Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

There are a number of events upon which I can report this week, but I suspect the headliner is the one from which we have just returned - Puchin and Claire’s wedding. No, not our Claire, another Claire (there is more than one Dear Reader, though there is only one that’s dear to me (it’s getting near Christmas again!!)). Puchin is the son of Amy and Victor, a lovely Chinese couple who Nicky worked with at New Lynn library. They invited a number of members of current and past New Lynn library staff, and also asked me to take informal photographs both at the wedding today, and prior to the wedding yesterday. Yesterday’s photographs involved going out and about to the Arataki Visitor Centre and Blockhouse Bay beach, along with some in Amy and Victors front garden. Today’s event was at the Markovina Vineyard in Kumeu. The invitation stated 3pm, so we assumed that was when the ceremony was scheduled to commence. We duly arrived around 2.30pm, and discovered we were some of the first...

November marches on. The weather is still a bit on the changeable side, with some lovely sunshine from time to time, and some heavy rain at other times. We have both had busy weeks, even though I haven’t earned a great deal, and we have each had a night out with prison prayer group (N) and Deep & Meaningful (R). We have had a couple of technology upgrades this week. The 2-yearly service of there HRV ventilation system revealed that a new motor was required, and as part of the package we got a new control unit with niffty new graphics, and a dedicated Burnt Toast button (this now puts the system on full blast for two hours to remove the smell). In order to try and improve Nicky’s internet performance on her iPad, I have installed a PowerLine network system and moved one of our wifi access points into the lounge. So far things look promising. Yesterday started dull, and didn’t get much brighter, along with drizzle on and off for most of the day. Nicky was quilting in the aft...

I think week can be best summed up by an item in The Listener’s Quips & Quotes column by Jeff Rubenstein, who I assume is an American: “Let this be a lesson to England: nice try, but you can’t beat us at crazy”. As I am sure you can imagine, joyous rapture was not most Kiwi’s response to the US Presidential election result, though I think even if Mrs. C had won it would at best have been a sigh of relief. Apparently we are destined to live in interesting times. Back in the world of mortals without strange hairpieces, things have been a little more routine. The weather has had an interesting take on my laundry routine, but most of the heavy rain has been at night and then sun has been warm when the clouds have acquiesced. We had both lunch and dinner on The Rattigan on Thursday, though it was a little cool for dinner. We have both had busy weeks work-wise. I rang the library on Tuesday afternoon at 5.32 (Nicky is supposed to finish at 5.30 but never makes it out of the lib...

It feels like it has been a busy week, and certainly with work for me I have done as much this week as I did in the whole of November last year. Following Ruth’s afternoon tea we had quite a few lobs, so both Nicky and Claire took these into work for their respective munchkins. Nicky was out on Monday evening so Claire and I re-lived past habits and watched some West Wing on DVD. I collected Claire from town on Tuesday afternoon to take her to the airport. We already knew that Doug would be piloting her flight back to Dunedin and was trying to arrange a cockpit visit for her. What Claire discovered when she got to the gate, and we discovered later, was that she would spend the whole flight on the flight deck, and get to listen in to conversations with control towers on the headphones. This was a brilliant experience for her and she feels it’s the best flight she as ever had (she likes being in the front of the car too!). Along with my usual domestic routines, this week has...

This week has been bookended by a public holiday (Labour Day) at the beginning, and a family day at the end. Labour Day started chilly but quite bright, even though there was some cloud around. We started off with a gentle breakfast of scrambled egg and avocado on toast followed by toasted cinnamon brioche. After some obligatory mowing of the grass and ironing of the clothes, we went off to Dress Smart in Onehunga and Sylvia Park so that Nicky could buy me Christmas gift clothes. It wasn’t as much fun as last year but the trip was successful. Nicky then nipped over to Henderson for Scrabble. In the evening we watched a film on DVD, Eye in the Sky, which Nicky had brought home because of Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman featuring in it. The film was very good - basically an analysis of the complex moral and logistical issues around drone warfare. Well worth watching. The rest of the week has been pretty routine, with the library being busy, the washing machine and clothes line get...

It is eight years ago today that we moved into our current abode. Eight years ago it was a Thursday, and we had some rain, but Claire and I managed, and I remember one of the removal men being very interested in our German bed and he kindly helped my re-assemble it. Work has been busy for both of us this week. In addition to the usual at the library, they were without water for two hours when a chap working with a stump grinder in the courtyard broke a draining pipe. Diwali celebrations have also started and they had a very good morning tea on Thursday. Nicky wasn’t feeling too good on Thursday, and was quite wobbly on Friday morning at a PSA meeting over in Henderson, so I made her take the afternoon off to rest. We had both had a poor night’s sleep and it seems to have quite an impact on us these days. I have had work in some shape or form everyday, and on Thursday had my packed lunch on the beach at Okahu Bay, which was a treat. The weather has been reasonable and even on t...

In comparison to recent times this week has been very un-eventful. I have had a bit more work, the library has been busier, and the weather has been spring-like: lovely when the sun comes out, very wet when it rains. Nicky’s had a couple of evenings out with prayer group and life group, I have upgraded the OS on my Mac, and Luna has had her new front bumper fitted. We have watched a couple of good films on DVD; “It’s a Wonderful Life” which Nicky hadn’t seen before and I had not seen for 40+ years, and “Sunshine on Leith”, a musical based in Edinburgh with music by The Proclaimers. We enjoyed them both. Yesterday started a little damp but the afternoon was lovely. Nicky baked in the morning and me in the afternoon while she was at quilting. Steve and Stella came over for Scrabble, and we had a pleasant impromptu visit from Paul and Jenny. Nicky was in prison this morning, and due to the weather being variable we binged watched Hillary this afternoon - a local drama about t...