Lunching and Fencing

Many of you will already be aware, we had a disappointing start to the week with England losing the Euro 2021 final on penalties. We had got up early to go into town to watch the game, with it not been shown on terrestrial TV. We had found a sports bar that would be open and arrived there about 10 minutes into the game, with England already 1-0 up. The bar didn’t serve hot drinks or food so Nicky went to a café round the corner and bought tea and mince on toast for us. Very Kiwi second breakfast (for me anyway). As the game drew to a close we had a very good conversation with a couple who live on Durie Hill, exchanging house building anecdotes.

The weather was sunny, but cold, as we left the bar and headed up the road to the supermarkets. We were expecting Milly and the youngest five Hanlon off-spring for lunch, and they arrived about 40 minutes after we got home. Things were quite hectic during the production of lunch, but it was great to see them. They were on their way to Awakino for a few days with Kim, Sean, Tai and James, with it being the school holidays. We spent the afternoon tidying up, and enjoying the sunshine and the different type of day. After lobs for tea, we watched an Australian series called Upright, a “comedy” about a man transporting an upright piano from Sydney to Perth. We warmed to it and enjoyed the episodes.

The Hanlon’s called in for lunch again on Friday on their way home, and we were much better organised this time. Nicky had made French onion soup and breads which were enjoyed by most.

Tuesday and Wednesday were fencing days, with Lake and Kane completing everything that they could. The eastern boundary isn’t quite finished (some more to add at the south end) but overall we think it looks very good. Unfortunately our neighbour Jacqui (who has made a financial contribution) isn’t so happy, especially with some of the large gaps at the bottom of some of the panels, and that some of the sections exceed the 2m height limit. So, we are going to have to arrange a meeting with Simon (owner of the contracting company) to discuss where we go from here.

Jacqui was also upset by the amount of material that washed onto her section under the fence from our section. The rain and wind on Friday and Saturday nights was torrential and strong, causing major flooding in some parts of the country. We hope to prevent this in the future by blocking the gaps under the fencing, and digging a trench to guide water flow away from Jacqui’s property.

I have done some remote support for some of my customers through the week, and one even came to see me on Saturday (she is visiting her mother who lives half an hour’s drive away). Nicky had a church Women’s Breakfast on Saturday morning and also called into Murray’s Emporium to buy some bias binding. In the afternoon we did another house tour for a couple who knocked on the door wanting to know who had built our home. I made lasagne for dinner and we watched the last episode of The Bay… another whodunit series we’ve enjoyed.

This morning Nicky went to church at St John’s (in-the-roses) and I walked into town to meet her for lunch at the Brick House with many of the St John’s congregation. After a pot of tea on our return home we tried to help prevent further washing of debris onto Jacqui’s section by digging a trench to try and control the flow of the water, and filling some of the parts of the gaps with discarded wood from our collection. We are hopeful that we can solve the problems soon.

Take care, Rick