Busy

We have had a tiring week. Even though we had a quiet Sunday to help us get over Saturday evening and a very late bedtime, we were still feeling a little jaded on Monday along with the effects of changing the clocks. Monday was a reasonably normal day with Nicky at Seniors Church, doing laundry, and making brioche, while I did  an on-site job and some shopping.

On Tuesday we drove down to Hawera, which is just a few minutes from Normanby, where Bert the Builder has his office. The first two thirds of the route was the same as going to Wanganui, but it made a pleasant change to have a different final third, which included some coastline. We would have also enjoyed seeing Mt Taranaki if it hadn’t been shrouded in cloud and rain.

We had arranged to see Bert on Wednesday afternoon as we had booked a visit to a stained glass artist near New Plymouth on Wednesday morning. We were really inspired by his work and very impressed with his attitude to what we would like to try and do. We are looking at two long narrow windows which will be either side of the front door, and the three clerestory windows which will be in the living area. He was able to give us an idea of the cost of what he could do for us, so we have food for thought and some numbers to work with.

The meeting with Bert and Tamar (the designer) went very well. We discussed all the items on our three pages of questions, settled on some colours for the outside of the house, roof and windows frames, and made some window location changes. There are still lots of detail decisions to be made, but Bert is now in a better position to give us accurate costings without wasting his time on an “incorrect” design.

The weather was very wet on Wednesday, which contrasted with a much drier and sunnier Thursday for our drive back to Auckland. We learned on the Friday evening news that the rain had caused a land slip on the road that we use for the final section of our normal route to Wanganui. It looks like it is going to be closed for awhile, so we are going to have to use an alternative approach next time we go down.

Friday was very busy, with Nicky at Seniors Church, doing laundry and ironing, and me doing two on-site jobs and late afternoon shopping. I concluded the day with a visit to The Block and Nicky had an early night.

It might have been sensible to plan a relaxing weekend, but the annual Auckland Heritage Festival started this weekend, and we had events booked. We started with a walk round Parnell streams and gullies. We arrived at the meeting point outside the Parnell Library a little before 10am so had time to enjoy a bit of a meander though the Saturday market. I had done this walk last year but Nicky had been at work so we were pleased that it was repeated. With the guide being a different person and some of the route being inaccessible due to the railway electrification, is wasn’t the same route which I had experienced, but was still enjoyable, and still very steep in parts. By the time we had walked up the last gully from Hobson’s Bay and come out on Parnell Road, we were very pleased that our car was only about 10 minutes away. We had our lunch English-picnic style as we could feel some rain in the air, and then had tea and coffee at a near-by café before driving to Epsom.

Our afternoon booking was much lest strenuous, though did require almost two hours of sitting on hard church pews at St Andrews (where Paul and Jenny wed), listening to a number of presentations of the history of some of the more famous family members buried in their church yard. I has also chosen this event for the afternoon tea ($25 each) which followed it. The ladies who organised the afternoon tea had obviously put quite some effort into it, but I think $24 of each ticket had gone to the church roof fund. The only savoury items were two plates of asparagus rolls, and even after living here for 12 years I have not acquired a taste for them, unlike my lovely senior management. The rest of the food offerings were of the sweet variety and the two small samples I chose were both very sweet. I was, to say the least, disappointed, so I hope the roof looks good when it’s finished.

Shortly after we arrived home, Stella, Steve and Ros arrived for a couple of games of Scrabble. The late start meant a late finish so we just had a little time with the telly before retiring to bed.

We woke to a damp morning today, so again, I didn’t go to Karekare while Nicky was at church. However, by lunchtime the sun was out and our afternoon visit to the Purewa Cemetery in Meadowbank was bathed with lovely spring warmth and birdsong. There were four tours of the cemetery, each about an hour long, running at different start times. We managed to do two of them and discovered just how enormous the facility is, and how hilly. We were very pleased to have a sit down in between our tours, and to be provided with free tea and lovely sandwiches which we were not expecting. Our guides were excellent, and had some great stories to tell about the occupants of the graves we visited. I found the children’s area and graves quite hard to take. I came across one where there was a brother and sister next to each other. He had died at age 3, then six years later his sister was born and she died in 2017, aged 17. I cannot imaging the circumstances that lead to this or what their parents must have been through. It reminded me that everyday of our lives, no matter how short or long, are precious and not to be wasted.

We were home in time for The Family Chase and then delayed coverage of the All Blacks playing Namibia at the Rugby World Cup. I have a long on-site job tomorrow so will probably be off to bed fairly soon.

Take care, Rick