Heads or Tails

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 Blog-wise it has been a short week with posting last Tuesday. Weather-wise is has been hot and sunny (until today) with temperatures reaching 29 and 30º. While this has been great for drying the laundry, it has been too hot for Nicky to do any gardening in the middle of the day. It wasn’t cold in the Aramoho Library when she staffed it on Thursday.


Our quiz season re-commenced this week and we started the year tying for first place. We therefore had to do a tie-breaker, but in getting the music for it organised on the display system, the question master (Pete) accidentally revealed the answer. A coin-toss was used instead and we lost. Even so, we were pleased with the 92 points.


I have been busy sailing, doing one every day except Tuesday, and two on Saturday. On one of the river cruises there was a chap from Maltby, which will mean nothing to many of you. Maltby is a parish (pop. 16,000) near where I lived in my childhood. He remembers inter-school sports competitions with the two secondary schools that I had attended. The current state of life in the area however was not known, as he left in the 1990’s and hadn’t been back.


Nicky came on our second sailing on Saturday. It was an evening cruise to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Waimarie paddle steamer returning to sailing on the Whanganui River. People who had been involved in the restoration and running the boat in the early years had been invited to come along. The weather was mild and calm and Nicky really enjoyed the exceedingly pleasant and sedate cruise. She occupied what I think is the best seat on the boat.


Today the weather has changed, with showers and some heavy rain arriving late afternoon. After church Nicky starting doing the Arthritis Amble garden tour for volunteers and garden owners. She dropped the car at the wharf for me to come home in and Frances collected her. I was able to join them for the last four gardens. At one, which we have visited before, their deck looks lovely:



At another where almost 50 years of work has produced an amazing garden, a potting shed which induced drooling in some of the visitors:



Again the organisers, including David and Frances, had put together a great variety of garden styles and sizes for us to enjoy, along with taking us to parts of town that Nicky and I haven’t visited before. As in previous years, it was an enjoyable and rewarding experience.


Take care, Rick and Nicky.

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