Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 This is the first time I have written a blog post on the last day of the year. Even though December 31st fell on a Sunday in 2017, we had such a hectic day I didn’t post until January 1st. This year, it has been a little quieter. Like you, our week started with Christmas Day. We were not expecting to have good weather, and the day started dull and warm with a couple of showers. This didn’t deter the wise men from beginning their journey around the house: By the time we had our sumptuous breakfast of bacon and scrambled egg stuffed croissants, the weather was starting to improve. The sky cleared and the sun came out, so after responding to texts, emails, phone calls and opening our presents, we made up our picnic lunch. On the way to the beach we did some Christmas gift deliveries, and discovered there was hardly anybody else there. This was possibly due to the very strong wind.   We had a walk along the beach but I didn’t feel like being blown about while having lunch. Picnic...

 Our weather has been warm and sunny this week, but the weekend was hot and humid which wasn’t so pleasant. As ever in the run up (or down!) to Christmas, we are busy with some time dependent tasks, while some regular commitments take a break for the holidays. Nicky’s week didn’t start too well. She did a little weeding (in her PJ’s) while directing me to where she wanted me to do the trenching. While going to deposit the weeds in the green bin, Nicky walked into our open bedroom window, when distracted by a tractor engine starting up. She had abrasions, and bruising on her face and damage to her glasses. She was later due in town for church cleaning and a hairdressing appointment, so while she was there, called into the opticians who were able to repair her glasses for free. The weather induced the washing machine to be used and the car to be cleaned. I also did some MacOnSite work and Nicky did the ironing after dinner whilst we watched telly. Tuesday was a visit to the doctor fo...

 It has been birthday week again - the same thing happened last year. Claire’s birthday started chilly and misty, in Whanganui anyway. I had a morning sailing on the paddle steamer and Nicky was attending to the necessaries at church. She returned to church later for her Advent prayer stations slot and collected me from the wharf, by which time it had turned into a lovely sunny day. This encouraged Nicky into the garden while I went shopping and made birthday cake number 2 - a hummingbird cake. At some point, possibly late afternoon, we had a good chat with Claire on the phone. Nicky’s birthday started cool and dull. I popped into town to collect flowers that I had ordered for her. After making a picnic of smoked salmon rolls we drove to Kai Iwi beach for a walk and our lunch. I had been once before but Nicky had never been, and it is much talked about by locals in these parts. It was cool and windy, and nobody else was there.   After a wander on the beach, we found a sheltere...

 I have continued with my studies this week for my Under Gardener Diploma in Weeding. Even though it will be a couple of years before I progress to Unsupervised Trowel Use, apparently I am already showing promise. Assisting my tutor we have completed clearing the second of the three main curved beds in the back garden. I then used the last of our mega mulch to cover some of the cleared areas. In the front garden, the amaryllis is starting to flower: We brought our living Christmas tree in from the garden on Monday, decorated it, and set up the nativity scene. The shepherds are on a shelf above my workstation, the host of angles are on the bookshelves opposite, and the three wise men are milling about on the kitchen bench by the fruit bowl. Jacqui called in on Tuesday. She has returned to marketing her section privately, and had a good amount of interest. One couple who appear particularly keen, have been amongst the viewers. I did some MacOnSite work and Nicky made asparagus rolls ...

 Summer officially started on Friday, and it was a lovely sunny day. We had arranged to go over to Palmerston North in the afternoon to see Kat, Israel and Ari, and deliver the quillow that Nicky had sewn for Ariadne. Nicky made some fruit buns to take with us. Israel had made wholemeal bread and hummus to go with carrot sticks, so we had a lovely afternoon tea and catch up. Ari is now 9 months old and as cute as you would expect. They are off to Mexico for Christmas to visit Israel’s family. Numerous tui have been enjoying our flax flowers this week, and at one point three of them were disputing whose flax it is. Trying to get a good photograph has been a challenge. This is the best that I have managed: We came 5th at the quiz this week, with only 98 points. The winning teams earned 101 points, so we weren’t as far behind as our placing suggests. The music round was terrible for us. On Tuesday evening Nicky had a brief visit to church with her home group to present the Bible Frien...

 Spring is coming to a close, so the weather is all over the place. Some days lovely sunshine and clear skies, some days overcast and penguin-cold southerlies, and some days just plain wet. The Portuguese laurel (which I call Stan for obvious reasons) is in full display mode, and the Tiger lilies have noticed the sunshine: It has been a generally routine week for both of us. Nicky’s vestry meeting was preceded by a meal (very good apparently), and she had five visitors to the Aramoho library. I have cut grass, cleaned gutters and swept the outside of the house. There have been a few notable occasions. We came first at the quiz this week with 107 points, winning by 3. On Thursday evening an old crown of Nicky’s came out whilst she was flossing, so had the be re-cemented by the dentist on Friday. She also had a very busy evening on Friday serving and undertaking kitchen duties at a fundraising church banquet event. She didn’t get home until after midnight and is still tired now. Also...

 Back in the days when we lived in England and enjoyed wall-to-wall Radio 4, we were fans of “I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue”. One of my favourite rounds was Alternative Definitions. For example; Abscond: to make off with someone’s cream tea. I enjoy the way in which words can be given new meanings and uses, and we have done a little of this ourselves this week. On Monday we moved bench number four from its north-east corner spot in the back garden, to the flat area to the west of the shed: Once moved, Nicky and I decided we had to test it for awhile and see what the view was like. During the initial tests Nicky asked if I would distribute some of the remaining mega mulch bark onto the areas in the bed by the retaining wall that she had weeded. In doing so, she was trying to form a sentence which included me wheelbarrowing the mulch from the storage bag (which was right next to us) to the flower bed. However, due to the lack of a fresh cup of tea (her brain chemistry being reliant on B...