Pie Days (not salad)

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 It has been quite a week, as the week preceding Christmas often is.


The kitchen has been in great demand. I have made twenty four mince pies, eight 350g pork pies, four 350g Christmas pies, one 1.5kg pork pie, and a Christmas pudding. Nicky has made two more Christmas cakes, roasted a leg of lamb, parcelled up one of the cakes as twelve small Christmas gifts, and given cake or mince pies to our various delivery/collection people, when able to catch them.


The week had an exciting beginning with the World Cup Final. I was up early enough to watch it from part way through the second half, before starting on pie production.


The weather has been variable, with some heavy showers, so Nicky has been running in and out to deal with the laundry. She has also managed some time in the garden, especially on Wednesday, when she worked until it was too dark to see. It was also our longest day.


Wednesday also brought the very sad news that Reg had died. Nicky’s brother-in-law turned 100 recently and passed away peacefully at home. My predominant memories of him are from 40 years ago when Nicky and I first became an item. He was a quiet and kind man who will be greatly missed.


As the week has progressed it has got warmer and sunnier. I have noticed this particularly with the four sailings I have done on the paddle steamer. It rained however when Nicky was walking home from the Community Library on Thursday. A borrower who was driving by stopped, offered her an umbrella, and told her to keep it. Such is the way with Whanganui folk.


On Tuesday evening Mark and Elaine (next door but one) invited us and Jacqui (next door) over for nibbles at 5pm. These turned out to be quite substantial and required a number of glasses of wine to wash them down. As a result, it was nearly 9pm before we had finished setting the world to rights and returned home. The rain eased off and the sun was warm enough for us to enjoy their new deck:



Earlier in the week Nicky had spotted the rain drops forming on the flax flowers when it was raining…




…and one of the pink dahlias has flowered:



After I got home from work yesterday and had washed and changed, we drove to Christ Church for this year’s Drive-in Nativity Play. This was just as enjoyable as last year’s Drive In Nativity and was again delivered with humour and enthusiasm:



Nicky went to midnight mass last night, after we had spent some time in the evening putting up some more Christmas decorations. After breakfast this morning (croissants, scrambled egg and bacon) she also went to All Saint’s after a plea from Lee for assistance, but discovered during the service that she was redundant.


Many of you may recall that we knew we were going to move to New Zealand years before doing so in 2007. Christmas was a regular topic of conversation, and we looked forward to the prospect of Christmas lunch on the beach. We didn’t achieve this in Auckland, and the weather was too indifferent on Nicky’s birthday this year for a beach picnic. So, as we were not going up to Auckland for the family gathering due to my work commitments, we decided to have a Christmas picnic lunch on Castlecliff beach. To add to our enjoyment, Kat and Israel (who live in Palmerston North) joined us. They are always good company. After consuming our fill of a range of goodies, they went for a walk along the beach while Nicky read and I swam. 



They came back to our place for a cup of tea and Christmas cake, which was followed by lamb and salad sandwiches that Nicky had made, followed by Doritos and a dip which Nicky made, followed by Christmas pudding and custard. It was a lovely informal end to a very pleasant day. It was also a good way to mark our second anniversary of moving to Whanganui, even though we didn’t get to sleep in our new home for another week.


The result of all this, is quite mixed emotions. We are both tired, saddened by Reg’s death, but warmed by having had a good Christmas. I hope, all of you dear readers, that you too have had (or are having) a good Christmas, and that the New Year (which is when I will next write), is a happy and prosperous one for you.


Take care, Rick and Nicky.

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