Grrr. After going to bed last night, was rudely awoken by some muppet letting off fireworks. Booty was nervous and growling at them, and came onto our bed for a bit of reassurance and TLC. She was curled up quite happily after that stopped, so I decided to leave her there and go back to sleep. Just getting off to sleep and the police helicopter decided to hover noisily over the estate, with its search light flashing back and forth. Yes, I know they have to catch villains, but do they really have to be quite so noisy at half past one in the morning? Finally got to sleep after much muttering and swearing.

Took the dogs this morning up into the forestry - they loved it and we did too. I love the smell of woods at this time of year, damp and earthy and gorgeous. There were horses there too which Andy liked and wanted to play with.

The most important news is that Hil has a date for her operation so all systems are go for that. Saw her yesterday and did some food shopping for her.

A very busy week ahead in work. Lots of meetings scheduled and a lot on the go at the moment.

Greetings comrades! Hot greyhound news is that the ABs are now kicking in and while pegleg's paw continues to improve, things are not so good at the other end. Green and yellow not so good. Scooping while out on walks is becoming extremely difficult. Is this TMI? Perhaps. The invalid joined us in bed last night, not something he makes a habit of when both of us are in it. Woke up this morning to find a large hound securely wedged between us, looking contented and sleepy. Booty continues to sleep in her normal location. What is noticeable is that as the mornings are becoming less light and definately colder, they are not so keen on the 6 am wake up call, in fact a comfy duvet is more attractive and some days they have to be "encouraged" to come downstairs. Rattling the Bonio box always seems to work. My tactic is to lure them outside with Bonio bribes and then shut the door behind me, so they cannot return to the warm until they have performed. When it's cold and wet, they are much less interested in prolonged and leisurely sniffing, and a more businesslike approach prevails.

Quilting class tonight. I had done my homework, and was pleased with what I had done, although I did need to redo a couple of the squares, when the smaller square pieces weren't quite lined up. After stitching them all, pressed them, which does make a difference. Tonight we joined up rows of the squares, and then joined rows together. All very exciting. Then we moved on to cutting out the pieces for the next chunk, which involves triangles. This is more tricky as you cut the angle on the bias which means the fabric can wiggle as you sew it and there is the possibility you won't end up with a perfect square. More homework to do, involving both cutting out and making up pieces. Should keep me out of mischief.

Debating at the moment whether to go to see Christy Moore, when he plays here next month. Andrew has bravely offered, which I'm impressed by, as he loathes folk music or anything like it (yes, I know CM is not a "pure" folk artist). Have also been contacted by Sarah, who wants to come up for a weekend soon. Since leaving school and going to college in Llanelli, her fledgeling Gothiness has matured, and her Bebo page is now very black, and full of pictures of skulls and so on. Ah, happy memories. I must admit I am very glad she is a Goth, as it's a look I like very much and it offers a lot of scope. I'd be mortified if she turned into Chavzilla with an orange tan, enormous hoop ear-rings, scraped back hair, and her muffin top on display, nicely accessorised by a tacky thong and naff tats.

On a more positive note, Leila has booked her flights and hotel for New York - hoorah!! By the wonders of the internet, she can now call up her hotel booking and gaze at it lovingly. At this rate, she should be a union rep.

How many pop songs refer to Monday in the title? Lots. Why is this? Should I start a campaign on behalf of Tuesday? New Order - Blue Monday. Boomtown Rats - Tell me why I don't like Mondays ( I concur, by the way) Bangles - Manic Monday. And so on.......

And another thing, a warm, fraternal welcome to all and any union colleagues who may be reading this. You're very welcome. Feel the comradely love. Our greyhounds are paid up members of NASHER - National Association of Squirrel Hunters and Exterminators of Rabbits. I, on the other hand, am not. I must admit to a certain amount of mystification at my blog being of any interest to union colleagues - perhaps one will post a comment. Meanwhile, I'm sure your knowledge of my quilting habits and greyhound poo will be very useful in future meetings.

Top news. The young master did excellently yesterday - despite miserable conditions. We both got soaked. He did a time of 49:13, a new PB and sub-50 which is what he was aiming for.

I have posted a photo and also one from his last run at Bute Park. The invalid makes good progress. His poorly paw appears to be improving and thankfully we are having no problems in getting him to eat his antibiotics. Mixed with kibble they disappear in a flash. Also fortunately not too many effects at the other end - just turned a very peculiar colour, now being bright green. Walked him and Booty after work over at Park Tredelerch and got caught in the deluge - glad they had their coats on as it is definately getting colder now. The invalid is now lying on the bed watching me type. Jacket potatoes are in the oven and will be ready shortly. Later, my quilting homework will be completed, which should not take too long. If time permits I may photograph each stage, to illustrate progress made.

My life at the moment feels like I am in a tumble dryer. Just as one thing gets sorted out, another upset comes along. Where do I begin?

On Tuesday I left work early and went down to Swansea to see Hil, new emerged from hospital. We went and did some food shopping as of course she had run down all her supplies thinking she would be away from home for a few weeks. It was good to see her and I am so amazed and impressed by how philosophical she is being. Much more than I would be. She went to GP on Tuesday am and it looks as though her BP was good,normal. Sounds like she had severe "white coat syndrome" (completely understandable) while she was on the ward. Now she needs to clock up at least three of these normal readings and then we're back in to the ward. Watch this space.

Got home, found dogs a bit subdued and their leads/muzzles lying in a heap in the utility room. Message from Andrew shortly after - our dog walker Sue has resigned with immediate effect. Apparently she took the dogs (wearing their muzzles and on leads, as normal)over the park, and Booty got into a scrap with another off-lead dog. Somehow, her muzzle came off and as Sue was trying to sort out the melee, got bitten on the hand. Understandably, she has resigned. So search for replacement dog walker has been going on all week and we have one visiting us for an assessment next week. Fortunately A was working from home on Wednesday and Thursday, so woofs have been in good company.

Wednesday night, started my quilting class, over at Tredegar House. It went very well and I really enjoyed it. One of the few bright spots in the week.


We also dealt with a query from the accountants over the demographic basis for some of the bids in the MTFP. So spent some time rounding up various stats on the growth in number of students (15.5% over the last three years), increase in visitor numbers, car journeys etc.... as all of these of course impact on our services.

By Thursday morning, the tumble dryer was taking effect, as I turned up at our Highways depot for a union meeting that is actually taking place next Thursday. Well, at least all the papers are printed out ready.

Thursday evening - mixed. Andrew found some baby fish in the pond - very exciting. They are tiny little goldfish, about 2 cm long each. I had no idea our fish would breed. We can see them swimming about happily in and out of the waterlilies. Andy began limping and was holding his paw in a most pathetic way, so we took them for a shortened walk. It was the paw he ripped the nail off and it was apparent that that toe was the one with the problem.

By Friday, I was wondering what else would happen. In work, we progressed with the interviews for the Clean Streets Manager. The concentration required is tiring and draining and it was obvious by the end of the day that with four very talented yet different candidates there was no easy choice. Rather than try and stick it out, I decided to think about it over the weekend.

It brightened a little yesterday evening when Andrew returned home with the new Terry Pratchett, Making Money. Started reading it. Good so far. Andrew took Andy to the vet this morning - while they were gone, Booty was howling mournfully. I do mean howling - with her head thrown back and a proper vulpine "Grr-ooooooooo". I bet the neighbours loved it. Still, I think it's a much more attractive noise than brats screaming, and we have to put up with plenty of that. The patient returned with over a £100 (!!!aargh) worth of antibiotics as he has an infection in the nail bed. Apparently, these should do the trick, but if not, his toe will have to be amputated. Aaaargh. So our dear hopalong is moseying round the house on three paws at the moment, and I am sending out vibes saying "HEAL". One of the less attractive side effects is that apparently the ABs will induce the runs. Lovely. But let's hope they cure the infection.

So far, the rest of the day is spent undertaking domestic chores.Later, I will be doing my quilting homework. Tomorrow is the Swansea Bay 10K where the young master will be running. Watch this space for photos and update on his time, along with greyhound poo, I expect.

Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes it doesn't. As per my previous post, our week off "at home" flew by in a deeply relaxed and enjoyable way. We spent a day with Hil doing some shopping for her forthcoming hospital visit, took in a film (the Bourne Ultimatum, which was good), a lovely meal out down the bay at Le Garcon and plenty of dogs, wine and garden to keep us out of mischief.

Returned to work to 280 emails and a hectic schedule. Jason left on Friday, so it's been busy with last minute handover stuff. Shortlisted for his replacement and did the interviews for the CC Support Officer. Tried to plough through the correspondence and am still doing so.

Andrew ran the Bute Park 10K last weekend and did an excellent time - he was very pleased and had a nice medal at the end. His next run is the Swansea Bay 10K this coming weekend.

After one cancellation already, Hil had her operation date confirmed and we took her in to Singleton Hospital on Sunday morning. Got her settled in and left her with a mix of feelings - glad it was finally happening and some nerves. Took the woofs with us and went for a lovely walk afterwards in Clyne Valley. Went to work today and got a text from her - operation cancelled due to her blood pressure being too high. Aaargh! Poor Hil. Now back to square one while they sort out and stabilise her BP - no idea how long this will take. After this, work went swiftly downhill with annoying emails from a variety of senior colleagues, prominent Cllrs and stupid press queries about nonsense. Just one of those days when nothing seems to go right. Grrr. Very glad to come home to the dogs who are currently reclining stylishly. Hope the week improves for Hil and for me.

The weather continues to be very fine, and today has been a most enjoyable and relaxing day. We took the dogs this morning over to Park Tredelerch which they and we enjoyed. Returned home and enjoyed a breakfast of home made bread. A washed the dogs' duvet and I got down to some serious card making. Went over the garden centre in the afternoon and had an enjoyable browse, treating ourselves to a few nice plants. Came home and pottered happily in the garden, before enjoying a stir fry and watching "Pan's Labyrinth", a very interesting film by Guillame de Toros, the same guy who made "Hellboy". I really enjoyed it. With it being Tuesday, CSI Miami followed, with some vintage Horatio posing action - his hands never seemed to be off his hips. Great! Now writing this before retiring to bed in a happy and contented frame of mind.

I write this with a certain sensation of surprise. We went on our holidays yesterday and am now home again. We loaded the car to the gunwales with dog food, duvets for us and woofs, suitcases, clothing for every weather eventuality and plenty of wine, before setting off for the cottage. The key attraction was the 2.5 acre wild flower meadow, securely fenced that would allow off lead romping for woofs. We eventually found it in the hills of the wild west, not far from Lampeter. Banjos played softly as we approached. Sure enough, the cottage was remote and pretty and certainly had plenty of wildlife.

What we were less happy about were; the fence that allowed a greyhound leap into the next door field of sheep, the appalling lighting that meant you could only read something if you stood underneath one of the lights in the sitting room, the cold, the damp, the smell, the dirty mattress, the Baby Belling stove that would let you put the oven on but not rings simultaneously, the bed that creaked and was probably the most uncomfortable I have ever slept in, the bathroom that would not allow A to pee standing up, and a sit down shower(!!) as well as non opening windows, a staircase of Alpine proportions and glacial slipperiness, deeply uncomfortable seats, gothic levels of cobwebs, and so on........

A pathetic attempt at dinner meant that the quiche had to be heated first in the oven before we could cook any veg on the rings. Consequently a simple meal took around an hour and a half to prepare. By this morning, we were both desperate to leave, so resumed the long job of packing, and left with a glad heart. Home again by around 1. I have never been so glad to come home to a house that is clean, warm, dry, comfortable and sensibly proportioned i.e. you can stand up without braining yourself. I appreciate even more our comfortable furniture, Sky Tv, ensuite shower, king size sprung mattress, halogen spotlights, fan oven, gas hob, three loos, and secure fencing. Bliss. Thank god we live in the 21st Century with all its comforts and ease.

A roasted a duck and we have spent a leisurely evening watching an old black and white movie from the war years enjoying a bottle of red wine. Andrew had a long pre-dinner soak in the bath, and both of us are slowly feeling less traumatised and more relaxed.