Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 We have turned a seasonal corner this week with the winter solstice. The shortest day brought us just eight and a half hours of daylight, and our 38th wedding anniversary. When Clem and Pat came and stayed with us last year they gave us the money for a High Tea at Bushy Park. This is an Edwardian homestead now operating as a bed and breakfast and function venue, and is about a 30 minute drive from us. It’s grounds are operated by Forest & Bird and it is a predator-free area with paths and walks. We didn’t manage to have a High Tea there for Nicky’s birthday, due to confusion with the booking, so we tried again (this time successfully) for our anniversary. Our booking was for Wednesday, as Nicky staffs the Aramoho Community Library on Thursdays, our actual anniversary day. After a quick early morning trip to the dentists for a post-crown fitting checkup, we assembled a picnic lunch and drove to Bushy Park. We had a couple of hours to enjoy some of the walks and views before having

When this week began I thought our “busy” period was over. Covid had clobbered us, just as my season on the paddle steamer came to end, Helen from Auckland stayed a couple of nights, Claire came up from Dunedin and stayed a few nights, then we had a few nights in Raumati. Winter was beginning and we were heading for some P&Q. How busy could it be… Nicky slipped back into her usual routine commitments; vestry cleaning, home group, and staffing the Aramoho Community library. After vestry on Monday she did lots of errands in town, returning mid afternoon and having snooze in the Room of Requirement. Wednesday was two visits to the dentist to have crowns three and four fitted. The morning appointment went fine, but the afternoon one was a much more difficult and three hours longer experience than expected. She required much more anaesthetic and still has some swelling in her jaw and gums today. She will be back to the dentist again this week for a post-treatment assessment.   Nicky inv

 We began the week with a Public Holiday to mark the King’s Official birthday in NZ. Being retired/semi-retired et al, this didn’t actually make much difference to us. Nicky still went off to do the vestry cleaning at church, and I did some MacOnSite work remotely with a customer in Auckland. The weather was chilly, but drier than expected so laundry was also done. The afternoon was consumed with snoozing (we both still feel the need post-Covid), planting and ironing. We managed a bit of telly after dinner. Our new home was officially finished (as far as we are concerned) almost two years ago on 18th June. We had planned to treat ourselves to a few days away in Raumati in order to celebrate. Nicky has maintained her PSA Membership as a retired member, and their closest holiday homes are in Raumati on the Kapiti Coast north of Wellington. We stayed there 5 years ago and were very taken with the place.   In our drive home (5 years ago, via New Plymouth) we stopped for lunch at Virginia L

 We have had the best week of the year, even though we are not quite halfway through the year. Claire has been to visit. We hadn’t seen her since Christmas 2019 when she joined the family for Christmas when Felicity came over from the UK. Covid and work had made finding a suitable date challenging. We collected her from Palmerston North airport early on Wednesday afternoon. We got there shortly after her plane landed. We had called into a shoe shop in Marton which had been recommended to Nicky for repairs, only to find out that they no longer did repairs. Palmy airport turned out out to be a small bijou affair, and I was rather surprised when we left, about 15 minutes after arriving, to be charged only $3 for the parking. After giving Claire a tour of our home and dinner of brassica delight followed by lemon curd cheesecake, we set about doing a lovely Wentworth jigsaw that she had brought with her. This had been a birthday gift from my sister that Claire hadn’t got round to doing and