Hurrah, the Tour has started, in London. I was glued to it yesterday. London looked magnificent, and it was the first dry day for months. Therace is wide open this year, and I think it's going to be really exciting.

Also yesterday we picked up the new dog collars from the Post Office sorting office. They had arrived from Canada. We took them home and the dogs are now wearing them. I will post some photos later. I must say they are as sumptuous as they look on line, and we are very pleased with the accompanying leads - we chose two lengths and tested the longer one at the Park yesterday. It's great,as it gives the dogs considerably more "wander" room, while retaining control. As they lounge around the house now, they really do look like dog royalty... ahhh. I am now very tempted to re-order some seasonal ones for Christmas - I can see how this could become quite addictive. The other thing to note is that both hounds now are showing a real improvement in their coats, thanks to the daily cod liver oil capsule, and twice weekly sardine ration. The collars look stunning against their glossy blackness. The hound mitt has also been working its magic.

It has been another busy week in work. I posted not so long ago, that there had been a run of disciplinaries that I had chaired. Now we are going through a run of Appeals. So far, two have upheld my decision to dismiss, and in one case there is a reinstatement. The two dismissals have confirmed to the managers that persistent absenteeism will not be tolerated. In the past, it seems that there was little appetite to confront this behaviour as managers felt that it would be overturned at a higher level. Now things are changing.

Last week, the Chief Executive published his proposals for senior management. Parks move over to Tom Morgan's Directorate so it would seem that an integrated streetscene is still as far away as ever. Had my regular fortnightly meeting with the Portfolio holder on Friday morning. He is happy with the way things are going, and we are already beginning to discuss items for next year's budget bids. Also had a meeting with the OM for the city centre, to discuss the impact of the new shopping centre on our service.

This week will be busy - the members are undertaking a Scrutiny Committee Task and finish group on Flytipping, and on Tuesday we are taking them for a mini bus ride round some of the hotspots. On Monday we are reviewing the service area business plan and progress against targets.

I will try and post some photos later of the new collars, and possibly also of the sunflowers in the garden. We also have a water lily which is just about to open.