Regular readers will know not to expect much activity from me at this time of the year.  The Tour grips me in its embrace, and I am willingly enfolded for three glorious weeks of emotion and spectacle. 

This year, we've experienced some diversionary activity that I wanted to share.  

After we lost Booty,  Andrew and I had lengthy discussions about the way forward.  Should we have another greyhound?  If so what age or sex?  Should we foster or adopt?  Eventually, after exploring the many options, we decided that we'd like another female, age irrelevant, and we were interested in exploring long term fostering.  In particular, as a loving, experienced greyhound home, we felt we could offer a long term placement for a dog that would otherwise struggle to be adopted.  

So after we returned from holiday, I gave a call to Paula, the local rep and friend, from Greyhound Welfare.  Paula already knew of our loss and had sent us a lovely email when we lost Booty, so our call wasn't a surprise.  We discussed our situation, and Paula confirmed that there were lots of dogs needing exactly what we were offering, a long term foster placement.  After a discussion of some of the candidates, Paula felt that we would probably be ideally suited to meeting Sara, a bitch currently placed with Sian, one of Paula's main short term/emergency foster carers.  We discussed her background and history, and Paula sent us some photos, with the advisory that as they were taken when she came into the care of the charity, she was severely underweight and therefore not looking her best. 

We agreed to take Boola and Andy along to meet her last Saturday, where she was taking part in a store collection at Caerphilly Garden Centre.  We went along feeling very nervous, but needn't have worried.  Practically as soon as we got out of the car, Andy was sniffing her with great interest and excitement and wagging his tail.  Boola was also very keen.  So we took the three hounds for an experimental walk around the car park of the garden centre, attracting some bemused glances as we went.  Clearly all three got on, which was our main concern.  We agreed to take her home, and shortly afterwards, were driving home with a third greyhound in the  boot.   

Here she is, a beautiful eight year old brindle girl.  She is a joy to have around, she is gentle, very affectionate, a devilish food thief and counter surfer, and a tail that is a lethal weapon - it wags at 100 mph.  

Having her round has been joyous.  We still miss Booty terribly, and Sara will never be a replacement for her.  Taking on another dog, and particularly giving a home to a dog that would otherwise struggle to find one, seemed to us, to be honouring Booty's memory.  

One of the reasons why she couldn't be adopted, was there was uncertainty over whether she had been spayed or not.   Funnily enough, as often happens when bitches move home, she came into season on Friday.  We noticed a few drops of blood around the place. Otherwise, she's been fine, but it means that we will have to restrict her public movements for around three weeks.  She'll be spayed now, in around three months.  

Yesterday, we took her and the two boys to the greyhound field where they could run about securely off lead, safely away from other dogs.  We had a wonderful time and it was lovely to experience some sunshine.  

It's been a very social week.  Last Thursday, we were delighted to be invited to my uncle Steve's wedding.  Steve is a geology professor in the University of Waterloo, Ontario, but his many field trips and globetrotting mean that we in Wales see him regularly.  Nancy, his fiance/wife is based in Stratford, Ontario but has family in the UK.  You can see Steve's academic profile here.  

The wedding took place at Clyne Chapel, Swansea, just at the foot of Clyne Gardens.  The reason for selecting this venue was the connection to our family.  My grandfather, Steve's father, was curate here and several members of the family including at least three of my brother's siblings were christened here.  As a result, it is held in great affection as well as being a very beautiful little place of worship. 

Steve has been married before and has two children, my cousins Sarah and Matthew, now both grown up and in their thirties.  Unfortunately, they weren't able to come over for the wedding but there will be a another Canadian celebration when the couple return.  My uncle David was best man, and it was great to see Hilary, my aunt and lots of other family members.  The service was beautiful and my uncle Philip videorecorded it for those (such as my uncle Richard in New Zealand) who couldn't be there. 

Nancy looked stunning. Marrying as a more mature lady and looking both bridal and elegant is a challenge that she pulled off beautifully.  She wore an ivory dress with an old gold lace shrug, and carried an elegant and simple bouquet.   Like many family members we reflected on the fact that it was the first major Evans family gathering without my father there.  

After taking the pictures,we returned down the hill to the Woodman just a few minutes away, for drinks and the reception.  We'd pre-ordered our food and the reception went beautifully, with lovely friendly staff in the pub, some great speeches, a very tasty meal and a champagne toast to the happy couple.  Rita and Roger had kindly agreed to come over and dog sit for us, so we weren't too constrained by the clock.  We eventually left around six after a thoroughly happy day to drive back up to Cardiff.  

 

On Sunday we had another family engagement, this time in Bath, for the fortieth birthday celebrations for Basil, Claire's husband.  Basil had bravely (considering the awful weather lately) decided to press ahead with a barbeque.  There was a gathering of family, friends, neighbours and colleagues and it was great to catch up with Basil's brother Ambrose. We also were treated to a tour of the new attic bedroom by James - he was delighted to now have his own room, and not to be sharing with his brother.  The views from the roof were stunning, looking across to Solsbury Hill (yes, the one in the Genesis song).  

 

We had all contributed to Basil's gift - he is a keen cyclist so there was a very special new bike saddle and a pair of cycling shorts.  He was delighted.  Sadly, we couldn't stay so long this time since the dogs were at home, so we came home after another lovely afternoon.  Amazingly it stayed dry, but this week has been a continuation of the appalling weather.  The rain just seems interminable. 

This has been one of the wettest summers I can ever remember.  Shortly after Booty's passing, we had the bittersweet pleasure of a long booked holiday to look forward to, in Pembrokeshire.  As before, we headed off to Little Dumpledale, with the car fully packed and with Andy and Boola having their spotted hankies on a stick and armed with a bucket and spade.  Throughout the week, we had a wonderful time, but we were acutely aware of the absence at our side, and I know how much she would have enjoyed it.  

We had two dry days and other than that, it rained pretty much all week.  We were glad of the cottage's efficient central heating and just seemed to be in fleeces and waterproofs the whole week.  We'd accidentally timed our booking to coincide with Pembrokeshire Fish Week which was lovely and meant that lots of the pubs were running a range of fish specials.   

The week was a good combo - social but also very relaxed.  Just spending the week with Andrew and the hounds was enough of a treat for me.  On the Monday we went over to Newgale to meet Louise, a friend and her adorable whippet Silver.  

We went over to Broadhaven to see my uncle David and meet up for lunch in a nice pub (he lives not too far away, in western Carmarthenshire).  And on the Wednesday night, the owners of Little Dumpledale organised a night up in the local pub for all the people staying at the farm.  This was entirely optional but was a great opportunity to meet the other guests and have a relaxed, social evening.  

Other than that, our days were mostly spent in long, leisurely beach walks, mostly with beaches virtually to ourselves.  Partly due to the weather, partly due to it still being term time for schools, but also because Pembrokeshire just is blessed with so many gorgeous beaches.  

One day was spent in me enjoying my birthday present - a visit to Cross Patch and Polstitches up in the countryside round Newcastle Emlyn.  On my birthday, I asked Andrew to let me loose in in Cross Patch as my present and he was happy to agree.  So we had a lovely drive up there through lanes overflowing with foxgloves and honeysuckle and other wild flowers.   The farm is set in beautiful countryside, and then inside is a treasure trove of fabric, quilting accessories, buttons and all manner of loveliness.  I had no problem at all in selecting a gorgeous bag of goodies, including some new embroidery scissors, some Tilda charm squares and some utterly adorable wooden buttons featuring squirrels and other woodland creatures.    Then next door into Polstitches, another heavenly shop and I treated myself to some gorgeous dyed aida and hand dyed threads. Bliss!!

One of our beach walks was at Manorbier - a glorious Enid Blyton crescent of beach, with a ruined castle, tiny village and ancient church set in the hillside behind the bay.   

  One of the things that Andrew and I discussed during the week was the gap left by Booty.  We feel we'd like to have another greyhound.  In particular, we feel we can offer a home to a dog that may not be easily adoptable so we are considering offering ourselves as a long term foster home.  Rescues often need such homes for dogs that are elderly or have medical issues - this is something we'd be very happy to consider.  We'll start by having a chat to a few rescue people we know - somehow, I don't think our sofas will be empty for very long.  No other dog can ever replace our darling Booty, but it pains me to think of any dog being in kennels (especially one that is elderly or vulnerable) when we could offer them a loving and secure home.  Andrew also had a look on Black Beauties last night (site for sighthounds in need of adoption) and we both were smitten.  So watch this space....