Kick Off

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 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 Nicky went hospital visiting for Whanganui Anglicans. We quizzed in the evening coming 5th this time, as we didn’t have Tiana with us.


While Nicky was volunteering at the Aramoho Library on Thursday, I had an appointment at the Medical Centre to have a couple of suspicious lesions removed. They were both on my back so difficult for me to monitor and Dr Holt felt it would be a good idea if they were removed. The first 24 hours after the surgery were quite painful as the local anaesthetic wore off. The stitches and dressings make movements (such as bending) difficult. I was told to avoid such things, if possible, along with not getting them wet. One is just above the waistband of my trousers and was bleeding a little. Nicky changed the dressing for me on Friday evening and I was much more comfortable. I’m taking pain killers which is helping, and things are getting better each day. However I’m still grouchier than usual, so Nicky is suffering with me. Luckily for me she largely ignores me! The stitches need to be in for three weeks because of my skin being slow to heal.


We have attended a couple of interesting talks this week. On Friday  lunchtime we went to the Whanganui Museum where some nineteenth century photographs by local portrait photographer William Harding have been recovered and re-printed. He set up his studio in Whanganui in the late 1800’s and they are currently being exhibited. They were particularly interesting because he was a warts and all photographer of people. On Saturday evening we attended an astronomy lecture, next door at the Davis Theatre on extreme cosmic cataclysms. Basically, it was about the different kinds of novae, and well presented by Dr Ryan Ridden of Canterbury University.


Today Nicky had a good morning at church and a hospitality team meeting this afternoon. Since my minor surgery on Thursday I have not been doing my morning exercises because of the stretching that is required, so I have been having a walk every day instead, including today.


Our weather has been mainly dry but some of the strong winds have been southerly and cold. The fernery doesn’t get much sunshine because of its position, and I suspect they enjoy it, but the shade isn’t very conducive to a good photograph. I managed to catch them getting a bit of sun on Thursday:



Take care, Rick and Nicky.

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