It's been a little while since I posted - no big news, just being busy and loving, loving, loving this glorious spring sunshine. Up until last night, we've had nearly three weeks of gorgeous weather, dry, sunny days and clear nights, light winds and starry skies. This has done wonders for the garden and we've now got a satisfactory amount of sprouting and growing going on. It's still too early for the summer bedding - those clear skies have been pretty chilly at night. But another ten days or so should do it. The huge amount of frogspawn has changed into tadpoles in the pond, and Andrew discovered one of our resident newts while repotting some of the water lilies.

I can't remember seeing such a compressed spring with wild flowers and plants. Last weekend, we did a new walk among a bit of Forestry Commission land near the Maenllwyd Inn. We strolled among sunshine lancing down through mixed forests, stands of beeches, larches just gone green, and all carpeted by one of the most magnificent displays I have ever seen of wood anemones. Everywhere was a thick carpet of white - it almost looked like snow. However, as you walked closer and looked carefully, there were often stands of bluebells just appearing, and big clumps of primroses and celandines on the edges. It was stunningly pretty and unusual, in that I would normally expect to see bluebells after celandines and wood anemones had finished the majority of their flowering. This year, the late and cold spring has squashed everything into a glorious burst of flowers. Wood anemones are one of those entrancing flowers that you just look at and feel better immediately - there's something very delicate and pure about the individual flowers yet in a carpet they also look stunning in a woodland setting, flowering before the tree canopy has blotted out the light. My favourite spring flower (well, one of my all time favourites really) is the humble celandine - I love the way it gleams in the late winter and early spring, often on banks and under hedges, glossy and bright when not much else is about, and such a cheerful colour. The heart shaped leaves are also very attractive. In our Plymouth garden, we had a cultivated variety with bronze leaves which was stunning and I was very sorry to leave it behind.

As well as our walk in the forest, we also strolled along the Barrage (Cardiff Bay) and took a couple of pics - attached. So nice to be able to walk along and enjoy the sunshine without being swaddled in layers of fleece, and the dogs to be out without their coats. The first few times, they looked strangely naked. This week has been fairly quiet - I walked Paula's dogs when she re-started her chemotherapy. Andrew has been in London for a couple of days and Birmingham for one day. I used our faithful slow cooker to do a beef brisket casserole - it was brilliant, after about six hours, the meat was so tender we could eat it with just a fork, and beautifully flavoured.

Other than that, I've been making another big pile of cards for the greyhound shop. Margaret, the main instigator, is coming up later in the week. She's spending the night with us, before we travel by coach to go to the V & A Museum in London to see the new Quilts exhibition. We met at a charity stall last year in Swansea - and quickly discovered that as well as our shared interest in greyhounds, we both like quilting and are both cancer survivors. She is very much looking forward to seeing our complete pack on home turf so to speak, and both of us are really looking forward to visiting what promises to be a wonderful exhibition. See link to website here http://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/future_exhibs/Quilts/index.html

This afternoon I listened to the last episode of Smiley's People on Radio 4 - a real joy, so well adapted from the book. Tonight, we watched a short documentary about Johnny Cash's "new" CD - American Recordings 6 that has just been released. I spent most of it in floods - the album deals quite explicitly with his imminent demise, yet does so with faith and grace and good humour, and of course mind bendingly good music. After my own health experiences, and seeing good friends currently going through terminal illness, this just resonated on so many levels. One of the terrible legacies of cancer, even when you survive and also I think of some other serious illnesses, is that you become aware, constantly, of the nearness of death. Now, on some levels, this is a good thing - much Christian thought for instance is focused on preparing spiritually for the life to come - in the historical church this was much more accepted, and a normal state of affairs, probably due to the fact that illness did take people much more quickly in the days before antibiotics. But it is also a burden at times, and sometimes I do want to go back to the pre-cancer days when although I accepted death as a theoretical state, I had no inkling of its nearness, not really, not down in the gut. Most humans, quite simply, row their boats along the river, with their back turned to the waterfall ahead - it's probably right and sensible to do so, as you go, if not completely potty, then at least a bit, when you look over your shoulder. All I can do in the moment is live as fully as possible and continue my resolution not to waste time with people who are negative, or who waste the wonderful time and talents we have all been blessed with.

Masses and masses to write about. On Wednesday, we went down to Oxwich Bay on south Gower for a lovely walk with the dogs. Oxwich is one of the most beautiful beaches on Gower although there's some pretty stiff competition. It's particularly enjoyable for dogs as you simply walk from the car park over a few pebbles and then you are on miles of golden sand. We were blessed with sunshine and a breeze and it was a delight to be there. After a lovely walk and a thermos of coffee we drove round to Reynoldston to the King Arthur pub, which sits at the bottom of Cefn Bryn. We sat outside in the sunshine for a drink and some lunch (which was the most revolting pub food I think I have ever tasted) - this is definately a pub which is trading on its location. However, we didn't let this spoil our enjoyment of soaking up the afternoon sunshine and looking up at the Bryn. Eventually came home, windblown and happy with three very sleepy greyhounds. Pics attached from the beach.

On Thursday, it was my 45th birthday, and also Andy's sixth birthday. Firstly, a big thank you to everyone for all the lovely presents and cards and good wishes - very much appreciated. I can't quite believe I'm 45 - somehow the years between my early 20s and now seem to have been telescoped into a whirling blur. One minute I'm a lithe young thing, out partying the night away and now I'm a middle aged person, still partying but with reading glasses and a certain amount of stiffness in the joints along with a propensity for wearing vests, using a good moisturiser, enjoying a fine claret, liking garden centres and other hallmarks of sensible grownup-ness. How did that happen?

On Thursday night, Andrew took me out for a celebratory meal to a restaurant he found via Toptable. It's called Bully's and their website is at http://www.bullysrestaurant.co.uk/

After our experience there I would gladly recommend it - we had a wonderful meal and the service was great, very friendly and attentive without being pushy or obsequious. The wine list was excellent and we eventually chose a delicious Crozes-Hermitage for our main course - Andrew had lamb I had beef, both Welsh and organic. I had the most celestial orange blossom creme brulee for dessert - really delicious and an unusual variation on this pud. Another point in their favour was the ladies -spotlessly clean, beautifully fragranced with candles and well appointed with lots of soaps, lotions, towels etc. Definately a restaurant to return to. I also attach a picture of the birthday cake I made for both Andy and me - a nice simple Victoria sponge with cream cheese frosting and plum jam (home made by Andrew's sister) in the middle. I reduced the sugar considerably in the frosting and it was still delicious but more suitable for woofs. I should of course emphasise that sponge cake is not a normal part of their diet and they are all at excellent weights. We all enjoyed it, but Booty is not a ladylike eater.

The beautiful weather later in the week has allowed Andrew to catch up on lots of garden activities and it's now looking great out there, with lots of pots planted up, fresh mulch and solar lanterns hung up along the fence. By yesterday, the sunshine was spectacular, and really warm as we returned from town. On the spur of the moment we decided to have the first barbeque of the season so stopped off in Tesco and stocked up on charcoal and some food. We invited our good friend Paula round and she was able to join us. I made a sage foccacchio, and we also had some grilled veggies, asparagus (new season), salmon parcels, free range sausages, tsatsiki, grilled marinated portobello mushrooms, and a large steak grilled and sliced. All delicious, especially with the first jug of Pimms this year - the taste of summer. Some pics attached.

Today we did one of our favourite walks, along the sea wall at St Bride's out to West Usk lighthouse and back. It's a beautiful spot, quiet and great for birds and plants. We saw kestrels, egrets, curlews and heard many skylarks (such a beautiful sound), and along the raised dyke the grass was covered in daisies, celandines and bugle - really pretty. Not surprisingly, the dogs immediately went into a state of deep torpor as soon as we came home and they were fed, spending most of the afternoon asleep while I listened on radio 4 to the first episode of "Smiley's People" with Simon Russell Beale. As I'd hoped it was excellent.

Normally, I avoid politics and too much negativity in this blog, but I just wanted to finish by having a quick rant about the disgusting news today that Labour have been campaigning by sending targeted scare messages to voters to basically say that if they vote Tory, they'll not get the cancer care they should - effectively vote Labour or die. Reading this practically rendered me speechless with rage - quite an unusual event. Cancer care in the UK as a whole lags behind most of Europe and the other developed nations. Our rates of diagnosis and survival are poor compared to our European and north American neighbours. In Wales it is even worse than the UK as a whole. Many terminally ill cancer patients are denied life extending drugs in their last few months of life, there are huge question marks over the accuracy and validity of some pathology services, and many UK hospitals are filthy, overcrowded places that are not good for any patient. For the Labour government to start shroud waving is frankly shameful. This for me has taken our politics to a new low. A very good friend of mine who is currently dealing with terminal bowel cancer has already been told that she will not be able to have a life extending drug in the last months of her life. She knows her cancer is terminal but this would give her extra precious time with her family and new great grand daughter. Her son in law is a freemason, and has already told her that their charitable arm will be happy to pay for any medication that may extend her life in conjunction with her doctor at any point if she wants it. As a friend, I am hugely grateful to them for this action but also feel sad and angry that there will be other deserving people out there who should have this and may not be able to afford it. In a country with nominally an NHS that is not a good situation - I wish we had a government that was prepared to have an honest debate about funding healthcare, not resorting to shameful scare tactics to frighten voters. I sincerely hope it backfires on them.

So, it's a Bank Holiday - a very happy Easter to all readers and hoping you are celebrating. We've continued to have pretty miserable weather, but at least yesterday (Easter Sunday) was dry. We started the day with a walk over at Tredegar playing fields and then Andrew did some gardening. He has replaced the pond pump - the old one broke last year, when a delightful greyhound we were transporting stopped off here for a comfort break and decided to try to jump in the pond. Fortunately our three are pretty pond savvy and although they like drinking from it, don't generally try to enter it. The only immersions are accidental, usually when they are excitedly trying to jump either the whole width or the corner and misjudge the distance. Generally, only their dignity is wounded on these occasions, and of course it probably startles the fish and the frogs.

Several plants have not survived the extremely cold winter - we've had to say goodbye to a canary palm in one of the pots, and a lovely bergamot in the raised bed. After such a cold spell, I'm more amazed by what has pulled through, albeit a bit battered round the edges. We've got a few thing that looked dead initially but on closer inspection, you can just see a few timid leaves starting to poke through or shoots coming up. There are still one or two things that we are not sure about, so have trimmed and tidied and will wait a bit longer to see if any life resumes. In the evening, we ate roast duck and watched the new Doctor Who. Initially, on seeing the casting, I had been a bit sceptical, but actually I enjoyed it - the new Dr is settling in nicely, and the script still has a nicely witty sharpness about it. Also very enjoyable to play "Spot the Location" since it's all filmed in South Wales and we can usually identify where things are - in this episode, Llandaff outside the cathedral seemed to be a main feature.

Today, we decided to visit some garden centres to help top up a few of the gaps and to get some spring bedding for the pots and so on. First up to the Dutch Garden Centre, which is excellent for trees and shrubs and is where we got a fair few of our plants when initially stocking the garden. We couldn't see anything that was realy grabbing us to replace the canary palm, but did pick up some aubretia for the raised bed. Then we went over to a nice little nursery in St. Bride's, down on the Levels (near by is a lovely walk we do with the dogs sometimes, along the sea wall, out to the lighthouse). We picked up a nice little glazed pot, some pansies and some primroses. They had a lovely selection of herbs, and rather pretty other plants but we felt it was still a bit early for these - we'll probably make a repeat visit in about a month, when we will also be ready for things like sweet pea seedlings and so on. Andrew's sister gave us a strawberry pot, a couple of years ago, so this year, we think it might be nice to have a go with it, and see how we we get on. I'm being optimistic and think that after two such dreadful summers, we MUST be due for some decent sunshine this year.

On the way out, we called in on Paula briefly. She's going to be a great-grandmother later this year, and her grand-daughter knows she is carrying a boy. I must admit I am still getting my head around the fact that so many people know the sex of the baby in advance these days - perhaps I am old fashioned, but always liked the surprise when they are born. Anyway, Paula is making a quilt and she phoned to talk blocks - I popped in to have a look at her fabrics, and also to chat about other options for makes with squares - I showed her a little bag I'd made from the Moda website, with a print out of the instructions in case she wanted to give it a go.

I'm now going back downstairs to make a cup of tea for Andrew who is planting up the pots.

Andrew is nearly half way through a two week break from work - which is lovely. His holiday got off to a great start last Sunday when we hosted lunch for Penny, her friend Mary over from Ireland and Paula. We did couscous, roast chicken with roasted vine tomatoes, flatbreads and carrots cooked in the slow cooker with tarragon and honey. To follow, Andrew did the lemon and polenta cake we've done previously. It all worked well and we had a fabulous time and it was great to meet Mary at last after hearing so much about her from Penny. As it always does on these occasions, the time just flew by.

On Monday and Tuesday I was busy making industrial quantitites of cards for the new GRW shop in Burry Port, plus about a dozen Easter cards (see pic) for us to send to our nearest and dearest. We managed a short trip to stock up on some garden basics like chips, gravel, compost and so on, plus a new pond pump which Andrew was going to replace, as well as a new outside light for the area by the garage. Also we have ordered and received via the net, a new postbox to affix to the house and avoid further excitement when greyhounds eat mail. This week though the weather has been dreadful and has actually worsened as the week has progressed. Many parts of Wales have seen snow, we've had several huge hailstorms, sleet and driving rain. Of course, this has made it difficult for Andrew to tackle his "Honey Do" list. On Wednesday, we decided to go over to our nearest Yankee Candle shop - I am a big fan of these, after trying them from QVC some time ago. We discovered the shop just before Christmas over in Roath, and gave Paula a call as we know she likes them too. So the three of us went over and had a very pleasant time, sniffing busily and choosing some lovely fragrances. I've got some new little tea lights for the craft room/study which are scented with Cherry Blossom, plus a lovely Lavender Vanilla which we are currently burning downstairs.

Yesterday, we had a much anticipated day out down at Pembrey. First we took some stuff over to the new GRW shop at Burry Port. We met up with Margaret, who actually had picked up Boola from his previous owners and was dying to see him to see how he had progressed. As we drove down the M4, the rain started and by the time we reached Burry Port, it was hammering down. We took Boola, a box of stuff from Paula, and a bag of cards and made a run for the shop. We met another lovely lady, called Rita, who was volunteering and Boola was greeted with open arms and even given a pig's ear! After a lovely chat to Margaret and admiring the shop which is doing great business, we jumped back in the car and headed round to Rhian's who lives in Pembrey, very nearby.

Regular readers will recall that Rhian adopted our much loved foster greyhound Murgatroyd last year and and subsequently another greyhound too, and we all now meet up regularly for greyhound adventures. Rhian, like me, loves the sense of anarchy when you get five greyhounds together - the place is a fiesta of wagging tails. After a much needed cuppa and a chat, we piled into the car and headed off to Pembrey Country Park. Normally I would have taken loads of pics, as it is gorgeous over there,but unfortunately the rain had reached monsoon conditions. We drove right into the park and found a quiet area near the woods thinking it might be more sheltered. Optimistic but WRONG! We got thoroughly drenched within minutes. However, we actually all had a good time, humans chatting away and admiring the trees, dogs having a fine old time sniffing and weeing as we explored the woods. Not surprisingly there were not many other people around. Afterwards, back to the house, a cuppa and a chat while Andrew fixed something on Rhian's computer, then eventually home after a great day. Pic attached of Callie, wearing her new fleece coat, with as you can see, her name embroidered on it. It fills me with great joy and happiness to see how settled she is in her new home, with an owner who loves and cares for her so well, and another greyhound to live with who has also survived a pretty hellish early life and is now enjoying a well deserved retirement. Callie and Mikey are a real pair of stars - naturally I'm particularly besotted with Callie (although I still think of her as Murgy), but Mikey also has a sweet temperament too. While Andrew and Rhian were on the computer yesterday, Mikey came over to me and we had a nice long cuddle together on the sofa, and he made sure I understood his displeasure if I stopped stroking him for an instant! Rhian generally takes them out on her bicycle which fills me with awe - where she lives is just minutes away from the lovely coastal path which is ideal for bikes and goes right round to the harbour, and on to the Country Park that way.

Today has been another wet one. We walked the dogs this morning over at Tredegar and again got soaked. Andy was particularly disappointed that the squirrels all seemed to be hiding. Just after lunch, we had a brief dry spell, so Andrew shot outside and has fixed the new garage light and put up the new post box by the front door. After being ceremonially summoned to admire his handiwork, he decided to press on with some gardening, but had barely started when down came the rain, again, so he decided to come back indoors. As I write, Andrew is downstairs with Boola, and I strongly suspect both of them are having an afternoon nap, and upstairs are me, Andy and Booty - both hounds are deeply asleep.