Much to write. Went to Manchester last week to speak at an Apse meeting on smoking related litter. Was supposed to meet old boss Phil, but he was poorly so had to cancel. City centre was interesting. They have trams. At one point saw a tram going to Eccles and a man walked past me with two whippets, and I thought, Blimey, how northern is this? Meeting was held in Town Hall, which is a truly splendid piece of Victorian Gothic architecture. I was blown away by the stained glass, statues, and decoration inside. I would have liked more time to explore but as is often the case with meetings, it was all a bit rushed. Beautiful train journey home through gorgeous green countryside of Shropshire. Lovely.

Busy weekend. Friday night, went over Robyn's house for a very nice evening. Met her husband for the first time, Christopher was there, sadly without his partner, and Robyn's very elderly cat. Showed proud photos of Andy and Booty. Saturday took dogs to Heath Park. Andrew went for a run and in the evening went to see Oceans 13. Good fun, and if you enjoyed the first two, you'll enjoy this. Sunday morning took dogs over to Cosmeston lakes for a lovely walk, then stopped off at garden centre briefly to pick up canes to stake sunflowers and a couple of water plants for the pond. Visited Liz in the afternoon. Dogs had a ball, we actually saw Andy and Booty at full pelt - it was awesome. Sadly there was no way of capturing it on camera - too damn fast. Had a wonderful, damp time. When we eventually returned, dogs were completely knackered for the rest of the evening and we hardly had a peep out of them. Even today, they are a bit quieter.