Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

Stress has been a big feature for me this week. I have started the process of applying for the funds in my KiwiSaver, for which there are rules because I am not 65. What has been more problematic has been starting the application for a government First Home Grant. We both need to apply, but with me being self employed, a level of unexpected (to me) complication has been added. I hope to get it resolved next week, but I have really appreciated a quiet weekend with my lovely wife to help me get through it. The week started with wet and stormy weather, but it has gradually improved and got warmer, though the chilly breeze has taken the edge off the warmth of the sun. Nicky has enjoyed her regular trips up the road to Seniors Church and Holy Communion, and has spent much of the rest of the week sewing. Mary came back with her Wednesday for lunch. I have been reasonably busy with work, much of which has been remote but I had a long day in Matakana on Tuesday. Thursday evening I was...

Reading through my notes for this week (yes Dear Reader, I make notes everyday - how else could I recall the plethora of scintillating and exciting things that we get up to?) they can be summarised as “quiet and sunny”. Most of the work that I have done has been remote support, with just one bus trip to the CBD on Wednesday morning. I have finally finished digitising the mountain of audiobooks which Nicky had from the library. A portion of them are now on her iPad, the rest are ready to go. Nicky’s week has included her usual three attendances at church, an evening at life group, having a blood test and regular visit to the GP and an ear wax removal procedure at Dilworth Hearing. She was in town on Thursday for the ukulele concert and sing along, and has also been on daisy and weed mulching maintenance. Unfortunately the chives were pretending to be weeds for the afternoon so we don’t have many left now. It’s their own fault. Thursday evening she went over to Greenlane for pri...

Consider yourself lucky Dear Reader, as I tear myself away from the latest Kate Atkinson (Big Sky) in order to write this week’s blog entry, and hopefully post it in time to keep Mrs. Trellis happy. It’s a hard life being a “read-round-the-world” blogger! We have been having some summer this week, and very welcome it has been. Auckland officially reached 27ºC on Tuesday, and the whole week has been fine, mainly sunny and warm, until today, when the rain arrived and the temperature dropped a little. This has resulted in much consuming of teas, coffee and lunches in The Barlow Recliners on The Rattigan, and wearing of shorts. Nicky has had a busy week - two lots of Seniors Church and Holy Communion as usual. In addition, off to see Doris for her hair care, into town for a concert and lecture (both v. enjoyed) after Book Chat, sewing, laundry and ironing. Brioche was also rustled up yesterday for tea. I have had a quiet week with work, most of which has been done at home with...

One way and another, this week has been a bit of a challenge, though some of the challenge has been positive. We started with Labour Day and the first public holiday of the season - it’s good to have them back again though I don’t think public holidays are the same for some of the retirees in my life. Nicky had had a poor night - we had watched the Wales - South Africa rugby match and not got to bed until after midnight. By the time I woke at 6.30am she was well into the ironing. We had a reasonably bright start with the weather, which was encouraging for our preparations for the very select family lunch we were hosting. Joining us were Paul, Jenny, Stella, Ros, and Letty whom I collected and returned to her home in Devonport. Being small in number was actually very nice as we all got to talk to everybody at some point. Something which doesn’t happen with the “normal” family gatherings. The food, salads especially, were extensive and enjoyable as ever. While I took Letty home, Nic...

It doesn’t feel like it has been a good week, because the negative things which have happened have occupied our thoughts more than the positive things. It started on Tuesday morning, with a funeral for one of my elder customers. Nicky came with me and although there was joy and laughter in the service, which Helena would have wanted, it was moving and affected us. Then on Tuesday afternoon we had an email from Bert the Builder with some detailed costs about the “additional extras” we had discussed when meeting him in Hawera a couple of weeks ago. We were not surprised to discover they are beyond us, but the confirmation of our expectations was a disappointment. A major fire started in town at the construction site of the new Convention Centre, and though this didn’t affect us directly, it was to have consequences for us the following day. On Wednesday we were up at the library to print out the BHB Quilters Circle 2020 posters in colour, when we met up with a lovely lady that N...

I’m pretty sure today is Sunday. At least I think it is. I have been having difficulty with knowing which day it is all week, and it’s not as if we had a public holiday to mess things up. I think it might have stemmed from the fact that I have only done one on-site job this week, which was on Tuesday, but I think I thought it was Monday, and then somehow I was always a day ahead in my head. Go figure. The rest of my work time this week has been taken up with remote support, monitoring comments on Apple’s new operating system upgrades, and getting to grips with them. I have also enjoyed reading “This is going to hurt”, the diary of an NHS junior Doctor, which was both funny and moving. Nicky had her usual Monday and Wednesday visits to church, along with her last session at the dentist to finish her crown and a check-up at the optician which went very well.  On Friday we had a very long (12 ½ hour) trip into town for some Artweek events. The first one was an art walk wh...

This week has been a little more normal, along with the Heritage Festival featuring large on the social front. I have been busier with work having something on every day, and a machine on my bench over the weekend.  Nicky was at church on Monday morning and then had another visit to the dentist for further work on her tooth. She didn’t make it to church on Wednesday so headed off into town a little earlier than planned for a Festival talk about the St. James Theatre restoration, which turned out to be as good as she expected.  Thursday saw us both heading into town for different events: Nicky for a lunchtime concert (greatly enjoyed) and me for Deep and Meaningful conversation in the evening (interesting discussion of the difference between how we see ourselves and others see us). On Friday we both did a Ranger guided walk round Gitto’s domain, which is not only in Blockhouse Bay, but is also one of the oldest of the 4000 (yes, four thousand) parks and domains...