I try my best to balance the life of a domestic executive but it’s not easy with so many things to be done in a day. I have to admit that one of the things that is low down my priority list is the ironing which seems to sit in my laundry cupboard growing from mole hill to mountain size over the course of a week.

I’m not a lover of ironing so tend to run a “just-in-time” system where we get what we need as we need it, although I do try to be more dilligent about MT’s requirements for the working week. I think I am a real disappointment to my parents (both sets) and our latest guest in this regard who are much more inclined to wash and iron in the same day.

As a result there’s been a domestic takeover this week. When I turned my back Sarah (my friend from UK) was wielding the iron over some trousers that had gone into the washing machine to make up a load for her. And as if that wasn’t bad enough I came home from a day being an executive to find my mother-in-law had (with great satisfaction, I might add) infiltrated the laundry cupboard and cleared the decks. This was something she’s been itching to do but was not allowed to when I was here. After all, a domestic executive needs to hold her place of authority on such matters.

Still, it’s wonderful that the mountain has now gone and I look forward to the challenge of creating a new one next week when I’ll be safe from domestic invaders.

Did you know that ironing is now an extreme sport? Yes, really, see for yourself!

Don’t worry though it’s unlikely that I’ll be taking this up as a new pastime but sticking to my more traditional methods, and only when MT has run out of shirts to wear for work!

One of the things I do miss from England is my beloved Waitrose. You could always rely on Waitrose to serve up interesting things to eat that tasted delicious. They also did amazing recipe cards which we continue to use regularly here causing much frustration as we can’t find all the ingredients that are standard in a Waitrose store.

Here is kiwi land the closest thing to Waitrose is New World but there isn’t a New World in Upper Hutt, the nearest town to where we live. This is a double blow to this domestic executive but I’m learning to live with the limitations of my new friends at Pack N Save (“where all we do is to save you $”).

One of the main savings that they make – as their name suggests – is you have to pack your shopping yourself (not like New World) and there are no carry bags, you have to bring your own (not like New World which must have the world’s record for carrier bag usage). You have to be quick at the checkout ready with your cool bag and cotton bags ready assembled in the trolley to be able to catch the produce as it comes off the line and pack once. If you don’t the check out operator will simply pile everything in your trolley and you have to repack again.

On good day shopping at Pack N Save is like a new olympic sport but if you get a grumpy checkout person or they are busy it’s really not much fun. To try and overcome the checkout battle I’ve signed up for Shop N Go, the scanner shopping system that they operate. It’s very like Waitrose’s system, which incidently I never used but someone it brings me closer to my shopping roots!

Now Shop N Go is a good system in theory but it definitely takes longer to get your shopping done and it’s always quite stressful as you never know whether they are going to demand a spot check and you have to get all your shopping rescanned and repacked which somehow defeats the object of the exercise.

As a full time domestic operative shopping systems are something close to heart. Whilst supermarkets are convenient I am increasingly starting to feel like Nigel Slater wanting to shop every day at the local suppliers and producers. But New Zealand isn’t like North London with a multitude of right on foodies. This is a country with an economy based on commodity farming.

Still, there are gems around – Meet on Tory Street (meat that almost tasted as good as the organic farm in Buckinghamshire), Pacific Fresh fish (although I get panic attacks looking at the fish which I hardly recognise and don’t know what to do with it even if I did), vegetables from the farmers market at Poirirua (although for a farmers market there poor choice of only one veg seller but a multitude of options for honey, jams and olive oil.

I think that the only solution to this dilemma is to grow our own so roll on the autumn when the kitchen garden will be open for business.

“Hurry up why don’t you!”

The dance of the puppy food bowls
“Quick, let’s clean the floor together to make sure we don’t miss any bits left”

Increasingly my time is more domestic than executive. It was a real shock to the system to be back in work harness yesterday for a full day’s work. Not slouching in Domestic-Executive HQ proper commuting from Maymourn to the big smoke.

All I can say is that puppies are demanding on your time and energy. We’ve gradually got more organised and the hang of it. Put that together with more builders than you can shake a stick at it makes for full and tiring days at home. Still, the rewards come every day as we tip toe towards completing the snagging list. It’s nice around 4pm each day when they head off in a cloud of dust to leave us back in our peaceful haven.

Watch out for some photo blogging this weekend to show progress which includes foundations for the lawn, drains for the sewage system, final piece of kitchen installed and tiled oh yes and the construction of an interim puppy pen complete with their own Astra turf for their rough and tumble games. The puppy ramps arrive next week as the veranda steps are a bit much for Fortnum and Mason to keep clambering up and down.

Hard to believe that I’ve only got hours left on my MSD countdown and not much more before parents arrive. Next week is going to continue to be hectic with the final painting push and not to mention prepping for a pitch presentation for a very large coaching contract with a Government Department which would be a nice tidy sum to keep the puppies in treats should we win the business.

The rules for weekend work for a domestic executive are very unclear. Obviously it makes sense for the working partner not to be exposed to domestic work normally done Monday to Friday, but when does the domestic executive get a day off?

So far, this has not been a hotly debated topic in the Treanor household but the lack of policy did require momentary discussion yesterday. Should MT get his own specialist food shopping if he is cooking dinner, or should JT go armed with his wish list since there was a clear failure to provide the necessary goods for smooth running of the kitchen at the weekend? In typical partnership style, because I’d actually bought some of what he needed, MT set off with his own shopping list to experience local retailing. But, it’s clear that this morning I am responsible for the washing up debris left after a wonderful dinner shared with our good friend Naomi.

I’m all for flexible working. I have come to terms with the split shift arrangements to accommodate breakfast (the early shift) and dinner (the late shift) but I’m less comfortable with the concept of full time weekend shifts too. Perhaps weekend domestics need to be reframed as a joint enterprise, otherwise, when does a girl get a break? After all, it worked for years when we were both fully employed in the UK.

Our house in Khandallah overlooks the village centre. This means I can see the comings and goings amongst the shops and there is a wonderful pattern to life on a weekend. The rush hour is 9-10am Saturday morning with cars jammed nose to tail and a fair amount of parking rage. All people want is to nip in and get their bit of shopping, normally before ferrying their offspring to some sporting endeavour. Between 10-11.30am there is a statelier pace of traffic of people with more time on their hands to enjoy a wander and perhaps partake of a coffee at one of two coffee bars. It’s also the arrival time of the brunch bunch that slope off to Taste our suburban dining room. By around noon things slow and by 1pm it almost looks like a ghost town. Some of the shops shut up in the afternoon although others are diligent in their community service serving the steady stream of customers throughout the day. On Sunday’s the brunch bunch are the main arrivals in the village second only to people dashing in to buy the papers and those forgotten items. It’s a fascinating insight into how people spend their weekends and I can easily spy on people through the slats in our Venetian blinds!

Ah, the joys of weekends – a great invention, although never quite long enough. I see weekends split into two distinct types. Those designed for leisure and pleasure and those that offer pure rest and recuperation. The best weekends are a mix of the two. Coming to New Zealand has required some adjustment to the normal weekend routine.

Firstly, the weekend papers take about an hour to read in total and shorter if you miss the property and job supplements but do read the classified advertising. That leaves about another three hours of time to fill compared to reading UK weekend papers. Not a problem if you partake of the coffee or brunch culture which means a long leisurely meet over wonderful breakfast menus with friends. Also, the wonders of the internet and digital publishing do mean we can enjoy both NZ in print and the UK papers on-line. Secondly, weekends are the only time that we can juggle the time difference and manage to ring friends and family at home. Thirdly, and I guess most importantly, a much reduced requirement to do those annoying chores that can now be done in the week.

We probably need to work harder at making the most of weekends but the last three have been dampened by illness and weather although we’ve had some interesting outings since we arrived – the NZ Food Show, the NZ Home Show, cinema, Wellington Maritime Museum, Te Papa Museum, walks (usually uphill), exploring places (Petone – foodie capital of Wellington, Eastbourne – antique capital of Wellington, Porirua – retail capital of Wellington) and for the first time in a long time yesterday, a retail outing to Wellington. There’s also a good dollop of sport – normally Rugby (keen supporters of the Wellington based Hurricanes and the mighty All Blacks), sometimes Netball (yes, prime time viewing), and more often than not football (especially now we’re in the festival of football – the FIFA [nice branding] World Cup) or Cricket from UK.

So, despite the uncertainties of the role of a domestic executive on weekends, we’re settling into an adjusted pattern of weekend living. I guess the biggest difference is that we’re both not so exhausted that we can actually enjoy whatever it is that we decide to do. A key objective of moving to NZ was to get a slower pace of life so I think it’s fair to say we can put a tick in the box for good progress on that so far.