Easter

 Steve continued his convalescing with us at the beginning of the week, and continued to improve each day. He decided to start the journey home on Tuesday by driving to Te Kuiti. As Monday was going to be his last evening with us he provided another take-away dinner from the Spice Guru, which we enjoyed as much as the previous one. Steve and I were a little early collecting it, so while we were waiting I was having a look at the buildings at the bottom end of Victoria Avenue and spotted this:

I think Whanganui rivals Napier for the quality of its Art Deco architecture. Before Steve left on Tuesday morning, he and Nicky went to the Splash Centre to have a wallow in the thermal pool. This had been recommended by Nicky’s physio when she had seen her on Monday. Nicky had a short swim too and they both enjoyed their time. We were very pleased that Steve felt sufficiently recovered to start his journey home, as it was not good seeing him in as much pain, as when he first arrived. It was good just having a quiet time with him for a good length of time.

Nicky and I have had a couple of evening ambles, taking advantage of the mild evening temperatures and the lovely light. We planned to see Wicked Little Letters at the cinema on Tuesday with a couple of friends of Nicky’s. However, when we got to the cinema (Nicky’s friends having already arrived) we discovered that there was only one seat left in the lounge theatre where it was being shown. I insisted that Nicky have the seat and they all enjoyed the film. I will get to see it sometime in the future. Nicky really enjoyed the humour.

We came 5th at the quiz this week with 96 points. The music round was our downfall. There was some rain on Thursday while I was sailing, but we parked the boat in lovely sunshine. I picked up Nicky from the Aramoho Library after her regular staffing duty. She went to Christ Church in the evening for the Maundy Thursday foot washing service.

Friday morning sailing was cancelled, just as we finished preparing the boat. A tour group who were the bulk of the passengers pulled out. The day had started very wet but by the time we would have departed it was sunny and getting warmer. Nicky and I had an amble in the afternoon and called in on Mark and Krystyna up the road for a catch up. In the small hours of the morning Nicky was able to have a brief chat with Felicity and David as he helped her transition to Knellwood. We really hope that Felicity is happy there, and we anticipate her to be well looked after.

Over the weekend I have had four sailings, and Nicky has done laundry and gardening. Sue came home with Nicky after church today for a lunch of beans on toast and a bit of a walk. Sue’s hip is giving her quite a bit of arthritic pain so they didn’t walk far.

Frances (Mrs Egg) came for dinner. We hadn’t seen her for ages, partially it transpires because she had been really unwell with a virus for three weeks. It was great to have some time with her and enjoy the cheese soufflé which Nicky made, followed by hot cross buns and Easter chocolate. We have had quite a few HCBs this week.

The weather has been sunny much of the week, but quite windy at the beginning. The dogwood is changing colour and as we come to the end of March it is definitely more autumnal.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.