Much shopping in the wind

 It has been a different sort of week. Setting off early (for us) from Stella’s on Monday, we headed home directly, instead of via Lava Glass near Taupo as planned. This was because we now had a visitor arriving on Monday evening and needed to get the Room of Requirement ready for her. We arrived home shortly before Bradley corralled four complete strangers and Chased them. 

A little while ago we had come up with a Baldrick-style cunning plan for organising the Room of Requirement for paying (hopefully) guests. The single divan bed that Jancis gave us, usually sits underneath the two library tables, which were liberated from the Sutton Bonningnton campus library. Just. The tables are very heavy and really beyond person-handling by Nicky and I. The bed fits snuggly under the tables, so I took off two of the legs and let the table top gently rest on the bed. Then, Nicky and I were able to slide it onto the top of the other table. I removed the remaining two legs and the table top slid all the way onto the other table as they are the same size. The bed was then extracted and we set it up. We were very pleased that this plan worked and was pretty straight forward to implement. We also felt the furniture re-arrangement was quite pleasing:

Helen arrived around 8pm after a long drive, and consumed soup and cheese and crackers. On Tuesday morning she departed for Paraparaumu and then onto the event she was attending at Parliament in the evening. She retuned to us on Thursday, arriving in time for vegetable curry for dinner. Helen is a big fan of op shops, of which Whanganui has twenty-one, so even though Friday was windy with some heavy showers, she and Nicky headed into town after I had done a quick supermarket shop. They both enjoyed themselves greatly but returned home late afternoon chilled to the bone. We had warming roast veg for dinner. I took Helen down to the riverside market on Saturday morning but only about 5% of the stalls were there due to the forecast of very windy weather (which was about right). I collected her from town later after she had visited some more op shops, and on the way home we called into the last on her list, the Salvation Army Family Store. As soon as we walked in I spotted a lovey piece of wood which I thought would make an excellent replacement tea pot stand. I wasn’t sure if Nicky would agree, but for $3 I thought I would risk it, and it turned out she liked it too. We had a bite to eat, a brief visit from Frances, and then went over to Castlecliff as the sun was setting. We had planned a walk along the beach, but the wind was so strong and blowing sand everywhere that we quickly changed our minds. Parking higher up in another car park to see the view, Nicky and Helen got out of the car and almost immediately the wind pinched Nicky’s scarf. Fortunately Helen rescued it, but had gone quite away across the playground. We returned home for omelettes.

Nicky’s diverticulitis started troubling her again on Friday and she had a poor night. She slept better last night, but we have both been very jaded today. I was up until after midnight talking with Helen about technology and starting a business. We played lots of games in the evenings and had some great conversations while she has been staying with us. Helen has been a very easy house guest.

Nicky didn’t go to church today, as she was so tired but tried to watch it on YouTube when the screen didn’t freeze. To accommodate Helen’s gluten intolerance, Nicky made Ruapehu Scones (rice flour and oats that looked a little like snowballs) before Helen left for her journey to Waiouru and Turangi, but forgot to put in salt and raising agents! She made a large macaroni cheese this afternoon, for a local family in need of some assistance. I did some strimming before the grass got too wet.

On Tuesday I had my “feedback” consultation with the dentist. There is quite a lot of maintenance work that I need to have done which is going to be expensive, but nothing is urgent as I currently have no decay, which is good. Stella gave us a 500g packet of deli ham, ideal for use in sandwiches, but I didn’t think we’d get through it that way, as we rarely have sandwiches. I came up with an alternative strategy: ham and egg pie. Nicky suggested adding some peas, and for sauce I put in a packet of mascarpone. I made it on Wednesday afternoon, and used the spare pastry for a small apple, sultana and cinnamon pie. Just before I put the pies in the oven Frances (Mrs Egg) called in with apples and eggs for us, and we persuaded her to stay for dinner (she’s a sucker for custard so it wasn’t too difficult). The ham, egg and pea pie turned out very well, and repetition has been requested. Thanks to Stella for widening my cooking repertoire!

Nicky hasn’t had much time in the garden, largely due to the weather. Her fours hours at the local library had no borrowers but lots of reading - the ideal librarians job! I have had a little work and done lots of cooking. Between us laundry has been washed, dried and ironed.

The weather has turned stormy over the last few days, with some very strong winds and heavy showers. We have had no leaves deposited on the path by the dinning area ranch sliders (usually their favourite spot) for a couple of days. I assume this is because the strong winds have stripped the trees completely. The view through the trees to our eastern neighbours is certainly much clearer:

It has been good to feel cosy, warm and dry in our own home.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.