The great British Bank holiday weather did not disappoint! On Sunday it was atrocious! Heavy rain, high winds and suprisingly cold. We postponed visiting Liz until yesterday. Used the time in joining Greytalk, a very interesting and informative greyhound web community and seeking out some sources for Andy's clothing requirements. As greys have such fine fur and so little body fat, they hate going out in the rain, and need a winter coat. I can't bear the thought of him wearing some dreary affair in tartan, and not surprisingly our American friends can supply practically anything you can think of, custom made. Many of the websites ship to the UK, which makes me think there is a market out there for people who want to go beyond tartan. Andrew and I also spent a long time discussing the issue of a second dog. We both want one very much. The next stage is to think carefully about timing over the summer, co-ordinate leave etc.....

Went down to Liz yesterday. She's got loads of dogs, so we were a little apprehensive to see how he would get on. Much to our delight, he coped really, really well and even started playing with Maddy, Liz's setter. We took him out to the paddock for some free running but he wasn't really into that as I think he was simply overloaded by all the new smells, dogs and experiences. He had a really good time though and so did we. Liz's parents, Len and Marion (and their dogs!) were also visiting so it was great to see them. Cobby, Katie's elderly horse was in the garden wearing a new pink headcollar (very fetching) and Dan was running around with some carburettor bits for his bike. Had a chat to Sarah about her exams - she is in the middle of GCSEs. Nowadays, they seem far more spread out than in my school days, which is less intensive, but prolongs the stress a bit. Anyway, she has about another fortnight to go, so fingers, toes and everything else crossed. Dan also booked his summer holiday with us - he insisted that he come up first, before his sisters.

Liz gave us the most brilliant present ever - a hound mitt. As Andy is moulting at the moment, the prolonged grooming I've been doing has been completely ineffectual, and he is leaving trails of fur everywhere he goes. This thing is the business - it is a rubber mitt, with pimples on the palm, which you use to groom. It pulls all the dead hair and scurf off the dog literally in chunks. He is now practically bald, but this way he will grow back a lovely new, shiny coat. It reminds me of scarifying a lawn (exactly the same principle). I was grooming him this morning, out in the garden and he decided that it was far too strenuous to stand up, so lay down, offered me his side, and drifted off into a semi-conscious state of bliss, while I was rhythmically stroking him with the mitt. When I stopped occasionally to de-fur the mitt, I received the most reproachful looks until I started grooming again. As I write, he is laying behind me, looking abit motheaten, but we both know that in a few days, he'll be even more gorgeous. I think on Saturday we'll give him another bath, as on Sunday it's the monthly greyhound walk over at Cosmeston Lakes, and we want him to look good to meet all his new greyhound friends!

Rang Greyhound Rescue Wales this morning, to put the wheels in motion for Grey No. 2. Someone from the area will be back in touch with us in the next few days. I attach a couple of photos, taken yesterday down on the farm.

Friday was an interesting day. We did LEAMS training with Leanne from Keep Wales Tidy. I enjoyed it. Went out to do some practical sessions which is always interesting. We ended up near the vets where we take Andy. This led to some musing on street scene generally, as although the level of street cleanliness was quite good where we looked, except for a utility box that was acting as a litter trap, there were some other issues. Things like a functional site (library) covered in graffiti and not swept, long grass (unkempt) on a private church area, graffiti (again!) on the side of the chemist, overhanging hedges on streets, and what drove me nuts, ancient dog fouling prohibition signs that were so old they dated back to the early 1980s. Faded and battered, there was no way that they would discourage anyone from letting their dog foul, in fact I doubt most people would even notice them, and even if they did, they would probably just assume they were out of date. This is not to condone dog fouling, I hasten to add, but is there really any dog owner in the country who doesn't understand at some very basic level that you should clean up if your dog craps on the street? I think the answer is to systematically remove them, ward by ward.

Friday afternoons are often interesting as for some weird reason, they generate odd phone calls, and this one was no exception. Sitting in the Enforcement unit, one of my colleagues took a long and very irate call from a lady who wanted us to act to remove pigeons she believed were a nuisance. My colleague (perfectly correctly, and very politely) was trying to explain that the removal of livestock was outside our remit - we do litter and waste. This is a bit like going to your optician to sort your toothache, I guess. Unfortunately, the lady was not having any of it, and was determined to speak to me. I then got a message to call her, but she was not answering her mobile so left a message. Then another colleague came in with another Friday afternoon special, which made us all laugh. Someone wanted us to sort out their overhanging vegetation and a wobbly chimney pot. By this time, we felt like putting up a sign saying "enforcement unit- all problems solved....." Eventually decided to leave early to enjoy the weekend. Took Andy with me in the car to pick up Andrew from the airport. He landed and was surrounded by hundreds of kilt wearing Scots stag parties - very entertaining. My first time doing a journey in the car with Andy - he loads into it beautifully and is rewarded by a couple of chew treats. The boot is so capacious even his long legs have masses of room.

As predicted, the weather has got steadily worse this weekend. Well, it is a Bank Holiday I suppose. Took Andy over to to Tredegar House yesterday, lovely. Saw a nice lady with a lurcher that we see regularly over there - Andy is always fine with greys and lurchers. He is also slowly improving with other dogs. There was a giant Scout jamboree (the Glamboree!) going on - the park was full of small boys on bicycles, in canoes, on a climbing wall, and doing various other activities. It looked great fun. After dinner last night we went on a slug hunt, as the little bastards are munching our plants. I held the pot while Andrew shone a torch and picked them out. Andy of course initially wanted to come out and supervise, but after a while decided that it was a bit cold and damp and really his sheepskin was more attractive. Duly let him back in the house, but then of course he decided that maybe, just maybe we might have fun without him, and that would never do. So there was a pathetic little face at the door, saying "Let me out". Let him out, big wags, lots of sniffs, five minutes later, he's standing by the door to go back in..... Lather, rinse, repeat...............Anyway, he was very pleased when the torch finally gave up around 11.15 and we came in to bed. When we do this, he bounces up the stairs, and lies on the bed while we are moving around, cleaning our teeth, putting things away etc... Eventually the time comes for us to get into bed and for him to either move over (if it's just me) or off completely when it's both of us. We get the full 100 Watt "I'm so cute, and my legs have turned to jelly, I can't move, and you can't really be trying to turf me off this lovely warm bed and out into the cold snow" look. Andrew is made of sterner stuff than me and just chucks him off. Usually then he settles down by my side of the bed and goes to sleep. Last night however he decided to wake us up for a play at around 4 (I think?) - not impressed. As i write, both he and the young master are fast asleep - even me having a shower didn't wake either of them. Later today, going down to see Liz, should be fun.

Well, the main news is the new car. Andrew collected it yesterday, and I drove it for the first time today. After the Fiesta, it feels huge, like driving a tank, and the clutch is different too, so I stalled a couple of times today, which is not like me. Drove to work, and really enjoyed it. You feel as though you are piloting a giant tanker, which makes the driving style much more flowing and relaxed. Using musical terminology, it's legato rather than andante.

Received an invitation today to go up to Manchester - APSE have asked me to speak on our Smoking Related Litter project. Should be interesting and enjoyable. Spent the afternoon with our portfolio holder going over some spending proposals that he had asked us to prepare - a very positive meeting.

Travelled home to be greeted ecstatically by woof. Supervised the watering, and then did some vigourous cleaning. The only downside to owning a dog is the incessant cleaning required. After hoovering downstairs, mopped the kitchen floor and restored an appearance of order to the house, which is much more attractive. Somehow, an encrusted floor drags down the whole room even if it is tidy. As I write, woof is by my feet relaxing, probably dreaming of rabbits. Looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend - nothing planned yet, but if fine we'll probably have a barbie, and am hoping to visit friend Liz on Sunday. As she has lots of dogs, it should be an interesting experience for Andy. What's wonderful though is that she has an enclosed, fenced paddock - so we will be able to let him run, which I am itching to see.

A busy weekend. Yesterday, we popped into town first thing, as when Andrew returned home on Thursday, he had taken his shoes off. You might think this a natural thing to do, and you'd be right. Unfortunately woof decided that they would make a delicious chew and decided to make lots of lovely punctures in them and eat out a hole in the back of one, rendering them completely unwearable. Of course, he had to choose Andrew's best, formal shoes rather than a scabby old pair of trainers. Husband thus rendered shoeless, an emergency buying plan was put into action.

Followed this by a trip to Toys R Us, which I generally hate, for all sorts of reasons. Managed to successfully purchase presents for assorted nephews. Then to Fordthorne, our friendly local Ford dealer to look at estate cars. I have mentioned before that a Ford Fiesta (which I love deeply) is simply not suitable now we have a long-legged greyhound, and even less so if Andy is joined by another canine family member. I have always liked Fords and we experienced excellent service with this garage, so went there to have a look. Anyway we are now the proud owners of a Mondeo diesel estate with a boot so capacious you could spend an entire holiday in there with a whole pack of greyhounds. It is silver grey, with air con, climate control (which I don't really understand yet) and a CD player. It also has a clock. I will be very very sorry to say goodbye to the Fiesta, which is a fabulous car and I love it to bits, but it is impossible to justify having two cars except on the basis of self-indulgence. We are both very proud of spending the last ten years (if not more on reflection) as a one car couple, especially now that tax and insurance seem to increase so much. Andrew is picking it up on Tuesday, when he will drop off the Fiesta - I don't want to go with him, as it will be a real wrench saying goodbye to our gorgeous little Tizzy.

Today we travelled over to Bath, to see Andrew's sister Claire, her husband Basil, and their three sons, Thomas, James and Alex. It is James' birthday shortly, so we had presents for that, birthday presents for Claire (whose day had just been) and non-birthday presents for the other two boys. Andy was extraordinarily good - three small, excited boys didn't faze him at all, he was very chilled and I was hugely impressed. Went out in the afternoon to play with some funny long balloons that squeak and swoop. The boys and Andy loved them and we had a ball. Left there about 4.30 and came home. Young master now doing some planting in the garden and I will be preparing him a Bloody Mary quite soon. I attach a couple of photos taken this afternoon.

Interesting times.... Started the day today with a visit to colleagues in our Bereavement Services department to discuss basing some of our teams at their premises. As usual, most welcoming, and I am always impressed by the quiet professionalism with which they carry out their work. A very constructive chat, and then returned to the depot.

Very pleased to receive our annual LEAMS report from Keep Wales Tidy. This is an independent sample of our streets (6%) and gives a detailed picture of the amount and type of litter found. This year it shows a significant improvement in our standards which is very gratifying. Of note though is that cigarette litter was found in over 90% of the locations sampled. This illustrates the importance of the work we are doing on educating smokers on sensible disposal of their butts.

A colleague finished the afternoon for me by walking in and sharing a completely bonkers letter from a member of the public that she was struggling to allocate for a reply. It complained about litter, dumped furniture, cannabis smoking, illness and finally the evils of a broken washing line, over about eight pages, in the most incomprehensible handwriting. Ho hum.... Obviously must be a full moon or something, as I then took two calls in quick succession from colleagues in our call centre who are normally stars at dealing with strange calls, with two separate but odd queries.

Just as I was thinking about going home, the press office rang as a Cllr had been winding up the local paper with problems to do with flytipping even though I had given them a full explanation by letter just over a week ago. Grrrr.

Got home, and was very worried when I opened the front door as normally woof is there to greet me, wagging his tail and bouncing as though I had been gone for a week. Instead, all was ominously quiet. It seemed the living room door was shut so he was locked in there. Opened the door to an onslaught of wags, bounces, squeaking, etc... to find he had been using the time by building what looked like a den using all the sofa cushions, and a thatched roof using his sheepskin rugs. Hmmmmm. Tidied up much to his annoyance, let him out and fed him. Then got changed myself and began to cook some rice for myself. Now he is closely supervising, parked by my feet as I type, looking happy and relaxed. He came to bed with me last night and slept very contentedly at my feet, and was very peaceful and quiet, no breakdancing at all.

Since I last posted, we've been busy. Andy is continuing to recover well. Last week, we were trying to ensure he didn't pull his stitches or over-exert himself, which mostly seemed to be a pretty fruitless effort, as he was bounding around gleefully brimming with energy.

The in-laws arrived for the weekend on Friday. By that time, we had decided to risk taking off his lampshade, as he was not making any attempt to nibble his stitches. Had a nice meal on Friday night. Andy barked a lot at them when they arrived, and for some reason does not like my mother in law and growls at her a lot. On Saturday, I had got up early to let out woof and could not return to sleep so made some blueberry muffins for breakfast. Andy watched closely and when I had just put them in the oven, ran off with my little Magiwhisk, which had muffin mix on it. Naughty little tinker. Dodging the showers, we took him over to Cosmeston lakes in the morning, where I took the photo above. It's a lovely country park and well worth a visit. We had planned the first barbecue of the summer on Saturday evening, but although it was not raining it was pretty chilly and quite windy so we wimped out. Watched Eurovision - what can I say? A vision of nighmares and the Ukraine Bacofoil wearers were something else. Words fail me.

Sunday, our plan was to visit a rare plant fair over at Caldicot Castle. It was pouring down. Early in the morning, Andrew let out the dog, and as per usual he came upstairs and both returned to bed for a further sleep. MIL got up to visit the bathroom at around 7.30 and Andy went berserk, barking and growling like mad. FIL found this hilarious and loudly joked about her terrifying early morning appearance which did not go down well, and resulted in what is known in the family as her "Mount Rushmore" face.

Decided to brave the elements anyway and found the castle, which is absolutely delightful. Although it is the real thing with battlements, it is also an old dwelling place, and has a lovely atmosphere. Most of the stall holders had not showed up as the weather was so terrible - the lovely lady on the gate offered to let us see the number of stall holders before making a decision on whether to pay or not. We did, and bought a few very nice plants. Trundled back home and had a leisurely lunch. Inlaws departed late afernoon.

Back to work today, and only a paltry 122 emails waiting for me. In my post was an intriguing CD. APSE have invited me to judge the Refuse Service team of the Year this year, so all the entries were placed on a disc and sent to me. Now I will have the pleasure of studying them more closely. Last year, I judged the Street sweeping entries, and found that very satisfying also. This is one of those tasks which is a real pleasure and deeply interesting to undertake. Less pleasurably, I had to start the day by chairing a disciplinary hearing. These are never much fun. Fortunately, in this particular case, there was no dispute about the facts involved, or painful slanging matches, but a case where a previously good colleague had had some personal difficulties. Now these were resolved, I don't doubt he will return to his normal high standards.

Finished the day by taking woof to the vet. With all his activity, his stitches were a bit seepy, but the nurse was delighted with his progress and said he was looking great. As I write this, the young master is soaking in a relaxing bath and Andy is by my feet, looking especially relaxed and happy. Who could ask for more?

A busy day so far. Took the patient (never was the word so inappropriate!) to the vet this morning for his post-op checkup. Vet nurse said he was getting on very well, but a little concerned that he had obviously been "active", which was pulling on his stitches. Did try to explain that we had not deliberately been running any assault courses with him over the weekend and postponed the fell run, but what can you do with a greyhound that is bouncy, incorrigibly nosy and wants to play? We could tie a housebrick to each corner or lock him in a cage or something equally nasty but - realistically? Anyway, the dreaded words "draining the lumps" were mentioned if he continues to bounce, so we brought him home, took him on a very foreshortened walk and we saw only two cats. Each viewing involved a lot of bouncing, squeaking, vertical take-off and pirouetting. I suppose one answer is not to walk him at all perhaps - however, can't help but feel that would be equally cruel in a different way.

Of course he is a complete softy in the house and a bit of a couch potato. The attached photo shows him this morning, having decided to check on his pack mates. I had just come out of the shower, and the young master was catching up on some well deserved shuteye after a succession of broken nights ministering to the downstairs breakdancer in the small hours. Both looked very cosy and happy. As I write, he is relaxing on the rug at the bottom of the stair.

Andrew has gone to the gym for a run this afternoon and I have just been cleaning the windows. After that I am going to do some cross stitch - my Spring sampler is making good progress. A is going for a chiropractor appt this evening and then we will have an early night as he is in Scotland tomorrow which means getting up at 5.30 - aaargh.

Much to report. Andy went in for his op on Friday. We took him for a quick walk in the morning and he was very bouncy and was extremely frustrated that we weren't giving him breakfast. Took him to the vet and he immediately froze and attempted to hide behind Andrew's legs. It's so odd how dogs seem to "know" they are at the vets and they definately don't like it. Left him there and went off to work in a state of nervous tension, worrying about him. Got a phone call in the afternoon to pick him up and drove home with him very wobbly even with Andrew supporting him. Friday night he mostly slept. His coat which had previously been exceptionally glossy was dull - in a horse you would call it "staring", and he smelt differently - ill dogs always do, in fact all animals seem to.

Saturday and today have been a good recovery. He is very attached and whines if he cannot see one of us, but is bouncing around, quite literally. The only thing he cannot do at the moment, much to his frustration, is come upstairs, because of the comedy lampshade he is wearing which seems to get in his way when he is managing the steps. His appetite has returned with a vengeance and we are taking him back to the vet on Tuesday for a check-up. The stitches are due to be removed in a fortnight but I do not think the lampshade will last that long. We only took him for a mini walk today round the estate this morning. Waking up early with him has allowed us to get on with lots of domestic stuff. Andrew has been painting the outside table and chairs with teak oil, which helps the wood and keeps them a lovely colour. Two lots of washing and a mountain of ironing. Interestingly, the ironing pile has not shrunk in any way even though I have done loads - why is this?

Andrew also cleaned out the kitchen bin, watched with much interest by the invalid. Last night we watched "Eragon" on DVD, as we couldn't go out. Good effects, and a good story, but clunking characterization and poor dialogue. The dragon wasn't quite as impressive as I would have expected - a bit too friendly and not enough fire breathing... tonight we are watching "Miss Potter", a DVD about the early life of Beatrix Potter. Weather is definately on the turn - it has been windy all day, and quite cloudy and is now starting to rain. Long overdue for the garden.

Roast chicken tonight, so I expect the invalid will take a keen interest in kitchen proceedings. I attach a couple of photos, including the lampshade worn by the invalid, and a close-up of our alliums in the raised bed. These are the first to flower, we have lots of others in bud. I love their fractal appearance when you examine them closely, and they are such a stunning colour.

A busy couple of days with some very mixed feelings. I often visit a website set up for people in the UK dealing with cervical cancer or pre-cancer, in its various stages. One of the women on the site started out with the same type and grade cancer that I did, and is about the same age. Unfortunately her cancer recurred and she has had to deal with an escalating catalogue of complications some caused by the damage inflicted by radiotherapy. I don't want for a minute to imply any opposition to radiotherapy - it can and does save lives. Anyway, Kayla's husband has posted that the treatment she has received at the Marsden (world class)has run out of options and she is being moved into the hospice ward. I'm gutted for her, her husband and her young children, and it stirs up a lot of mixed feelings in me about my own illness. This is gloomy but I try to be cheerful and enjoy life as I think that is what is precious.

Anyway - yesterday was the flytipping forum in Pontypool. The town looked very clean and well cared for and the meeting went well. We discussed adapting and adopting the key guidelines in the DEFRA flytipping research done last year by the Jill Dando Institute - well worth a read as it examines the causes, nature and prevention of fly-tipping. My colleague D (he of the amazing nail cufflinks) has agreed to stand as chair of the forum for a year. I look forward to seeing him do this as he is very good at making connections between people.

Today we went to London to the Houses of Parliament. Whoopee! I am not ashamed to say I was very excited, gawped unashamedly and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Only saw Ian Duncan Smith but you could feel the excitement and the history in the building. Cardiff Bay has a long way to go before it has a fraction of the atmosphere. Sadly, the security was depressing. I still don't like seeing armed police in London. We ate and drank out on the terrace. This has the most wonderful views of the river, the Tower, the Eye, old County Hall etc and the weather was gorgeous - scorchio! Somehow looking across at St Thomas Hospital, I thought of Kayla and being there and enjoying it seemed the right thing to do. On the way out bought a few souvenir trinkets from the shop and gawped at the stunning hammer beams of the medieval Hall - utterly astonishing and such a key location in British history, the site of many trials etc... Train back was very full, glad we had reserved seats. Now thinking of all the possible casual opportunities I can manufacture for inserting into conversations my recent visit to the mother of Parliaments.

Returned home to an ecstatic welcome from Andy. Later, I went out to sort out the rubbish for tomorrow's collection and water the front hanging basket and when I came back in, he again greeted me like his long lost best friend even though I had only been out for five minutes. He is currently snoozing near my feet, with a very relaxed greyhound posture involving his legs covering as much acreage of carpet as is physically possible! Now counting the days and hours before his big op - fortunately he is blissfully unaware. Although it should be straightforward, I can't help feeling a little trepidation for him.