Blursweek

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 Many of the people that I have spoken to this week have commented on the weather. Our high pressure system has continued to deliver sunny autumn days throughout the week, with cloud just sometimes overnight and into early morning. They have also recalled the lovely spell we had in November. It’s only been the time in-between, conventionally known as “summer”, which has been the disappointment. One of our camellia trees has been thoroughly enjoying the sunshine:


It has been more challenging than usual this week to correctly figure out which day it is. Much of the time it has been a bit of a blur. This is possibly because we spent eight and half hours driving home from Auckland on Monday. It had taken us eight hours to drive up last Thursday. We used to do it in seven hours, and didn’t feel that we were rushing. I didn’t feel that we were loitering on this last trip, and our breaks didn’t seem to be more frequent or particularly longer. Nicky found driving during the mid afternoon so difficult with being blinded by the low sun. She gave up on both journeys, and I took over earlier than usual. Maybe we are driving more slowly. Or maybe the much more expensive petrol which we are now buying is “slow petrol”. Now there’s a thought…


While we enjoyed last weekend in Auckland at the Writers Festival, it was tiring, and we have had a quiet week to aid our recuperation. There was quite a bit of laundry to be done on our return, but the lovely weather helped with this. The grass was cut and we started catching up on some of our favoured TV viewing, namely The Great British Bake Off and The Great British Sewing Bee.


I dropped Nicky at church on Tuesday morning so that she could attend Thy Kingdom Come prayers while I raided the supermarket. We quizzed on Wednesday coming 7th with 91 points. Nicky staffed the Aramoho Library on Thursday while I pottered at home.


We had invited Frances for dinner on Friday, and in the morning Nicky also invited Laurie. We popped into town to collect my birthday present: the framed lighthouse cards that Nicky and bought for me in November in one of the studios on the Kapiti Coast Arts Trail. Dinner was chicken and ham pie which Nicky had made a while ago and we got out of the freezer, with seasonal veg in a cheese sauce. I made an experimental dessert, spotted dick, with a suet product which I had found in the supermarket. It was OK, but I will do some further experimentation. Frances didn’t make it due to having a bad headache, but we enjoyed Laurie’s company and playing Rummy-O with her after dinner.


Yesterday I caught a bus down to the Aramoho Shopping Centre and then walked into town along the riverside path. When I got to the Waimarie wharf, I discovered some of the trees that had been pulled out from around the paddle steamer after the recent heavy rain:



I had a quiet morning at home today while Nicky was at church. After lunch and a bit of a repose we went to our lovely little local cinema to see The Sheep Detectives. The gentle and humorous story was well told and quite entertaining, the sheep being the stars of course. A great way to end the week.


Take care, Rick and Nicky.

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