather was very sunny, but a crisp -2ºC. After coffee and a good chat at their place we headed into town for a bit of shopping and then onto Emerson’s Brewery for a very enjoyable lunch. We had time for a tour of the office where Claire works (which I hadn’t seen before and which was interesting) before going back to the airport. My 4.40pm flight was being called as we arrived so after having last hugs I boarded the plane. On the way down I enjoyed some great views, and Claire was able to take a picture of my flight coming in as they drove to the airport: My day trip was not my only social event of the week. Stella kindly

Some strange things have been happening this week. The laundry basket hasn’t been generating it’s own pre-ironing, the duvet has stopped heading for the window, and pens have stopped self-levitating, moving to other parts of the house and hiding themselves. I can only assume there has been an orientation shift in the local magical field. With Nicky having had here first week on her trip, I have had my corresponding first week home alone. She flew to Los Angeles last Sunday, had a couple of nights there and an excellent day in Harry Potter World before flying onto England. She spent a couple of days in Farnborough with her sister and then headed north to Loughborough on the train. Her host there, Jancis, very kindly drove her up to Dinnington to visit my mother. Toilet on the aircraft View of LA from the hotel Home, at last. I didn’t have any worked booked on Monday, and with Nicky on her way and much of the apprehension of the previous week lifted I felt the need