Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Our week began with Nicky still not being in the best of health, so she had Tuesday at home, and still felt a bit queasy at work on Wednesday. The library has had some very busy periods this week, so Nicky has been tired on her return home. She enjoyed her life group session on Wednesday evening and had her hair attended to by Doris on Thursday morning. My working week has been reasonable, but we had had some odd bits of rain which have required a little planning for getting the laundry dry. While Nicky was at life group I went for an evening skinny dip with eight other people over at Herne Bay. The sea was lovely (calm and not to cool) and seeing the harbour bridge illuminated while in the water was a treat. Nicky had another busy day at the library yesterday followed by Scrabble with Steve and Ros at Stella’s. When she got back we watched The 33, a film about the Chilean gold miners who were trapped and eventually rescued, which was good. During the day I made a dozen indivi

With having no public holidays this week, things have been a little more routine, and the end of the week delivered our major social activities. On Friday evening we were joined by Jancis and Stella for our annual free Blues concert down at the beach. There was just one act doing a three hour session this year, and from what they said it will sadly be their last appearance at the Music in the Parks festival. The weather was fine, the fish and chips were great, and watching the sun go down and the stars come out while listening to the music was a good way to end the week. The library has stared to get busier again this week, especially at the beginning of the day. After avocado and scrambled eggs on The Rattigan on Monday morning, Nicky set to making desserts for Alpha and one for us. Mary came over during the afternoon while I was out working and we had a relaxing evening. My work week has been busier, including two long visits to customers on Friday. The warm to hot summe

It has been a short work week for Nicky as she had Tuesday off as TOIL and Wednesday was a public holiday with it being Waitangi Day. We had a quiet day on Monday after a bit of a rushed start as I had to go and see a customer at short notice and get back in time for Nicky to have the car to go and have her breast screening. On Tuesday she and Mary went to the hot pools in Parakai to use Nicky’s Secret Santa gift vouchers. They had a lovely time swimming and wallowing and then later finding a café for a very welcome cup of tea. After a late breakfast on Wednesday I did the ironing while Nicky did window and soffit washing before starting to get ready for the evening. We were hosting the life group summer social and BBQ. With 10 attendees we managed to fit everybody round the dinning room table which worked really well, and the BBQ (it’s first use of the season) lit OK and cooked well. It was a very nice evening. Back at work the library has been getting back to normal with the sch

The highlight of this week has been the temperature, as indicated by the display in the car on my way home from work on Tuesday afternoon: Luna registers 30º outside The heatwave that had been crossing Oz cooled while coming over The Ditch but still managed to give us a very warm week, which started with a public holiday for Auckland Anniversary Day. We packed up a picnic and collected Jancis and drove over to Glover Park in St. Heliers, a suggestion of Stella’s. It was a really nice park with lovely views over the Waitemata and very quiet. We had a gentle stroll back to the car after our lunch, and then parked on Tamaki Drive and sat in the shade by the beach enjoying cups of tea and watching the world and boats go by. We returned home to watch The Chase before returning Jancis to her lodgings. It was still 25º in the house when we went to bed. As the schools have started to go back this week after the long summer holiday, the library has started to get busier,