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.

It's been a pretty busy few days. The Tour has now finished, and it's been wonderful, one of the most interesting and surprising I can remember for a long time. I've really enjoyed every stage, and the suspense carried on right into the third week and into the last couple of stages. Last Wednesday, I went on a trip organised by Busy Bees, over to the American Museum near Bath at Claverton Manor. The manor is a beautiful old 18th Century mansion, set on Claverton Down, in gorgeous rolling countryside and was converted into a museum after the war. It focuses on the decorative arts and in particular shows how American rooms in the 18th and 19th Centuries would have been furnished, decorated and so on. I can heartily recommend it as a great day out anyway, but of particular interest is their very fine collection of quilts. I had seen these before but at the moment they are having an exhibiton which is showcasing some of the rarer quilts that are not normally on display, so it was great to see them. My friend Margaret was due to come on the trip but unfortunately she had trouble with her car's clutch the day before so couldn't make it. Anyway, we all trundled off on the bus, had a great journey, and on arrival were met by a lovely guide and then ushered in for a beautiful lunch. After that it was time for a leisurely browse round the exhibition and to marvel at the beautiful exhibits. Eventually it was time to head back on the bus around 4.30 but I liked the fact we had enough time to browse the exhibits and spend a bit of time wandering around the lovely gardens and grounds as well. It was a glorious day, with lots of fluffy clouds in a deep blue sky, bright sunshine and a cool breeze - wonderful.

On Saturday the quilting theme continued over at Busy Bees when they had the launch of their annual programme of classes (both one day and series) plus an exhibition of customers work in the Community Centre. Lots of lovely quilts, and I picked up a programme which is full of tempting classes.

The other main news is that I have now launched my microchipping website - www.houndmistress.co.uk - please take a look if you have a few minutes. I've been pretty busy compiling content for it, and just as much, doing lots of FOI requests to Welsh Councils for info to put on the site. Of course, the site will grow and develop over time but I'd be delighted to get any feedback, or suggestions for links for it. It's been very satisfying seeing something which started as just a quick question about strays develop into a whole big chunk of information needing to be sorted and organised. I'm sure I'll be writing more about it in the future.

Well, not a huge amount to post, as of course it's been the Tour. This year has been a corker, and hats off to the race organisers for ensuring a real mix of stages. Last year, they crammed a lot of the climbing into the final week so there was a bit of a hiatus in the middle but nobody could say this year's race has been uneventful, what with headbutting sprinters, the duel between Contador and Schleck, Lance Armstrong's crunching out of the GC competition, the fabulous scenery and in general the awesome racing. Most days I get to watch the afternoon stage live and usually watch the Highlights as well. I thank goodness for Sky+ as this means I can zip through the adverts, and in the evening, the Highlight show usually includes some interviews and new material with the day's stage winners, so I can focus on them and zoom through the bits already seen. Of course, sometimes the action is so good you want to see it again. I'll certainly remember the infamous sprint finish with the flailing elbows and sideways headbutt, yesterday's stage when Vino did one of his mad breakaways that so nearly succeeded and today when off he went again. What was also fabulous was the mountain stage when Contador and Schleck did their duel, dancing on the pedals up the mountain, leaving a stream of cracked and broken riders behind them. The weather for the racers has been so hot, the road has been melting under their tyres. I wish the Tour was more widely appreciated in the UK as a sporting event - I think it has everything, awesome scenery, complex rivalries, team and individual competitions, Byzantine politics, superb spectacle, a real risk of dangerous crashes on every stage, great technology and the constant and amazing way the race throws up curveballs that surprise even seasoned veterans, whether they are accidents, punctures, fitness issues, and just straightforward cussedness (Vino being a good example of a rider who doesn't follow the script). The race attracts its own travelling circus of characters, with the best known probably being the "Devil" who has followed the race for years, and can usually be seen capering at the side of the race at some point, waving his trident, cloak blazing in the sun.

I'll stop there as it's time for a gin, and to feed the woofs.

Apologies to all for the hiatus in posting. A number of reasons, the first and most important being that our elderly PC finally turned up its toes and went to the great memory cloud in the sky. We'd been aware for a while that we were going to need to replace it, but of course as is usual it was working on its own timetable. It was about five and a half years old so it had lasted well.

The new one seems super fast by comparison although we are still struggling with slow broadband speeds due to our distance from the exchange. Or the pixies who power it haven't taken their vitamins, or something. The main difference is that we now have a lovely big screen - the monitor is a 24" one which allows masses of space for tiling documents when working so I'm delighted. There's also some great speakers for when I am listening to Spotify or iTunes.

The other delay in posting is of course due to the commencement of the Tour which means for three weeks I am glued to the TV and am utterly absorbed in the glorious spectacle and intricacies of this peerless display of athleticism.

Since I last wrote, we went to the Millennium Centre to see Wagner's Die Meistersingers auf Nuremberg with Bryn Terfel. It was a completely full house and it was amazing. I really couldn't get into the first act, but the second act improved hugely and the third act was astounding with a glorious choral finale that completely blew me away. Staging was excellent, being intelligent without being too clever, with gorgeous, sumptuous costumes, great lighting and sets. BT is made for Wagner - we've been lucky enough to see him sing now a number of times and I am always impressed by his voice and by his sheer physical presence - he is very tall and broad, and effortlessly dominates the space on stage. Like most Wagner operas you come out the other side feeling that both audience and cast have shared something very wonderful and memorable. We were very fortunate in that Andrew's parents kindly agreed to come and dog sit for us while we were at the theatre (the production ran from 4 pm to about 10.30 pm with two intervals).

Today we've been busy setting up the new PC, doing all the boring and necessary things like sorting out anti virus software and so on but it's pretty much there now. After a few days without the computer, it's surprising how much I had come to depend on it for all sorts of things, from music while doing the ironing to checking on news headlines and of course keeping in touch with people. It's good to be back.

So here we are in what feels like a heatwave!! We've now had what seems like a couple of weeks of progressively hotter and sunnier weather, with not a drop of rain, and temperatures climbing steadily upwards. We're having to water bits of the garden, not just the pots, we've ditched the duvet on the bed, and dog walks are now taken very early in the morning. By half past nine, it's up in the high twenties (C) and the dogs are miserable. All of them have lost their appetite, are much more listless and just lie around panting looking uncomfortable. Being greyhounds, there's not exactly much excess weight especially on our two oldies, Booty and Boola so we are continually battling to keep them eating and not to lose too much. This is particularly frustrating with Boola as we were making great strides with his condition, and were managing to just cover the bones while maintaining his musculature. He's still thinner than I would like; remember this is a greyhound we are talking about so we are starting from a pretty skinny base.

We've had an exciting time out in the garden - the toadpoles and tadpoles have finally hatched (is this the correct technical term? Fledged doesn't seem right), lost their tails and the garden is now plastered with adorable, tiny little froglets each about the size of a penny, hopping about, making their way in the world. We've also bought a little inflatable paddling pool for the woofs - so far, only Booty has been in it. Andy looks at it as though it is an evil trap and Boola prefers a sofa. I must admit though I love sitting out there and swishing my feet around in it - very cooling and refreshing.

Thursday was a very interesting day. I had received a kind invitation to speak to the all Wales Dog Warden group as I have been doing a great deal of research on microchipping of dogs in Wales, particularly in relation to Welsh Councils' policies. As far as I'm aware, nobody has compiled these policies together in this way before and it has proved to be a very interesting and worthwhile exercise, while also generating lots of further questions and pointers for policy development. So, I had put together a PowerPoint presentation of the key findings plus some ideas on how these could be developed in the future, particularly considering the wider issues around the public sector in Wales (major budget restrictions, particularly). The journey up to Rhayader was spectacular and of course filled with very happy memories of our life in Powys last year. It was a real treat to drive through the National Park, see red kites wheeling overhead and to be surrounded by the beauty of mid Wales on a glorious, sunny day. I arrived at the Leisure Centre, set up my talk and soon it was time to get to business.

Some very interesting points came out of the discussions which I think are worthy of further following up. There is a real issue over the patchiness of out of hours coverage for stray dogs - some authorities have excellent facilities, while others, bluntly, don't, similarly with websites, policies and so on - there is a huge variation of policy and practice. One of the points I hope I got across is that the public, when faced with either finding or losing a dog, don't really care which Council they are dealing with, or what department, they just need to get the problem sorted. Anyway, there's lots of scope for further work on the issues raised, so watch this space. One of the things I am seriously considering is setting up a dedicated microchipping website for Wales, with lots of information for dog owners on the comparative policies of the various Councils and policy updates, recommendations, news, links and so on. At the moment, with my Welsh Festival of the Horse stuff going on, this probably isn't realistic, but after the Festival which is in early September I may have a bit more time to devote to this, and am currently giving it some serious thought. I'd welcome comments or ideas or suggestions from readers.

Anyway, back at Rhayader, after finishing my presentation and having a really nice chat with the meeting chair it was back to Cardiff. One of the subjects we discussed after the meeting was the presence of many Christians in Council Trading Standards departments - there is a large amount of Biblical teaching on this, particularly the importance of not trading with false measures, trading honestly and fairly, paying fairly and not cheating, not passing counterfeit goods and so on. It's good to see a job that has so many and such positive Biblical precedents.

Driving back, I listened in the car to a compilation CD that I had burned from an Ipod playlist. I have come comparatively late to the joys of these playlists. For a long time, I've been a huge fan of Spotify and tend to listen to that while I am working on the PC. The ipod is very much something I tend to use while travelling, and downstairs I listen mainly to CDs and of course in the car. In any case, much of my listening is to Radio 4 rather than to music, so playlists just hadn't crossed my radar very much. Anyway, I set one up (called a 70's Cheesefest, so that gives you an idea of the contents) and haven't looked back. Like most people, I've got lots of CDs that bluntly have got two or three excellent tracks on, and a lot that are so-so. The playlist lets me select my favourites according to mood and so on, and set up a lovely assortment without any duffs. Burning a CD once this is set up is straightforward, and hey presto your playlist is ready to travel. Brilliant. I realise most of my readers will at this point be rolling their eyes and thinking "Where has she been?", but I'm not ashamed of my belated conversion to this lovely idea. I should also point out that I continue to be steadfastly opposed to the free downloading of tracks that have not been bought - I probably couldn't do a very good job of explaining why, so I won't try except to say it feels wrong.

The weather has been beautiful this week and the garden looks great, with new flowers practically every day. The honeysuckle this year has done brilliantly. We planted it a couple of years ago - as one of a series of climbers that we hoped would soften the expanses of fencing round the garden. For the first couple of years, it was a real plodder, and really hasn't done very much, but this year, wow. It's put on a lot of growth both sideways and vertically and is smothered in buds, which are just starting to open. It's interesting with plants, how some seem to take a while to get into their stride while others get going straight away. I also have a theory that the two dismal summers we had last year and the year before were actually very good for our garden - in that we have a number of plants that are pretty immature and are still settling. Dealing with long, difficult droughts on clay soils would have put a lot of extra stress on young plants - the wet meant that they could take their time getting settled in without being under a lot of strain, and this year we are seeing the benefits of this, not just with the honeysuckle but with the other trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials.

I went with my friend Paula up to Velindre Hospital (our local cancer hospital) on Thursday afternoon. She's going through chemo at the moment, and is having the sort that lasts for nearly 48 hours, so she goes on a Tuesday to have the process started via her PICC line, comes home with the drugs in a little bag she carts round for the next couple of days, then back on the Thursday to have it removed, have the line flushed through and so on. She's doing a bit better this time round, but is still feeling pretty tired and needing to take things easy. We were chatting to another patient there at the same time for the same process, and he was feeling remarkably unaffected by it, so much so that he was still working, through the process. It's interesting how it affects people very differently. Fortunately, she only has two more chemo sessions to go, and then she will hopefully be able to build up her strength a bit more.

Friday was a busy day. I drove down to Pontardawe in the afternoon for a planning meeting for Welsh Festival of the Horse. I'm responsible for the website for this event, and also the related Facebook page and Twitter feed. I do this contribution on behalf of GRW, who are organising the canine part of the event. You can see the link to the website on the sidebar of the blog.

Friday evening, we trundled into town for an evening of pleasure seeing Crowded House at the CIA. I've written before about how much their music means to both Andrew and myself. Sadly, there were some empty seats, but those who were there were highly appreciative. Andrew pointed out, looking round that there were far more people drinking coffee than beer, which does seem to reflect their demographic. CH have in any case been poster-boys for what can only be kindly described as "Dad-chic" with the look in general of a convention of geography teachers and on this occasion were well up to usual standard with the bass player wearing a bow tie (in that heat!) and Neil Finn wearing a jacket, slightly mismatching his trousers, and a very sober Oxford shirt. The only let-down was that Neil Finn had grown a small toothbrush moustache - and in some lights he looked as though a furry animal had come to rest on his face, or that he was channelling a Hitler impersonator, especially as he has a rather charming pudding basin hair cut, which sticks up progressively as he gets hotter and the gig gets livelier.

CH usually do a fairly stripped down set decor - this was the case with some fun lighting/slide effects and a few little teddy bears and glowing ducks dotted around the stage. No sign of the sheep we saw last time. Musically, they were on top form. They played a number of songs from their new album, plus a canter through their huge back catalogue. When you've been playing as long as they have, there's plenty of material to choose from, and they also had adapted a slightly looser, rockier style, letting the drummer unleash his inner John Bonham and Neil Finn having a cute little Korg synth set up by his mic stand, allowing for some fine, 60s style early Pink Floyd warblings at appropriate moments. All in all, we loved it, singing along enthusiastically to a huge number of songs. If you get the chance to see them on their current tour, I can wholeheartedly recommend although I loathe the venue more every time I go there, and wish deeply that someone would blow it up and start again.

Since then, the weekend has been pretty quiet with just the normal early morning dog walks to avoid the heat, various errands and I've been working on a presentation I'm doing at the end of the month to the all Wales dog warden group on some research I've been doing on microchipping of dogs. Talking of which, one of Andrew's very nice clients lent us the DVD of the film "Best in Show", from the same stable as Spinal Tap, about the world of dog showing. Well, it was gloriously, howlingly funny and also uncomfortably accurate about how some dog owners treat their woofs. I can wholeheartedly recommend it. On a similar note, I recently came across a blog that I must namecheck and have added it to the sidebar for your commendation. Bad Vestments is a collection of all that's gloriously wrong with ecclesiastical dress - if you love the church, and you love fashion, and you love vestments, and you love bitchy writing, then it's a must-see.

Breaking news. After a quiet morning spent having a lie-in and walking the dogs in the drizzle over at Tredegar House, we came home and as usual, fed the dogs and ourselves. I settled down with the newspaper while Andrew went upstairs to have a look at the news headlines on the PC - this is what we found.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, a large and serious fire took hold of Swansea greyhound stadium, requiring the attendance of a number of fire engines, and causing severe damage to the site. Regular readers and indeed Swansea residents will recall that the stadium closed last November following a prosecution brought by the local Council against the owners for poor welfare standards in the greyhound accommodation. Since then, the site has been standing empty waiting for redevelopment. You can see the story here on the BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west_wales/10203323.stm or on the South Wales Evening Post website - http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Riddle-cause-stadium-site/article-2237275-detail/article.html

A peaceful week with nothing earth-shattering to report, but sometimes those are the nice ones. I took Booty to the vet on Thursday for her regular review of medication (an anti-inflammatory and a painkiller) which she takes for her arthritis. Arthritis is not curable so we are in a programme of managing the condition and making sure she has the best quality pain relief. We've had a few discussions with the vet about the next steps and fortunately she is still at the bottom so to speak of the pain relief ladder. Some of the more heavy duty meds have potential side effects if taken long term, but it's important to remember that she is probably about 11 - put bluntly, she won't be here in ten years time, so that's much less important to us than ensuring a good quality of life at the moment. Fortunately she is in excellent condition at present - her weight is spot on and she is not suffering from muscle wastage on the affected shoulder which is something we are watching like hawks to avoid. As normal, she was very miserable when inside the vet, before he had even touched her, which is both funny and endearing, particularly as the vet is always very gentle and expert with her. I strongly suspect that like many dogs, the smell of the vets' is a deterrent.

In other dog related news, we've discovered that Andy and Boola are distantly related - they are first cousins, once removed - I think. I get terribly confused when talking about layers in a family tree - for instance, Jonathan whose blog is recommended on the sidebar is in fact my father's cousin, even though he is only just older than me which makes him (I think) my first cousin once removed but how that differs from a second cousin is a bit hazy in my mind. If you are one of those amazing people who understands this, please don't try to explain it to me - I strongly suspect it would make my brain explode. Anyway back to the dogs, put simply, Boola's grandsire is Andy's great-grandsire. There are also more distant and complicated shared lines on the maternal line, but that's definately one for the genealogists.

Over the weekend, we've been busy in the garden. We went to Greenmoor nurseries to pick up lots of nice bedding plants for the hanging baskets and pots. These are now all planted up and looking great, plus Andrew has been busy today renewing the grout between the slabs on the paved area round the pond. We've been careful to leave some gaps as we're gradually getting self seeded alchemilla colonising some of the gaps and we like this.

We've also been on a voyage of discovery with our tadpoles - let me explain. Our garden is happily a haven for frogs and toads of all sizes and descriptions, and we do occasionally see newts in the pond too although I am not sure what species they are. During the spring the pond became a mass of frog spawn and we also saw lots of frogs doing the baby dance in the pond, as well as hearing them sing their songs of amphibian love every night. Fast forward, and the pond is now full of a huge quantity of adorable wrigglers - all rapidly growing, and now developing tiny back legs - I had assumed these were frog tadpoles. Now it seems I was wrong. Andrew spotted that as well as the clusters of black comma-like tadpoles, there were also some that were larger, greyer and a different shape. I spent some time doing some research on the net yesterday and it seems that the clusters are in fact toad tadpoles ("toadpoles") while the greyer, larger ones are the frogs. Toadspawn is laid in strings in deeper water so I would not have seen it when it was laid.

This afternoon, after making a cup of tea for Andrew while he was grouting, I went and laid down on the slabs and began watching the poles more closely. This is one of those magical things that I have enjoyed since childhood - settling down to watch a piece of the natural world closely and with concentration. When you do this something very wonderful happens. To begin with, you just see the obvious things, and you wait, and keep looking. After a period of time in concentrated waiting and attention, suddenly a small miracle happens. The whatever-it-is - a tadpole, a plant, a bird, a badger suddenly leaps into your focus and now you can see them clearly, and everywhere. They have crossed from the background to the foreground of your attention. This attentive waiting and watching, in a state of concentration but also deeply peaceful, is one of the most profound and lovely conditions I know - it of course has huge similarities with the state of of prayer, which is also often a condition of attentive waiting. It saddens me greatly that many people probably never experience this, if they have not been taught to enjoy and appreciate wildlife as children and more particularly the experience of watchful waiting - whether it is waiting for a badger cub to emerge from a sett to play at dusk or finding a particular type of wild flower in a certain habitat, or even looking for fossils on a Dorset beach.

Well, firstly this is my 300th post on this blog, so I'd like to celebrate by raising a glass to you all, dear readers. For some, (Jonathan) it will be a dirty martini, for others an iced tea - whatever your tipple, thank you for reading. And, whoever the annoying anonymous person is, I wish to heaven you would send me an email and give me a blasted clue as to who you are. Thinking about my readership, I can honestly say it is international and I've become friends with people in some surprising places, that even feature in song titles. Happily, the numbers from Cardiff Council have declined considerably although there appears to be a hard core of about 15 of you who are still reading - most annoyingly, when you should be getting on with some constructive work. Consider yourselves chastised.

One of my favourite bloggers, the Calico Quilter, recently wrote about her home: this was prompted in part by exciting adventures with her neighbourhood squirrels. They suddenly developed a kamikaze mindset and decided to bring power cuts to the neighbourhood by chewing through live high voltage cables. You have to admit those little squeakers have STYLE - if you're gonna go, go out big. Cue James Cagney in "White Heat" moment for the squirrel - shouting "Look at me, Ma, top of the world!" before exploding in flames. Anyway, I tell you this partly to show that quilting blogs are often much more exciting than you would first think and secondly to respond to something that was posted by the CQ quite recently. CQ posted some pics of her house and neighbourhood, and some of the local Council workers who were doing some tree works. She invited other readers to join in and post some pics of their own homes. So, with no further ado, a bit about Woodhouse Towers.

We bought the house as a new build from Persimmon, the developers in 2005. We had decided to go for a new build (or very nearly) as at that time I had just come through cancer and had gone back to work full time so neither of us wanted to be spending precious time on home repairs and maintenance. Neither of us is particularly DIY minded. What attracted us to this estate and the house was that the houses were not as closely packed together as is often the case in modern estates, and this house has a reasonable sized garden, again particularly for a new home. We saw lots of developments when we were house hunting where the house was fine, but set into a tiny little plot. Even though we weren't then greyhound owners both of us love gardening so we wanted to maximise the space available, and this house seemed to do that.

Inside the house, I love the fact it is so bright and airy and also very warm. When single, I lived in a succession of Victorian flats, and although there is much to be said for sash windows as an architectural feature, in the winter they are drafty, freezing and rattly. Downstairs, we've got a big kitchen with utility room (a feature that was on my shopping list, and I am grateful for it), a spacious dining room where we can comfortably seat eight or squeeze in a few more if we want to be cosy, a living room and a downstairs loo/cloakroom. From the hall, which is a decent size, you go up the stairs, passing a large window on the turn of the stairs, to the first floor where there are four bedrooms, master with en-suite, plus a "family" bathroom. One of the many good things about having the en-suite is that when we have guests, they can have sole usage of the main bathroom, thus avoiding worries about queues and so on. Since moving in, we've fitted a shower into the main bathroom, above the bath and tiled/decorated it. The house was painted throughout by the developer in a bog standard magnolia when we purchased, so we have been able to take our time in decorating. Before moving in, the living room and dining room were done, along with our bedroom and the main guest bedroom. Since then, we've also decorated the third bedroom (our study/craft room), the main bath, and the downstairs cloakroom. Remaining - the hall/landing, the kitchen, utility room and fourth bedroom. The other main change we instigated was to fit wooden flooring on the ground floor, when we decided to adopt a greyhound (looking back fondly, we imagined we would have only one...). The kitchen has floor tiles in a soft grey/cream colour, but elsewhere we have a very pleasant honey coloured wooden floor, which fortunately is easy to clean.

The house has a detached garage, on a shared driveway with our next door neighbours, with sufficient room for two cars and our growing collection of wheelie bins. From the side of the garage, there is a door to the back garden, which we don't tend to use much, except when bringing in heavy items to the garden such as large pots or bags of compost. However it was a godsend when we were doing all the landscaping/planting in the garden.

Under the eaves at the front of the house are the house martens, tucked into their little mud nest and making the most lovely sounds, rather like a digital ringtone. I've posted a picture of their home, along with the front of the house, our greyhound hanging basket bracket, and the new post box which regular readers will recall was fitted after Andy decided to start eating paint. If I get sufficient interest, I'd be happy to show some pics of the garden and how we went from the bare plot to the current setup. Readers, over to you. Let me have your views. Look at this way, at least it's a change from greyhounds. And, why not show some pics of where you live?

Yesterday the postman brought what is becoming an increasingly familiar site, a USPS envelope. In our small way, we are an example of the global marketplace created by the internet. I now regularly buy a number of items over the net from the USA, including OPI nail varnish, greyhound gifts, greyhound coats and of course greyhound collars. We've found two particularly good collar companies, and when Boola became a permanent member of our family, we knew that we would want to kit him out with his own coats, plus a martingale collar and lead. Being such a stunning blonde boy, we took some time to choose, and eventually selected a collar and lead from Two Hounds design - their website is at http://www.2houndsdesign.com/.

The collar we selected after a lot of thinking was this one - http://www.2houndsdesign.com/Asian-Teal-Vines-pr-456.html and as suggested we went for a red velvet lead to go with it. We've selected a martingale collar - these are perfect for greyhounds, being comfortable and also working well with the long, slender neck and small head. Normal dog collars can be easily reversed out of by greyhounds, and any collar that is too narrow can be dangerous when they take off at high speed, as the forces are concentrated into a small area which can be lethal.

So, today, Boola officially took off his foster collar ( a perfectly serviceable leather hound collar) and put on his beautiful new one, covered in the finest Asian silk, and lined in red satin. I've attached some pictures of him wearing it, and he looks even more gorgeous than he did before. I'll post some pics soon of him with his new lead when we are out for a walk. The next job will be to buy some coats for him that will do his collar justice. We will be looking for an waterproof outdoor coat with warm lining for winter, a waterproof coat with mesh lining for wet days in spring/summer, and an indoor night coat/pyjamas for cold winter nights. In the fullness of time, I'd also consider getting all three dogs a non waterproof but extra warm coat for outdoor days when it is bitterly cold but not raining.

Last week seemed to be one of those weeks when Andrew was away quite a bit. For nearly a year now, his main clients have been in London (a central London borough) and as well, he makes regular trips up to Birmingham for his company meetings and training days. Both of these are easily accessible by train from Cardiff, both being usually about 2 hours away, although Andrew's views on the reliability of First Great Western are pretty unprintable. I thought I would paint a picture of our routine when he travels, which is a bit different to the days when he is working from home. Usually, he catches the 6.55 train, which means that we are up around 6, have a coffee (I refuse to do anything without this!), throw on some clothes and bundle myself and the dogs into the car, with Andrew looking very smart in his suit, and carrying laptop bag plus little wheelie case for overnighters. We aim to leave the house about 6.25 and get into the railway station car park around 6.45 - at that time of the morning, the roads are very quiet. We are usually in the car park at about the same time that the local charities are doing their morning run of hot drinks and breakfast for the rough sleepers, from the back of a van. I find this very sobering and usually have a brief moment of thankfulness that we have a home and stable life. Andrew then says goodbye to us all and trundles off to the station to get ticket, coffee, paper and board the train.

I take over the driving seat of the car. Like most married couples, I immediately have to re-arrange the seat (being a shortarse) and put the car in neutral - he always leaves it in gear, which drives me nuts. Radio 4 on, to enjoy the Today programme, and the car swings round to the back of the station (if we're lucky, inhaling lungfuls of the wonderful smell of the mash from Brain's Brewery, which is very nearby) and then down Dumballs Road. Invariably, I am horrified at the amount of litter on Dumballs Road - the street is awash with fast food wrappers, cans and general mess - awful. I harrumph down to the bay and head for Clarence Embankment, near the old Hamadryad hospital. Swinging round, I park the car by the entrance to the park. The dogs always know where we are and get excited. I get them out carefully, as the area is awash with cats which leads to even more excitement and a great deal of squeaking and woofing, which is acutely embarrassing so early in the morning when there are people still in bed nearby. Having assembled the three dogs, put muzzles on two of them, gathered poo bags, coat or cardigan depending on weather, locked the car and checked my phone, we're off. Before we even enter the park, we can usually hear the thump and splash of the rowers on the river, sometimes the shouting of the cox if a big group is out. We enjoy our walk in the park - usually it is quiet, with a few joggers in the spring and summer plus a regular who I always smile at who does Tai Chi in a nice spot overlooking the river. If there are no other dogs about I cautiously leat Boola off the lead - he loves sniffing about by the river and running round in big circles on the grass. Usually, there are lots of birds to look at, both on the river and in the trees/grass of the park itself. A swan is nesting there at the moment, which is exciting, and I love seeing the sky fill with big flocks of starlings or gulls, coming in to feed. Recently I even saw an oystercatcher pottering about. In the distance I can see the golden roof of the Millennium Centre, glittering in the early morning sun, or bronze if it is dull. Our walk is lovely, a great way to start the day, with an opportunity to look at nature and the river, and some fabulous buildings.

Then it's back to the car, again on cat alert, dogs in, muzzles off, coat off, radio on, and we cruise back down Lloyd George Avenue - by now it's at least 7.30 or later, so there are people now driving about to get to work. I hit the bay road and head back past the steel works, usually making good time as I am going against the main flow of the traffic. On the way back I invariably call in to Tesco at around 7.50 - I pick up a paper, and usually items such as bread or other groceries. I notice the Cleansing vehicles parked outside the supermarket - it seems to have become a popular location for breakfast as well as for the Highways lorries too. I can't blame them - the Tesco restaurant does a highly competitive cooked breakfast which is probably served faster and is likely to taste better and be cheaper than the one in the canteen at the depot. I'm sure if the Ikea store were open earlier, that would also be popular as they too do an excellent value breakfast. With a couple of items to purchase, I usually have to do those awful self service swipe tills - Tesco has a bizarre policy of not opening any "real" checkouts until 8 am, no matter how busy. I am a sucker for getting treats for the dogs, some times it's a box of chicken livers, which I lightly saute with garlic for them, or sometimes some cooked chicken pieces for them which they enjoy as snacks during the day. Then back into the car, and home, avoiding all the hideous pot holes. Once back at the house, dogs and shopping are unloaded, shoes off, leads off, and breakfast is served to the pack. Once the dogs are sorted, including various tablets, supplements etc. I then sort out my own breakfast and another coffee, and settle down with the paper while I eat. At this point, the assorted hounds will usually check that the mistress is not going to share hers and once this is confirmed, will assume positions of deep torpor around the place. Generally, I can hear snoring after a few moments while they catch up with their powernapping. Invariably, I'll get a call from Andrew about 9, usually just before or just after he has arrived at his destination, to update me on journey times, check in and find out what adventures we had on our walk (did Booty argue with a swan? Did Boola chase a rabbit? Did Andy find a squirrel up a tree?) An eye will be opened at the sound of the phone disturbing the sacred greyhound slumber but generally they go back to sleep almost instantly. Depending on the coffee's impact, I will sometimes have a go at the cryptic crossword (much swearing and head scratching will ensue) but by 9.30 this part of the day is over and I am progressing to my domestic programme at full speed.

So, there you have a fairly detailed look at our morning when we take Andrew to the station, this is usually two or sometimes three times a week, depending on his schedule. Over the weekend, we did another nice walk up at the Forestry Commission that I wrote about recently being covered with wood anemones. Now it is utterly carpeted with bluebells. For most of the walk, we were in glorious silence with just the wonderful birdsong, and the smell and sight of bluebells all round us - difficult to describe except to say it was glorious and I loved the colours - that intense purply blue fading away to darkness across the glades, while above the beech leaves were a glorious acid green with dappled sunlight breaking through -one of those occasions when it is immensely frustrating not to be an artist, and to long to capture the beauty of the colours and the location. We heard an owl, woodpeckers, saw tree-creepers and many smaller birds such as great tits in the trees. Although it is gloriously peaceful, we don't let the dogs off as there is a huge quarry nearby and I can just imagine an excited greyhound chasing a rabbit and not noticing the absence of footing until it was too late.... Back home to home-made bread in bacon sandwiches and lots of coffee over the leisurely weekend paper.

Yesterday, we decided to give at least one dog a bath. We had hoped to start with Andy, but this proved to be a bit tricky. Firstly, he had sussed what we were planning as soon as he saw towels going in to the main bathroom and he disappeared downstairs. Getting him back upstairs was practically impossible, then once he was in the bathroom, any attempt to get near him to lift him into the bathtub met with him trying to hide in the corner behind my legs, and resisting every attempt to pick him up. Bear in mind that he is a very big greyhound and weighs around 30kg - eventually the attempt became too traumatic for all concerned and he fled downstairs with his dignity and his aroma intact. Next was Booty, who was considerably easier all round, being smaller, lighter and although not keen on the bath, will stand there looking miserable with her tail clamped between her legs while you shampoo her. I took some pics of her as she came out which are attached. While she dries, her collar remains off and she looks curiously naked without it.

Unlike the people in some parts of the UK, we had no problem at all when we went to vote. As Andrew was off to London, we were at the polling station just after seven. There was a brisk throughput of people which was very encouraging. I still feel very privileged when I vote. Democracy and an open, free vote are precious things that many people all over the world do not currently enjoy and the situation is even worse for women. One of the things that I feel very encouraged by is the gradual "normalisation" of women in politics. It is no longer remarkable to see female candidates - although there is still some way to go to ensure better female representation at the very top levels. When I think back to the 1980s and the appalling hostility to women politicians then, not just Margaret Thatcher, I shudder.

Of course we are now in a very peculiar situation waiting for the negotiations to bear fruit, that may lead to a new government. It's odd to think that even though one party has the largest number of seats and votes, they are not occupying Downing Street and it looks as though Gordon Brown could be with us for some time to come - which prospect does not fill me with joy. It seems possible or even likely that Labour may change their leader - but if they then stay in power, we could be in a position where we will have had two successive General Elections where Labour have fought campaigns then changed leaders - not entirely fair on voters I feel. Anyway I think there is a lot more to come in this particular saga. All I will conclude is to say that if this is a foretaste of PR, count me out. I loathe the idea of tiny parties like Plaid Cymru or the SNP effectively holding the larger ones to ransom when they have so little political mandate. We are already seeing some odd decision making in Wales as a result of the Labour/Plaid Cymru administration - I'd hate to see this in the larger and more important context of Westminster.

Anyway, on Saturday, we travelled over to Somerset for a weekend with Andrew's parents. Andrew went to horticultural college when he was 18, at Cannington, not far from where his parents live. The college was having a Wisteria Weekend so we attended with Andrew's mum. To all our surprise and delight, one of the lecturers from when Andrew was a student was present, and remembered Andrew very well, so it was lovely for them to have a chat and catch up on news. We enjoyed looking round the beautiful old walled gardens and the huge glass houses which each show representative plants from a range of habitats, such as arid (lots of cacti) and tropical (masses of jungly rainforest things). There were also stalls selling plants (I bought a sweet cicely for the herb bed), the WI were selling cakes and eggs and jam, plus there were school demonstrations of garden ideas. Unfortunately, although dry, it was bitterly cold and not the weather for either the ice cream stall or sitting around decoratively. I had hoped earlier in the week to be swanning around in sandals and had even bought some bronzer for my legs in the expectation I'd be wafting in a floral skirt. Instead I was very grateful of my mac and scarf and thick opaque tights! Rita was wearing her woolly gloves and Andrew was wrapped up in his wet weather jacket from Rohan plus layers of fleece. I attach some pics.

After we'd finished, we strolled back to the car via the main campus of the college which teaches what are now called Land Based Studies so this includes things like Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Dog Grooming, various equine courses and so on. It was interesting to see where Andrew had studied and he was able to point out many features to us as we walked. Back to the car and then back to the house to defrost - I was really chilled after being out in the cold wind.

After a lovely dinner on Saturday night (Andrew not drinking on the eve of a race), on Sunday he raced in the Bristol 10K. I stayed at his parents to wrangle the woofs so he departed solo, which is unusual as of course I normally accompany him to support and cheer. He did an excellent time, sub 0.48 and was back in time for a well-earned lunch. Unfortunately while he was away, Andy disgraced himself by pinching nearly a full half pound of butter that was on the butter dish with a butter knife in the kitchen. Note for American readers - in the UK, butter is traditionally sold in half pound pats. Since going metric, the pack size has been altered slightly to 250g but like many people I still think in imperial terms and can estimate and cut by eye quantities such as 1 oz, 2oz and so on.

Fortunately, Andrew's parents saw the funny side of the theft and had a spare packet of butter, so all was not lost. Butter and cheese are highly sought after by Andy and indeed most greyhounds although we never give them milk. And then, shortly after lunch, we headed back home and spent a quiet evening watching "Lewis" and enjoying the digestive effects of Andy's theft as the air slowly filled with greyhound generated methane......

Well, what a week it's been. On Thursday afternoon, my friend Margaret arrived from West Wales. We got to know each other last year on a GRW charity stall, and it turned out that we were both interested in greyhounds, quilting and were cancer survivors. We got to chatting and have kept in touch ever since. Another link is that Margaret was the person who collected Boola from the home he was living in before being taken into the care of the charity, and so she has always had a special interest in him.

I have mentioned previously that Busy Bees were organising a trip to London for the Quilts exhibition at the V & A, so thought of Margaret and asked her if she would like to come. She gladly agreed and so on Thursday she came up to us to spend the night before we set off on our adventure. We had a lovely evening, chatting away about all sorts of things, and Margaret was very happy to see Boola again, as well as meeting the other two hounds. She also brought me the most wonderful little gift - a Moda tin, with a charm pack, and a pattern for a mini quilt, wrapped up in a complementary fat quarter, and tied with pretty ribbon. Such a lovely gift.

The following morning, we got over to Tredegar House to meet the coach. The weather was cool and dull, which was great actually. I hate very hot weather for travelling or sightseeing, so it was perfect. The coach was very comfortable and we sped up the M4 to the museum, being dropped literally by the front door. We had timed tickets for the exhibition, so had time for lunch in the museum restaurant beforehand then met up with our group under the most magnificent Chihuly glass chandelier in the atrium (see pic attached I found on the net). I was fortunate enough to see another Chihuly piece some years ago at Kew Gardens (see pic attached) and love his use of colour and the wonderful organic forms of the blown glass.

The exhibition was everything I had hoped for and more. Understandably, because of the age of many of the textiles, light levels were very low, but in general I was impressed with the way things had been presented to allow for close inspection. The exhibits were wonderful, being inspiring, beautiful, moving and occasionally very funny. Even if you are not a quilter yourself, this exhibition has much interest, in terms of interior and domestic history, as well as broader social trends such as Victorian temperance or the prevalence of quilting in mining areas such as Wales, as well as a fascinating section from the Second World War. After emerging blinking like moles into the light, we gladly hit the shop as I knew they were selling a special range of limited edition prints in partnership with Liberty of replicas from the exhibition of 18th century designs. I have bought some half metres of fabric to add to my stash. Emerging finally from the museum, we sat in the sunshine for a while to gather our thoughts, then, with Margaret's agreement, hopped in a taxi for a trip over to Bloomsbury. Margaret had not been to London for some years - she has lived all over the world so was delighted that the journey included lots of the obligatory sights, including Buckingham Palace. Anyway, on arrival at our destination, we hopped out and entered the delights of http://www.bladerubber.co.uk/ - a specialist and very intriguing rubber stamp shop just round the corner from the British Museum. I was in seventh heaven - the range of stamps was gorgeous with lots of quirky and off beat ones that were most intriguing. Eventually I made my purchases and reluctantly left - the shop has a great range of regular workshops and so on, which would be wonderful if I lived a little nearer to London. Then we strolled round the corner and had a leisurely and much needed coffee in Starbucks before finally hopping in another cab and heading back to the V & A. We just had time for me to press my nose against some of the lovely shops there - Skandium is a shrine to Scandinavian design and then we lusted after the kitchenware in Divertimenti, although both of us were simultaneously appalled and amused at a very fancy kitchen range in the window for a mere £37,000. Almost next door was Smallbones, who of course would build you a kitchen fit for such an expensive range and again it was great to have a thoroughly aspirational gawp - fortunately, by this time, all the shops were firmly closed. Then back on the bus and home - met by Andrew when we finally disembarked, stiff, tired and very happy.

On Saturday morning, we took Margaret back to Tredegar House. I attach some pics of her with Boola - then Andrew took the dogs for their walk while I showed Margaret the house and buildings before making a happy pilgrimage to Busy Bees for Margaret to have a good browse. She was delighted and managed to find some gorgeous fabric for a pretty elephant quilt,as well as some cat fabric (she has two). Eventually, Andrew came back with the hounds and we all drifted back to the cars, for Margaret to head back home down the motorway. It had been a very happy and successful trip.

Today, in the best traditions of British bank holidays it has been cold, wet and blustery. Also firmly in this tradition, we visited B & Q for a pot of paint, as Andrew will be painting the downstairs loo. When we moved into the house, as it was a new build, the developer had coated all the walls with a bog standard magnolia - quite inoffensive if dull, but at least we didn't feel under any pressure to immediately decorate every surface. So far, the living room and dining room downstairs have been painted and upstairs,we've decorated the main bathroom and three of the four bedrooms but have yet to do the smallest bedroom or the ensuite bathroom. For a while, I've been keen to decorate some of the untouched rooms, so we decided the downstairs loo would be a great project - not too big and complicated. We've got a very pretty Roman blind in the room, which features a misty design of tulips on a soft, golden yellow background - the tulips are dusty pinks and plums in colour. We've chosen a colour which is a sort of browny plum which picks up on the palette of the blind and should also work well with the prints and frames we already have in there. So tomorrow the young master will be picking up his paintbrush.

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.