It's been a Bank Holiday weekend and Andrew has this week off, which is great. We got things under way on Friday night by going to see Spamalot at the Millennium Centre, which is currently touring. For those who don't know, it's a musical version of Monty Python and The Holy Grail. The cast were excellent, though mostly unknown (to me, anyway), costumes were great and we had good seats right in the middle of the stalls. In all, we had an enjoyable evening, although to be honest, I was hoping for less music and more comedy, if you see what I mean, although they did include the classics, including the Black Knight, the knights who go Ni, the hunt for the shrubbery and the killer rabbit with a vicious streak a mile wide, not forgetting the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Bizarrely, they also included "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" which of course is taken from "Life of Brian", and is now one of the most popular songs at British funerals. The souvenir stall downstairs was doing a roaring trade in Monty Python Tshirts and posters. Would I recommend? On balance, no, unless you were obsessive about musicals or the Pythons. Another thing which annoyed both of us was that during show, Lancelot goes on a quest to rescue what he thinks is going to be a princess, but finds that it is in fact a very camp prince who loves musicals, and one thing leads to another, and before you know it, Lancelot is in disco chain mail, camping it up like Village People. Yes, yes, funny, but not. I can't help but think it's such a lazy cliche - misunderstood gay likes musicals and is screamingly camp, complete with pink robes, limp wrist and long hair. Those sort of cliches were fine in the 1970s - well, on reflection, they weren't even then, but is it just me over thinking it? You could put the old line in of it being an affectionate parody but to me it just felt like lazy stereotyping and I didn't like it, or the treatment of women either now I come to think about it.

Had a peaceful weekend with not very much going on. We've been doing some gardening and a great deal of what I would call "pottering about", walking the dogs, relaxing and drinking wine. It's been great. Today has been a bit busier - off to the solicitors this morning to sort out some legal business (wills) and to the vets this afternoon for Booty and Andy to have their annual boosters and health checks. Poor Booty had the indignity of the latex glove which left her squeaking with indignation. We also had a discussion about her arthritis and the vet was positive about a physiotherapy assessment with possibly a hydrotherapy referral. We always knew this would be a possible option in managing her condition and I'm hopeful this will continue to support movement in her shoulder for as long as possible. Andy was a complete jessie when it was time for his checkup. Unlike Booty who sees the vet regularly for her medication reviews, Andy only goes once a year for his boosters. He cowered behind my leg, tail firmly between legs and took a very dim view when the vet was doing his examination. Once it was complete, he shot out of the door like a rocket, and once home, has been disgruntled all evening.

We've finally ordered Boola's coats for the winter, after looking at a bewildering variety of styles, fabrics and prices on the internet. Eventually we ended up going back to the supplier we used for Booty and Andy when we had them, which is actually in Maine, and supports greyhound adoption in that State. He'll be having three - a waterproof coat with fleece lining for cold wet days, a waterproof lightweight coat for wet, warmer days and a fleece coat for indoor nights during the winter. The ones we bought previously from the supplier have been excellent and wash brilliantly so we're happy to continue using them.

Boola and I will also be going back to school next week. We are going to be doing a class for six weeks - the Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Bronze Award. Unlike straightforward obedience classes, the CGC class aims to promote responsible dog ownership, and the understanding of the dog in the wider social context. So for instance, candidates will be checked to ensure they "scoop the poop", their dog wears appropriate ID and other similar features. Of course, people who do obedience classes are generally very responsible, I'm sure, but I like that this class actively encourages the owner to think about the impact of their dog on wider society. If this goes well, I might consider doing it with Andy, but I'd be more cautious, as he still has a tendancy to view very small dogs such as Yorkies as a mobile snack, which may not be the most helpful characteristic in a class of this sort. Anyway I'm sure I'll be able to decide when I've done the class with Boola, and will update here regularly.

August is a strange month, and one that in its own way proves the theory that time is relative and moves at different speeds. At this time of the year, it slows right down and August seems to go on for ever. It even seems like that in the Church calendar with what feel like umpteen Sundays after Trinity. The weekend before last, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went out and picked some blackberries. There are masses growing near us on a road with a wide verge adjacent to one of our local parks, and backing onto farmland. After an hour, we'd filled all our Tupperware boxes and came home with about 10 lb. I made a couple of nice crumbles and took one round to our friend Paula. There was still plenty left so we made lots of jam and I attach a picture of the pots all labelled up. During the year, we save our glass jars for things like coffee, sauces, honey and so on and store them in the utility room so we usually have a good supply ready for any forays into preserving. Picking blackberries and jam making are both activities which seem to stretch seamlessly back to childhood. Relaxing, pleasureable and full of the recognisable and familiar - the purple stained fingers, bramble scratches on the legs (no matter how thick your jeans!), careful avoidance of spiders, the stretching for the large berries JUST out of reach, the enjoyably carefree feeling of the sun on your back and the delicious earthy, sweet smell of the fruit. While we were out, we also spied some fine sloes, so may return for those to make some sloe gin, as we have done in previous years. Making the jam was great fun, filling the house with luscious, sweet smells, and then pouring the molten, glossy liquid into the waiting jars. There's something disproportionately satisfying about seeing the jars cooling and lined up, waiting for their labels.

This weekend just past, we saw my lovely great aunt down in Swansea on Saturday. As usual, we went for lunch to her favourite carvery, and caught up with all her news, of which there was plenty as she is a lady with a wide social circle and lots of (great)nieces and nephews. In fact, she even has a great-great niece. Anyway, she was full of holiday plans and her usual self, so the time flew by, before we had to leave to get back to the dogs. As it was a very wet, rainy day, (not very summery) she had on her raincap, to avoid her newly done hair getting wet and going frizzy. I sympathised, as although mine is manageably short at the moment, once it gets long, rain or high humidity seems to induce some sort of kink and it becomes a nightmare.

On Sunday, we decided to make a quick foray into Lakeland for a top-up of things like waxed discs for jam/chutney making, labels and so on. I bought a new jam funnel, as we were getting tired of juggling molten liquid into the pots, along with some cake cases and some silicon heart shaped muffin moulds. Up to now, the silicon revolution in bakeware has passed me by - I now see a lot of it in places like Lakeland but have not tried it and don't know anyone who has. If any of my readers are silicon converts I'd love to hear about its relative merits for ease of use, even baking and of course ease of cleaning. I will report back on the muffin tins when I have experimented. We also did a quick dive into Paperchase for me to have a stationery fix (yes, I am a notebook junkie!) and popped in to John Lewis as Andrew wanted to look at teapots. As usual, I never cease to marvel at the amazingly genuine and helpful assistants in there - they should be giving classes to so many other retailers on how to get this right.

Today has been a quiet and peaceful day, with a lot of heavy showers and a blustery west wind. I dropped off Andrew at the station first thing and we had our customary walk down at Hamadryad Park, admiring the most wonderful rainbow in the sky, that just glowed gorgeously and looked almost close enough to touch. I've made another batch today of spiced mango chutney in the slow cooker and there are now four lovely jars of it cooling in the kitchen. I'm hoping to do a few batches of chutney now and in September so they will be ready for eating/giving at Christmas. When we were making the blackberry and apple jam, I made two batches, one in the slow cooker and one on top of the stove. I wasn't so happy with the slow cooker for the jam, it seemed to give a softer, runnier consistency so will stick to the open pan for jams in future. However, the mango chutney has worked well in the enclosed cooker - it's interesting to experiment with these differing cooking methods. If the weather improves this week, Paula and I are thinking of going to pick some plums at our nearby fruit farm and then I will make some plum jam and possibly some plum chutney. Watch this space.

It's been a hectic few days here at casa Woodhouse. The experiment with making chutney went really well - first time of doing it in the slow cooker. Recipe was from my slow cooker cookbook and is called Spicy Mango Chutney, and made about five jars. Finished product was the most beautiful colour - a rich, golden orange due to the turmeric, butternut squash and mango in the ingredients. Had a sniff and a taste when bottling - obviously it's too soon to say exactly as it now needs to mature for a couple of months, but I think it will be good. I'm tempted to make another batch, as it'll be great for Christmas presents and mangoes seem to be very abundant at the moment - all the supermarkets are doing the most enormous ones for a pound each.

We've also noticed in the last few days that blackberries seem to be ripening like mad. One of the roads near us has a fine crop so am hoping to go and pick some later this week. Will freeze some, make some crumble and if feeling ambitious, make some jam. My mother would always take us blackberrying when we were kids and I have very happy memories of things like summer pudding and of her making big vats of blackberry jam and freezing things like blackberry pies for later in the year.

Last weekend was very quiet as Andrew picked up a bug in London, and actually was off work last Monday (the first time I've seen him be off work in years). He thoughtfully passed it on to me just before we had our long awaited visit by our two small nephews, so have been staggering through the last few days feeling dreadful. We managed Ok with the boys as Andrew had recovered sufficiently by the time they arrived to go and do the more active stuff while I skulked around the house and did the necessary cooking, tidying etc. which suited me very well as I could get on with it at my own pace and could be snuffly in peace, without straining my sore throat in conversation. It was the sort of cold that leaves your throat feeling like a cat had been clawing at it, your sinuses were about to explode and your chest like a party of Woodbine smokers had been secretly down there having a celebratory puff. Throw in a fever, aches and a lymph system struggling to cope and you're there! I'm still quite snuffly but improving gradually.

Anyway, the boys. They were very excited, and enjoyed sleeping in the bunk beds, stroking the dogs, having strawberry milkshakes, going powerboating, eating a Chinese takeaway, watching movies on Sky (we saw Nanny McFee, and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief), taking the dogs for walks, visiting a castle, doing a jigsaw, swapping stickers, playing games on the computer and picking blueberries from the garden. They loved the millions of sparrows in the garden and adored the dogs. On Saturday, when it was time for them to go home, we'd hoped to do a big family BBQ for them, their parents and brother, but it rained, so we did a sort of indoor equivalent with lots of sausages and a huge variety of salads and home made flatbreads, plus a fruit compote. After they'd gone the house seemed incredibly quiet, and the last few days we've just been very peacefully pottering about, taking things gently and catching up on various domestic items. I attach some photos. I've ordered some prints and will be making a nice little mini scrapbook to send them as a reminder of their trip.