Mid November

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 It has been another scintillating and exciting week of retirement here in the throbbing metropolis of Whanganui. Laundry has been laundered, ironing has been ironed, weeds have been weeded, and grass has been cut. Food has been bought, cooked and eaten. A little rain has fallen from the sky, and sunshine has gladdened our hearts. The Portuguese Laurel (obviously known as Stan) has flowered:



It has also been Nicky’s busy week of the month: Church cleaning (Mon), hosting Home Group (Tues), book club and hospital visiting (Wed), staffing the library (Thur), harvesting and delivering edibles to Unity Foods (Fri), Small Group Leaders Training (Sat). She has also squeezed in mopping and vacuuming the floors, a physio appointment and some gardening.


When not ambling, weeding, shopping or cooking, I have been assisting with visitors. Shane the sparky called in and replaced the ailing front spotlight. We also discussed his quote for getting power to the water feature. He reduced it significantly when I agreed to dig the trenches for the cabling. I did a test setup of the water feature to make sure it worked the way we hoped (which it does) before committing to the electrical installation. Jackson called in on Friday to deliver some tomato plants, and Frances T delivered some flaxes for her daughter Amy to collect, which she did on Saturday. Frances H came round on Saturday afternoon to return a jigsaw she had borrowed on Tuesday and select another one from our extensive library. We had a pot of tea with her in the back garden and enjoyed the conversation and sunshine.


We came 5th at the quiz this week with 85 points. Series two of Malpractice was screened over five consecutive nights, so I recored it and we watched it over three nights. It was very good. We also enjoyed the last two episodes of Lynley.


Nicky put the summer quilt on the bed this week. The forecast for today was for wall to wall sunshine (which it has been) so before Nicky went to church this morning I took the winter quilt down to the laundrette. It is too big for our washing machine and it takes some time to dry even in the warm sunshine. While Nicky was at church I walked up to Upokongaro to watch the PS Waimarie go under the bridge and turn for its return journey:



I also managed to squeeze in an orange and date scone and cup of coffee at the cafe before my return walk. It’s almost an hours walk from home to the cafe so some sustenance is required at the halfway point.


Following a pot of tea in the garden, Nicky did some planting before making pancakes for tea. A lovely way to end the week.


Take care, Rick and Nicky.


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