Enjoying the sun

The weather has started to get a little more autumnal this week, with some lower temperatures at the beginning and end of the day, some rain, and a major storm pre-breakfast on Saturday. There have also been good periods of sunshine and we have really appreciated the solar gain from our north facing windows in the living area. When Frances called in on Wednesday afternoon she commented on the warmth of our home, especially with there being a cool south westerly edge to the wind. We are also really interested to see where the sun is now falling in the house as the season progresses. The late afternoon sun has been giving us some lovely views from the back of the house:

A couple more steps in the right direction have been made this week. On Monday and Tuesday the external work for the fibre broadband connection was completed. We now have a very thin wire coming out of the conduit on the north-east corner of the house. Late on Thursday (after 6pm) Reagan called in from Total Windows and fixed the sewing room ranch slider. It had been very difficult to get it moving when opening, but once it was open a few inches it was fine. He discovered that the problem was being caused by the flooring edging strip, which was a bit higher just where the middle section of the window is located. An adjustment to the window so that it no longer catches the strip resolved the problem. He also adjusted the handle on the downstairs loo (now renamed the Map Room) window to make it easier to operate.

Our focus with the house has been continuing unpacking boxes from the sewing room. Nicky has now got all the books onto the metal shelves, and I have put all the photos and photo albums onto the Ikea Ivar shelving in the living area. Nicky is now working on the boxes of things from her desk, and the sewing room is starting to look much better. There is now sufficient visual space to start considering furniture location.

Outside Nicky has continued to make progress in the wilderness, planting nikau palms, a ponga and lancewoods after clearing space. I attempted further “water management” measures to try and keep any grit or soil moved by the rain on our section and off Jacqui’s next door. We have also accepted a fencing quote this week, provided by Simon up the road. He isn’t sure when they will be able to start, but we are hoping it will be finished before the spring, being erected in stages.

I have had a couple of trips down to the Yellow House Café to do some work, and had my first Wanganui blood test on Tuesday. I think the medical centre has now received my records from Auckland.

Nicky went off to a Women’s Breakfast on Saturday morning, then later in the day we started preparing for our dinner guests. Dorothy (83) and her daughter Kim (same age as me) are also building a home in Whanganui and hope to move in next month. They have moved here because of Kim’s work. We have a mutual friend - Maria of Deep and Meaningful fame. We produced chicken wrapped in bacon and a range of desserts, exchanged building anecdotes (it really is like having children) and had a very enjoyable evening. By the time we had finished clearing up it was almost time for the TV coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, so Nicky stayed up and watched it.

Today church was at St Johns (In-The-Roses) for Nicky. So in expectation of lunch in town following the service, as she left in the car I started walking into town. I have been wanting to do this to see how long it would take how how tiring it was. It took me 85 minutes to do this 6.5km to The Brick House, and with going at a steady pace it wasn’t too exhausting. We enjoyed our lunch (steak for N, squid and bacon salad for me) and the conversation. We had a few hands of mah jong this afternoon followed by hot cross buns for tea. It’s a tough life at times!

Take care, Rick