Medal winners

The big event in Wanganui this week has been the World Masters Games - Olympics for the Oldies. Our friends Fay and Ivan have come up from Christchurch to participate, so we have been able to have them over for dinner a couple of times which has been good. Nicky had lunch out with them on Thursday while I waited for the electricians to arrive. They have also won some medals which is very good (mainly tennis and swimming).

On the house front, the major progress has been with Pace Modular coming on Wednesday. They completed the fitting out of the walk-in wardrobe. This enabled us to empty five boxes of hanging garments and our two big suitcases. Pace also fitted the kick boards in the kitchen which makes it look very neat, and started on the step-drawer and integrated fridge/freezer. Both proved to be a challenge and are not quite finished yet, but the fridge is in its cabinet so we had a big empty space appear in the living area. This was filled yesterday with some of our IKEA dining room furniture which we still need to store some crockery and glassware. Pace also repaired a small dent in the big worktop which we hadn’t asked about but they had spotted and just got on and fixed it. The most exciting thing for me was to finally have the two shelves for the tea & coffee making area, so that we could finally put the tea pot, coffee pots, mugs and tea and coffee where I want them. They all fit under the instant hot water tap and small sink and I am very pleased how it has worked out.

The electricians had less success. They didn’t want to take the integral fridge/freezer out of the cabinet to fix the power supply issue - they want Pace Modular to be here at the same time as them in order to do it. They didn’t fit the range hood because it was damaged and needs to be replaced. They didn’t fit the TV aerial because they couldn’t get a signal. They didn’t fit the heated towel rail because it hasn’t arrived yet. They did put two lights up in the car port which was a surprise but we like them very much. They also installed the uplighter above the fridge which I had requested, and it is great.

In another move away from being a building site, the outside loo was collected on Friday. It has improved the view.

Unpacking has been our primary focus. I took most of the boxes out of the sewing/box room on Monday and sorted them into categories so that we had a better idea of how much progress we had made. This enabled us to unpack the remaining kitchen and dining equipment, and today we have spent a few hours re-organising the kitchen now that we can see everything. It still might not be the way we want it to stay, but is a great improvement over what we had. 

We have found that finally having a vacuum cleaner has really improved the effectiveness of cleaning the floor, which is like vinyl planking. Games and jigsaws have been unpacked, and some games have been played. The sense of normality is good, because I still feel the whole thing is a bit surreal. Cooking has helped. On Thursday I made my first pie here - bacon and egg. Yesterday Nicky made stuffed marrows for diner (given to us by our neighbours/vendors). The kitchen is just lovely to work in, and yesterday I gave a helping hand with the marrows and the two of us working together in the space was great, and we didn’t really get in each other’s way. The outcome of the kitchen design has been a concern for me for so long that it is gratifying to find that it actually works well. It is such an important part of the house.

Nicky has continued pressing buttons on the washing machine and giving the wilderness hard stares while wielding the spade. The shed is slowly coming along. I have also done a reasonable amount of work, though most of it has been with one customer who is particularly challenging to work with, so I have found that quite stressful.

Our bedroom is tidy and calm and we have had some lovely sunsets and very rewarding early morning views. We are very lucky, and are still counting our blessings.

Take care, Rick