She’s still down after 6 weeks with a horrible hacking cough, but at least we have been able to give her a few birthday treats.

Lovely gluten free carrot cake and chocolate brownies from our super baker friend Holly, plus a pretty bouquet of flowers grown by another friend.

Now hoping for a belated birthday gift of this cough doing one.

It’s a wet Winter here in Aotearoa, that’s for sure. When you’ve got a dog you can’t avoid getting out there and giving them their exercise. Lots of drying needed when we get home, for both of us!

If ever beer goggles would be needed (which I guess is the point if blowing this up and putting it on a pub wall

Just a reminder to use as strong a password as you can remember, use different passwords for different sites (especially banking ones), don’t use a name and stick a 1 or ! at the end and definitely DON’T WRITE IT DOWN ON A POST-IT AND STICK IT TO THE MONITOR!!!

I have now reached the age where I can no longer open a jar without looking like I’m about to bust a bloodvessel and swearing profusely.

Add to that putting socks on without huffing and puffing, or look in a bathroom mirror without reflexively sucking in the gut.

This Government is surely being scripted by Armando Iannucci. Likely never watched a rugby match in her life and certainly doesn’t know there are 2 codes.

Just when I had given hope of anyone being able to lay any punches on this miserable, inept and corrupt British Government, step forward Mick “The Hood” Lynch.

Loving his patient, logical takedowns of the tired, predictable arguments of the right wing press and copy and paste Government ministers. Absolutely handed their arses to them and – I can only hope – the start of a full-on workers revolt.

No doubt the hacks will be going through his bins thoroughly to find some dirt, but the damage is already being done.

I can only hope his common sense message about the fallacy of making huge profits while cutting wages leads to a seachange in people’s thinking. Time to wake up from the Murdoch brainwashing and take action!

And yes Duchess, this is me being political!