Hello and I hope everyone out there in blogland is having a wonderful Christmas time. Our Christmas Eve got off to a great start when Rita and I went to see the Nutcracker in the centre of Cardiff at St. David's Hall. It was entrancing, magical and gloriously traditional and Christmassy - just what I wanted to put me in the mood for an exciting festive time. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. While we were at the theatre, Andrew and Roger walked the woofs then came and fetched us, then it was back home for a glass of mulled cider and the start of the festivities.

Somehow on Christmas Eve, there is a wonderful excitement in the air. After eating, we all settled down to watch the Muppets' Christmas Carol (a Christmas tradition for Andrew and me) then off to bed, to wait eagerly for stockings, for rustlings and creepings and mysterious bulging packages. Waking up on Christmas morning it was fun to open our stockings in bed, before getting up for a leisurely cuppa. We took the dogs for a walk over the Cardiff Bay barrage, and it was glorious. Sunny, cold and still with the city looking beautiful and the mountains behind, with Somerset visible over the Bristol Channel. Back home for brunch and champagne (smoked salmon and scrambled egg) then all the fun of opening presents. Then preparations for the feast - sitting down to eat around 4.30 p.m. The turkey was glorious, very moist, with home made stuffing, my home made cranberry sauce, roast potatoes and parsnips cooked in goose fat, sprouts with lardons and carrots, with plenty of home made gravy made with turkey stock. Crackers were pulled, funny hats worn, jokes told. Naturally there was a keen interest taken in the proceedings by the resident hounds. We followed this with cheese and port, then retired for coffee, relaxation and chat on the sofas. Enjoyed Dr Who and looking forward to the next episode. Finally, bed, tired but happy and feeling the day had gone very well.

Boxing Day was a relaxed day of pleasure, with another enjoyable dog walk and very little actually done, except chat, eat, drink and browse through the pile of nice books I received. We walked the dogs up at Llwyn Onn reservoir, on the fringe of the Brecon Beacons. On the way up, we passed huge numbers of people queueing to get into the shopping centre at Merthyr - there was something so sad and dreary about it, and I was very glad we weren't there.

On Sunday, we had booked a session over at the greyhound field which worked out nicely for Rita and Roger, as it was on their way back home to Somerset. It was the first time they'd seen the woofs all indulging in off-lead play like that and it was very enjoyable. The afternoon ended in a rather dramatic way when the billy goat in the field next door climbed over the fence and got in. I have written before that the field has a secure inner fence, high enough for sighthound safety but we had to get from the inner area to the gate and then through it, without Andy trying to eat the billy or it escaping on to the road. Hairy stuff!! Boola, bless him, was his usual chilled out self - he is a lovely boy and has taken Christmas entirely in his stride. Eventually, all safely loaded and then home. Yesterday and today have been very quiet (just what we wanted)and tomorrow we will see Andrew's sister, her husband and their three boys who will be visiting, although we are keeping our fingers crossed on the weather, as snow is forecast.

Some pics attached.

Well, Christmas is now hurtling towards us. I just can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It's been an odd few days. On Sunday night, we had a fall of snow, which then froze, leaving the city iced for the past three days, so much so that I have not been out in it. The dogs have been at home too, sliding all over the flagstones in the garden in a most undignified fashion. Andrew has been in London until yesterday - the severe weather there made him decide to come home early as transport was being disrupted. I'm making a quilt for a friend, and have succeeded in finishing the quilt top, doing a nice reverse side and making a quilt "sandwich" - now all I have to do is the actual quilting and finally put a border on it. The colours are lovely - festive without screaming "Christmas". Today we ventured out into town, which was surprisingly quiet and Andrew got the turkey and the last minute shopping, mainly perishables such as vegetables, fruit and dairy. We've also finished wrapping a big pile of presents including two that came today I'd ordered for Andrew. Top marks to good old Amazon and to an interesting American website I came across - I ordered a gift last week and it arrived less than a week later - most impressive. I may well write more about these after Christmas. Later on, I popped round to see a friend of ours - she is currently going through radiotherapy and chemotherapy, so is having a tough Christmas. As usual though she was her normal cheerful self, with not a trace of self-pity, and her humour very much intact. Fingers crossed, she and another friend (planned recipient of the quilt) will be coming round for lunch in the New Year. We had hoped to drive down to Swansea to visit my cousin Jonathan who is currently in Morriston Hospital, in the spookily named Surgical Decision Making Unit. Unfortunately, we had a sleet shower this afternoon,which was followed by biting cold, so skating on the motorway was not an attractive idea. Very reluctantly, we decided to stay in Cardiff. Now we are preparing all the last minute things for tomorrow when Andrew's parents arrive. To all my readers, a very happy, peaceful Christmas and a New Year full of health and happiness.

Christmas preparations are strange. In spite of being fairly well organised, and not having an enormous family, there is always quite a bit to do. Last week, I reached a point that most women are familiar with, when I suddenly felt - Aaaargh, and it was all just getting a bit stressy. Somehow, perhaps because of the settling relief of my checkup I began to feel by the end of Thursday that the worst was over and we were over the hump, so to speak. All the cards have been made and sent - inevitably you always get one (usually on Christmas Eve) that you haven't returned, and there is usually at least one with an indecipherable postcode and incomprehensible squiggle for a signature, leaving us both scratching our heads. The parcels that needed posting have gone, we're steadily organising assorted family visits, the tree and house is decorated, wreath is made and on the front door, and we're making progress with the menu planning/food shopping. As I write, Andrew is downstairs making a batch of chilli jam and some apple and cranberry chutney. Tomorrow, I am going to concentrate on finishing a quilt which is a Christmas present for a friend of mine.

What also helped enormously was yesterday going down to Swansea to visit my 91 year old great aunt. When I was a child, we used to visit her on Christmas Eve, and in my mind, seeing her is still the "kick-off" to the festivities. She was in her usual very high spirits, and we went out for a pub lunch at one of her favourite hostelries. We had a great time catching up on the news, admiring the huge quantity of cards she'd received, exchanging gifts, and discussing plans for the New Year. She's got a very busy week next week, (far busier than us, actually) involving a dizzying number of social calls and a trip to the pantomime on Tuesday - cues of us all shouting "Oh, no you're not" at the top of our voices in the pub. She finally had her central heating installed in the autumn, courtesy of Age Concern, and it was so nice to visit her and walk into a toasty warm house. When we arrived, small flakes of snow were falling and it was bitterly cold. She was interested in hearing all about our trip to Germany, our foster dog and a lengthy discussion of TV chefs (she is a keen cook herself). Suddenly it was time to go, as she had another (!!) visitor due later in the afternoon, and then back home to the woofs.

Today we walked the dogs and it is still very cold with ice in the garden pond, and thick frost on the frozen ground over at Tredegar House. The leaves on the ground were twinkling beautifully with their coating of frost - so lovely to look at. I've just done a big pile of ironing and later on, we're having braised peasant with red cabbage. No doubt a glass or two of red wine will be consumed as well.

Today is the most important day of my year. This morning, we trundled over to the hospital at Llandough for my oncology check-up. Saw a lovely new registrar this morning who was so friendly and reassuring (and she had beautiful, warm hands), had my exam and a chat and given the all clear. As it's now five years since my diagnosis - I'm free to go - no more check-ups. Naturally, the clinic maintains an "open door" policy in that if I ever am concerned about any symptoms I can go straight back, but my regular check-ups are now behind me. I was so delighted and relieved when it was over that I promptly burst into tears - much to my embarrassment, but the doctor was lovely, gave me a big hug, Andrew wielded his hanky and then we were able to walk out, saying goodbye to the lovely nurses and receptionists at the clinic who are also always unfailingly cheerful and friendly when you go over there.

The five years has been a long road - and it has changed me in a number of ways, both physically, mentally and emotionally. Some of these effects will of course be life long like the battle with lymphoedema, the fatigue and the scarring but I am pleased that in many ways my life is just as it was before, except with the bittersweet edge that never now leaves me, that I am very conscious (especially at the moment) of the rather arbitrary nature of survival and just how precious the extra, borrowed time has been. These past five years have been a wonderful bonus and very much appreciated. One of the changes has been an unwillingness to put up with crap (be it from people individually or organisationally) and to move on/away swiftly if someone is being an idiot, whereas previously I would have been more likely to give second, third or more chances.

The other thing that I'd like to mention is that when I was ill, I was so unspeakably grateful to those friends and colleagues who were supportive - even a small card or note or a quick visit meant the world and in my mind, they will be appreciated fondly for the rest of my days. Equally, there are a number of people who I would have expected to have been there who weren't. Of course, there may well be reasons I don't know, but the disappointment has been noted. I have moved on from a number of people who if you'd asked me before, I'd have gladly acknowledged as good friends/colleagues/family members.

After the hospital, we went over to a good butcher at Penarth, where we stocked up on some game for the freezer (pheasant casserole to celebrate the New Year), then home. After walking the dogs, we are now sorting out the Christmas tree, lights and decorations - Fun!! My hospital news is the best gift I can wish for - now I really do feel we can celebrate. May even have a glass of champagne tonight.

After we came back from Germany, I inherited a cold from Andrew that he had picked up in London at the client's office he is currently working at. It sounds like my idea of Hell, in that it is a large, open-plan office block with windows you cannot open and a form of air conditioning. Of course at this time of the year, everyone has sniffles so you can imagine all the germs just endlessly recirculating - poor Andrew didn't stand a chance. Anyway, I am over the worst, just a bit snuffly now, thankfully. Let's hope it's not one of those irritating ones that lingers.

Yesterday, we went down to Burry Port to see Rhian, the lady who adopted our much loved first foster dog, now called Callie. We last saw them at the Greyhound Rescue Wales show in September and I had been threatening to go down and see them for ages, so we finally got our butts in gear and went down there. Since Rhian adopted Callie, she (like most greyhound owners!) decided to foster and took in an older dog called Mikey who had been over-raced and left with stretched tendons in his fetlocks, giving him a strange gait. Anyway, the foster was a failure, in that Rhian, (understandably) fell completely in love with Mikey and he is now a permanent member of the family. Mikey has gone from being rather battered looking to a gleaming, healthy boy with a glossy black coat and an insatiable appetite for being cuddled. He still has quite bad scarring on him from his previous hard life (the fur will never grow back) but Rhian's TLC has done wonders for him.

Callie was her usual completely adorable self and it was great to have a cuppa and a chat to catch up on all the news. Rhian is a talented knitter (hand and machine) but was saying that the hounds do have an unfortunate liking for playing with her wool! Anyway after a cuppa we all headed down to Pembrey Country Park. I've written before about this - it's gorgeous, miles of beaches, sandy dunes, open grassy areas, picnic tables and copses of trees extending for miles. It overlooks my beloved north Gower (where I was brought up) and is also full of lovely bridleways, and jumps for horses. We could see people playing with stunt kites when we arrived and then went for a lovely walk through the woods and open spaces, enjoying the sandy turf, the trees, the sky and watching Rhian's two dogs run round us like lunatics having a wonderful time. Having five greyhounds around is wonderfully anarchic and very pleasureable. Callie of course gets on great with our two and even Mikey was playing happily - Boola is pretty chilled and he enjoyed himself as well. All in all, it seemed like no time at all before it was beginning to get dark and even colder, so we bundled everyone back into the car and back to Rhian's house. I drove, and Rhian was in the passenger seat; Andrew sat in the back with Callie and Mikey and our three squashed into the boot. Great fun. Then it was back up the M4 to Cardiff through the dark. I attach some pics.

Today we've had a quiet day - a pleasant walk with the woofs this morning and we went to get our Christmas tree this afternoon from the garden centre. It's a Noble Fir, smells fabulous and we'll be putting it up on Wednesday. While there, I also got some spray gold paint to decorate a big bag of pine cones that Penny gave me earlier this year. They make a wonderful Christmas decoration. Also we bought a plain, holly wreath and I will decorate/embellish it myself with ribbons, pine cones and berries. The garden centre was charging £20 (!!!!) for a wreath with just a few pine cones and one tartan bow on it - daylight robbery.

Wilkommen! So, we're back from Germany. The trip was the first time we've done a holiday without the hounds which was quite a milestone. We took them to the kennels that GRW use, just north of Blackwood which has always impressed us when we've visited to drop off or pick up hounds for the charity.(Link to their website here - http://www.pantymilah.moonfruit.com/) They are used to greyhounds' special requirements and are happy to accommodate neurotic fusspots like us! So, off we went with a list of typed instructions and notes, a bag of coats and muzzles and a heavy heart. Leaving them was a wrench and coming home to a house without dogs in it was horrible, but it was also very exciting knowing that we were going to be travelling in the morning.

Met the coach at an unholy hour of the morning and travelled over to Medway services in Kent, which was the meeting point for all the feeder coaches. Then swopped over to our permanent coach and two drivers. Off we went to Eurotunnel, my first time, and it is amazing. You can't photograph the site unfortunately, but it is very striking with rows of ramps swooping down to the carriages, which themselves are giant silver double decker coaches with tiny windows. Passengers stayed on the coach, then the coach itself was driven on to the train with its own compartment. To allow easy access for vehicles entering and leaving, you drive on to what is effectively a giant metal tube and once all vehicles are in place, out of the ceiling come drop-down shutters and doors to compartmentalise you. I loved it. It takes about half an hour (travelling at speeds of up to 90 mph) to cross and you smoothly emerge into the dingy surroundings of Calais on the other side. I've crossed the Channel before on ferries and hovercrafts, but this was an impressive addition to the list.

We then travelled on the excellent Continental autoroutes/autobahnen through France, Belgium and Germany until we reached our hotel base, in the pretty village of St. Goar on the Rhine. This part of the Rhine valley is a World Heritage Site. It's the heart of German wine growing country and the valley sides are covered in steep vineyards and orchards. The Rhine is of course a major transport artery through Europe and all along you could see the big barges carrying goods up and down it, as well as a plethora of assorted pleasure cruisers, mostly festively decorated with pretty lights. Small car ferries also cross the river at frequent intervals. As well as the pretty villages and towns laid out along the river, the valley sides are spectacularly topped with wonderful bergs - castles and fortified manor houses, some in ruins and many still inhabited. Seeing these fairytale castles emerging from the rocks made me expect to see knights on horses or a dragon crossing the skyline. Naturally, I took plenty of Wagner on my Ipod along with some Kraftwerk to get me into the German vibe.

The valley floor is also a rail artery with fast, frequent trains serving the towns and villages, very clean and modern with each train having dedicated areas for bikes on many of the carriages, helping passengers to properly integrate their travels. I found this both inspiring and depressing - it shouldn't be that hard to take these simple steps to help make transport easier yet in the UK we don't seem to make it easy for cyclists. More generally, the Germans (and continental Europeans generally) don't seem to have the terrible mindset affecting traffic planners in the UK that if you drive a car you must be some Jeremy Clarkson figure and the alternative is a system where you only cycle or walk, while wearing a hair shirt and a pair of sandals. In fact, in reality, many people use multiple modes of transport and would be happy to use alternatives to the car if (and it is a big IF) public transport was clean, reliable, reasonably priced and integrated. So, this would make things like having bike areas on trains a no-brainer! Certainly in Germany, town centres had plenty of cars - most were not pedestrianised except where medieval streets were simply too narrow for cars, yet this was not a problem. There didn't seem to be any parking wardens, yet people parked neatly and considerately and we didn't feel that cars impinged on our experience as pedestrians. I do wish we could get this right in the UK - when I think about the current shambles in Cardiff, I just want to bang my head against a wall somewhere. But don't get me started on that - that's a rant for another day....

We loved the beautiful Christmas markets in the town centres. Squares would be filled with a selection of stalls selling a variety of handmade goodies and huge quantities of food and drink. The Germans certainly respect their sausages - I tried a Bratwurst ( a roasted sausage, which was really delicious) and as well, there was a whole plethora of grilled, boiled wurst, served with curry, bread or chips according to preference, of every conceivable shape, size and colour. Other popular food stalls were chips (pommes frites, sold in gargantuan quantitites), crepes and hot fresh waffles. Gluhwein was immensely popular and around the stalls you'd see big groups of Germans, meeting up with friends and family, all warmly dressed, cheerfully knocking back glasses of the wonderful hot, spicy drink. You get a glass with your first wine, which you pay for and then either have refilled or you can keep it as a souvenir. If you give it back, your small deposit is returned to you. This system worked very well and we've now got some souvenir mugs to remind us of happy times spent savouring a hot glass of festive cheer - it is certainly a wonderful drink when it is cold as you can feel it warming you and giving you that festive glow.

We also went to a wine tasting in a medieval cellar in Rudesheim which was very interesting and informative. We have bought some wine to bring back, including a sweet dessert wine that should go well with Christmas pudding. Again, we had some souvenir glasses as well! Rudesheim also has a particular speciality which is a Rudesheimer Kaffee, a potent mix of sugar, flaming Asbach brandy, hot coffee and huge quantities of whipped cream. It is served in a pretty, decorative china cup and saucer (these made popular gifts) and I tried one, which was delicious and would certainly ensure you went shopping feeling warm right through, as the brandy gave it a powerful kick, even after some of the alcohol had been burned off.

Wandering the little cobbled streets was delightful. Everywhere was decorated for Christmas with lots of fresh greenery and twinkly lights, and the medieval buildings, many half-timbered were wonderful. In spite of the huge quantities of takeaway food, the towns were spotlessly clean and it was also nice to see German people out and about with dogs. Pets seemed to be welcome in shops and cafes, and were very well behaved (again, we saw no dog poo anywhere on the street). What a pleasant contrast from the UK. Koblenz in particular had suffered bomb damage during the war, but in general the Germans decided to rebuild and restore along the medieval town plans rather than adopt the UK model of completely obliterating the old town layout. When I think about Swansea and Plymouth for instance, both heavily blitzed, their town centres bear almost no resemblance to the pre-war orientation and layout. So, in Koblenz, it was very difficult to tell which bits were rebuilt and which were original and we liked the higgledy piggledy streets, the little squares and the natural dominance of the Rathaus and some of the bigger churches. Poor old Plymouth has the 1960s monstrosity of the Civic Centre plus some very dodgy shopping areas. The German approach had kept the scale right for pedestrians and hadn't suffered the dead hand of too much architectural and planning interference. The other benefit of the Continental approach to towns is that they are lived in. Most of the town centre shops at ground level were topped by two or three stories of apartments - this gave the whole town a lovely feel. People could walk out to their nearest amenities (again, a sensible approach) with shops, schools and local amenities intermingling nicely. Many British town centres are rigidly EITHER shopping zones or a hot spot for bars and nightclubs which is often a no-go area for folks who don't want to party in the street. And while I'm on my soapbox, how come the Germans were knocking back gluhwein all day long, as well as copious quantities of schnapps and brandy, all with glass containers and we didn't see a single fight, nobody vomiting, weeing on the street, being loud and obnoxious or generally behaving like a British drunk. We did see lots of groups of happy German people, obviously well lubricated, and the most boisterous behaviour we saw was a group of lads singing carols, as they were walking along a street. And we didn't see a single police officer in any of the town centres. The contrast with Cardiff was quite depressing.

Anyway, to end on a more positive note, we loved Germany, and we can recommend a trip to one of their festive markets wholeheartedly. You'll come back with a healthy respect for sausage diversity, and an admiration for the art of the cake maker (patisserie is taken very seriously indeed with wondrous results) along with some unusual presents, a taste for gluhwein and very happy memories. I've put a couple of pics up here, but you can see the whole album if you're interested by clicking the link below, which will take you to my Facebook photo section, and the pics from the trip. I will also add that it was lovely to be reunited with the hounds yesterday and it seems they had a very good time while we were away. All are well and quickly resumed their habits of sofa stealing, snoozing and demanding tickles. The Woodhouse pack is reunited.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128107&id=764428322&l=25faa56088

Well, today is the first day of winter, and appropriately enough, the temperature dropped down last night and when I woke up there was the first frost we have had, with ice in puddles. Our car is a Mondeo estate (I love Fords) and it has an interesting feature on the dashboard. When the temperature drops below 4 C an orange snowflake glows, and when it is freezing or below, the snowflake turns red - to warn you of adverse road conditions. I took the dogs over to Tredegar House, and never cease to enjoy the beauty of the park and of the house itself. From the outside you mainly see the 17th Century exterior and it's gorgeous; dignified, mellow bricks and just a touch of grandeur with the stone carvings and ornate ironwork of the gates. Andy was very disappointed that there were no squirrels for him to play with - he's not interested in architecture.

As well as being the start of winter, it is also the beginning of Advent. I've opened the first window of the Advent calendar (I love doing this) but have also been giving some serious thoughts to other matters. Advent, like Lent is a time for reflection and preparation, and I have been musing on charitable giving. I had got out of the habit of tithing, with having an interrupted employment history recently, but now that I am earning a smaller but steady amount now feel the time is right to give this some serious commitment. As someone who has been involved with running a small charity, I know how important the foundation is of a regular, reliable income stream. This sort of donation is also much easier to manage in a tax-efficient way. I'm not knocking or criticising donation by event or special occasion - I'm glad to take part myself, but regular giving can do so much more for a charity. I also think there is a special reward in tithing - a regular donation of part of my income. Even though my income has dropped in recent years, in global terms I am immensely wealthy. I have a warm, spacious house, plenty of good food, reliable private transport, warm clothes and shoes, access to travel, dental care, access to health care, three dogs with access to veterinary care and enough spare money to enjoy hobbies, books, entertaining and wine drinking. All this makes us well off beyond the dreams of many people in developing countries and I often think with sadness that our dogs have better access to veterinary care (and vaccinations) than many children.

So, over the next few weeks, I am going to be drawing up a list of three charities and will be donating to them regularly from the New Year - the next few weeks will be spent in researching and refining my list. Any suggestions or ideas very gratefully received, for charities that you think are particularly special, interesting or worthy of support. If anyone reading this is already tithing and wants to encourage me, or share experiences of giving in any way please do let me know.

I have so much to write about it is difficult to know where to begin. I think I will start with the big stuff and work from there.

One of our close greyhound friends and neighbours has been ill for a while and has been waiting for investigations to take place. Her GP surgery didn't send on the original hospital referral, delaying her investigation, but eventually she did go and we learned that she had bowel cancer. Initially, her doctors were cautiously optimistic and we were too, but she then went for further scans including an MRI and a CT scan (memories came flooding back when she was describing these to me), and these have shown the cancer has spread and is inoperable. Her medical team are still going ahead with radiotherapy to shrink the tumour but this is miserable news. At this stage, we are all feeling pretty flattened - she herself is admirably calm at the moment and focusing on the smaller practical sides of things. We are on standby to help with dog walking and shopping and so on - but inside I am grieving for the imminent loss of someone who has become very dear - always cheerful, very talented and someone who takes a great interest in the world and loves life. She is a talented quilter and is also a skilled beader and maker of jewellery. I don't really want to say too much more at this stage as anyone reading who's been through it knows there is not a lot to say.

Similarly, another dear friend (in Plymouth) is looking after her mother who has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In this case, I am much more concerned with my friend and so am at one step removed from the illness itself but it's miserable seeing its effects on family members and loved ones.

There, that's the big stuff - the emotional turmoil of the past couple of weeks of finding out the awful news is going to move into the next phase of action - physical support for our friend here and love and support down the phone for my friend in Plymouth. I don't really know if all this happening is made worse or better by being someone on close terms with cancer myself. Bits of both, really. At least I have a familiarity with hospitals, and the terms used - but also that awful nagging question about the peculiar randomness of survival - why me and why not my friend? The one lesson that does emerge is to be the patient from hell with your GP and CHECK they send letters, nag, be a pain, but do it, and not to ignore any odd symptoms - if you'll pardon the dreadful pun, go with your gut and stamp your foot. Initially my friend thought that her symptoms might be due to a food allergy but that didn't stand up to logical analysis for a second.

As well as all that happening, there's been quite a bit going on in our little world. I have now completed and passed six out of seven modules on my ECDL - great news. All being well, I am going to try my hardest to complete the course by the end of term thus saving the cost of enrolling for another term after the Christmas break.

Boola our foster dog has continued his stay with us. He is now fully vaccinated and we had rather a traumatic time when he went into the vet for a GA to allow for a dental to be done (very common with greyhounds)and a biopsy. Unfortunately he did not do very well when he came home from the vets and we had two sleepless nights and were both like zombies until he finally turned the corner. Since then, he's back to his usual loveable ways and is a delightful addition to the household. We had another emotional hiccup when as instructed I rang the vets to pick up the results of his blood tests and biopsy. The vet nurse wouldn't tell me the results over the phone and simply insisted the vet would ring me the next day to discuss them. Of course, you can immediately imagine what I was thinking and I spent a pretty miserable night with not much sleep and considering the worst. To my immense relief the vet phoned and all was well - I still have no idea why the nurse couldn't tell me that. Grrrr. Now that Boola has completed his vaccinations and health checks I have written up some notes about him for the charity website and enclosed some photos, so he should be up on the site very soon. Although he is a handsome boy, who is very well behaved, his age is against him (he's nine) so I doubt if a new home will come along quickly. However, we'll keep our fingers crossed, and while he's waiting, he's enjoying himself immensely with us and our two hounds. We expect that he will be certainly be here over the Christmas period.

Yesterday was the Swansea Charities Christmas Fair and I have been immersed in a sea of glue, paper and card upstairs for the past couple of weeks making a mountain of lovely Christmas cards to sell on our stall. This year, the event was held in the Leisure Centre, my first visit to it since it has been re-opened and refurbished. It makes me feel very old to admit it, but I can remember the original Leisure Centre opening on the site in 1977, opened by the Queen as it was her Silver Jubilee year. The new centre seems very whizzy and attractive. As usual the fair was very well organised, and three of us were on the stall, myself, Penny and Margaret, who I was meeting for the first time, and liked immediately - turns out she is a fellow quilter!

One of the lovely things about these sorts of events is that you realise that the UK is full to bursting of people who like to bake, knit, embroider, craft, and do all these things we are always being told are dying out. Far from it. There were stalls selling home made jam and marmalade, lots of handmade cards, handmade jewellery, beautiful knitted goods, painted glass items, and so many gorgeous home baked goodies! Scones, pies, pasties, cakes, buns, mince pies - everywhere you looked, iced fairy cakes of every hue. There were tombolas and raffles and I ended up coming home with a peculiar stuffed robin (I still don't really know what it is) which was quickly snaffled by Andy as a new toy. I also came home with a beautifully embroidered miniature cross, barely an inch high, and of exquisite needlework, and a knitted woollen small stripey blanket, suitable for pets, knees or any personal need, plus a bag of home-made brownies and some chocolate fairy cakes. Andrew ate most of the brownies last night and declared them to be delicious.

Now that this big push for the cards is done, I just have to make the cards for our own Christmas card list and have already cross stitched an assortment, with more being completed. We are also starting the countdown to our German adventure - very exciting. I am hoping for snow - it will make such a wonderful change from the miserable never ending rain we've been having here and the constant battering gales. Today we walked the woofs via Hamadrayad park and the wetlands behind St Davids Hotel before making a quick trip to Ikea. It was very busy there and we stocked up on tealights, some sheets, paper napkins, some preserving jars and wrapping paper. We have already made a foray to a Yankee Candle shop in Cardiff to stock up on some larger scented candles for the festive season, but I love burning tealights with their beautiful romantic glow. Whenever I have visited Norway or Sweden, you always see these little candles lit in cafes, shops and so on - such a welcoming sight.

When we came home, we listened to the radio adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" by John le Carre, starring Simon Rusell Beale, who does George Smiley so wonderfully. I love this book, and loved the original TV adaptation with Alec Guinness, but this radio version is doing it justice and is part of a bigger George Smiley season that Radio 4 are doing, and what a treat it has been.

I am going to finish this marathon blog post with one of my favourite poems.

The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,

Some of which we may disregard:

The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,

The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),

And the childish -- which is not that of the child

For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel

Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree

Is not only a decoration, but an angel.

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:

Let him continue in the spirit of wonder

At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;

So that the glittering rapture, the amazement

Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,

So that the surprises, delight in new possessions

(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),

The expectation of the goose or turkey

And the expected awe on its appearance,

So that the reverence and the gaiety

May not be forgotten in later experience,

In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,

The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,

Or in the piety of the convert

Which may be tainted with a self-conceit

Displeasing to God and disrespectful to the children

(And here I remember also with gratitude

St. Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire)

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas

(By 'eightieth' meaning whichever is the last)

The accumulated memories of annual emotion

May be concentrated into a great joy

Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion

When fear came upon every soul:

Because the beginning shall remind us of the end

And the first coming of the second coming.

T.S. Eliot (1954)

After we returned Lady to Angie's house, we went back there the following weekend to meet Boola, taking our two with us. This was also an opportunity to catch up with lovely Lady who practically threw herself at me for cuddles and was a wriggly bundle of joy, putting on weight. She's subsequently had her dental, which went well, and this has considerably speeded up progress on her condition - it's amazing the difference this makes. Then it was out the garden for the introduction between Boola and our two. To our delight, madam didn't start performing, in fact seemed distinctly indifferent. Andy seemed thrilled to have another boy to play with, and they commenced an orgy of bum sniffing and competitive weeing on all of Angie's nice rose bushes - a positive start. Then we opened the boot of the car and the two boys simply leapt in without any prompting and quietly lay down. Brilliant. And that, happily, is how it has been. Booty hasn't minded him at all, and just seems to ignore him, occasionally sniffing him. Andy has now got a new boy chum and all is going well. There have been one or two minor incidents but overall fantastic in terms of relationships between the three.

Boola is a fabulous boy all round. I attach some pics. He is very handsome. We took him to the vet for a checkup - yet again, he needs a dental, although there is a possibility his previous home may be persuaded to contribute. He's going for his dental on Thursday morning - so watch this space. I'm not sure if he'll need extractions - it's certainly possible as he is struggling with hard kibble - clearly he can't bite down on it.

On Sunday, we had the AGM for the greyhound charity up at Pontypridd. The pub allow us to use their function room, and unusually are happy for folk to bring their greyhounds. So, imagine if you will, a function room filled with around 50 people and approximately 30 hounds, all elegantly draped, or lying on seats. We had a number of speakers including a member of the Welsh Assembly but we found that when we applauded, this set all the hounds off on an outburst of howling, barking and whining. So when any speaker was applauded, the entire audience shook their hands in front of them - this apparently is how deaf people applaud each other. It worked brilliantly and didn't disturb the dogs. We took Boola and left our two at home. He behaved himself very well and enjoyed meeting a variety of other people and dogs. I also dropped off a huge pile of hand made cards for the greyhound shop. The meeting finished about 3, and then it was time to come home. The weather has been very wet for the past week or so - I seem to be constantly battling to keep the house clean. I attach some pics of Boola and the AGM.

Apologies - I spent most of last week flattened by some sort of flu type virus and have not blogged. Greyhound news primarily tonight. The charity is now stepping up a gear, as the local track at Swansea is closing this Saturday. We knew the closure was imminent, but the last straw was the prosecution last week for animal neglect at the track. See link here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8332622.stm

The final races will be run on Saturday 7th November. Operation Greyhound has now swung into action, involving a partnership between us, (GRW), Dogs Trust, RSPCA, the Council, the track, Greyhound Welfare and Swiss Valley Greyhounds. By operating in partnership we believe we can ensure that every racer that needs rehoming can be, and none need to be put down or dumped. Knowing this was imminent, we were quietly trying to maximise the number of spaces available for immediate intake and we had a phone call last week about fostering.

The first dog (photos attached) was an elderly female, believed over 11, with possible arthritis. The owner had taken her to the vet to be killed, but fortunately the vet declined and pointed them in our direction. I should stress the dog is perfectly healthy. The owner asked us to collect the dog or it would be killed on Monday (today), so the clock was ticking. We collected her on Saturday and also found that she had been sleeping out of doors (!!!) with no coat - most people know how skinny greyhounds are - minimal body fat and thin coats/skin. Not surprisingly, she'd been crying and this was irritating for her owners. Also not surprisingly she had bad pressure sores on her elbows, where she had been resting on concrete with no padding.

I leave readers to make their own assessment when looking at her - the owner claimed that she didn't have much appetite. Unfortunately, although she is adorable, and a friendly dog with people (God knows why, after treatment like she's had) she did not get on at all well with our two. When we first fostered Murgatroyd, things were a bit tense, but this was World War 3 in comparison, particularly between the two girls, both used to being dominant bitches.

We quickly realised that this would not be a long term option, and contacted another foster home, where she would have gone if we had not taken her. We spent a rather tense time on Saturday, having to maintain UN style neutral zones but it was a joy to see her eat, relax and soak up tickles and cuddles. She polished off three excellent meals while she was with us, and on Sunday we went down to see Angie, her back up foster. Fortunately, Angie had a little submissive foster lurcher with her in the house (she also kennels greyhounds on her property), and they got on like a house on fire. It was a horrible wrench leaving her after only 24 hours, but good to know that she is in excellent care.

Our next step is to return to Angie's next weekend, and see how our two get on with another foster that has just come in- if relationships are cordial, we'll be fostering that one. It will also give me a chance to have a catch up cuddle with our beautiful grey girl.

After leaving Angie, we headed over to Penny who lives close by. It was a delight to get out of the car and be greeted enthusiastically by two torpedoes of lurcherdom, both muddy and exuberant. Then after a quick cup of tea, onwards back up the M4 to our two and a much needed gin, feeling emotionally very drained.

As usual, I find that my life seems to be a case of trying to squash in about 29 hours worth of activity into every 24 hours of real time. Since I last wrote, a number of things have happened. Firstly, my status has changed from being a housewife into tentatively dipping my toe back into the world of work. After over 20 years in local government, I am now in the private sector, in fact I am self employed. Regular readers will recall that the young master works for a management consultancy, a small but busy company, that uses a core of employees and a wider range of associate consultants that are brought in for specific areas of expertise. After some discussion, I have now become a consultant, primarily and initially doing desktop studies and assisting with the management of company databases and so on, for the company he works for, but with the freedom to take on other work as it suits. In the traditional manner, I am now available for weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs and would be pleased to discuss any proposals via the usual contact mechanisms. I can't stress enough though that I am not wishing to return to full time,permanent work - that's not a lifestyle I want to rejoin, for all sorts of reasons.

My first project was started last Thursday and completed on Friday - involving some research on a local government related project, with added suggestions for useful reports, data, public polling and so on. This is the sort of work I really enjoy - there is some very good quality data out there now on public services, and pulling it together in a useable package is right up my street. It uses the skills I accumulated doing my MBA and the wide experience I have in local government informs the crucial practicality tests.

After such a positive day on Thursday, I went to my usual ECDL class in the evening, feeling happy and anticipatory. I've commented before on my disappointment that the class is not using up to date software, but am plodding on with it. The tutor wanted to get me set up to do my first exam, in word processing, probably my strongest module. It took her over an hour and a quarter to be able to gain access to the website through which the exams are conducted. Eventually, just before 8 pm I sat down to do my test. Initially, all went well. I was flying through the questions very comfortably. Then, with two questions to go, the computer crashed.

By this point, I had passed through the fury stage and had reached the state of expecting a piece of space junk to land on the roof, a power cut to take place or some other similar freak of nature. Due to some quirk of the system, you cannot resit your test on the same day, so I will be taking it again this Thursday night. Fingers crossed we don't have an invasion of locusts, or killer squirrels or something equally improbable.

On the weekend, we travelled over to Somerset to stay with Andrew's parents to celebrate both Andrew and his father's birthdays. The birthdays are separated by one day, and in fact Andrew was born about ten minutes to midnight, the family story being that if Andrew's mum could have held on for ten more minutes, they would have shared the same birthday. Naturally and understandably, Andrew's mother is less sympathetic to this point of view, making the reasonable point that by that stage in the proceedings, waiting was not really an option!

Anyway, we drove over there on Saturday, which is also Booty's official birthday (as we don't know the real date). After a short lunch, we headed out in the afternoon to Hestercombe, near Taunton. This is a lovely house and garden, the estate of which had fallen into a state of some disrepair, but has now been lovingly restored and is open to the public. There is a formal garden at the front of the house, designed by Lutyens and Jekyll and then behind the house there is a traditional 18th century parkland setting with lakes, follies, vistas, a ha-ha and all the usual accoutrements. It was a glorious autumn afternoon and we enjoyed walking up through the grounds to the highest point and then descending, before strolling round the formal gardens. Maintaining the follies, planting, water features and so on is a massive task and it had changed and improved since Andrew and I last visited some three years back. His parents are regular visitors as they hold a variety of garden and indoor events there. I attach some pics.

In the evening, we stayed in and enjoyed a delicious celebratory dinner, before retiring. In the morning, after breakfast, we were joined by Andrew's sister, her husband and their three small boys. The boys had made Booty some gorgeous cards, and there was a present for her of a squeaky rubber chicken. This was a huge success with both dogs and I will try to attach some video footage of them playing with it, along with the boys climbing the apple trees in the garden. The day passed very quickly and soon it was time to return home, with both woofs and people tired and happy.

Just going to try to upload a couple of the special greyhound pics.

Two eventful weeks to catch up on. Weekend before last, was our annual craft-fest at the CIA (Cardiff International Arena). Hilary came up from Swansea on the Thursday, and Thursday evening was spent in excited discussions on shopping lists. On Friday, Andrew dropped off two eager shoppers and aunt and niece embarked together on their annual twirl round the craft show. The show brings together goodies from a number of crafts, including quilting, stitching, knitting and papercrafts with demonstrations by people doing lace making and tatting and the Quilters Guild, as well as costumes from The Duchess, film starring Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren.

By now, we have our strategy well worked out. First, we simply view the stalls, working round the outside first then moving up and down the respective aisles. As we do so, we note stalls of interest, with items that we want to check out. Then we have a coffee and gird our loins in preparation for the attack ahead. Then and only then does any shopping take place, and we try to make sure that heavy or bulky items are left until the end.

Then the actual shopping takes place and this year we really enjoyed it. This is not a craft specific blog so I won't review what we saw in detail, except to say I took the plunge and after three years of dithering, I finally took the plunge and invested in a Big Shot, a die cutting machine. More about this over on Silver Nutmeg. Very happy, and exhausted, we finally emerge blinking into the light and are collected by Andrew. At home, we collapse in a heap, examine our purchases with gleeful little squeaks of joy and review the day, helped initially by coffee and later by a bottle of wine...

On the Saturday, our original plan had been to go back into town to visit Lakeland, the kitchenware shop. However the weather was terrible and Andrew was poorly with a sore throat and high temperature, and wisely spent the day in bed. Hilary suggested we stay home and have a day of crafting, in particular playing with the new die cutter and showing her the marvels of alcohol inks, which she was curious to see demonstrated. So we had a happy and successful day of crafting, while the rain poured down and took her to the station for her train, later in the afternoon. Had a quiet day on the Sunday.

On the Monday, we had a special visitor. The greyhound charity we are involved with had been contacted by an author writing a book on racing greyhounds as pets - effectively their second careers. She wanted to chat to some greyhound owners and take some pics of them in a home setting. Naturally, the offer of talking to someone about our beloved hounds was too good to turn down. So she came over, asked lots of questions and took some pics. She very kindly sent us a CD of some of the pics later in the week, and I will attach them, although possibly not to this post. As they are high spec images, the file size is quite large. I feel there are some entrancing images of the hounds there. Naturally, I am of course hugely biased but I do feel in general that greyhounds are leggy supermodels - very photogenic with their swan necks and aristocratic shnozzles.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by, with Andrew away, then on Friday we had an evening I have been anticipating for a long time. Regular readers will recall that we saw the Ring Cycle in 2006, an ambition of mine and were hugely affected by it, loving the complexity and beauty of the music, the singing and the emotional intensity of the story. On Friday, the Mariinsky Theatre were back, from St. Petersburg and this time they were doing an opera gala concert, with the entire second half being the final act of Die Valkurie with Bryn Terfel singing Wotan. One of my regrets was not being able to see him singing this role in Covent Garden recently - tickets were like gold dust, so it was a wonderful treat. The first half of the concert was a mix of orchestral pieces and sung opera extracts, with stunning quality in the voices. Not a duff one among them. As I mentioned in the Ring review originally, all the Russian singers had a very distinctive posture with ramrod straight backs, open chests and a careful placing of arms and hands. Much less naturalistic than current European practice, but not unwelcome. We had excellent seats in the front stalls and again were able to savour the joys of the theatre building - it is an excellent auditorium. It was also a pleasure to see the orchestra on the stage, as opposed to the pit - allowing a really intimate feel to proceedings.

The second half flew by - I loved it. Bryn Terfel was excellent as Wotan, making his entrance via the stalls in dramatic fashion, and along an apron at the side of the stage. Sieglinde was beautifully sung - the encounter between her and Siegmund to me is one of the most powerful and beautiful pieces of music I know, earlier in the opera. The orchestra were superb, conducting was excellent, with tempo moving very briskly along. Bryn Terfel really does have a superb voice for Wagner and also has that imposing physical presence needed. He is a big man, tall and broad and really inhabits the role and the stage - you find yourself drawn to him. It seemed the singing was over in what felt like ten minutes but when we emerged it was nearly 10.45 and the evening had started promptly at 7.15. Bliss.

Saturday morning was a quiet time for all of us, being quite tired after a busy week, Andrew still recuperating and a late night the night before. My head was (and still is) full of Wagner music. Then it was off down to Swansea to see great aunt Floss, now 91, recently ill but still on wonderful form, as independent, funny, and sharp as ever. She is enjoying her central heating, recently installed in time for the winter (and long overdue). We went out for lunch in a pub in Morriston that one of her other great neices had recommended - not bad, but not one we'd rush back to, I think. After lunch, we had a run in the car down the Mumbles and parked up in Bracelet bay, looking out over the waves, before returning her home, and then making our own way back up the motorway to Cardiff. A quiet evening spent catching up on some TV and a fairly early bed.

Today was an interesting day, as we had managed by great good fortune to track down a greyhound charity just over the bridge in England who have a field available for greyhound play, off lead in a secure setting. Sighthounds generally are notoriously bad at recall - being prone to selective deafness when a more interesting object is engaging their attentions (such as a rabbit or a squirrel). This sort of field offers a safe, responsible way for greyhounds (and other sighthounds) to enjoy themselves running about without endangering anyone else - fantastic.

We had been given directions to the field, just under the old Severn Bridge, and were able to find it quite easily. Andy and Booty had a whale of a time, running and scampering about, chasing each other round in circles, racing round the perimeter at top speed. Seeing a greyhound at full tilt is one of the most awesome sights - that deep chest, and long legs really are designed for a purpose and boy do they go FAST. Both dogs have a wonderful habit of running full tilt towards you - the trick is to stay absolutely still - as they will pass within literally millimetres, so you can feel the wind of their passing, very finely judged. Our hour seemed to race by, and at the end, the next people to use the field were waiting politely with their hound for their "slot". Came home with two exhausted but happy woofs.

Andrew is now in the bath, enjoying a Dorothy L Sayers and I am catching up with downloading photos and videos, and of course updating my blog.

What a busy and memorable weekend. We were blessed with the weather. Leila arrived on Friday lunchtime. We had some cheesy chips (her invention), then popped over to Tesco to get some food. In the evening, we had some avocados, lemon garlic chicken and ice cream with hot chocolate peanut fudge sauce. Delicious. We had a breeches-fest, watching the DVD of Persuasion, the BBC version with Amanda Root and Cieran Hinds. It hardly seems fair to single them out as although they were excellent, it was a high quality production with beautiful performances from all the cast. Persuasion is one of my favourite novels, and is my favourite Austen novel. The adaptation did it justice and I was gulping at the end when they finally came together. We also watched the DVD of Miss Pettigrew lives for a day (also featuring Cieran Hinds) - again, a real pleasure to watch, with wonderful costumes and excellent ensemble playing. Having Andrew home was a pleasure too.

On Saturday, a busier day. We headed off to the Cheese Festival in Cardiff Castle, which was a disappointing rip-off. After paying over £8 to go in, you were expected to shell out £4 more if you wanted to watch any real action such as cheese making demonstrations, and there was a massive half hour queue for the main attraction, the cheese tent. Otherwise, there were just a few food and herb stalls dotted about, and it seems cheeky to charge to go to what is essentially a posh farmers' market.

Then went over to Howells on a perfume hunt. One of the fragrances I wear, by Clarins, is being discontinued, so I wanted a replacement that both Andrew and I liked. No easy feat. After much testing, sniffing, squirting and sneezing we settled on a Guerlain fragrance - Aqua Allegorica - Tiare Mimosa. It's lovely. Then a coffee and over to the Madame Fromage, one of the cheese shops in the arcades, for a more successful cheese buying mission.

Came home and read the paper and chilled out on the sofa then in the evening we went down the Bay to see No Fit State Circus. I had borrowed a stick from my friend Paula as the entire show was standing for the audience, and was very glad to have it. The circus left me speechless and awestruck. No animals. No hideous clowns. Just fast, sexy, gorgeous people doing amazing stunts, around you and above you, and in front of you. Sliding and climbing up and down the rigging, acting as counter balances to trapeze artists. Tightrope walking in high heels, stripping, then rolling a cigarette while nonchalantly balancing on a line, then casually doing the splits. Nipple pierced men swinging on ropes, wearing leather and piratical grins. A woman doing a flamenco act on a high rope accompanied by highly sexual breathing. Fire-eating. Fire hoops. No silly juggling. Clever lighting. Trapeze artists that tenderly undress each other then make the throws and catches and swings so powerfully erotic the entire audience was entranced. Just go and see them. They are brilliant.

Sunday, Andrew was running in the Swansea Bay 10K, so we set off around 10.20 to give us plenty of time. A very pleasant day, with hazy sunshine, not too hot, just right for the run and the spectators alike. Andrew did a very respectable 51 minutes, and picked up his goody bag, containing the usual odd mixture of a medal, a bottle of shampoo, a water bottle and a fruit loaf, which proudly claimed that 2 slices would provide one of your daily fruit servings. Not my idea of healthy eating. Then took Leila for the delight of a Joe's ice cream, a Swansea institution. Had sundaes all round, with a cone each for the dogs. Came home and relaxed, and enjoyed some roast beef with Andrew's amazing Yorkshire puddings. After watching a bit of TV, headed for bed as all were tired.

This morning, took Andrew early to the station, for the 6.55 train, and walked the dogs at Hamadryad Park. Then came home, and Leila and I sampled some of the fruit loaf, which was very nice but I still don't think of it as being one of my five a day. Leila left for home mid-morning, and I have had a quiet day, feeling a bit tired after all the excitement. Some pics attached.

On Thursday evening I started my ECDL at the local Community Education Centre. Our tutor seems lovely, very helpful but I was disappointed to see that we appear to be using an older version of Word (the 2004 one) not the most recent - we have 2007 at home. This is a Council run facility and I think this is a shame. ECDL is a course taken by people who want to improve or enhance their job prospects and it seems barmy to train them on software that is at the end of its life, rather than more current versions. I am tempted to say that this is typical of local government - it almost seems too easy to point this out. Here we are in a recession, with Cardiff hugely dependent on jobs in finance, offices, call centres etc - all of which require good IT skills. And what does the city do? Provide training in out of date software. You couldn't make it up. Anyway, I want to get the qualification, but am disappointed I won't be learning more along the way.

Last night we went down to the Millennium Centre for WNO's new production of La Traviata. This was the first opera Andrew and I saw together, when WNO were touring it in Plymouth, and so it is always special for us as a couple. The new production was very good, with the chorus and orchestra well up to their usual high standards, and excellent production design. Monochrome Belle Epoque sets with huge taffeta drapes, and glorious costumes with lots of Moulin Rouge style frills, bloomers, corsets, bustles and heaving bosoms. For anyone with a breast obsession, the evening would be well spent. Most of the principal singers were good rather than spectacular and worked well together. Unfortunately I couldn't get on at all with the soprano singing the title role - she was screechy and harsh in her upper register and when she turned up the volume. She was also unfortunate in being very slender and having to wear costumes that really didn't flatter her figure - instead of curves there were hollows. Arguably of course, this is more realistic in that the title character is dying of consumption but we are also supposed to believe she is a leading courtesan of great beauty. I think the costume fitting could have been a bit more rigorous.

Once again, I always enjoy an evening spent in the Centre and simply enjoying the building and the theatre - it works so well. Also, no matter how many times I go to the opera there are few feelings in life so utterly shivery as when you have taken your seat and are waiting for the show to start. The lights dim and the orchesta starts the overture. It literally brings me out in goosepimples of excitement and anticipation - hearing those first few notes of music and knowing that everyone in the theatre is going together on a journey through the production. Wonderful.

I was disappointed to see that there were quite a few empty seats in the theatre and several of the bars/coffee shops within the centre were closed, whereas normally during a performance there are a plethora to choose from. I have written before about the building's magical ability to swallow large numbers of people and deal with them, but with the smaller numbers, and closed bars, there was a spooky air during the intervals of being in a vast ship with no passengers. Quite strange.

While we were there, we picked up our tickets for two forthcoming events, the opera gala with Bryn Terfel singing Wagner (it doesn't get much better than that in my book) and a performance by No Fit State Circus. These are a wonderful circus - no animals, just amazing, sexy people doing very clever, scary things on trapezes over your head. There are no seats for your performance - you all stand and are likely to have someone firebreathing or juggling in front of you or doing acrobatics above your head. Can't wait.

Yesterday was the annual GRW show down at Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire. We left home at 8.30 and arrived at 10, with a car full of stuff. It was a truly beautiful day, with cloudless blue skies and very little wind. Set up rings, stalls etc and took up my post in the secretaries tent - where we were taking entries for classes, and giving rosettes, trophies and class lists to ring stewards. It is a busy role although I must admit I enjoy doing it. We also had the charity's merchandise caravan set up, a plant sale, Folland Ferret Welfare (with ferrets!) and a couple of stalls selling dog food and animal accessories (pony stuff such as headcollars, grooming requisites etc).

Despite being so busy, Andrew was able to collect Rhian (Callie's new owner - Callies is Murgie's adoptive name), along with her friend and a new dog that Rhian is herself fostering. It was an extremely emotional moment for me to look up from the entries and to see Callie and Rhian trotting along, with Callie looking absolutely magnificent. Her coat is now thick and glossy and she has gained enough weight to maintain her figure but look very well indeed. Her red collar was gleaming in the sun and she was her usual friendly, cheerful self. Rhian is devoted to her and to her new foster dog - in fact, in conversation, Rhian admitted there is a strong possibility that Mickey may not be rehomed but has found his permanent spot! He is a lovely boy, also black - I must admit I am biased but the black hounds look so stunning together. When all the dogs met up again, there was a fiesta of bum sniffing and tail wagging - very pleasant to see.

Callie and Mickey both finished the day garnished with rosettes - there are lots of fun classes including one for Baldie Butts (so many greyhounds have those embarrassing bald patches on their rumps), best six legs and waggiest tail. Callie and Rhian entered the waggiest tail but unfortunately Callie only wagged her tail when she was close to Andrew who was watching the class, so only got a "Well Done" rosette for that class! Rhian and her friend thoroughly enjoyed the day and Andrew was able to pop them home (as they live very close to the park) before coming back for me and all the stuff. Rhian looked very stylish with an enormous, shady straw hat and oversize shades - very suitable for the hot sun and temperature. It was great to catch up with her and swap tales of hound mischief and magic - and I'm hoping to pop down again to visit soon.

After packing up, we returned home - it had been a busy, social day, with lots of fellow greyhound lovers having fun, enjoying the sun and catching up with other friends and enthusiasts. We were both shattered but very happy. The dogs were tired too, and have been quiet today as well. When we got home, we found a heap of feathers, some by the pond and some floating on the water - it looked as though the sparrowhawk had claimed a victim from the sparrows.

We walked the dogs this morning over at Tredegar House - both of us were commenting on the amount of leaves that were falling and starting to turn colour. There is a spectacular display of berries - it seems to have been a very good year for them. Blackberries, rowan berries, elderberries and the bright pink glow of spindleberries. The park also has cherry laurels which have been allowed to grow to a considerable height and these were plastered with fruit.

A couple of pics attached.