Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Apologies for posting a day late, but we have been away for a long weekend visiting Bruce and Wendy in Mt Maunganui. Nicky took Friday and Monday off so that we could have two full days with them.  The drive down was warm as the weather was sunny. We had our picnic lunch by a roundabout and railway intersection, and then a few minutes further down the road found another picnic area - always the way. We stopped at the Sweet Painted Lady café in Waharoa for tea, coffee and pecan pie. Nicky also had hand made ice cream from a stall across the road which was very good. We got to Bruce and Wendy’s about 4 in the afternoon. They also had other friends, Robin and Kate, staying with them. After a dip in the sea, where the strong surf ripped the side seams of my togs, we had an excellent BBQ’ed pork dinner. View from the balcony Saturday dawned bright an sunny so we had a leisurely breakfast on the balcony. Nicky swam in the pool at the complex and did her pilates in the gym, w...

We have been on holiday for a couple of weeks. You won't have got a post card from me, I do this instead, but Nicky has done some so you never know your luck. We have been down south again to see Claire and Ryan and some more of the south island. As opposed to doing a chronological account of our two weeks, I will try and make a little more interesting with a question and answer format, as if, dear reader, we were having a conversation. How was the weather? The first week was sunny and shorts, we had four days with some rain in the second week, one of them torrential. As all the locals advised we used this day to go to Milford Sound. The waterfalls on the way were stunning, but when we got there we couldn't see a thing so had cups of tea instead. Who did you see? Well Claire and Ryan of course as we had our first three days in Dunedin. They joined us for most of our activities. In the "middle" weekend they came over to Te Anau and stayed the Satur...

It has been a very busy 4-day week. I have had three days mainly filled by work, and the schools have gone back so the library has returned to having it’s very busy periods. Nicky had a trip out with her boss on Thursday to the “From Guangdong to Aotearoa” exhibition in the Henderson library. This is an oral history exhibition to celebrate the Chinese New Year, and Nicky enjoyed it very much. Monday was a public holiday here with it being Auckland Anniversary day. It started off cloudy but got very warm in the afternoon. We packed up a picnic lunch, collected Jancis, and went of to the Botanic Gardens to have a look at this year’s sculpture exhibition. We had a good gentle stroll, picnicked in the shade, and enjoyed it much more than the busyness of being in town the day before. Nicky cut the grass when we got back. We hosted the “season opening social” of Nicky’s house group on Wednesday evening, with a BBQ and assorted goodies. It was good to see everybody again...

The weather has been a little tropical this week - hot, quite humid, and with the occasional downpour. Work has been steady for Nicky, with not too many really busy periods, but she finished the working week feeling quite unwell with a cold. Work has picked up for me with something on every day, though not all of it generating income. On Wednesday morning we got the swimming voucher used with a pre-breakfast dip at Pt Erin. This is an open air pool, which is nicely laid out though looking a little tired. We had a good swim and thought the prices for the multi-swim passes were good so may purchase in the future. The main downside is the pool is only open in the summer. This weekend is Auckland Anniversary weekend, so we get tomorrow off. There is always lots on but we decided to have a gentle day yesterday with Nicky not feeling her normal self even though she was improved.  First commitment was Nicky seeing the GP, which turned out to be very good news as her Thursday ...

Shorts have been much in evidence, especially towards the end of the week, as the temperatures rose to the high 20’s. We have hit 45°C in the roof and 29°C in the lounge this weekend. The pale coloured concrete of the drive and Rattigan has even been too hot to walk on in bare feet. We have been having dinner and yesterday’s breakfast outside. At just after 7pm on Friday, the sun and concrete were still hot and the cooling breeze was welcome as we drank our cups of tea. It’s been sunny too, which the fly’s and mozzies seem to think is just brilliant. It must be summer. The library has calmed down a bit this week which has been a welcome relief, though Friday afternoon was busy with over 100 children attending a party in the library. I have had quite a stressful week one way and another. On Monday a TradeMe auction of a Mac I was selling for one of my customers closed. After the confirmation emails had been exchanged and I had given the buyer our address for collection, she acc...

With the news about David Bowie and Alan Rickman this week, and a phone call from Paul on Wednesday to say that Nicky’s godmother Ruth had died, it has been tinged with sadness. We attended Ruth’s funeral yesterday, and met cousin’s we have only previously heard about. The service at Purewa Crematorium was followed by refreshments at St. Andrews where Ruth had been living since 2000. The day was hot and sunny, 28°, so maybe my suit wasn’t ideal attire. We enjoyed a quiet pot of tea when we got home. The beginning of the week at the library was very busy, but the last couple of days were quieter. Nicky stayed late on Friday to help with a children’s Detective event, supported with fish and chips beforehand. Work for me has been quiet again with just one short job, but I enjoyed Deep and Meaningful on Thursday evening and heard my first cicada of the season during Thursday lunchtime. Some excellent drama’s have accompanied the week. Nicky really enjoyed the final episode of ...

We started the first full week of the New Year off in style, with a leisurely breakfast of croissants with bananas. We followed this with a not so leisurely range of domestic duties - mowing the lawn, ironing, vacuuming and taking down the Christmas decorations. Stella and Kate called in and collected our tree for recycling along with theirs. At least with it being a public holiday it gave us a four-day working week. Nicky’s week at the library has been really busy with the schools on holiday and lots of activities for the children. I have also had some work to “ease” me back into a busier period, I hope. On Tuesday I photographed a wedding. Lisa, a friend of Nicky’s from the staff at New Lynn library, asked me if I would take some pictures of the event when she came over for dinner a few weeks ago. The ceremony took place on the lookout on the Mercer Bay loop track - a fantastic location. It was a very intimate and low key affair (just six of us and the celebrant), which I fe...