Not our best result

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 As we move from July to August, life for us continues on at its usual un-frenetic pace. Luna was back at the garage on Monday to have a new rack fitted for the steering system and be granted her Warrant of Fitness for another 12 months. I dropped off Nicky at church for vestry cleaning with Dale on the way, and then did some security camera research. I currently don’t think that cameras are as important as physical security for the replacement power tools, as and when I buy them.


Dale and Bob needed a little technology assistance in the afternoon, so Bob came and collected me. After resolving the issue for them I collected Luna.


Tuesday was milder. I dropped Nicky at the hairdressers and then did the shopping. After her appointment she walked up to New World to meet me and got quite cold in the bitter breeze on the way. When we got home she finished the ironing before going to Home Group.


Wednesday started quite damp but it was drying up by the time I was in town returning the rat trap to Sustainable Whanganui. We did very badly at the quiz in the evening, coming 15th with less than 70 points. John and Mike were absent so it was all their fault. John had a cold and we discovered that Mike was in hospital. He had been admitted on Tuesday after being sent to ED by his GP. Nicky went to the hospital to visit him on Friday, only to discover that Mike had been discharged earlier in the morning. She found all his curtains closed and got no answer to her knock on his door when she called round to Mike’s home. Later in the afternoon Mike phoned us, and we agreed to meet up for breakfast on Saturday morning. While working our way through our chosen eggy breakfasts Mike related the tale of his hospitalisation, and the operation that he had required.


We started a jigsaw on Thursday before Nicky staffed the Aramoho Library, but had no borrowers with whom to celebrate Harry Potter’s 45th birthday. Dale called in to give me a bag of frozen prawns as a thank you for the technology support, which was very good of her. We had a cheerful chat.


I had arranged a delivery of four scoops of mega mulch to arrive on Friday morning. I started moving it into our storage bags and in the afternoon we put the excess mulch round the plants in the CBD (central bindweed district). After breakfast, Nicky finished the ironing again, went into town for the Outfit of the Month talk at Whanganui Museum and to try and see Mike. This month it was an unconventional 1970’s brown voile silk full length dress worn by NZ artist Joanna Paul for her second wedding held up at the Quaker Settlement here in Whanganui to a local architect. The silk voile had been block printed by another renowned NZ artist, Fanny Buss, who was known for her distinctive and innovative designs. The politician Tini Tirikatene-Sullivan, who was Aotearoa’s first woman cabinet minister, famously showcased the Buss designs in her elegant wardrobe.


Yesterday was very cold so after breakfast with Mike at The Yellow House we stayed indoors at home, ironing, reading and doing the jigsaw. We have finished watching both His Dark Materials and Wolf Hall: the Mirror and the Light this week, and enjoyed them both. It has been a real treat to watch advert-free quality drama so we will do it again sometime.


While it has been quite a cold week, we have had some rain and periods of sunshine, and the light has been lovely at times:



Nicky went to the Sarjeant Gallery after church today to see an exhibition by Joanna Paul and found it disappointing. After my morning amble I did some more of the jigsaw (it’s almost finished) and have been pottering outside this afternoon. Nicky is preparing a beef casserole for dinner.


Take care, Rick and Nicky

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