An all too short weekend. We were supposed to be going to Bully's on Saturday night as an anniversary celebration but it seemed something went wrong with the Toptable booking and it was cancelled so we are trying again next weekend. Saturday was an enjoyable day though - we went out with Paula in the afternoon to the Yankee Candle shop to select some candles for Christmas. Had great fun sniffing everything in the shop and eventually came home with three gorgeous winter smells. Paula came back with us and we settled down to watch the last episode of "Downton Abbey" with a big pot of tea and lots of homemade chocolate cake - now that's an afternoon well spent. I did one of my reliable Mary Berry recipes with a chocolate ganache on the top - worked very well. The last episode of Downton Abbey was great - it took the characters right up to the beginning of the First World War. Can't wait for the second series next year. After that, Paula went home and we had a quiet evening. On Sunday, Andrew took Andy for the first run they've done together since Andy sprained his shoulder a while back. He's been missing it terribly but we wanted to make sure he was properly healed before starting back on the running. Andrew took him over to Tredegar House so they could run on grass which is much more forgiving than running on pavements or roads. Fortunately, they both had a great time and now Andrew can work on doing more and longer runs with him so he can get back up to his previous fitness level.

Today has been quiet - I've been working at home after taking Andrew to the station early this morning. The weather is getting colder, the forecast this morning on Farming Today was that it will get considerably colder as the week progresses. Our walk this morning was pretty chilly, but the dogs really enjoyed it.

Poor Andrew went down with a lurgy on Friday afternoon. He came home from work feeling ropey and within a couple of hours was sneezing and coughing and feeling miserable. Originally, we'd planned to both be busy on Saturday morning but it was clear he was not well enough. So on Saturday morning, I did an early solo run down to Swansea (leaving home at around 7.30) down to the Brangwyn Hall for the SCVS Spring Charities Fair where GRW had a stall. Got the stall set up, Penny joined me and the doors opened at 10. I must say that it was very well organised - everything ran like clockwork. Catering was provided by the Girl Guides and there was a wide array of stalls selling plants, home made cakes, books and all sorts of bric-a-brac. We did well selling books and I was very pleased that my home made cards did a brisk trade. Overall the numbers attending were not as good as I'd hoped - there is a similar Fair held at Christmas which is rammed, but this was the first year they had run a spring event so maybe it needs time to build up a reputation.

Drove home through the most glorious spring sunshine, and had a quiet remainder of the day, being very tired (had a nap for an hour) and just wanting to chill out. Andrew continued poorly and felt like a furnace - I swear he glowed in the dark! Early to bed, after watching Barton Fink, a strangely hypnotic Coen Brothers film, strongly reminiscent of Eraserhead.

Sunday was another glorious day. In the afternoon, I had my monthly card making group over in Llandrindod - this month we were doing maze books. Andrew was feeling very much better, although still with a cough. In the evening, he cooked one of our favourite recipes from Delia - pork tenderloin cooked with rosemary, garlic, apples and dry cider. Absolutely delicious, and served with the new season's sprouting broccoli.

I attach a short video taken out in the garden on Sunday afternoon - featuring Andy and Booty doing not very much, but Andy is shown eating grass, one of his stranger habits. Mainly as a test run for both using the video and finding out how easy it is (very!) to upload it.