Challenges

 The combination of the news from England about Reg’s health and Nicky having a painful time with her diverticulitis has meant for a difficult week. I had a sailing on the Waimarie on Tuesday morning, and Nicky had a hair appointment so needed the car. When she came to collect me she started feeling quite wobbly and odd, so didn’t go to Home Group in the afternoon. She has spent most of the rest of the week dealing with the pain and the disrupted sleep.

On Wednesday Nicky felt the need for some fresh air so pottered in the garden and was well enough to go to church for a meeting in the evening. It was a lovely sunny day so I got some things done outside too and did some MacOnSite work in the evening.

Thursday brought the beginning of the rain, which is still with us most of the time. After Nicky had finished at the Community Library and I had made fish pie, we had afternoon tea in Fordell with Diane and John. They are of friends of Nicky’s from church and have a very large and ambling garden full of roses and lovely views. Morning tea at Fiona’s down the road, was our next commitment on Friday morning, and I also made pork pies.

We have been communicating with England much of the week. FaceTime with Jancis on Monday and various phone calls to Felicity later in the week. It helps to shorten the physical distance between us.

The rain on Friday afternoon was torrential, which made my two sailings this weekend quite different. Yesterday was sunny but the river was running very fast and strong. This meant we had to be much quicker and nimbler with the ropes when casting-off and mooring, and steering was much more difficult (though I wasn’t rostered onto the helm either day). We also had a wheelchair passenger whom we had to lift out of his chair so that he could disembark. This proved to be very difficult. 

Nicky took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to do some more laundry, but regular showers had her zipping up and down the garden while trying to get ready for our afternoon tea visitors. Kat and Israel, who are living in Palmerston North for awhile, have recently married and are expecting a daughter next year. They are always good company and yesterday was no exception. The sandwiches, pork pie and freshly made scones went down a treat. Nicky and I enjoyed a quiet evening recovering.

Sailing today was very wet, and the river was still running fast. We didn’t have many passengers, which made it easier to take cover. Nicky came home from church early as she was tearful. We had a gentle stroll up the road once the rain stopped. Tonight Nicky made a smoked salmon soufflé omelette from the Posh Eggs recipe book, which we both thoroughly enjoyed with toast.

Finally, an enjoyable experience for us this week has been observing a thrush nesting in the sweet peas. We saw a bird sitting on the eggs earlier in the week and were later able to identify the eggs:

We haven’t seen much of the thrush latterly but are watching at a distance.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.