Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 I have to start with the highlight of our week: Bruce and Wendy’s visit. While over here from Salt Spring Island they had a trip down to Wellington and called into Whanganui on the way back. They stayed at the Top 10 Whanganui River Holiday Park just up the road from us, for three nights, so we were able to enjoy as much of their company as possible. Monday dawned cool and clear and soon turned warm and sunny. Bruce, Wendy and Nicky came for a ride on the Waimarie paddle steamer, while while I did my usual things with ropes and pigeons. After lunch at our place, snoozing at respective domiciles was followed by food preparation (salads to go with the steak) and dinner.   We had previously invited Mark and Krystina from across the road for an adult games evening, so we had six for Triominos and Scrabble. It was almost midnight before we got to bed. With Tuesday being my day off, Bruce and Wendy joined us for breakfast, bringing avocados with them to go with poached eggs and toast. We pa

 The week began with us bracing for the cyclone Gabrielle, and finished with hot sunny days. Such a contrast. The air on Monday felt different, a distinct sense of the calm before the storm. Sailing for me was cancelled, so I attacked the back garden with the line trimmer, and cleaned the floor of the shower. Nicky went to church to clean brass and do vestry management. Steady rain started in the morning and gradually got heavier throughout the day. We started a jigsaw and watched the concluding episodes of Happy Valley series 3 and Line of Duty series 6. Both were excellent. The rain on Tuesday morning was still quite heavy, and it was light later than usual. In the afternoon the rain eased and the wind strengthened. I did some supermarket shopping and had a doctor’s appointment. I was prescribed some thicker drops for lubricating my eye and am being referred to the Eye Clinic. Some painkillers were also prescribed for my hand and I was given a form for an ultrasound to investigate th

 Our weather this week has been much more settled, though we expect that to soon change with cyclone Gabrielle approaching. Most days have been warm and sunny, with just some odd bits of rain. None of my sailings have been cancelled, and I think today was my 100th outing. My steering still needs some practice as I don’t always get us through the bridges in a straight line, but I haven’t hit anything. We had an evening sailing yesterday, with a Country & Western singer performing on the boat. Along with doing the household chores, Nicky has started with brass cleaning and vestry supplies management this week. She also had her usual clutch of borrowers at the Aramoho Community Library. On Tuesday we went to lunch at Reba & Imail’s home for a home group social to mark the beginning of the new “season”. This turned out to be a major meal, with a wide range of dishes primarily prepared by the hosts, and desserts provided by the visitors (Nicky made a lovely fruit salad). We both nee

 It has been hot, sunny and wet this week, sometimes all at once. Nicky has worked in the garden as often as possible, but producing her final roster for St John’s has taken much of her time. She had a hairdressing appointment on Tuesday, and a meeting at church in the afternoon to go through Vestry Management. On Thursday she staffed the Community   Library and we reached 32ºC. In the early hours of Friday morning she was up, along with a number of others, to watch Reg’s funeral which was streamed from the UK. The pumpkin which Nicky planted a few weeks ago is now growing almost before our eyes, and the leaves are making quite a display against the fence: My sailings haver been curtailed this week. Monday was OK even though there was more water than usual in the river. Our Wednesday sailing was cancelled due to insufficient passengers. Our Saturday sailing was cancelled for safety, as the river was running very high and very fast with the rain coming down from the mountains. We had a