Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 We have had a quiet week at home, doing jigsaws and listening to Harry Potter. Nicky seemed to be getting better at the beginning of the week but it was short lived. As the week has drawn to a close she has actually started getting brighter and felt like doing some things round the house. Nicky got dressed for the first time this week on Friday to go to the hospital for a blood test, and we did a little shopping on the way home. Yesterday she made a couple of lemon cakes and delivered one to Eleanor for her birthday. Nicky found the few minutes walk there and back exhausting. Meanwhile, I gradually got worse through the week until Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday I ploughed through a whole box of 240 tissues, and most of a packet of throat lozenges. Paracetamol helped with the general aches and temperature fluctuations. This weekend is the first time I have done my morning exercises in over a week, and I even managed a short amble this morning in the lovely (almost spiring-like) suns

 It has been a challenging week. At the beginning of the week Nicky was still getting worse, so she arranged an appointment with the GP on Tuesday afternoon. The GP confirmed that Nicky had bronchitis and sinusitis, but that her chest sounded clear. With the infection being viral, there was no medication that could be prescribed, but some additional painkillers were in order to manage the symptoms and assist with the pain caused by congestion, coughing and vomiting. As the week progressed Nicky started to improve slowly. The periods of incessant coughing and coughing induced vomiting started to subside yesterday. She was able get a little more sleep and keep a little more food down. The washing machine has been very busy with regular changes of PJ’s, dressing gowns and bedding. Some of the laundry has been dried outside but the winter weather has deteriorated over the last couple of days. While Nicky has been unwell she has cancelled all her commitments. I have been running errands and

 The end of our week has been quiet. A combination of Nicky having a respiratory bug and poor weather has kept us at home inside. We have occupied ourselves with a a jigsaw and listening to some more Harry Potter. The beginning of our week was much busier. Nicky had a full Monday with church cleaning and a Pastoral Care meeting with Louise. In the afternoon we had afternoon tea with a fellow book club member, Libby, and her husband Graham at their home on St. John’s Hill. While Nicky was out during the morning I did some MacOnSite work and had an amble. After lunch I did the trenching and cleaned the cook top. We watched a bit of telly after dinner but Nicky was in need of an early night. Tuesday was a pleasant day so laundry was done, and the supermarkets were raided. In the afternoon Nicky hosted a church home group. Before dinner she went to a Service of Lament for abuse. Then we watched a little more telly after dinner and Nicky had another early night. I cut the berm on Wednesday

 July became August this week, and we have been finding the keeping track of which day it is, a challenge. I find this a little odd, as it has largely been a routine sort of week. Nicky has done her usual activities of church cleaning, home group and staffing the library. She also enjoyed the fashion talk at the museum on Friday. We quizzed on Wednesday coming equal second with 98 points but loosing the tie-breaker. However we now know how many sports people are competing in the Olympics…10,714! I have had an amble everyday. This was in town on Monday while Luna had two new tyres fitted, so included a cup of coffee at The Burrow. I walked into town on Friday to the Yellow House cafe for a coffee and a catch up with Trevor, who volunteers on the boat. I hadn’t realised that his wife would be with him otherwise Nicky would have come too. Our evenings at home have been dominated with binge watching Keeping Faith. We have now finished all three seasons, and Nicky would like to watch it all