Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

It has been a busy week with a quiet end. Nicky and I were both working to the end of Christmas Eve, Claire has recovered from her cold sufficiently to be back at work at Whitcoulls, and Rachel (my niece) arrived from England on Tuesday. Claire and Rachel started putting up the Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve which I assisted with when I got home from work while Nicky was cooking. It was a pleasant though busy evening. On Christmas Day we managed both breakfast and present opening before visitors began to arrive, almost en masse. Rachel had a chat with her parents just after having a shower, and was very pleased that it was warm enough to be outside on the drive wearing just a towel!. The day was warm with sunny spells, which was very helpful so people could spill outside. The food, as ever, was great in quantity and excellent in quality - cold turkey, ham, salmon; lamb, rice and potato salad; barbecued sausages and steak, and other things which I can't remember. Desserts we...

Sorry I didn't update the blog on Sunday folks. I had been working on the annual newsletter (which still isn't finished) and forgot all about doing the blog. It has mainly been a week of work and preparing for Christmas. Claire has been off work with a bug, which she probably succumbed to because of getting so tired working long shifts at Whitcoulls. Nicky has been organising presents, I have made my first Christmas pudding, and the traffic has been manic, especially in Parnell. We are catering for 22 on Christmas day, so I hope the weather is fine or even sunny. As I write this it is 9.30pm on Christmas Eve. Rachel my niece has arrived from England, we have put decorations up, and are trying to relax a little. Nicky and Claire both have some work commitments outside the statutory days, but I am getting 11 days off!!!! My other piece of news is that I have been accepted at the NZ College of Massage for the course I applied for. It starts in February so it will be time to go my ...

Nicky and Claire decided to have their birthdays on consecutive days again this year. I think the first three days of the week were pretty quiet with all of us at work, but I can't actually remember. Due to our work commitments, and a tradition of opening our presents when all three of us together, Claire didn't get to open her presents until Thursday night, and Nicky her's on Friday night. Waitakere Council, who Nicky works for, give their employees the day off on their birthdays, so Nicky was looking forward to having a day sewing and going to her works Christmas do in the evening. The day turned out to be even better than that as she went out for lunch with Stella and took Scrabble with them, which amused the staff in the café. We had a barbecue for Claire and some of her friends on Saturday evening after she came home from work, so Nicky and I spent the day preparing food and getting the place ready. It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening, which didn't finish ...

Last Monday, December 1st, was the first official day of summer here, and we have been having some very pleasant weather. It has been "back to work after the holiday" week for us, which, as always, is a bit of a shock to the system. The build up to Christmas is not as intense here as in England, but we are starting to notice it and things are getting busier. On Tuesday evening I Nicky and I went to the airport for a quick coffee/tea with friends of ours from England, Geoff and Liz Duck, who have been holidaying here with some other friends. It was the only opportunity we had to see them before they flew back to the UK and it was good to catch up. On Thursday Claire picked me up from work so that I could bring my Mac home. It has been in for diagnosis as it has developed a problem. I now have to see if I replace or repair it, depending on how well the saving goes. This is not my first call on what I can save as I have also been for an interview at the NZ College of Massage for...

Just a quick post to let you know that Claire has got a place at Massey University (Albany campus) to read history next year. We are all very pleased and have been drinking as a result. Rick

As I write this on a sunny Sunday afternoon, with a gentle breeze blowing in through the ranch sliders, the temperature in the room is a cosy 25C, in the roof space it's 41C. It is also the last day of our two week holiday. We are off to see the new James Bond film later, and then go out for a meal or get a take-away, depending on what we fancy. We have been away this week - four nights at Katikati Naturist Park in the Bay of Plenty on the east coast of the north island, about 150km south of where we live. While packing food and necessaries on Monday morning, things did not look promising. It was raining, and the forecast for the rest of the week was showers, rain, rain and showers. The rain density varied on our drive down. We stopped in Takanini to have a look at a Lockwood kit-set show house. We liked it, and many of their designs, very much. We hope to build something like it sometime, and Lockwood may get our business, but are only the first company we have looked at. We stopp...

We have been on holiday this week, our first actual holiday since arriving in NZ. We have spent the week at home and being tourists in Auckland. Nicky has unpacked and shelved the vast majority of our books during the week. We have put the metal shelving in the garage because it has a concrete floor, is weather proof, easy access from the house, and leaves us more space in the living areas. We have however, done a few other things too. On Tuesday we went to the museum (Claire was on duty there in the afternoon) to see Sue the T-Rex which was interesting. It was a mighty big beast and this skeleton is the most complete one which has been found. Nicky and I then went off to Sylvia Park so that Nicky could have a steroid injection into her shoulder. Sylvia Park is a big shopping centre, with other community facilities such as medical centres so we had a wander round before departing to collect Claire from the museum. On the way we popped into Ubertec to drop in my Mac as it developed a vi...