Well, here he is - the young master having just completed a PB time of 52:39, more than 3 minutes better than his last race before Christmas. I am very impressed. His overall sleek black look was somewhat marred though by his enormous white trainers which made his feet look like boats. In his left hand he is carrying a free race Tshirt. This is him just walking back up from the finish towards the car park. People are visible behind him still finishing. What was slightly worrying was that the race was run on roads that were not closed and also taking place in the area this morning was a cycle race. It was lovely to see him racing down the hill to finish.

We popped in to Marks and Sparks on the way back - he stocked up on a huge number of socks. I bought a new shirt. I was struck by how much of the spring stuff seems to be monochrome. A bit funereal. Came home, ate lunch and he enjoyed a lovely bath while I went upstairs for a nap. We had been caught out by the change of time today, so had dashed out of the house in 10 minutes flat. Apparently I was snoring like a warthog - ah, the joys of marriage....

Enjoyed a delicious venison casserole and caught up with some recorded TV - we love Boston Legal with William Shatner and Candice Bergen - they must have such fun writing the scripts, followed by CSI NY, another fave. Did some cross stitching and caught up with the paper. I am also glad to report that at least four of the sunflower pots are showing signs of germination - this is very exciting. Now for the week ahead - who knows what it will bring?

Here is a picture of Andy and Andrew today. As you can see, the glitch in publishing photos seems to be resolved, apparently just by opening my blog in a new tab in IE. Ah, technology..... We arranged last week that we would take him out for a walk today. Fortunately the weather today was gorgeous, a hell of a contrast from last Saturday's driving snow. Toddled round the park with him and then very reluctantly took him back to Sue's kennels. Still, only a few more days till Thursday. On way home had a tag made up for him and a special new greyhound collar so he will look lovely and smart. Went to Sainsburys which as usual was hell - the aisles are far too small and today were filled entirely with rubbish baskets on wheels full of cardboard. The car park is also mayhem as a new Wilkinsons store has just opened so there are huge numbers of customers pouring in there. Very glad to be home and looking at lovely pictures of Andy and dreaming excitedly about Thursday. The young master is planning a quiet night tonight as tomorrow morning is his 10K run over at Atlantic College. If the weather stays as lovely as this, he'll have a fabulous day. I will write more tomorrow.

A very shy looking Andy

A hugely restorative weekend. Yesterday busy in the garden. More planting and some sowing, including Californian poppies sown straight into the ground and a Californian mix that looks interesting. A side effect of spending time out in the garden is the way it makes us incapable of staying up beyond 10 as we are both nodding off on the sofa. I ruefully consider Saturday nights in my youth when I would consider 10 pm a good time to start going out, not go to bed.

We also planted our sunflowers in pots and have put them on the dining room window sill where they will get lots of sunshine. We've got Russian Giants (visions of the plant equivalent of a scary shotputter) along with a selection of smaller, prettily coloured ones, in a selection (hopefully) of beautiful russets and oranges.

Today we went to meet Andy, our adoptee greyhound. We drove up to the kennels where he is currently living, up on the Heads of the Valleys Road above Tredegar. The weather was extraordinarily bleak, with rain turning into first sleet and then snow as we climbed higher and snow capped peaks up on the Beacons very clearly visible. The kennels were up a remote farm track and by the time we got there the snow was falling horizontally. We met Sue, the lady who runs the kennels and she introduced us to Andy. Not surprisingly he was quite timid but we totally fell in love with him. Andrew took a couple of pictures. After a few minutes in the howling gale, all of us, dogs and humans alike, were ready to call it a day, so off we toddled. Next weekend we are going back up to take him for a walk before we finally bring him home at the end of the month.

Drove back down the A470 and called in Pets at Home to stock up ready. Bought an assortment of food (low protein as advised, to start),a pet bed and some pig ears for him to nibble. We've already bought him a lead, bowls and a pet lobster. One of the things I'd like to work on is his coat which does appear to need a bit of TLC. Sardines every week and a review of his grooming, I think.

One of the issues that has stopped us getting a dog in the past is Andrew's asthma which is exacerbated by dogs. We decided that if we got a dog we would move from carpets to a wooden floor. These are less likely to hold allergens and also are less smelly over time. So, we've selected a floor and the man is coming on Wednesday to give us a quote for supplying and fitting it shortly. Hopefully this will help to minimise any difficulties with Andrew's chest, if we maintain a regime of regular cleaning. When we lived in Borehamwood, the flat had laminate floors in some rooms and we found them very easy to manage. Interestingly, they make it embarrassingly obvious if there is any dust or dirt on them so they sort of encourage you to clean more often anyway. With our carpets, even though they are beige, we are more relaxed as they definately don't show every morsel up in the same way. So if nothing else Andy will encourage us to higher standards of housekeeping.

Now I'm off to do the ironing, Andrew has just put a chicken in the oven and there's a bottle of white with my name on it in the fridge. Lovely......... All we need now is for Andy to join us and the picture is complete.........

A great deal of news, both work and personal. Some good, some not so. Yesterday was a long day. We all travelled up to the NEC in a people carrier. We stopped half way for a coffee, and there were some army people there in desert fatigues that were travelling in an ambulance. All were walking wounded, but I was sobered by how incredibly young most of them were. They are brave, particularly as this war is not well supported at home.

Arriving at the NEC, inspected the trade show, then went upstairs for the lunch and ceremony. We did not win the main prize. But we did win the judges prize for commitment to the environment. Westminster (which is always so clean) didn't get anything. Travelled back and arrived home around 5. A long and tiring day, but very satisfying. An impressive haul of freebies among the boys and the return journey was a hoot with everyone telling funny stories about the wonderful and weird world of some of our staff and their exploits.

In the evening, we had a phone call from GRW to say that they've matched us with a woof. He is a rather timid 3 year old who is black and needs a quiet home. The clincher is he's called Andy! We are hoping to visit him on Saturday and if all goes well bring him home on Wednesday or Thursday 28th or 29th of the month. Most exciting - I can't stop thinking about him. The only thing we are both very apprehensive about is visiting the kennels for a visit and then having to leave him there before we go back to pick him up for good. Fingers and everything else crossed.

Today was an absolute stinker. Going into work, did the usual of ploughing through the huge pile of emails that had arrived yesterday. One was the worst possible news. All of the three VSS we had requested for our restructure (on a cost neutral basis) had been turned down. I was furious. Then had the utterly miserable job of telling the three people concerned. This is right up there with telling people they haveen't got the job as being one of the most awful things to do. However, my colleague J kindly offered to tell one of the three who is currently off sick. This has now wrecked our restructure plans so it is back to the beginning and start again. Grrrr.

Later in the day, had another email announcing that our Chief Executive's "root and branch" review has led to the suspension of the proposed merger between ourselves and Parks. Grrr again. Now we are in limbo as a department as we are not wanted by Waste or Highways and not by anyone else at the moment it would seem. Root and branch feels more like stump and chainsaw right now. Day ended on a really foul mood with a local resident activist sending War and Peace type emails demanding instant action on graffiti in his ward, and a really perculiar one from otherwise highly regarded boss on his last day in the office who had requested some costed proposals for extra work, then replied by expressing surprise on receiving them, turning down the bid and suggesting how I should chop into next year's budget to fund the work. I must admit I sent a distinctly grumpy reply. All in all, one of those days I'd rapidly prefer to forget. To add to the fun, husband is on a delayed train and won't be home for another hour. Humph.

Progress on a number of fronts. Firstly the garden. Saturday was very fine, so we have raided the garden centre. We have potted up some lilies (bulbs) and have planted some sweet peas - three plants in a pot and three in the ground, both with wigwams of willow. We have bought some sunflower seeds and will be planting those this week, and I am also very keen to grow some ornamental gourds, so need to locate seeds for those. Bought a new plant, called a confetti bush, which looks very pretty. I think we will put that in the front, and transplant one of the hebes that are currently doing a bit too well out there. Also have a thrift, a pink and an African daisy type thing for the raised bed. Will also be sowing some Californian poppies and another packet of a Californian mixture which looks intriguing. Last but not least, we succumbed to a holly fern and some foxgloves to go into the shady area in the fern corner. More prosaically, we tied up the wire for our climbers so that is now sorted and have put the trellis on the garage wall. That allows the chocolate vine something to scramble through - it is growing rapidly. I am so excited by the garden at the moment - it is developing very well. A number of bulbs are flowering and some of the other plants are beginning to wake up after the winter and put out leaves. Every time I go out there, something new is happening.

Saturday night we went to a very nice 30th Birthday party for Andrew's friend and squash partner Matt. He lives in a delightful flat down the bay with lovely views. He announced the theme was pink and it it therefore seemed appropriate to give a bottle of pink champagne. Met lots of nice people and thoroughly enjoyed. We were given the option of "homo fun" at one of the city's many gay clubs, but being a boring and ancient pair of heteros, we declined and went to bed, especially as we'd been in the garden all day and that amount of fresh air is always a guaranteed sleep inducer.

Sunday popped down to see friend Liz and had the shock of my life when I arrived as my brother was there, who I haven't seen for a while. Good to catch up on his news, including a new job working on Apache helicopters. Had a long conversation with Liz about dogs and caught up with her trip to Crufts on Thursday which resulted in a fourth place - she was thrilled and had her Crufts number plate proudly displayed on the shelf. Various assorted kids all flourishing, Sarah showed us her 6th form prospectus and we now have the dates for her GCSE results. 24th August. Eek. Katie demonstrated her cantering abilities on her pony and was also doing some demonstration jumping for us. Dan was working on his motocross bike. Usual assortment of dogs, horses, hamsters and general happy mayhem along with their current lodger who lives in a mobile home in the field out the back. A nice afternoon.

Tonight we had a very exciting home visit by the Greyhound Rescue people who are checking us out. We are having earnest debates about whether to adopt a rescue greyhound or a more general rescue dog from the dogs home. I was delighted that the charity does home visits - that is thorough and sensible. We will sleep on it.

Tomorrow is a very big day - Britain's Cleanest City is announced in Birmingham and we are a finalist. Funnily, spoke to the Executive Support office today about picking up our Portfolio holder at home. Mysteriously, the lady in the office insisted the Cllr wanted to be picked up at County Hall at 7 am. I wondered what could be so important. Eventually she confided that his home shower is currently out of action so he wanted to go to HQ first for an early morning scrub. Aaah. Understandable - plumbing never breaks down at a convenient time.

Just realised that I forgot to mention the honeysuckle and the clematis montana that we bought. Oops.

Did you see the lunar eclipse? Wasn't it fabulous? We were down the bay on Saturday night having a meal in a new restaurant. I thought of our friend Leila as when we went in the waitress said to us"Here's the menu. Have you eaten with us before? If not, I'll explain the concept." Cue hilarity - I mean, it's a restaurant, for heaven's sake. It's not an art installation and it's not a nuclear power station either. Harruummph. Anyway the food is delightful, and I recommend it if you get yourself past the conceptual difficulties. After we left we strolled contentedly around the Bay and basked in the beauty of a clear, starry night and a wonderful lunar eclipse that gradually and enchantingly took place above us. We eventually got a taxi home after wrestling a hen party for it, and as we got out of the taxi by the front door, the moon was at its most obscure.

Sunday it poured down - ALL DAY. Various plans for gardening and so on were necessarily halted. Andrew finished the last paint touch ups in the bathroom and we enjoyed a large joint of pork, followed by watching a DVD of Withnail and I. Not having seen it for a while, I had forgotten how incredibly funny it is and how stuffed with quotable lines. It is simply impossible to pick a favourite. We enjoyed a glass of red wine while watching. Wisely, we did not try to mimic the heroic drinking on screen, or the equally constant smoking, either of cigarettes or the family of items related to the Camberwell carrot.

Today, a typical Monday in that our beloved Councillors spend the weekend with their constituents so my email inbox is always full of queries and demands. One wanted a replacement litter bin. I emailed a courteous reply that owing to our current Council wide financial situation, all non essential revenue expenditure has been frozen - this includes litter bins. She then replies asking if we have any in our stores! I was tempted for a moment to indulge my sarcasm and mention that oh yes, we just happened to have a store with 26 beautiful, shiny bins - it would never have occurred to me to put them on the street without her asking. In any case, I am amazed by the number of Councillors who are from the ruling group and ask us to do things that are non-essential - they voted us into the financial mess in the first place, and my other pet rant, invite us to PACT meetings when only last November the Executive decided that members were in the best position to attend and should feed back to officers any questions or issues. Ho hum.

Phil's last BIM this afternoon. He is twinkling merrily and claims to be bored - it is worrying when someone who is so intelligent has no outlet for their brain - makes me wonder what he will come up with. We received a presentation from HR on Work Life Balance -an interesting issue and one that will shortly be more important for Andrew and me, as a new member of the family could be joining us shortly.....