Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

  Apart from a couple of foggy starts, which didn’t last for long, we have had another week of mainly sunshine. It has been cooler and there has been a southerly breeze much of the time, but it has still been hot mid-afternoon and we have continued using the southern patios. The weather has enabled Nicky to spend much time in the garden, but she is finding the Council’s water conservation request challenging, as she has not been watering the garden. The power supply to the pumps at one of the bores that supplies Whanganui failed during the recent storms, so it is only running at 50% capacity. She has also had a Friends of St John meeting, and Seniors Lunch and Life Group. I have had a reasonable week with work, setting up a new Mac remotely and doing some other troubleshooting jobs. I have also helped Lyn across the road move three freezers, a bed, and assembled some shelving for her. My new hat arrived on Monday and has been pressed into service already. On Wednesday we had the pl...

We were buying by the scoop on Friday - one scoop of chips to go with our two fish for dinner, and three scoops of bark for the back garden, delivered on Saturday morning. The scoops, obviously, are different sizes, but I was amused by the use of the same term in such different contexts. This week has been similar in pattern to the last two. A cool Monday morning followed by increasingly warm and sunny weather through the week, culminating in rain and a reduction in temperature this morning. The differences have been that it has not been quite as hot (mid to high 20’s) and we had much less rain this morning, which was then followed by another sunny day. As a result of the similar weather pattern, we have had a similar activity pattern. Nicky has been planting and putting down edging in the back garden (the native garden) and I have been continuing to dig the trench for the retaining wall. Reading and reclining have occupied the warmer parts of the days on the whole. I have done a ...

The cooler temperatures of last Sunday continued into Monday morning, a public holiday for Waitangi Day (observed). By lunchtime we were back in shorts as the rain stopped and the sun came out. We hit 32º again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday started with some fog, and by mid-afternoon it was 34º and little or no clothes were being worn again. We spent most of our time outside reading in the shade and finished the day with another enjoyable sunset. The rain returned in patches on Friday morning, and then in earnest late in the afternoon. Saturday morning was still, warm and humid. I opened the ranch sliders at the front to let some cool air in while we had breakfast, and it was lovely listening to the rain gently fall.  It got heavier in the afternoon and has continued again today, but the southerly wind has driven the rain at 45 degrees and dropped the temperature significantly. Nicky said it was 15 degrees returning from church. We have had our first week of the year with ...

It has been a hot week, getting warmer from Monday onwards and culminating in an official 32.6ºC on Friday: Recently, Barry Cryer died, one of the team of “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue” on BBC Radio 4. One of my fond memories of him is durning the “Alternative Headlines” round, where they had to suggest headlines that modern newspapers might use if they had been in existence during in historic events. Barry came up with Phew! What a scorcher! for The Sun reporting on the Great Fire of London. Monday was warm, in the high 20’s, but as the week progressed it got hotter and hotter, finally reaching Fridays’ record breaking temperature. It even felt too hot in the shade on our south east patio, so I have spent most of the week not wearing clothes and we had really enjoyed using the air conditioning from early afternoon onwards to keep the house as cool as possible. The temperatures have determined what outside work we have done and when. I have finished washing the house, and Nicky has...