Firstly, apologies to Jonathan. Of course you can have as many oiled young men as you like - no exclusivity was intended. And isn't it good news about Russell T Davies? Will we all have to curtsey? Nice to see him being rewarded for his good work though.

Favourite aunty came for the weekend, and yes, we did have a barbeque, but it was not as warm as we would have liked. She came on Friday night, and we did Jamie's chicken caesar salad, which was lovely, followed by bowls of strawberries. At this time of the year, when it's possible to get British ones that taste lovely they are a real treat.

On Saturday we went to Bath, as a belated birthday treat for Hil. Bath is a magical city in many ways, for visiting, although I would not like to live there. From a shopping point of view it is as much fun as London, as there are lots of my favourite shops there and loads of gorgeous, quirky individual places that make beautiful things. We visited a sausage shop and bought some lovely home made sausages. Also to the new Cath Kidston store - I love her retro florals and vintage looks. In one particular place there can be found Space NK, Molton Brown, Lush and L'Occitane all within a credit card flick of each other. I decided to simply avoid temptation completely by not entering Space NK - a painful struggle but virtue won. L'Occitane did manage to lure me in and I succumbed to a beautiful Green Tea with Mint cologne. Sadly, they have stopped doing their beautiful ironing waters, I particularly liked the Verbena one. The sales assistant was telling me that lots of customers ask for it every week - seems a pity this message has not gone back to the company.

When we were visiting Claire and Basil the previous weekend, they were telling us about a quirky public art project in Bath this summer, featuring a hundred different decorated pigs in Bath and its environs. The theme derives from King Bladud (founder of Bath) and his pigs, and they are being auctioned for charity at the end of the summer. C & B have one near them in Bathampton which we saw, and Hil and I were looking out for them. We saw three and loved them. Photos attached. The one in the tree is a Pig of Paradise - brilliant. The project has its own website - http://www.kingbladudspigs.org/

When we returned home, we decided to be brave as it wasn't actually snowing, and eat outdoors. Andrew fired up the barbie, thermal vests were donned, and we enjoyed the Mongolian Fire pot sausages we brought back from the sausage shop, along with a variety of other delicacies and a big jug of Pimms. For dessert, Andrew made pineapple kebabs that he coated in brown sugar, before caramelising them on the hot grill. This was delicious and I highly recommend it.

On Sunday, we went down to Ikea as Hil was looking for some photo frames. We bought some new plates, as several of our existing ones have fallen victim to Andy's counter-surfing habits. Also bought a couple of glass vases that I will be using to store my various crafty bits in, such as bone folder, pokey tool, craft knife, tweezers etc... Finally took her to the station in the afternoon, and spent a quiet remainder of the day.

Andrew took both dogs to the vet this morning. Booty had a scheduled check up as the vet requires a personal visit after three prescriptions (for her NSAIDs). Due to over-enthusiastic squirrel chasing yesterday morning, Andy had the equivalent of a skinned knee on the top of his foot. Because greys have so little body fat, and such tissue like skin, we've become quite blase about superficial wounds and both dogs have an impressive collection of scars. The vet was able to do a double appointment, and confirmed there was nothing to worry about, and gave the wounded warrior a painkiller. Subsequently, he's been asleep all day, but emitting the most noxious wind. Booty is continuing on her medication, and the vet confirmed her muscle tone is excellent. The warmer weather is also helping her. Just about to go and watch Mary Queen of Shops which apparently this week is in Cardiff. Should be interesting.