Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

The 2018 Auckland Heritage Festival has begun, and I am sure you will remember Dear Reader, from posts in years past, that this is something that we really enjoy. Yesterday started clear, crisp and sunny, and with the promise from Dan the Weather Man (ex-BBC) of a sunny day, I broke out my shorts after hanging out the washing and before heading for the 8.25am bus into town. I switched to the Outer Link bus in Balmoral and got to Parnell in plenty of time to wander round the Farmer’s Market, resist the desire to buy almond croissant’s, but give in to the need for coffee. Our group assembled at 10am, and as soon as we had crossed the road from the Jubilee Building I was in unfamiliar territory. We walked along some new landscaping over the railway before going through some bush to Newmarket Park which I didn’t even know existed. The walk was titled Streams and Gullies, so our route undulated up and down as we progressed to Hobson’s Bay. The return journey took us through Scarborough...

I have had another busy week with work, which has done good things to my September figures. Two of my days were long visits to one customer, but I have still managed to get the washing done, raid the supermarket, cook chicken and mushroom pasta bake (which became known as rooster al forno) and make a smoked salmon flan, so I’m still keeping on with the important things! Nicky has had another quiet week at the library. She is involved is setting up a Harry Potter display so took three boxes of books and artefacts with her to work yesterday as she was using Luna for her transportation. She has also helped with the laundry (especially on Monday) and enjoyed her life group evening. The weather has been milder, with a mixture of warm sunshine, noticeable rain and lengthening days. With Nicky at work and Scrabbling at Stella’s yesterday, I had a walk down to the beach in order to take the long way round to the West Liquor store to buy a bottle of porter so that I could make iron...

Friday, as those of you with a pulse will be aware, was September 14th, which means that it was our 11th anniversary of arriving in Aotearoa. To celebrate I bought us some cut flowers as we hadn’t planned anything special. I think now that we have passed 10 years, the “minor” anniversaries are less significant. One thing I am a little surprised about is that I am still writing this blog and you, Dear Reader, deserve thanks for hanging on in there with me and encouraging me to continue. Thank you. Mauruuru. Our working week’s have been consistent but still quite quiet at the library for Nicky, and quite busy, challenging and productive for me. I have had work on every day and have a couple of jobs which are continuing into the coming week, one because the source of the problem is proving to be elusive. I had my first working lunch of the season by the sea on Friday at Browns Bay, and then a bit of a stroll along the sand to help my salad settle before driving home. Luna, our lo...

The library has been quiet again this week with the borrowers still not having got back into their previous routines. The same thing happened after the refurbishment at Blockhouse Bay. It is surprising at times how easily routines can be changed. My working week has been quite busy with something on most days. Our most exciting event was on Wednesday. I was preparing steak for dinner. Prior to going down to the station to collect Nicky, I par-boiled the spuds, cut up the carrots and broccoli, oiled and peppered the steaks, and sautéed the mushrooms and onions. The table was laid and I departed for New Lynn. When we returned the garage door wouldn’t open; we had a power cut. Having seen us return Dawn came round to say she had heard a big bang as the power went off and had been told that a power pole had come down. This we were not able to confirm but as it wasn’t yet quite dark so we got some candles going and persuaded Dawn to stay and have some cheese and crackers with us. The p...

We are now officially into spring and we can see that the daylight hours are getting longer and the temperatures a little milder. The sun, when it’s around, is getting warmer, but we have had rain and some foggy starts this week. Nicky has had her first full week back at work after her trip. The library has been quiet all week and the changes after the refurbishment are not all that noticeable. Her jet lag is slowly fading, but she is still wanting to go to bed earlier than usual. My working week has been busy, with a couple of very long days. The weather has hindered the smooth running of the laundry schedule but I was able to catch up yesterday. I finished reading reading Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz, an enjoyable James Bond prequel. Thursday evening was Deep and Meaningful discussion in town, which was welcome after a long day infront of the computer screens. Nicky has brought a stack of DVD’s home from work and we have risen to the challenge over the last coup...