Rick, Nicky and Claire in NZ

 We have both managed a bit of time in the garden this week, other than hanging out the laundry. Nicky weeded and planted some vegetables and I did some weeding, just enough to feel I could get back into the swing of things. With the weather having been so mild this week there are signs of spring, and I suspect the weeds have noticed this too. The oxalis certainly has. For my Monday amble I went up to Virginia Lake. The waka sculpture was looking impressive… …and the jonquils were flowering: I took a different route home and walked past a factory which intrigued me. When I got home and Googled it I discovered it was a solid wood furniture manufacturer, owned and run by a kiwi family of Danish extraction. They produce some lovely pieces using both imported and native NZ timber, but I suspect they are out of our price range. The beginning of the week was quite busy with Nicky hosting Home Group on Tuesday afternoon, and Decibelles (book club) on Wednesday morning. Both went well and ...

 For those of you reading this who don’t live in Aotearoa, we have had sufficiently cold weather this week for it to be the lead story on the evening news three days in a row. It has been colder than it has for some years, but interestingly for us in Whanganui, not as frosty as it was last week. The folks in Dunedin who pay their rates were gifted some snow and ice, but not really snowman quantities. Winter has been relatively dry I feel, which doesn’t bode well for spring. We have been keeping warm inside most of the time so have done another jigsaw. The picture was whimsically interesting, but we didn’t bother tackling the almost monochrome sky: Nicky hosted her Home Group on Tuesday and it went well. I had invited Mark and his dad Brian over for dinner as Krystyna was away at a conference. Brian is convalescing with them after his second knee operation and I don’t think either Mark or Brian enjoy cooking. Mark isn’t home from his new job until early evening, so we planned dinner...

 Just in case you hadn’t noticed, August started yesterday. Officially, August is the last of the three months of winter, and usually our coldest. However, July wasn’t going out un-noticed. Tuesday morning presented us with a very frosty start. I took the photo below before the sun had properly risen. Some of our back garden grass was still a little crunchy underfoot mid-afternoon. Our neighbour’s car, which is parked on his section but without cover, was covered in frost, as was his deck and the top part of his garden, which is shaded by his Tiny House. Our little Luna, parked under the car port, was completely frost free. I was again surprised what a difference the car port makes. At the beginning of the week we had lovely sunny, crisp, winter days. The air was cold outside, but we were lovely and warm inside. Thursday was a little overcast and Friday was sunshine and showers, some quite heavy. We have watched a very good documentary series this week about the terrorist bombings ...

 Our week began with the final of the football World Cup. It was an early start (7am here) and like many finals, a little dull. Nicky went back to bed at half time, as she had also had a poor night. Spain won, and deservedly so as they were the better side on the day. Argentina didn’t even have a shot at goal. It appeared from quite early on in the match that Argentina were aiming for a penalty shoot-out. Writing this now, on the following Sunday, it all seems a very long time ago. To celebrate the culmination of the World Cup, which we have enjoyed, we took advantage of the sunshine and did the laundry. Ambling, cleaning and reading were also on our list of celebratory activities. In the evening Frances and Lyn (from across the road) joined us for dinner. I roasted a leg of pork and some spuds, and served it with what has turned out to be an almost never-ending brassica delight and some of Nicky’s damson jus. This goes very well with meat. We had one of Nicky’s Key Lime pies for d...

 One of the security cameras needed its battery recharging this week, and when I was putting it back I noticed that, because I was up a ladder, I had a different view of the back garden. I had my phone with me to check the positioning of the camera, so took this picture: The Football World Cup is drawing to a close, with just the final left to play tomorrow. We watched the semi-finals with Frances joining us to see Argentina beat England. She joined us again today for the Bronze final between England and France, which was a corker. Nicky went to church at the half-time break, requesting updates if anything happened - just the six second half goals. She decided she should have stayed at home so requested a replay of the second half with lunch. We have also completed our (probably) annual Harry Potter Film festival this week, watching one each evening except for Wednesday, when we quizzed. We managed 8th place with 88 points. The midpoint of meteorological winter has passed this week...

 We have a new road sign. It’s actually on the berm in front of next door, but I think of the three sections as being together so can use the term “we”. It’s a variable speed limit sign for the school (currently on holiday) so I’m assuming it will light up with a reduced speed limit at the beginning and end of the school days. We await with anticipation. The football World Cup has again dominated the beginning of all days but one this week. The Round of 16 was completed and the Quarter Finals played. Monday saw a brilliant match with Norway beating Brazil. Afterwards Nicky went off to church cleaning and I made fruit bread. We were joined for the afternoon match between England and Mexico by Frances, Mike and John. It was a tense and exciting, and we were all relieved that England won. Belgium-USA was Tuesday’s best game (and not just because Belgium won), and the end of the Egypt-Argentina match early on Wednesday morning was compelling. The game had 20 minutes to go by the time I...

 We have been looking after Mrs Egg’s chooks this week, and feeding her moggie. This has entailed going and letting the chooks out of the hen houses first thing in the morning, then coaxing them back in again with food at the end of the afternoon. As soon as the moggie spots one of us, food is demanded with menaces. I’m lucky that I have still got all my digits and limbs. These are two of the chooks planning a flanking manoeuvre: Last week culminated with a 4.8 earthquake at 23.05 on Sunday, plus after shocks, which were reported but not felt by us. The epicentre was 65k south west of Whanganui. It woke me up so I stayed in bed, counting, while Nicky stood in the doorway of the shower room. Our front door didn’t rattle like it usually does with a quake, so I think the movement was in a different direction, but we didn’t have any damage. Much of the week has been dry, clear and sunny, so we have had some frosty starts: We have continued watching the World Cup footy, but have reduced...