So, like most of the country, I was glued today to the Royal Wedding. It was lovely and I'm not ashamed to say I was a bit wobbly of lip at certain moments. I kept thinking of our own wedding, and was also very conscious that it must have been a very bittersweet day for William and Harry, without their mother, and of course the Abbey being also the venue for her funeral. Kate looked gorgeous - the dress was beautiful.

With today being a public holiday, and it being Easter week, like many people, Andrew took the intervening days off, so he's had a lovely long break, coming home last Thursday and not going back to work until next Tuesday - it's been bliss having him home for such a long time, and we've made substantial inroads into our list of things to do. These have included (in no particular order) Andrew buying a new suit for work, me popping into town for some cut off jeans for the summer (and they are blissfully comfortable), buying some summer bedding and planting up the hanging baskets and pots, sowing some annual seeds (cornflowers, Californian poppies etc), having a barbeque, drinking lots of wine, Andy having his toenails cut at the vets, new fencing/trellising in the back garden, weeding, and a trip yesterday to see our friend Rhian, who adopted our foster dog, Callie. As is usual, Callie and Mic were bundles of joy, tails wagging, zooming about enjoying themselves on the walk, and delighted to see our three. Some pics attached of our visit and walk at Pembrey Country Park.

On Easter Saturday, Boola and I went down to Ikea to help out at a store collection/meet and greet. Boola was perfect for this type of occasion, he adores being stroked and tickled and is very laid back. I took his bed along, and sure enough, he was soon lying down like an Eastern potentate, generously allowing his subjects to approach and offer their tickles. The two other dogs there were Ruby and Grace - you can read her story here although it is very upsetting. Today Grace is an adorable, healthy dog who is gentle and affectionate and was a real star with the public. I was astonished and very humbled by the generosity of the public - there is definitely a much greater awareness these days of how retired greyhounds can make great pets.

One other job was that Paula's son had been down clearing her house, and very kindly phoned up and asked if i would like to take some of Paula's quilting stuff, so we went round and picked it up. It felt very strange being in Paula's house without her although the house was virtually empty so felt a lot less personal. Along with the quilting stuff, such as rulers, books and so on, there was also a bag of Paula's quilts which her family didn't want. We've kept a couple as very personal mementoes and our good friend Penny (who was also a very close friend of Paula) is having the remainder. It's good to know these are going to good homes. During the holiday, I've been working on my pineapple block quilt and have made huge progress. The nine blocks are completed, sashing and an inner border, followed by more sashing added. We went to Dunelm Mill and bought the backing fabric (a plain navy blue cotton, and wadding) and these are now ready to make up into a quilt sandwich. I'm hoping to do the quilting over the weekend and add the binding. Then I'll be able to take it back over to Busy Bees to share with Sue, the co-owner and tutor on the course.