Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 Liam, our new next door neighbour who bought Jacqui’s section, took delivery of his tiny home on wheels yesterday lunchtime. Unfortunately we were both out at the time so didn’t get to see it being delivered. It sits right at the front of the section and the back of it faces the road. The front is the most attractive side: We are looking forward to having a closer look. Our weather has been largely warm and sunny again this week, reaching 29º on Tuesday. I have been busy sailing six days, and on Monday did my 400th trip up and down the river. I think I know the way now. Also on Monday Nicky made carrot cakes for David’s and Frances’s birthdays, and I made steak and venison pie for us to share with them for dinner. We had a lovely evening following the pie and the Louisa plum crumble which Nicky had also made. Frances particularly enjoyed trying possible mother-of-the bride outfits on from Nicky’s wardrobe. Her daughter gets married in May, and wants her mum to wear yellow. We both...

 Apart from Tuesday morning, which was dull, cool and a little damp, it has been another hot and sunny week. We have regularly enjoyed our after-dinner pots of tea in the back garden with the cooler evening air. My week has again been dominated by working on the paddle steamer, doing seven sailings over six days. Nicky has had a busy week as all her regular activities have got up and running after the summer break. Along with church cleaning and errands in town on Monday, and Home Group at Frances H’s on Tuesday afternoon, Book Club restarted with a social on Wednesday morning at the newly re-opened Sarjeant Gallery café. In the afternoon Nicky visited Anglican patients at Whanganui Hospital. On Thursday Nicky was back staffing the community library. Friday and Saturday were “home days” concentrating on laundry and weeding. We inspected the damson and apple jelly on Monday (Nicky had started it on Saturday) and it had set well, so we bottled it into 8 jars. It tastes great, a littl...

It has been a hot week: A combination of having ranch sliders open and sunscreen blinds down has helped to moderate the temperature in our home during the day. Open windows in the bedroom through the evening and night have cooled the room as the overnight temperatures have been pleasantly cool due to the clear skies. It has been the last “quiet” week of the summer break for Nicky. Church cleaning and laundry on Monday were followed by hosting home group social lunch on Tuesday. For this she made focaccia and provided cheeses and we had a lovely shared lunch with some delicious contributions. On Thursday she made apple cakes which were very good, and Mark and Elaine came over for a piece each and a cuppa in the afternoon. I have sailed every day of the week except for Tuesday, when I did the shopping and helped Nicky with the shared lunch. We have started to have a problem with people trespassing onto the boat in the evenings and having mud fights, leaving us to clear up the mess. I fin...

 I have started to notice this week that the mornings are a little darker, and the evenings a little shorter. It always seems a strange to me that the days start to shorten as we enter what is usually the warmest period of the year. The stereotype of “long hot days of summer” doesn’t seem to be quite as relevant. John, from the quiz team, called in for a cuppa at the end of his working day on Monday. We slurped and munched on shortbread in the back garden for a very pleasant hour or so. He is always good company. Late on Tuesday afternoon Nicky’s brother Steve arrived to stay the night. Nicky had a vestry meeting so Steve and I had a quiet evening. Scrabble was played on Wednesday morning before Steve went for a pre-departure walk and Nicky went to a funeral. We finished our day by coming 6th at the quiz with 92 points. The rain started on Thursday while Nicky was staffing the community library, but so did a new season of The Great British Bake Off. In-between these two events we h...