Day 32

Tuesday, April 21: Bill had a penchant for ordering wine online and he built our bigger-than-average letterbox at Whyte St to dimensions that could hold a case if one were to be delivered in our absence. There is a smaller cavity for mail, the big one is for “goods”. He designed the letterbox in the style of our house, with a pitched roof and mock weatherboards. That sounds a bit naff but it’s a pretty cool box. It was irreverently nicknamed the West Wing by envious people and some suggested we could rent it as a tiny house. The grandkids could fit in it when they were little. That’s young Henry, aged about four, posted in the photo below (no pun intended). He’s a bit big for it nowadays.

Who would have thought that the letterbox would reinvent itself as a kind of quarantine station during lockdown? But it’s the perfect place for goods to be left by friends and delivery people, and it avoids direct contact: it’s been the receptacle, so far, for avocados, books, lemons, the eyebrow tint kit, apples, cartons of bread, and this afternoon a neatly wrapped slice of beautiful quince paste made by Mary, who gave me the quinces for my own paste. The box also receives the Waikato Times each morning and, a couple of weeks ago, a half-dozen of wine landed. Strictly to honour the original intention.

The avocados – yesterday’s drop – are from Dott and Brian’s prolific tree in Hillcrest. Green gold. I go weak at the knees when I take them out of the box. I buy avos regularly at Hamilton Farmers’ Market so they’re currently off the menu here. I miss them, along with fresh fish (Raglan fish truck), red capsicums and chillies from Matamata’s Southern Belle Orchard, and baby carrots and salad greens from Backyard Jem, Ngaruawahia. I hope all the market stallholders are doing okay; this is a long haul for them.

Television: Watched last night (and fascinated by) the documentary (TVNZ OnDemand), Lord Lucan: My husband, the Truth. It is an extended interview with the fragile, eccentric Lady Lucan, wife of British peer Lord Lucan, who in 1974 is believed to have killed the family’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, at their London home. Lucan also apparently bludgeoned his wife, then famously vanished. Never to be seen again. This documentary was made in 2017, a few months before Lady Lucan’s lonely death. She never wavered from her story of what happened on the night of the murder.

Small comforts: I’m sometimes using a fine china cup and saucer for my tea, and a crystal wine glass at night. These are usually shuttered in cupboards and cabinets, it seems a special treat to use them. And I’ve got the time to wash them by hand.

  Food matters:  The fresh input of avocados is wonderful. One of them is nicely ripe, so lunch today is avocado on toast.

The next ripe avo is for Nigella Lawson’s guacamole, from her splendid book, How To Eat. Nigella’s guacamole is fresh and sharp; none of the extras that you sometimes find in guacs that Nigella says (graphically) end up looking like “burst-boil mush”.

I often scale this recipe back to one avo, use lemon if I don’t have limes, and sometimes sub mint for coriander. I almost prefer it with mint. But this is the original: 3 properly ripe avocados, juice of 3-4 limes, 4 tablespoons of fresh coriander, chopped, ½-l (to taste) fresh green chilli, deseeded and chopped finely, scant teaspoon of salt, 4 spring onions, sliced finely. Chop and mix the whole thing just before serving.