Phew! Not a scorcher.

 For those of you reading this who don’t live in Aotearoa, we have had sufficiently cold weather this week for it to be the lead story on the evening news three days in a row. It has been colder than it has for some years, but interestingly for us in Whanganui, not as frosty as it was last week. The folks in Dunedin who pay their rates were gifted some snow and ice, but not really snowman quantities. Winter has been relatively dry I feel, which doesn’t bode well for spring.

We have been keeping warm inside most of the time so have done another jigsaw. The picture was whimsically interesting, but we didn’t bother tackling the almost monochrome sky:

Nicky hosted her Home Group on Tuesday and it went well. I had invited Mark and his dad Brian over for dinner as Krystyna was away at a conference. Brian is convalescing with them after his second knee operation and I don’t think either Mark or Brian enjoy cooking. Mark isn’t home from his new job until early evening, so we planned dinner for a little after 7pm. With this being quite a bit later than Nicky and I usually eat and the southerly wind outside, some crumpets seem well justified with our afternoon cuppa. It was a good evening and we all enjoyed the lasagna.

We did venture out for the quiz on Wednesday, but only came 11th with 89 points. However we won $20, with was pleasing. The winning team scored 108. 

The leak on our instant hot water tap continued, so on Thursday Rob the plumber came and fitted the new tap which he supplied last year. I still really enjoy the convenience and the filtered cold water. Nicky staffed the Aramoho Library and I saw the hygienist at the dentists.

The changing pattern of the sun has been noticed. When we walked to the marae on Thursday evening for the Community meal, we both commented on the fact that last month it was dark as we left home. This month it wasn’t quite twilight. Again there were not too many people which made conversation much easier, and a good range of food. I took mac’n’cheese (no bacon) and Nicky made a lovely rice pudding with sultanas and raisins.

Nicky enjoyed the Outfit of the Month talk at the museum on Friday. This month an Irvin Flying Suit designed in NZ with zips everywhere made out of lambskins, which had a fascinating history. We had a scheduled emergency power cut in afternoon. This lasted for a little over an hour, but the sun kept us warm for most of the time. Frances called in for coffee shortly after the power returned and in the evening we enjoyed watching a gentle film called Paper Planes, set in New South Wales and Tokyo.

The museum has also started Saturday Sounds in the atrium. The first one was yesterday and we thoroughly enjoyed the four musicians playing and singing individual and group songs. The only downside was the temperature. The atrium is large, open, and was quite cold. It was warmer outside walking out into the winter weather with pale sunshine on our way back to the car. Nicky made a lovely chicken and mushroom casserole with white wine for dinner, and afterwards we started on The Capture series 3. Just as tense and mind-boggling as the previous two.

The weather has been milder over the weekend with more cloud around and odd bits of moisture. The breeze is still giving the garden a bad hair day but the warming sunshine is lovely when inside. Spring flowers have started blooming this last week, bringing more colour to our fair city.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.