Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

What an eventful week it has been. As you will all of course be well aware Friday was our 33rd wedding anniversary. Nicky booked Friday and Saturday as annual leave so that we could have a long weekend. The day dawned clear and developed into a lovely crisp winter's day, with little wind. After a leisurely pot of tea, Nicky presenting me with a jigsaw, and putting a load of washing on the line, we headed off to Deco in Titirangi for breakfast. Nicky chose a lamb dish and I had smoked fish with avocado and poached eggs and both choices proved to be excellent. We made a start on the Listener crossword over tea and coffee and had a chat with some fellow patrons about the other major event of the week (see below). We were just leaving the café to visit a local gift shop when a sign for an exhibition caught our eye. While trying to find said exhibition we discovered the Lopdell House roof terrace, which we had seen signs to before but never visited. The views were fantastic, helped by ...

It has been a busy week. For me work has been busier than for a long time, both with on-site and remote support work. Nicky has been busy at the library too, and we have spent a fair chunk of the week starting to organise her trip to the UK. Add to that, we have also purchased and taken delivery of a new washing machine!. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that does it!. Even tough the World Cup has started the games that we are getting on free TV are well before breakfast time so we haven’t got into the swing of it yet. We went up to church for another Love Languages evening on Monday, and Nicky had life group on Wednesday. There was a request to not park on the grass which is indicative of all the rain we have had recently. As the week has progressed it has got dryer and a little warmer, but more rain is on it’s way. Being without a washing machine for a week required another exciting trip to the laundrette for me. I managed to get the ironing done yesterday morning befo...

We started the week with a public holiday to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday, and stayed home because it was wet, though we did manage a short walk in a dry spell. Stella came over for Scrabble and we started watching Borgen, a Danish political drama which is not as good as West Wing but better than Madame Secretary and not as dastardly as House of Cards (US version). Nicky had Tuesday off as annual leave. The weather was dryer and breezy so we got some washing done, and she made a lemon and elderflower cake for her long service (10 years) morning tea. This took place the following day and went well, with both staff from her currently library and other libraries where she has worked in attendance. She also got a nice letter and certificate (which is more than I get after 10 service from my employer!). The rest of Nicky’s working week has been busy and fairly routine. She attended a difficult meeting at church discussing same sex marriage. The Bishop and local clergy are no...

Paul and Jenny, for the best Weasley-style use of Muggle postage stamps on a birthday card. The envelope was also a brilliant colour. When I finally opened the it on Saturday morning, the card was just as good - a great way to start my birthday. We did the usual thing of present and card opening in bed with our first pot of tea of the day. We didn’t rush as the morning started cloudy, though milder, and we expected rain at some point. We headed up the road to Icoco for breakfast. Nicky ordered the small breakfast of scrambled egg on half a bagel with grilled tomato and the optional smoked salmon. I ordered the Icoco breakfast which when the waitress brought it and said what it was I though she said “proper breakfast” - which it certainly was, and thoroughly enjoyable. We decided not to stay for drinks as we realised we had just enough time to get to the cinema and we could have tea and coffee there, which we did. We saw Tea with The Dames, a film of an informal conversation/...

The beginning of the week was marked by both of us feeling very tired after our sleeping routine being affected by watching the wedding. This didn’t stop Nicky watching again on Monday evening however. We had watched the BBC coverage live on TVNZ1 and recorded the ITV coverage transmitted by TVNZ3 and Nicky enjoyed the different perspectives. After a late breakfast on Monday morning Nicky went over to see Kanchan who she used to work with. In the afternoon we combined business and pleasure with a trip to see Clem and Pat, and some work for me on the peninsula and in Browns Bay on the way home. We had changed the bed and done some of the washing as it looked like, and transpired to be, a largely wet week. Nicky’s working week has been busy, and has improved as her sleeping has improved. I have been busier though that is partially because I have spent twice as much time travelling to and from jobs as I have actually spent time doing the jobs because of dealing with issues which ...

It was quite a wedding wasn’t it? TV coverage started here at 5pm with some scene-setting programmes, and went on to 1pm this morning with live coverage of the wedding and procession round Windsor. We thought it all went very well (and not just because of the wine that we were drinking), and were very pleased at how good the weather was. Nicky is just watching edited highlights again as I write. It was all done very well and with some excellent touches and departures from the norm. But it wasn’t the only excitement we have had this week. It has been the Auckland Writers Festival this week/weekend, and I have been to four sessions both today and yesterday. Nicky didn’t go with working yesterday and being very tired today what with a number of poor night’s sleep and a late night after watching The Wedding. I enjoyed the majority of what I saw at the festival, and as ever, the atmosphere was very convivial. I noted a couple of amusing soundbites: Alan Taylor, the founder of the “...

The weather is still warmer than would be expected for this time of year (we had a high of 23ºC for a little while today), but just to get us into the mood for what’s coming we had some fog on Thursday morning. Nicky has had issues with getting to work this week, partially caused by a number of poor night’s sleep and partially by a train derailment at Britomart on Wednesday. Delays and fewer trains were still the best the service could provide on Friday, and buses have been replacing trains over the weekend. For those who don’t know, Britomart is currently the end of the line in the CBD. All train services start and finish there, so the derailment has affected all of the Auckland rail network. Thursday was an interesting work day for Nicky as she had ben seconded to New Lynn library for the day. Having worked there for awhile in the past she knew where most things were, but inevitably there had been changes that she had to deal with during her working day. All the same, she enjoye...