Musical Chairs

 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 started to use the lounge ranch sliders for ventilation. The fence and the planting that Nicky has done in the front garden has stopped the dust blowing in (largely) and the fence also mitigates some of the traffic noise from the road. With the winter sun being quite low, Nicky started turning the sofa through 90º and putting it in front of the IKEA shelving, to access some shade. At the end of the afternoon we would move the sofa around again to be able to view the TV and access the drawers in the shelving. I realised that if I moved some of the shelves, raised the TV, moved the drawers, and put the things that we hardly ever access in the area that the sofa covers, we could have the sofa away from the ranch sliders on a regular basis. The weather forecast for Thursday was damp, so I set to, re-organising the shelves and moving the furniture to what I though was a suitable configuration. The weather turned out to be quite pleasant and sunny though the breeze was cool. On her return from the library Nicky was very pleased with the altered furniture arrangement. It gives us different views and the ability to use the ranch sliders on suitable days, so we are keeping it this way to see how it goes:

Nicky, being the gadabout that she is, has been out every day this week. Along with her regular commitments of vestry cleaning and the Aramoho Community Library hours, she made her first visit to a Castlecliff Te Reo Maori class. Called Ata Rangi at St Mark’s church hall, questionnaire rods and pictures are used. There is no writing. The learning of Te Reo Maori is done orally. On Wednesday afternoon, Nicky undertook her monthly hospital visiting duty. She attended the Whanganui Anglicans Vestry meeting on Tuesday evening and also enjoyed a fashion talk at the Whanganui Museum on Friday. We both joined the quiz team on Wednesday and due to the presence of other necessary members came first again, this time by 4 points. Four teams tied for second place. In-between her excursions, Nicky has been on gardening and laundry duty, both of which have been punctuated with rain.

I have had some time in the garden too, attacking some of the pioneering plants in the haha, and trenching. I had a little MacOnSite work to do, and quite an amount of flaky pastry to make for Nicky to use for mascarpone and damson curd tarts for a Bible Friends 20th Birthday celebration at church on Tuesday evening. 

I have visited the physio and optician again this week. My wrist is still improving, but now more slowly. The optician provided me with a second opinion of reassuring diagnosis and advice, and for a tenth of the cost of the first one at a different optician’s practice whom I saw in January. I had a half hour wait for some drops to dilute my pupils while at the opticians, so had coffee at the Ambrosia Café on Ridgeway and took this photo on my way back to the opticians:

Yesterday we had a gentle morning of laundry and baking. I had invited Phil and his wife Kristina over for a cuppa and a catch-up. Phil is the Waimarie river paddle steamer manager who retired at the end of the season. He had seen our home being built when sailing on the river and had mentioned that he would like to take a closer look some time if possible. Nicky made sultana and lemon scones. I made fruit bread, and prepared smoked salmon and Philly cheese on crackers. We had a lovely afternoon and it was great to be able to talk to Phil outside of the work environment. Nicky got on well with Kristina from the first.

Despite the predicted showers, today has been largely dry but very windy. The last two nights we have had strong southerly winds and some heavy showers. It is chilly. Nicky had a good morning at church this morning, while I did the trenching and then idled at home. I feel with some more practice I will get quite good at it. Idling that is. I’m already quite skilled at trenching. We are off to Mark and Krystyna’s across the road for dinner this evening, which is why I’m posting this early. I expect we will be jaded and stuffed on our return and looking forward to bed.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.