Scoopology

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 bit of MacOnSite work, Nicky attended Life Group, and to celebrate St. Valentines Day, she made us a lovely citrus brioche. We had a trip into town on Friday for Nicky to collect a repeat prescription. While in the vicinity we called into Farmlands (our first visit) as I am in need of a new hat. The one I bought in Chester many years ago has done well, but is falling apart. They didn’t have what I wanted in the shop but the branch in Marton did, so it will be sent over this coming week. A visit to Mitre 10 replenished compost, potting mix and salt for the softener. I found being in the very warm garden section very difficult while wearing a mask. Along with been very tired from my earthmoving, we changed our dinner plans and ordered “2 fish and a scoop” from our favourite chippy when we got home. On the way home we called into Bark and Boulder and ordered the three scoops of bark. It is delivered on a dinky little truck.

Before yesterday morning’s bark delivery, Nicky started making a lemon birthday cake for Frances whom we had invited over for dinner. After the bark delivery, I cooked the rolled pork in bacon, boiled spuds for the spud salad, made apple sauce and lemon curd (for the cake). Later in the afternoon Nicky made coleslaw while I filled the cake with lemon curd and philly cheese. Frances was touched at the effort we had made and we had a lovely peaceful evening of eating and chatting.

Nicky stayed for a meeting after church this morning, but didn’t stay for the sausage sizzle as the queue was long and we are avoiding crowds and social events (what few there are) due to the very steep rise in Covid cases this week. This seems to be a very common approach among most folks in Whanganui.

As we continue to pass through a number of one year anniversaries, I was pleased to calculate this week that we are spending less on fuel (electricity and gas) to run Tiramaroa, than we did at Exminster Street. This has largely been achieved by switching to gas to heat our water, having an inverter to provide heat (as opposed to oil-filled column heaters), and double glazing to retain the heat (and make some free heat in the winter with solar gain).

An finally, a bit of colour from the front garden:

Take care, Rick and Nicky.