Fashion can be bought, style one must possess

This does seem a little conceited, but my birthday was definitely the highlight this week. The day started with promising smile on its face, so the first excitement of the day was putting on a load of washing while brewing the first pot of tea of the day. The first mugs of tea, consumed in bed as usual, were accompanied by present opening - all either useful or humorous. After hanging out washing the we wandered up to The Block and had a very nice breakfast. Nicky chose an open omelette and I went for avocado and tomato bruschetta with poached eggs and spices. Neither were what we were expecting to order but just took our fancy from the menu, and both were very good and greatly enjoyed.

When we returned home Nicky made us smoked salmon sandwiches (gift from Steve & Ros) for a picnic lunch and we drove to the museum. As we now had sunshine and clear blue skies we decided to have a wander through the winter gardens before going in to see the photography exhibition. While there, we sat in the sun and had a chat with Claire:

We thoroughly enjoyed the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, direct from the Natural History Museum in London, which was not a surprise. We found a bench outside to have our picnic lunch, and even though the sun was lovely and the view over to Rangitoto was grand, the chilly breeze didn’t encourage lingering.

Arriving home meant pot of tea and birthday cake. Yum. After getting the laundry in we collected Stella and drove up to Mairangi Bay to meet Steve, Ros, Paul, Jenny, Clem and Pat for dinner at Montrose. We had the place to ourselves, ate wonderful food, and really enjoyed being back together again for the first time since Christmas. The staff helped us enjoy the chocolate cake that Nicky had made to celebrate both Steve’s and my birthdays as we had not celebrated Steve’s duding lockdown.

It was a day of great company, lovely food, and gorgeous sunshine.

The rest of the week has been much more routine. We started with a Public Holiday to mark the Queen’s Birthday, and even though there was some rain around, we wandered down to the beach to get some air. We have played Rummy-O or Mah Jong every day, cooked, cleaned and done laundry and juggled with the showery weather. Nicky had her crown fitted at the dentist, and I have had a little work and done one on-site job.

Mary from quilting called in with her daughter, who is currently caring for her, as Mary broke her last arm in three places last week. Paul and his mum Daphne popped over this afternoon and ended staying for a couple hours to consume mugs of tea.

Nicky Scrabbled yesterday afternoon at Stella’s while I continued with the jigsaw which we started after breakfast, and made a walnut and date beer loaf. Church and Karekare consumed the morning for us today, and we have just has omelette’s and beer bread for tea. Pat has introduced us to a variety of peanut butter we we haven’t had before, and it is rather good (until it gets to the waistline).

Take care, Rick