Almost there

 This week marks the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Upokongaro foot and cycle bridge. Like hearing the Tui each time we visited Whanganui to see how the construction of our home was progressing, the bridge also feels part of the process. We saw the bridge in place but fenced off on our visits until a trip December and the fence was gone. Once we took up residence we had a trip up to the bridge to have closer look, walk over it and admire its form:

Our week began with another hot day that peaked at 27º. Laundry was done and Nicky went into town to do church cleaning and to see the physio. I prepared for the water supply being switched off for a couple of hours, but it didn’t happen. Nicky was back earlier than expected so we changed our transport plans a little. She was due at a thank you lunch for the ladies who run ReDress, where she had been asked to give Whanganui Anglicans’ thanks for all the money raised to support a Youth Worker and for the City Mission. Then we were due at a funeral. The best option seemed to be for me to take Nicky to the lunch, then come and pick her up on my way to the funeral. This worked out well, though she was as late leaving the lunch as she expected. We were not the last to arrive at the funeral but we could only find seating in the foyer to the side so could’t hear or see what was happening very well. The funeral was for Jacqui’s mother (Jacqui used to own the section next door). It was very well attended and quite long. Our seats ended up being in the sun so by the time we got home, we were both feeling quite fatigued.

After dinner Mark and Krystyna called in with their two hounds to deliver one of their surplus cucumbers. We enjoyed sitting in the back garden having a chat and a cuppa. After doing some watering and telly watching we headed for bed. Nicky showered first while I watched some more of a film. When I went to shower I used the toilet and thought the cistern didn’t sound quite right when it refilled. I turned on the wash basin tap to wash my hands and there was no water. After using some bottled water to wash my hands I went and checked the app on my phone that the Council use to inform us of things. I realised I had misread the message about the water outage. It was planned for 10pm not 10am. No shower for me then.

After my Tuesday morning amble we went into town for Nicky’s hair appointment and to do the supermarket shopping. I went back into town later to see our GP and discuss my knees and my collapse earlier in the month. My knees are just arthritic, and she agreed with the paramedic’s comments about my vagus nerve over-stimulation and the ECG result.

I had cooking plans for the early afternoon, but the water went off again. While I had been ambling I had noticed the sound of water from an area where men had been working by a manhole cover. When I drove back from the doctors there was a considerable amount of water by the side of the road, and a workman talking on his phone. I think the water was turned off to fix a leak, as all was back to normal later.

Once the water came back on I was able to make my gifting pies; individual chicken, bacon and drunken cranberry to give to the folks who collect our refuse and deliver our post, along with a couple of the gingerbread biscuits that I made last week.

The weather started to cool and get a little wetter on Wednesday. Robyn called in to deliver a Christmas gift and stayed for lunch. It was very good to catch up with her. Christmas goodies were given to the refuse collectors, but we haven’t been able to catch any of the posties.

I made a Christmas pudding on Thursday while Nicky was at the Aramoho Library. I managed to get the washing dry even though it was cooler and threatening rain for most of the day. Nicky brought home a couple of books which she thought I might enjoy (I have finished one of them already) and did some sewing after dinner.

The showers were a little more persistent on Friday. Nicky picked and delivered fresh greens from our garden to Unity Foods and made four Christmas cakes (not all for me), and we had fish and chips for dinner.

I went into town for my amble on Saturday morning, going over two of our four bridges. A chat with some of the crew on the Waimarie while they were getting it ready was followed by coffee at Jolt. Nicky did laundry and started dividing up her cakes for gifting.

Today has been much sunnier than expected, but with a cool breeze. I delivered Christmas cake slices to our neighbours, and after church Nicky delivered some in town. After lunch we went to the Westmere Berry Farm to buy blueberries and strawberries, and we delivered the remaining cake slices. When we reached home we had a cuppa in the garden in the sunshine. Nicky is making pancakes for tea as I write this. I suspect we will be watching some telly this evening. It’s the last episode of Death Valley with Timothy Spall.

We hope you all have a great Christmas, don’t eat too much, and enjoy the company of others. 

See you on the other side, Rick and Nicky.