Saw this tea towel in a shop window today that nicely sums up what it’s like to own / be owned by a dog.

We – and by we I of course mean me – have a longstanding bad habit of buying more meat than we need, freezing it then forgetting about it until the freezer door won’t close properly. Multiply that by 3 freezers and an audit was well overdue.

It took several hours and mild frostbite.to both hands emptying the contents of each freezer onto a trestle table, chiselling away the ice buildup, identifying anything scorched or dating back more than 2 years and putting the new stuff back.

By the end we had a table full of meat with a purchase value of several hundred dollars, none of which I could even cook up for the dog or put out for recycling.

I’ve had to split the packs into bundles, double bag them and keep them frozen until I can put them out on bin collection day to go to landfill.

Pretty shameful state of affairs and a lesson I will learn for the future – only buy what I’m going to use that week and not be tempted by specials.

One upside is recovering most of our missing tupperware.

Well this year has been a shit sandwich so far.

The Duchess has been dealing with a string of health issues for most of the year :-

• Hiatus hernia causing difficulty eating
• Chronic hacking cough, where the diagnostic X-rays highlighted emphysema, which led to
• Pleurisy (inflammation of the sac surrounding the lungs) including a trip to ER during which they gave her codeine which caused a bad reaction, coming away with liquid morphine and unwelcome knowledge of “the pain ladder”
• Tooth dropping out, which will require a short term denture then thousands of dollars worth of treatment to fix up.

The poor lass has pretty much been bedridden for a few months, which doesn’t help your mental health or physical strength. She’s also had to put up with my cooking, though by practice I’ve improved somewhat, even managing a roast beef dinner with veg and yorkies.

It hasn’t helped that our friends next door’s lovely dog Max passed away quite suddenly.

Thankfully she’s come through the worst of the pleurisy now; able to wear a bra appears to be a good indicator of recovery. I’ve read up on supplements and dietary changes for emphysema and forcing pills and powders on her, trying to help her body fight the disease as best she can.

Alongside the health woes it’s been the wettest New Zealand Winter on record, with rain almost every day for a full 3 months. I can attest to this by the constantly muddy dog walking boots and trousers. Some days I’ve been browsing real estate sites for Brisbane property, seriously contemplating a move to warmer climes, as much for The Duchess’ lung health as actually seeing some sun, though the snakes and spiders – and lack of health care for NZ nationals – prevents more serious research.

Still, it’s now Spring, the sun is currently out – though with a side order of gale force winds – and a hope for better weather round the corner.