The lights go out over the fence

The Covid response lights have officially been switched off this week. Back in “the big lockdown of ’20” we were encouraged to put teddy bears in our windows to entertain folks walking by, getting what exercise they could. In “the big lockdown of ’21” we were encouraged to put our fairy lights up for the entertainment and cheering of passers-by, and we did. The white indoor ones went up in the roof of the car port, and the new outdoor multicoloured ones were draped along the front fence. I was going to turn them off when we got back to level one, but as we may go straight from level two to red, amber or green, thus not passing through level one (and not collecting £200 as we do so) the plan has changed. They have been turned off this week, the multicolour ones to the front garden, and they will be turned on again when they can be used as Christmas lights (there may be consultation required to agree when this is). Nicky likes them lit from the first Sunday in Advent, and not turned off until the Feast of the Epiphany.

Nicky has had quite a busy week. Yesterday was the annual Church Fair and she had volunteered to help. She was tasked with serving on the Succulents Stall in the plant sale section, but also helped with setting up on Friday, and spent much time on Thursday evening making 100+ biscuits. She also had her regular life group and Alpha meetings, a hair appointment and a blood test. In the garden she has been hacking through the vegetation to start marking out the outer path, with which she intends to sow Dichondra repens, also known as Mercury Bay Grass. Following the Fair, she has also been positioning all the plants she bought, around the garden.

I have had a reasonable amount of MacOnSite work over the week as a whole, and also enjoyed some time in the kitchen. We had Fiona from down the road coming for afternoon tea on Wednesday, so I made cream cheese and lemon curd tarts, and pork pies. The pork pies weren’t an entirely altruistic gesture. Back in July I bought some 11cm spring form cake tins for making small pies, but had not yet tried them out, so this seemed like a good excuse. They worked well and the pies were a good shape as well as tasing lovely. So I’m very pleased and might buy a couple more. The afternoon tea went well, as Fiona is lively company with strong opinions. I also cleaned the windows outside - third time this year! - and had an enjoyable FaceTime chat with Jancis in Loughborough.

The weather has been changeable this week, to put it diplomatically. We have gone from chilly starts and chilling southerlies, to shorts and sunshine for today.

After dropping Nicky of at church on Friday to help with the fair, I stopped to watch the re-floating of the paddle steamer, Waimarie, at high tide. Unfortunately, due to technical problems with the slipway, it didn’t happen. They didn’t even bother trying on Saturday, and I haven’t been down today to see what’s happening. So, she may well still be high and dry:

Take care, Rick and Nicky.