Just when I thought we were getting close to a thaw, more snow. It started yesterday afternoon, and began to settle almost immediately. It kept going steadily all night and when I woke up this morning (with Booty cosily tucked in beside me), it was still falling and the garden was transformed. I leaned out of the bedroom window and took a couple of pictures to illustrate. The dogs are funny - they like sniffing it, and Andy in particular loves to play in it. Booty is less keen (perhaps due to her arthritis?) and Boola will have a play if he is in the mood.

I've had a busy couple of days researching some issues to do with stray dogs and microchipping. Readers may recall I went to a companion animal welfare conference before Christmas, where the Minister for Rural Affairs said she would be looking at compulsory microchipping. Well, the date has now been set for a day long workshop on the issue, and progress is being made, with a real possibility of legislation on this later this year or early next. There are some real difficulties to overcome in making the legislation work, but I don't think these are insurmountable barriers. Hence doing research at this stage, and trying to ensure I understand the likely barriers and the position the greyhound charity should take on the key points. I do think microchipping is one of those issues that cuts across a number of dog welfare concerns and could lead to some real improvements in traceability and reducing some welfare problems. There are no magic bullets sadly but like many environmental issues I have worked on in the past, it is about making it easy for conscientous owners to do the right thing, and gradually reducing the wriggle room for the bad guys.

I've also made another log cabin table topper - details and pics over on Silver Nutmeg. Other than that, not a lot to report.