Celebration

This evening S and I joined daughter J at the Monterey Cafe in West Lynn for a small celebratory meal. J has just landed an interesting and moderately sized contract to provide plans for and project manage the redevelopment of a 1920s vintage property. It has been a bit of a struggle to get herself established in solo architect practice, and quite suddenly she has work to keep her more than busy.

The Monterey is a small cafe near where my office is placed; we have often had lunch there over the years. In the last few weeks they have extended their hours and are open for evening meals as well. J has made the Monterey her "local" for coffee and snacks. So we met and had a congratulatory time here.

S and J can be seen inside, and there is a painting of a cat on one wall. On the other wall (unseen in this photo) is a large photograph of central Auckland from the air taken in the 1960s.

Son (Tsuken) and his family left home this morning to stay briefly with friends away from the fires in the Blue Mountains which while not immediately threatening their village are not far away. S and I are very relieved that they made that choice. It is to be hoped that it was unnecessary (in other words that they have a house to return to) but for peace of mind I'm so glad they are safe.