Much FaceTiming in the ether

 Officially it is now winter, and we have had some rain, but we have also had northerlies keeping the temperatures up, and sunshine keeping us smiling. The week began with birthday celebrations; Monday for the King’s official birthday and a public holiday here; Tuesday for my birthday and some low key and enjoyable celebrations.

I started my birthday with a long FaceTime chat with my sister and brother-in law in England. Nicky joined us for awhile before popping into town to get croissants for breakfast (plain and almond). Even though I already had my official birthday gift (the framed lighthouse cards, see below), Nicky also presented me with a book and some bottles of stout. Lovely. A chat with Claire followed and we readied ourselves to go out for lunch.

My plan for lunch was to go to the cafe in Upokongaro by driving a few kilometres up the road and walking over the footbridge. However, the heavy rain showers were discouraging and instead of driving into town and all the way up the other side of the river to get to Upokongaro, I suggested that we lunched at The Villa in town. This turned out to be very enjoyable, with Nicky having a smashing omelette and my Open BLAT have very generous portions of bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato. We finished with tea, coffee and a shared sliced of passionfruit cheesecake. Where we had been sitting gave us a good view of the Red Cross OP shop, which mainly sells books, so these were perused as we let our lunch settle.

We were quite late back from lunch and Nicky wanted to ice my birthday cake (walnut and Kahlua) so she didn’t make it to home group. After dinner, Mark, Krystyna and Frances joined us for drinks, cake and conversation. The passing of another year celebrated.

We came 4th, again, at the quiz on Wednesday evening, even though we scored 103 points. This lead me to do some analysis of the team’s performance over the last 18 months. I was able to confirm our suspicions: we have come 4th more than any other position.

Another enjoyable FaceTime chat occurred on Thursday evening when we caught up with Jancis for the first time in ages. She seamed to be in good spirits even though her life has changed greatly due to her health issues.

Nicky enjoyed the Fashion Talk at the museum on Friday, and in the evening Mike took us to dinner at The Rutland Arms. Nicky ordered nachos and I had fish and chips. The consequence of having cheesy ciabatta for starters meant that we were stuffed and Nicky needed a doggy bag.

Saturday stared out lovely and sunny. It was the last sailing day of the season for the paddle steamer Waimarie, and I found a carnival atmosphere when I arrived at the wharf. While there and wandering through the market I met a number of friends and acquaintances which was great. There was also a steam train enthusiasts event happing, and the paddle steamer and steam locomotive were scheduled to meet each other at the railway bridge. After watching the Waimarie depart I walked up to the railway bridge, arriving about 20 minutes before the rain and when the train and boat were due to coincide. Lots of other spectators started to arrive, not put off by the rain which didn’t last too long. The train was 45 minutes late, by which time I had dried out again.

After catching a bus home and having Nicky’s doggy bag nachos for my lunch, we started a jigsaw. Mark and Elaine called in late afternoon with a card and bottle of wine for me, and Nicky made omelettes for dinner. Later in the evening she made muffins.

The weather has been settled and sunny again today, so Nicky hung the church laundry outside. I delivered some muffins and a card to Mark up the road for his birthday while starting my amble. More jigsaw has been done. Frances called in for coffee and a chat and took some muffins home with her. Nicky is making carbonara for dinner, which we will follow with some telly.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.