Yesterday, Andrew was in Birmingham at one of his regular staff meetings. As all the employees work from home and live all over the place, Birmingham is a good central location for holding meetings. As usual, I drove him into the station and what I do on those mornings is take the dogs with me and then walk them at Hamadryad Park, which is near the city centre, on the embankment of the river as it flows out into the Bay. If he's catching the London train at 6.55 I drop him off at around 6.40 so he's got time to buy a paper and a coffee before boarding, which means I'm usually at the park around 6.45. For Birmingham he was catching the later train, so it was just getting light (a very good bonus). From the park you can see many of the city's landmarks, the Millennium Centre, the stadium, some of the tall office and apartment blocks, all look very interesting early in the morning. On the river, you will see and hear the rowers who are out training - the dogs are always fascinated by the noise of the oars in the water and the clunk noises as the oars and the boats meet, as well as the colourful (!!!) shouting from the cox/coach. The walk takes me under the flyover bringing much traffic into the centre from the west of Cardiff and even in the early morning, it is busy. I also usually see regular walkers, some other dogs, and a lovely man who uses an embrasure by the river to practice his Tai Chi - he usually arrives about 7. I like the feeling of the park being used by a group of "regulars" at that time of the morning.

In the city centre, I love the sense of the stage being set. In the offices the cleaners are chatting to the security guards, tables and chairs are being brought out on to the street, Metro distributors are receiving their bags of free newspapers, bins are emptied, deliveries are being made, the streets are being cleaned and there is a general sense of preparation and busyness. The Brains brewery is right in the centre of the city and often in the mornings you can smell the glorious nutty, malty aroma of the mash - there's nothing like it and I love it.

Today, we went into town to buy a birthday present for my friend. I've already made her the little table topper previously shown but wanted to buy her something from the L'Occitane shop. She loves the Cherry Blossom range so I was able to get some items for her and as usual the staff are lovely, always offering a glass of bubbly, masses of free samples and free gift wrapping, which is always a good extra when buying a gift. After that, we made a quick foray over to Waterstones, still mourning the passing of Borders (one of my favourite ways to while away a couple of hours on a Saturday, containing books, a Paperchase and then a Starbucks afterwards - perfect!). I bought Sarah Water's new book, The Little Stranger. It is a ghost book set in the immediate post war period in the late 1940's, an era I find fascinating. Then back to the car and home.

The rest of the day has been spent quietly, ironing, reading the paper and this evening catching up with some TV including a two part documentary on the legacy of TE Lawrence. I found it interesting but on reflection did not agree with all the conclusions of the presenter who seemed to be saying that if Lawrence was alive today he would not have advised or supported the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Lawrence of course had no say on whether the British were right to be involved in Palestine and the wider Middle East in the first place - to a large extent, he simply took the circumstances he and Allenby found themselves in and made the best of it - the peace deal that sold out the Arabs was as usual a product of mandarins and politicians - few soldiers get to the top table and that is sadly always the way. Further, Lawrence was very much a product of his time, and regarded and accepted as highly unusual even for that time. It is dangerous to move a set of modern assumptions to a historical figure - one of the reasons why I am so passionately against the current idiocy of "apologising" for all sorts of historical wrongs. Also, as I say, Lawrence was unusual in all kinds of ways - I don't necessarily think you can regard him as a template for British foreign policy and should be treated with caution as a primer for modern troops. He has been one of my fascinations and indeed heroes for many years and I've studied his writings, letters and biographies since I was a teenager. But that admiration is tempered with the necessity for historical context and the consideration of his flaws (which although interesting, were there).

Now it's time for bed. A cold night so woofs are wearing their pyjamas and looking forward to an enjoyable day tomorrow.