Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

The beginning and end of the week have been wet, but in-between we have had some lovely clear winter days, though a couple started with some fog. Things have been quieter at the library with the school’s having gone back, at least until 3-ish when they close. I have had another quiet week too, doing two on-site jobs which filled my Tuesday afternoon. Nicky was at prison prayer group on Monday night; Tuesday night we watched the Stephen Hawking film and Wednesday night “Pride”, both on DVD and both much enjoyed. Thursday night Luna was out - up at the garage - her service and warrant revealed new front suspension mounts were required. We were re-united on Friday afternoon so I celebrated with some food shopping. Wednesday was an interesting day. Nicky had a couple of visits to make for work - the Blind Foundation in the morning and a Staff Feedback meeting in Kelston in the afternoon. As I didn’t have any worked booked and parking in that part of Parnell is very difficult, ...

It has been a mixed week, one way and another. We have had sunshine, major rain and flooding (at the library and other parts of BHB), quiet days and busy days. I did a Mac job in Red Beach on Monday afternoon, then nothing on-site until Thursday afternoon, and then two “emergency” jobs over the bridge on Friday morning. Due to men working on an over head power-line in Devonport, it took me an hour and three quarters to do a 30 minute trip home. I was ready for my lunch when I got back. The rest of my time has bee occupied with work admin, laundry, shopping and cooking. On Tuesday I roasted a joint of beef which went very well with the Yorkshire Puddings, and made some excellent gravy. I combined my Thursday afternoon job with my trip into town for my MeetUp group. Nicky has been very busy at work again with the schools being on holiday. We had a major rainstorm on Thursday night and the drains in the courtyard at the library just couldn’t cope, hence the flooding as water overflo...

…because it’s warmer than that coming out of the cold tap! Well almost. It has been a cold week on the whole, with overnights lows of 2° and 3° and even frost one morning. The ice indicator even came on in the car this morning when driving to the beach. On the upside, the clear skies have made for lovely sunny days and much better than the rain that started the week, but the southerly wind has been icy and only relented yesterday. It has also been a very quiet week. I have only had one Mac job which was on Friday morning. We have had no social commitments in the evenings (Nicky didn’t feel up to Te Reo on Tuesday), but she has been very busy at work - the schools are on holiday. So I have been doing the usual shopping, cooking, washing and ironing, while also starting to work “on the business” (as oppose to “in the business) to try and generate more work. I went out for my first morning constitutional on Wednesday down to the beach. The tide was so far out I was able to walk alon...

Co-ordinating work and laundry has been the theme of the week for me, as the weather has not been overly helpful, and I have been quite busy with work. I did a very expensive (for me) food shop on Monday, stocking up on items on offer which I don’t buy very often. Having been paid made cash flow a bit easier. It was Thursday before I had much time at home so spent 3 hours preparing the filling for the Hairy Biker’s steak and ale pie - it’s worth the effort. I then went into town to do a quick job before going onto my MeetUp group for the evening. I had all of Friday at home, a man came to fix the door on the dish washer, and I got the ironing and more shopping done, before making up the steak and ale pie. I went up to The Block for a drink later. Nicky has had a busy but reasonable week at work. I dropped her in Henderson on Wednesday morning for a “meet the boss” meeting with the new Auckland Council CEO, and it went very well. Nicky had a hair dressing appointment on Tuesday eveni...

We started the week in a spin - at the Sky Tower rotating restaurant (Orbit). We had both booked Monday off to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The weather was quite cloudy as we sat up in bed drinking our first mugs of tea of the day and opening our presents - pearls for Nicky and a waistcoat with mother-of-pearl buttons for me (which Nicky made; it’s brilliant). People had told us that the food at the Orbit restaurant wasn’t always fantastic, but that the views compensated. It rotates a full 360° every hour (I think) so you get to see the whole view of Auckland while eating. We actually enjoyed the food very much. Nicky had the pumpkin soup entrée and the cheese board dessert. I had the venison pie main course with baby carrots and smoked mashed spuds followed by tiramisu. The only disappointment was that Nicky would have liked some nice bread with her soup as she still felt a little hungry at the end of her meal. By the time we had taken our seat in the restaurant the clou...

Well, dear reader, it has been a very mixed week. On the up side, I have had a good amount of work, Nicky had a very successful BHB Quilters session, we have had a very enjoyable afternoon tea, and the upgrade of Nikcy’s iPad to iOS8 has not been as traumatic as I thought it might have been. On the down side Nicky has had a couple of days off work with a really bad cold, and Christine, one of the core members of the prison outreach group has died. She went into a hospice early this week and died on Friday. She will be missed. Most of my work has been in the CBD so I have been going into town on the bus. On Monday I encountered these polar bears in Aotea Square: I also did some major document editing for a customer in Blenheim via email. We have almost had enough sunny weather to get the washing dried outside, but not quite enough so I had to do a load today. The wind on Tuesday was icy (from the south) and the nighttime low of 6° gave us a very chilly Wednesday morning.  ...

Work has started to pick up again a little for me this week, so it has felt a bit more normal fitting the laundry and shopping around it. Nicky has has another steady week at the library, and on Wednesday went over to Henderson with a colleague for a PSA meeting. The pay deal which the union has negotiated is not ideal, but not bad under the present circumstances. The weather has been dryer and we have had some sunny periods which have been great. Temperatures are dropping all the time so we are pleased to have the winter quilt on the bed and the heaters available. Nicky had a good prison group meeting on Monday, but Te Reo was cancelled on Tuesday, just after I had finishing icing (well, Philly-cheesing actually) the almond and marmalade cake that we had defrosted. It was enjoyed by the library staff on Wednesday and there was enough left over for Nicky and I to have a couple of pieces. Euthanasia is very much in the news here at the moment and it was the topic for my MeetUp gro...