Landed Gentry

Apologies for posting after your bedtime Mrs. Trellis, but it has been a busy week, and today was no exception.

We might not fit into the conventional mould of either landed or gentry, but this week we became landowners. There is now a title document for approximately 540 sq. m. of land in Wanganui which has our names on it. To get to this point has been quite a journey, so to get the phone call and confirmation email was joyous relief. To also get to this point before the country closed for Christmas was also brilliant, as at means we can start the New Year with the main point of the project - building our new home.

Visiting rellies have also featured heavily in our week. We met up with David, Zoé, Amelia, Cassius and Edie at Mt Eden on Monday afternoon, and walked to the summit to see the inside of the crater and enjoy the views over Auckland. The children were still full of energy so we took them over to Mission Bay to play in the playground and have a run on the beach. They followed this by an impromptu dip in the fountain.

On Wednesday Felicity arrived from the UK, to stay with us for a few days. We spent much of Tuesday preparing the house for her visit, and cooking goodies for her welcome afternoon tea. Various members of the family called in to say “Hi” and have a bite, and Stella, Steve and Ros stayed for dinner and a game of Scrabble. Stella had provided excellent steak and we also had smoked salmon from Ros. Felicity, understandably, was somewhat jaded, but well and appeared to have enjoyed the welcome.

Thursday morning required some practical tasks to be achieved, namely helping Felicity get her bank account access up and running, and a loaned mobile phone ready to go. I had some work on in the afternoon, and Deep and Meaningful in the evening. Nicky was hosting a Prayer Group social at our place, so did much food preparation along with baking Christmas gifts. Felicity spent the afternoon with Lois, a very dear friend, but succumbed to jet lag for awhile on her return.

On Friday we collected Steve and drove over to Waiomu on the Coromandel to have a picnic lunch with Andrew. The weather wasn’t too promising at first, but the sun came out as we finished lunch and we had a good catch up with Andrew. We drove into rain on the way home but it had still been a good day, especially with us getting the news about our land purchase.

After a good cooked breakfast on Saturday, Nicky got herself ready for BHB Quilters and their Christmas lunch, which went very well. I did some gift baking which contributed pastry to a LOBS lunch for Felicity and I. Becky came over and collected Felicity so that she could have the afternoon with Becky, Dave and Abe, which included a trip to Bethells Beach. We had dinner on The Rattigan when Felicity returned.

Today started cool and clear, but warmed up very nicely with the sunshine. Nicky and Felicity went up to church, while I caught up with household laundry. On their return we started our trip to Brick Bay Sculpture Park and Winery for lunch, collecting Stella, and much to our pleasure Kate, on the way. Steve and Ros also joined us for what turned out to be a wonderful lunch. We shared a platter for three, enjoyed all our mains of great variety, a lovely bottle of Rosé, and some delicious desserts. The atmosphere and staff were great, it wasn’t too noisy, and we had a very good time. A stroll round the lake finished off the visit very well. On our way home we called in to see Letty who though still in pain with her broken arm was looking a bit better than we se saw her last.

We have really enjoyed having Felicity to stay, catching up with all that has been happening in our lives, and starting to get to see some of the people that Felicity has on her list.

In addition to our usual household duties and buying the land, I have been trying to do what little I can to contribute to the organisation of my Mother’s funeral, but I haven’t made a good fist of it so far, with being so busy.  However it isn’t until 3rd January, so there is still time to contribute.

Take care, Rick