Is this a lake I see before me?

 Monday was wet. Very wet. The rain started on Sunday evening, continued through the night and into the day, and didn’t let up until sometime Monday evening. It was never torrential, but steady and determined. We have been seeing the effects in the river all week - higher levels and brown with silt. The rowers and canoeists are usually only heard (instructors tutoring them via megaphones), but this week the river level has been high enough for us to see them from our bedroom window. 

Nicky was the only one to ventured out to do the church cleaning. We had a lovely video chat with Maria in the afternoon, and I started on our map jigsaw of Loughborough, where we used to live in England. In the evening we watched the first two episodes of Vigil season 3. As good as expected, as were the following two episodes which we watched on Tuesday evening.

The weather for the rest of the week has been mainly dry and sunny with a cool breeze. I went for an amble round Virgina Lake on Wednesday morning. I get a bus heading towards town, alight at Halswell Street and walk by the edge of Peat Park to get to the paths that go up the hill. This week, in the corner of the park at the bottom of the hill I found this very large puddle:

I can only guess how much bigger it would have been 36 hours earlier just as the rain finished. What used to be the Funky Duck café at the lake changed hands a bit over a year ago, and has changed hands again recently, so I called in for a coffee and a slice just to see how it was. The new management have gone back to standard quality café fare at a reasonable price, so I think they will do well. It is in a great location and Rotokawau Lake and the winter gardens attract many visitors.

Nicky enjoyed Book Club on Wednesday morning and did her hospital visiting session in the afternoon. I had a long chat with a friend in Auckland and we quizzed in the evening coming 4th again with 97 points.

Nicky had a quiet time at the library on Thursday and we enjoyed the Community Meal at the marae in the evening. There were not so many people there so conversation was much easier.

We throughly enjoyed this weeks Saturday Sounds at the museum, a local secondary school a cappella group. On our way home we called into the supermarket and along with the necessaries bought ourselves a treat of a fresh leaf of rye bread and a couple of nice cheeses.

I have read The Pact by Sharon Bolton this week, a very compelling story of six friends who cause the death of three people in a road accident. Nicky’s polymyalgia has returned this week, particularly in her shoulders. Apparently, she isn’t getting any younger.

Nicky made scones before going to St Paul”s Church in Putiki this morning. It’s Parish Camp weekend so was no mid-morning service at Christ Church. We were also in need of scones having invited Mark and Krystyna’s house sitter, Martine, over for a cuppa in the afternoon. She house sits all over the place, not just NZ, often for people with pets, and throughly enjoys travelling and seeing new places.

After the scrambled eggs that Nicky is currently making I suspect we will watch some telly this evening. Now there’s a surprise.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.