Bumper to bumper and wall to wall

We have been on the telly box this week. Not Nicky and I, but Whanganui. It seems that people in TV land the world over have difficulty in filling the slot after the main news. Here in NZ on TV1 we have Seven Sharp, a light look at news and events. The congestion on the Dublin Street bridge here in Whanganui was an item on Seven Sharp this week (along with the Whanganui Chronicle for a couple of days). The problem appears to stem from the fact that the population of the “Paris of the North Island”, as the reporter described the town, has grown by 5,000 over the last few years, all moving from Tauranga and Auckland apparently. It is the Dublin Street bridge that most people in East Whanganui want to use to get over the river, especially in the morning. This is not something we we have actually encountered for a number of reasons: 1) we don’t get up that early; 2) we can get into town without using the bridge junction; and 3) we live on “this” side of the river already. All the same, it was fun seeing where we now live on the telly.

The weather has been keeping us entertained as well this week. We started out wearing shorts due temperatures in the 20’s, and having breakfast alfresco. Friday morning was clear though and it was only 2º when I was making the first pot of tea of the day, hence the frost:

Even though the air was cool the sun was still warm so I did the supermarket shopping in my shorts. We are watching with interest how the position and angle of the sun is changing. Today, for the first time, we literally had wall to wall sunshine: from the ranch sliders at the north end of the living area to the bedroom carpet, at the south end of the living area:

By the time we get to the equinox it will probably be quite a way into the bedroom.

Earlier in the week my sister emailed me with a couple of questions: are we more likely to get snow here than in Auckland due to the mountains, and can we see any of the mountains? The answer to both, it turned out, is yes. Mr Google revealed that it has snowed twice in Whanganui recently - 2011 and 1974. In terms of mountains, driving about 15 minutes out of town to the west starts to reveal views of Mt Taranaki, and from the Metropolitan bridge on a clear day it is possible to see Mt Ruapehu. To confirm this, on Friday afternoon we had a trip out to a wholesale nursery which was very useful, took some pictures of Tīramaroa from across the river, and then walked along the Metropolitan bridge, and enjoyed the views:

We also revisited my 60th birthday this week. Due to indecision on my part and not being sure about cash flow with the build on the fiscal part, Nicky had not been able to purchase something “special” for my significant anniversary. Last week I finally decided what I wanted and ordered them. They arrived this week: metal birds. They are made in NZ of Corten steel, and I chose a Kea and a Fantail:

We are very pleased with them.

I have had a reasonable amount of paid work this week, and we have both been working in the garden. Nicky has been moving the berm poppies to the the front garden, and also some lilies into the fernery beside south eastern patio and planter beside the driveway. I have been clearing the haha trench of noxious weeds and thistles. Unfortunately I also dug up a thistle from the garden and didn’t concentrate on my posture and my back has been complaining ever since. It is starting to ease today. Nicky has had trips out to her Bible Study group and to a telephone Prayer Chain introduction.

We started a jigsaw on Friday evening after having fish fingers for dinner as a treat! (blame Nigella Lawson) because the forecast was for a wet weekend. It has been better weather than expected, but both of us are suffering with a bit of a bug, so having a quiet weekend puzzling has been good.

Take care, Rick