Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 The beginning of the week was very windy, and I was still feeling out of sorts with my cold. Both things improved as the week progressed, and Thursday and Friday were lovely sunny days and I started to get some things done. Our favourite outside tap developed a drip recently, so I assumed a replacement washer was required and that it was something that even I could do. After all, how hard could it be? I discovered that there was size converter on the tap so in order to get it off to find out what size washer was required, I would need two spanners. I only had one. Off to Mitre 10 I went to buy a washer and a spanner. Not knowing quite what size washer I would require, I sought the help of a member of staff and showed him a photo of the tap. He thought it looked like a 15mm (which it was) but said a packet of washers was around $6, and a new tap would only be $9.80. He suggested that this would be a better solution because to access the washer in the tap could result in sufficient ...

 It has been windy this week, and while the wind has brought some rain, much of the time it has been dry and sunny. Spring is now making its presence felt. We have arum lilies in flower: The blossom on the flowering cherries and damson tree has really developed: It has also been a quiet and routine week, with just a couple of notable events. For the first time in ages we came first at the quiz night. We tied for first place with 106 points but won the tiebreaker: “To the nearest year, when was Anne of Green Gables published.” Nicky, the team’s go-to on all things literary, guessed 1897. The other team guessed 1928. The correct answer was 1908. We also celebrated our 16th anniversary of moving to Aotearoa. Nicky was staffing the Community Library and I (unusually) had some MacOnSite worked booked in town. I suggested we had pies for lunch from Butcharts, a local baker who has won many pie awards over the years. We hadn’t known of them until spotting an advert in the local paper. I d...

 We have had some lovely weather again this during our routine week, with much sunshine and a warm northerly breeze. The temperatures have been 5-7ºC above average. Spring really seems to have sprung. I felt I had a busy Monday morning, cleaning the filters in the inverter (heat pump), and the range hood, while Nicky cleaned at church. I also vacuumed, cleaned the cook top, and dealt with quite a list of household admin. Even though the afternoon was cloudy the laundry dried well and while Nicky sewed and I did the ironing. The evening saw Nicky off to church again for Alpha kitchen duty. Nicky did some more laundry on Tuesday morning, while I was in town doing errands and shopping. She made a cheese soufflé as Suzanna was coming for lunch. After Nicky returned from home group we completed The Listener crossword with a pot of tea. Nicky ironed in the evening, whilst I prepared dinner before we vegged out in front of the telly. I had an early trip into town on Wednesday to take Luna...

 The Waimarie Paddle Steamer sailing season has begun again this week. On Wednesday we had our “training day”. This was just the crew taking the boat out for our standard two hour cruise to see if everything on the boat worked and the crew could remember what to do and when. On the whole it went well. The problem we had last year with the generator was diagnosed as being caused by a pump in the engine room drawing too much current. On Saturday we did two trips. In the morning it was a special for all the stakeholders in the boat - people who help fund and promote the boat. We received a Maori blessing and send off from the Putiki Marae canoe paddlers. Nicky came along too and had some interesting conversations with other passengers. In the afternoon we sailed a private charter. Today we had our first public sailing, billed as a Father’s Day special with today being Father’s Day. Dads got a free drink of their choice. The weather has been just gorgeous for all four sailings, as it h...

 Our week began with a wet and windy Monday. The following four days started chilly but brought us blue skies, sunshine, and warm afternoons. I really enjoyed the morning light creeping over the fence into the front garden: The clear skies gave us a frost: Nicky has been busy with her church and Alpha Course duties this week. Along with morning vestry cleaning and evening Alpha kitchen duty on Monday, she was on washing up duty on Friday evening and Saturday morning (7am!) and evening for the Alpha Spiritual weekend.   Whilst I shopped, Nicky invited newly widowed Sue Tarry over for Scrabble and lunch on Tuesday. It turned out that cheese on toast was very warmly received. While Nicky was at her afternoon home group I started making lasagne for dinner. I have gone back to making my own pasta since doing so when when Paul and Jenny came down. It’s so much nicer. As a consequence, I have moved my pasta machine to a more convenient storage location. The weather was good enough fo...

 We began the week with a lurgy. Nicky was sufficiently unwell to be sent home early from vestry cleaning by Dale. The impact on me was much less. The clear start to Monday turned dull and drizzly, so we decided it was time for our very own Harry Potter film festival. By the end of the day we had watched the first two films and were feeling better than we had expected. The enforced resting and much drinking of lemon and honey probably contributed. Tuesday was a double anniversary day; Felicity’s birthday and four years since we had first seen the section where we now live. To celebrate Nicky did some laundry and I raided the supermarkets. After some MacOnSite work in the early afternoon we watched the third Harry Potter film. The evening was taken up with watching Spain beat Sweden in the Women’s Football World Cup semi-final. With both of us feeling brighter on Wednesday morning and with some clear weather we had some time outside. Nicky weeding the pioneers and me sweeping the ou...

 Our week has been routine, but quite busy, and punctuated with the Women’s Football World Cup. We have especially enjoyed England’s progress to the semi-finals. Nicky was busy at church on Monday, cleaning in the morning and kitchen duty for Alpha in the evening. Her home group went to the cinema on Tuesday to see The Miracle Club and enjoyed it. She made a cheesecake on Wednesday morning ready for the Community Meal at Te Ao Hou Marae on Thursday, and undertook hospital visiting for Whanganui Anglicans in the afternoon. Nicky’s staffing of the Aramoho Library on Thursday was shorter than usual, as she accompanied me to the Gonville Medical Centre. Friday was major laundry and ironing again, but the washing did have some time outside on the rotary drier. Saturday was a Diocesan Regional Training Day for her in Palmerston North. She joined a number of other parishioners in the parish minibus for the journey, but the presentations were rather like a Curate’s Egg. The highlight of my...