Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

We have had a number of significant events this week, but the highlight has to be Paul and Jenny’s visit. They arrived on Wednesday afternoon in time for a cuppa and cake (choice of Austrian Coffee cake or Lemon and Poppyseed). Once revived Paul and Jenny had a tour of the garden before we got down to the serious business of dinner (lasagne) and a good chat. They departed for their accommodation at the Top 10 Whanganui River Holiday Park later in the evening. On Thursday Nicky was staffing the Aramoho Library, I had booked Luna in for her annual service and warrant of fitness, and it was raining. Nicky was up early making vegetable soup and focaccia for lunch. I took Luna into the Suzuki garage and Paul and Jenny drove into town and collected me. We parked down by the river and had a gentle stroll into town and up Victoria Avenue to Thistles Sweet shop. Even though the rain was easing we headed for the museum next and had an enjoyable couple of hours. Coffee was required next. Article ...

 As you are probably well aware Dear Reader, the FIFA Women’s World Cup started this week. It is being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the NZ team got off to a brilliant start by winning their opening game. In addition, they played with energy and enthusiasm, which is more than can be said for the English team in their first match. In order to keep ourselves up to date with the current situation, we printed out an A3 wall chart which I found on the internet. Nicky fills it in because her writing is readable. Another regular event also started this week: Alpha. Nicky is on kitchen duty for the duration of the 10 week course. Her Tuesday morning Te Reo Maori class didn’t run again this week, but Tuesday afternoon Home Group was meeting after again after a break for the July school holidays. On Wednesday we went into town to meet up with Chris, the Galley Manager on the Waimarie river paddle steamer, for a cuppa and a catch up. It was good to see her. In the afternoon...

 For some reason or other, I think one of us has vacuumed every day this week. It’s very easy to see crumbs and dust on the hard floor, and very easy to vacuum. We have also had a number of visitors, which is my usual motivation! Sue and Yvonne were booked to come round for morning tea on Monday. They arrived shortly before Nicky returned from vestry duty cleaning at church. Christine and her daughter Blaire who had been cleaning too, came with her. The six of us shifted a quantity of sandwiches and scones, and put the world to rights by lunchtime. On Friday evening, our neighbours Elaine, Mark and Jacqui (who still owns the section next to us) came round for tea and cake. I made an orange rice cake (from a recipe in the newspaper) which was interesting, but disappointingly bland. Mark has been travelling abroad a great deal with his work this year. It was good to hear about his experiences. Today, Wallace and Joy came round for afternoon tea and to watch the four Wallace and Gromi...

 Exciting is a word that could be used to describe this week. However, enjoyable, occasionally damp, and very windy at the beginning, would be a more accurate way of putting it. Valda (friend from Auckland) and Erica (fellow Christ Church parishioner) who also happen to know each other, came round for afternoon tea on Monday. We hadn’t known that Valda was visiting her son, until Nicky was at church on Sunday. It was great to catch up and share smoked salmon, sandwiches and scones with them. We hosted Nicky’s Home Group for an afternoon tea social on Tuesday. A good selection of food was enjoyed by the ten of us. News and views were exchanged. We enjoyed the leftovers with some soup for dinner. Wednesday was a “free” day. While I raided the supermarkets Nicky tackled laundry and gardening. We had an after lunch trip to the pharmacy in Gonville and Mitre 10. Both our airing racks have suffered damage by being blown over, so replacements are required. We finished the day by helping o...

 In the last third of 2019 when we were designing our new home with the help of the folks at BuildTech, we planned to use the ranch sliders at the north end of the lounge for our “indoor/outdoor” flow. When we moved in on January 1st 2021 we did just that, but not for long. With having no planted front garden or fence at the time, there was dust blowing in and much noise from the road. Using the north patio was also problematic as it was either too hot or too windy. We quickly switched to using the other ranch sliders for exterior access and to get a cooling breeze through our home. When our furniture arrived in February, we soon found that having the sofa in front of the lounge ranch sliders gave us a lovely view through our home and to the hills on the other side of the river. Our restricted access to the lounge ranch sliders wasn’t a problem. When the rubbish summer weather this year, turned to the lovely autumn weather and “milder than it should be” winter weather of late, we s...