They do say you turn into.your parents as you get older.  Dad puns, Hawaiian shirt, falling asleep with the remote – tick, tick, tick!

Saddest thing is that we bought the shirt with the intention of taking it for Dad then thought “actually I quite like this”.

After years of planning and failed attempts we’ve finally got our pergola done, or at least we now have a usable space (The Duchess is still working with the builder on a few snagging items before she’ll sign it off).

It took most of the Christmas and New Year break to get things finished – we were out oiling it on Christmas Day since it was a good weather day – but this weekend saw the decking go down and the lights go up so we can finally post some pictures.

The Duchess has made her annual batch of chicken liver pate ready to hand out to friends (though sadly we can’t make it as far as Cromwell). Yum!

Most notable for me this year were Rob Burrow and Steve Wright (loved the show, Steve) – both about four rows back and to the right. Oh and of course The OG Duchess Maggie Smith.

The Duchess is very happy with how the new pergola has turned out, even before we have finished furnishing it. Rugs and lighting still to come but here is a taste of where we will be spending most of the Summer (well the 30% of days it isn’t a howling gale cos Wellington)

Just call me Daisy. (Better that than Foreskin)

I suspect Dad choreographed one of the dances on this week’s Strictly Come Dancing…

I have been at my new workplace for 3 weeks now and made good progress in getting up to speed in every way but one – their coffee machine.

They have a manual coffee maker that I haven’t used since my Fronde days in 2012, and it has been a struggle to make a half decent coffee. The milk frother screams at me – and the open plan office – whenever I try to heat up some milk like a demon escaping from Hell.

It doesn’t help that my teammates are experts and make barista grade flat whites every time.

Thankfully today I managed to get it about right, enough to take it to my colleague for inspection, who rated it a decent 4/10. I will take that!

You wouldn’t believe from this pose that she’d just finished off a chew then been served up her dinner would you?

My 3 month mini-retirement is now at an end, with Monday seeing the start of (hopefully) a long term permy role.

I was all set to sign on with a law firm, accepting that I would have to return to a 5-days-a-week commute into Wellington, when a company I had previously interviewed for – and missed out on – came back to see if I was still interested. Heck yeah!

They are closer to home (20 min drive and within the limited range of my elderly EV) and offer 2 days a week from home.

Work wise I will have a lot of learning to do for the next few months – not least getting to grips with DevOps theory – but the team I’ve met are all cool and it should be interesting to see what I can offer.

I must admit though I am fully retirement-ready, apart from financially. The lack of alarm clocks, the leisurely dog walks, guilt-free daytime naps, all great! Just another 12 years to go…