So, like most of the country, I was glued today to the Royal Wedding. It was lovely and I'm not ashamed to say I was a bit wobbly of lip at certain moments. I kept thinking of our own wedding, and was also very conscious that it must have been a very bittersweet day for William and Harry, without their mother, and of course the Abbey being also the venue for her funeral. Kate looked gorgeous - the dress was beautiful.

With today being a public holiday, and it being Easter week, like many people, Andrew took the intervening days off, so he's had a lovely long break, coming home last Thursday and not going back to work until next Tuesday - it's been bliss having him home for such a long time, and we've made substantial inroads into our list of things to do. These have included (in no particular order) Andrew buying a new suit for work, me popping into town for some cut off jeans for the summer (and they are blissfully comfortable), buying some summer bedding and planting up the hanging baskets and pots, sowing some annual seeds (cornflowers, Californian poppies etc), having a barbeque, drinking lots of wine, Andy having his toenails cut at the vets, new fencing/trellising in the back garden, weeding, and a trip yesterday to see our friend Rhian, who adopted our foster dog, Callie. As is usual, Callie and Mic were bundles of joy, tails wagging, zooming about enjoying themselves on the walk, and delighted to see our three. Some pics attached of our visit and walk at Pembrey Country Park.

On Easter Saturday, Boola and I went down to Ikea to help out at a store collection/meet and greet. Boola was perfect for this type of occasion, he adores being stroked and tickled and is very laid back. I took his bed along, and sure enough, he was soon lying down like an Eastern potentate, generously allowing his subjects to approach and offer their tickles. The two other dogs there were Ruby and Grace - you can read her story here although it is very upsetting. Today Grace is an adorable, healthy dog who is gentle and affectionate and was a real star with the public. I was astonished and very humbled by the generosity of the public - there is definitely a much greater awareness these days of how retired greyhounds can make great pets.

One other job was that Paula's son had been down clearing her house, and very kindly phoned up and asked if i would like to take some of Paula's quilting stuff, so we went round and picked it up. It felt very strange being in Paula's house without her although the house was virtually empty so felt a lot less personal. Along with the quilting stuff, such as rulers, books and so on, there was also a bag of Paula's quilts which her family didn't want. We've kept a couple as very personal mementoes and our good friend Penny (who was also a very close friend of Paula) is having the remainder. It's good to know these are going to good homes. During the holiday, I've been working on my pineapple block quilt and have made huge progress. The nine blocks are completed, sashing and an inner border, followed by more sashing added. We went to Dunelm Mill and bought the backing fabric (a plain navy blue cotton, and wadding) and these are now ready to make up into a quilt sandwich. I'm hoping to do the quilting over the weekend and add the binding. Then I'll be able to take it back over to Busy Bees to share with Sue, the co-owner and tutor on the course.

Paula's passing was followed in very quick succession by a long planned holiday. I'll do a separate blog post about it (so much to write about). In a way, the timing was initially awful but actually turned out to be a real blessing in disguise. Getting away for a week with Andrew and the dogs was perfect and helped a lot. My other worry was that while we were away the funeral would be held, but even that worked out, and the funeral took place on the Monday after we got back.

Coming home from holiday coincided with a continuing run of the most wonderful spring weather. We've been enjoying what has felt like tropical temperatures, and as I write, the neighbours are outside having a barbeque. I did one round of shifts at work in the library and that will be followed by a couple of weeks off for the Easter vacation. The last shift was a long one, as I was asked to cover for someone permanent who was away so did 5 pm - midnight.

As well as that, I have been making slow but steady progress with my foundation piecing quilt blocks. I sat down and traced out the eight designs, then had a marathon session cutting the strips and organising them block by block, neatly pinned in little plastic bags. I've been working on the rounds and am now about half way through the blocks. I love watching the design emerge and there is something very fascinating about turning straight strips of fabric into an elegant, sharply cornered, visually complex design. It's also very emotionally therapeutic. I started doing patchwork/quilting at a time when I was in an emotional low spot, and it has continued to bring me immense satisfaction on an emotional level - why, I.m not quite sure. There's something very reassuring about it - it's methodical, involves concentration and a certain amount of dexterity (I'm completely cackhanded yet I can do it, albeit on a modest level) yet it also involves a degree of creativity and a wonderful opportunity to play with fabric, colour and texture. I love the fact that much of what I have made has been given to others - there's somthing very special about home made gifts, and I also love the fact that in a very small and minor way, I feel as though I am part of a long continuum of women who have sewn and made patchwork and quilts over many hundreds (possibly thousands) of years.

On the Saturday when we returned, we went to the Hoddinott Hall in the Millennium Centre to see Cardiff Bach Choir. The orchestra and soloists were excellent, but I was disappointed by the choir.

On Friday, we went down to Swansea to see my uncle Warwick, who was visiting from London, staying for a week in a flat in the marina, overlooking the bay. Staying with him was his old friend Paul, now living in Italy - the two were in school together and have remained friendly during the successive fifty plus years, which is lovely. Paul is particularly notable in my own life for having bought me at the age of one, a very special teddy bear, called Suzanne who was my dear companion through childhood and continues to reside with us. She is now looking a bit battered and in fact could probably do with some repairs, but is still going strong. Paul is a really interesting person and the lunch flew by, with lively conversation, catching up on news, and hearing about Paul's new harpsichord, on which he is looking forward to playing Bach - sounds fab.

On Saturday, our two nephews, Thomas and James arrived for a short stay. James was keen to re-enter the showring with Boola, and Thomas came along for an enjoyable weekend break. We installed the boys in their bunks, and on Saturday night had a meal followed by them watching a film about owls called "Legend of the Guardians" or something similar. On Sunday, it was another glorious day and we made our way over to Rogerstone for the Greyhound Welfare spring show. The turnout was fantastic and it was lovely to see crowds of people, children and dogs of all shapes and sizes heading for the Welfare Grounds. We entered Boola in a few classes and had a chat to Paula, the organiser. James did very well, gaining a fourth in the Best Child Handler (Novelty) and then later on, going into the Pedigree ring with Boola and gaining a First in the Best Child Handler. We were thrilled and so was he. During the afternoon, Paula asked James if he would like to show her latest beautiful puppy, River, a gorgeous lurcher girl, only six months old. James did not win anything with her, but enjoyed being in the ring and as usual looked happy and confident, despite the big crowds. Thomas also took her into the ring, when James was in the Pedigree ring with Boola. We looked after River between classes and she was gorgeous, but a real live wire. She and Boola took it in turns to lie on the dog bed.

During the interval, there was a display by an obedience club and children from the crowd were invited into the ring to help out. Thomas and James dived in and were holding hurdles for the dogs to jump over while hurtling round the ring, diving through tunnels and going up the ramps. Amazing to watch and the boys really enjoyed it. Eventually came home, tired and happy, had dinner out in the garden then watched Muppet Treasure Island ( a real treat) and embarrassed the boys by the fact that Andrew and I sang along loudly and very badly to all the songs. James was also keen to phone his parents and grandparents to give them an update on the day's events. Monday, Claire and Alex (our third nephew) came over, and stayed for lunch before returning home en masse. Again, we ate in the garden and it was really hot - gorgeous.

I've been updating some pics on Facebook today including some from the show and Paula the organiser commented on some. She also has invited me to judge at the show in September! I've never done this before, but am immensely pleased and happy to be asked. I will have a think about it and maybe have a chat to someone else who's done it before.

One other piece of news is that Paul, Paula's son, will be down over the weekend, and he and the family will be making a start on clearing Paula's house, always a difficult and emotionally draining task. I was immensely touched, as he spoke to Andrew on the phone during the weekend, and asked if I would like to have Paula's quilting books and her other quilting things. I've written before how much it meant to me when she gave me her fabric stash so this is a very special gift, and again, will feel as though her legacy will be continuing.

I write this with a very heavy heart. Paula passed away yesterday, very peacefully, with her family at her bedside in the hospice. She wasn't in there long, and the final stages of her illness were mercifully brief. I had spoken with her son yesterday lunch time and again today, and he stressed that her passing was peaceful and calm, with her spending her last days mostly asleep.

I had visited her in the hospice - she was in a lovely four bedded room with glorious views out over from Penarth right across the Bristol Channel towards Somerset. She was very happy with the care she received in the hospice, and her family were able to come down and spend time with her at the end. My last memory of her is her smiling at some quilt blocks, cushion (the ones in my previous post) and a bag I'd made from fabric she'd given me that I took in to show her - she was interested even at that late stage, still very alert in herself and very cheerful, even though she was by then incredibly frail and clearly weakening.

For her, I am wholeheartedly delighted in one sense that her illness has come to a close. She was fully prepared for her death, didn't fear it and was looking forward to being reunited with those she loved. From a purely selfish point of view, it's been a pretty miserable day, both for me and for Andrew who's up in London today - I've really missed him. He phoned earlier and had decided to cheer us up by booking tickets for us for Tristan und Isolde in 2012 - nothing like a bit of Wagner to soothe the soul.

I recently had a long chat with another friend about Paula's death and she was commenting on the common experience of knowing something rationally (like a terminal diagnosis) but not "getting" it emotionally until a particular trigger or event. I know what she meant, I can remember this happening when my grandmother died and although I understood it, it only really hit me when I saw the coffin on the day of the funeral. In Paula's case though this hasn't happened. Partly because of my own experiences with cancer, I've written before about the curse of being aware of impending mortality. I accepted the reality of Paula's illness almost immediately and it meant that we were able to have very honest conversations about it and that I never put things off. One thing that makes me very happy is that I can look back on a lot of lovely, shared memories and that both of us consciously took the time to do things together. It has been one of the blessings of my now very flexible working patterns that I have been able to do this and has really confirmed for me the value in this which has been priceless. It has also been one of the very few occasions when my having cancer has been of some use or benefit - my own experience meant that going with her to medical appointments, chemo sessions etc held no fears and I was comfortable with the jargon used and crucially, some of the rather strange feelings it throws up. Something that particularly annoyed Paula was when people would treat her almost as though she were already dead - using a special, hushed tone of voice and a strangely simple delivery. It used to drive her potty - "I'm not dead yet and I haven't lost my brain" she'd say, usually laughing at it. In fact, when I look back at the last months I see a lot of happy memories, laughter and enjoyment, rather than long faces and gloom. The hardest parts were when Jim and Baloo died just after Christmas, and for me when she gave me her quilting stash. That day, I came home and howled miserably for about two hours straight. Yet, even for that, I was hugely honoured and very touched, and I am looking forward to incorporating her fabrics into projects for many years yet, giving her another form of legacy.

One of the hardest things will be walking at Tredegar House again - that is where we got to know her and where we'd meet so often. I have no doubt that in the months and years ahead it will be there that I will mourn her and the dogs (with whom she is now reunited) most deeply.

In my last post, I mentioned looking forward to a quilting class. Well, I went along and spent a day doing Log Cabin quilt blocks. I love log cabins - they are one of my favourites. Doing the class was great - as usual, a lovely bunch of fellow students and a wonderful tutor in Judy Mendelssohn. Judy is the Associate Editor of Patchwork and Quilting Magazine and is an internationally known teacher, tutor and speaker on quilting, so we were very lucky to have her. She's also about to lead a trip over to Paducah, Kentucky which for quilters is a sort of Mecca. I took in a variety of fabrics and ended up using a Moda Scrap Bag - the Eden range of fabrics. This is a selection of zingy prints in lilac, pink, white, apple green and yellow, with modern florals, birds and abstract prints. As most of the colours were in similar tones, I abandoned the usual convention of shading the blocks from light to dark, and having a red centre square. Instead I used a bright yellow that Paula gave me as the central square and a random build up of logs. I finished the blocks today and ended up with six blocks made with 2.5" strips and one made for some reason with 2" strips. I already had in my stash a plain cotton in a sort of crushed raspberry colour and had picked up a small cheap cushion in Ikea last week (70p!!! Rude not to.) used the smaller block as the base of a cushion cover, making edging and back in the plain cotton. Some pics attached of the finished cushion and the laid out blocks.

Update - I laid out the pressed blocks and the completed cushion on our bed for photographing, then brought the camera into the study for uploading on to the computer and writing my blog. Shortly after, rioting noises were heard and I found Andy lying ON the quilt blocks trying to EAT the cushion. We had words. Fortunately, no permanent harm has been done to blocks, cushion or greyhound.

Then we had the pleasure of a visit by my auntie Hilary. She came up on the Thursday and went home on Saturday. One of the objects of her visit was a trip to Ikea - after doing some major remodelling of her kitchen and adding a conservatory she is in need of some stuff. We had a lovely day there and we also managed to find time to squeeze in a trip to Inkspot our favourite craft shop. I made some muffins on Friday morning for breakfast before our trip to the Swedish wonderland (cranberry), and dropped some round to Paula en route. However, I forgot to put the tray of the remaining uneaten muffins back on the windowsill and when we came home we found a large pile of crumbs and a few small scraps of the paper cases.

Saturday I was doing an extra all day shift in the library so Andrew dropped me off before taking Hil to the station. Sunday morning, Andrew was in one of his regular 10K races - the Atlantic College one, held in the rolling countryside round the beautiful coastline of the Vale of Glamorgan. The weather was gorgeous too - spring is definately in the air. Lots of sunshine, not much wind, perfect for the race. Andrew did a good time, on checking it seems it was 1 second faster than his time on the course last year. Some pics attached. Then back home for some lunch and I went back out to work.

Monday came the call I've been dreading - it was Paula to say that after I'd seen her on Friday her condition had deteriorated over the weekend and for the first time she was in quite a bit of pain. Her lovely Marie Curie nurse arranged for her to be admitted straight away to Holme Towers, our local hospice. Fortunately, they have managed to get her pain management sorted out almost straight away and are making sure she's getting plenty of fluids. We've arranged for me to go and see her tomorrow and we'll take it from there. I doubt if she will be coming back out; some patients do find a quick stay in the hospice very helpful for stabilising their condition or getting their pain management sorted before returning home, but I don't think this will be likely for Paula. I feel a whole series of very mixed emotions - but primarily I'm pleased that she is being well taken care of, by experts, who really understand her needs. Everything else is secondary.

Tuesday was International Women's Day. Paula had been given some tickets for an event at the Millennium centre, so we went down there. The event was all about inspiring women sharing their stories, with a particular emphasis on the black community who have lived in Butetown (Tiger Bay in the old days, Shirley Bassey's stamping ground). The event was compered by an old friend of Paula's, and it was lively, interesting and very moving at times hearing some of the stories. Paula had a shock though as her friend called her up on stage to say a few words - completely unexpectedly. Paula was great - gave a short and witty speech, mentioning her illness without saying too much (that's a tricky job) and having everyone in stitches as she mentioned getting her first NVQ at the age of 75 (for beading), and now working on her advanced one. It brought a big lump to my throat seeing her up on stage like that.

Afterwards we went for a coffee and then toddled home. On Thursday it transpired that WAG have realised they will not be able to enact the dog breeding legislation before the Assembly breaks up at the end of the month. Elections are being held in early May. The Minister has said that consultation on the original draft will continue with the hope that any future administration will run with the programme. I really hope this does not get lost - a huge amount of work has gone in to get it to this point. I had a call from Horse and Hound asking for my views on some parts of the proposals - by the sound of it, the future consultations and tweaks will be quite thorough. Apparently over 500 responses were received for the initial consultation, which they are still working through.

I also did some baking and took some round for Paula as she is having a friend to stay this weekend. I did a batch of bread rolls - half for her and half to keep and a Mary Berry iced lemon traybake. I used a new silicon dish for the traybake and put the other half of the mix into silicon cup cake cases, then iced all of them. Paula has said that after extensive testing the cake is great! My confidence with silicon is gradually increasing.

Paula went to Velindre today for her check up. Her tumours are growing and she is continuing to lose weight, now just over seven and a half stone. She's decided after consulting with her Marie Curie nurse and her family that when the time comes she wants to be cared for in our local hospice, over at Penarth. If it's anything like as good as Grove House, the hospice in St Albans where I was looked after, she'll be fine. She's already had a visit over there and had a look round, and really likes it there. We're not sure when that will be of course. When Paula was first diagnosed as being terminal, the doctors had tentatively suggested she might have up to two years. That was eighteen months ago, and although her illness is progressing, in many ways she is still living a very normal life. Fortunately, and very happily, she is pretty much pain free, not needing anything stronger than the occasional paracetamol. I am so full of admiration about the way she is dealing with her illness. She is very matter of fact, calm and clear. Her biggest hope was that she would outlive the dogs and that she has accomplished, so I know she feels much less worried about the future. As her friend, I have found it a million times harder than dealing with my own cancer, but my own experiences have been very valuable in preparing me and helping me be a better support to her over the course of the illness.

Lent started this week, and both Andrew and I decided we'd give up alcohol. We get a day off on Sundays, and we've also agreed that as my birthday falls during Lent, that an exception can be made for that, especially as we'll be on holiday in Pembrokeshire. I wouldn't describe us as being normally heavy drinkers but we do really enjoy what we do drink so this will be quite hard, which of course is the point. Giving up something we didn't miss wouldn't be a challenge.

Tomorrow I am doing a quilting course over at Busy Bees. I will write more on this after the event.

I mentioned in my last post that I had some reasons for not posting. One of these has been that I have taken on a second job. Regular readers will recall that after leaving the Council we moved to Builth but unfortunately were not able to stay there permanently. On returning to Cardiff I became a freelancer, doing part time hours and this has worked brilliantly. With Andrew's very erratic days this has fitted well, with the flexibility to include running the home, taking care of the dogs and incorporating voluntary work/hobbies. I've also been so pleased too that it's meant I've been able to provide lots of support for Paula - things like attending appointments, or taking care of the dogs when she needed it.

Anyway, I was mooching about on Gumtree and saw an ad for part time work in a large public sector library (not the Council) with a contact via an employment agency. I contacted the agency and went through the recruitment process. This was a revelation. After years of being in the public sector, I was used to recruitment being painfully slow and just not working very well. Typically, loads of forms, paperwork (at least part of which will get lost or mislaid at some point) and the whole process takes weeks if not months. For the agency, things were very different. Before they would even consider me as a candidate my nationality/entitlement to work was checked out, plus all my paperwork (certificates and so on). Referees HAD to be contactable by email (how sensible and refreshing). Then I went through an agency interview which was followed up by signing paper contract, email correspondence confirming me as a candidate (again,no painful wait for letters) plus arranging for an interview at the employer, along with some other candidates. Interview duly took place, discussions were held on suitable dates/times/shifts of working then I received a further email confirming details. Just before starting, I had details sent to me by email of the log on for the agency portal. This allowed me to go on to the website, set up my bank account details and act as my main self administering area for recording time, booking holidays, downloading payslips, amending personal details, etc. This was a revelation. It worked brilliantly and was smooth and easy. After doing my hours, each week I fill in the timesheet online (an easy drop down menu with the days and dates already filled in, along with my agreed hourly rate), this is then sent to the employer for electronic verification, then back to the agency and pay hits my bank account shortly after - system even lets you set up an automatic text alert for this. After years in local government, I shudder to think how much time I wasted in either filling out my own timesheets in various locations or pointlessly signing other people's before they got sent somewhere for various levels of further administration and eventual payment. Local government has layers of people in finance and HR who do things like manage personal files, record changes of address (not always accurately it must be said) - the agency has pretty much managed to strip out all of this - the employee does it themselves. When I see the furore in the media over local government cuts it seems the wrong things are being cut - much of the public sector still does things in the way I've mentioned and it takes a whole load of pointless time and resources.

Anyway, back to the job. I do three shifts a week (nine and a half hours in total), with odd hours (one of th reasons it appealed to me) and the post is temporary until June. I am really enjoying it - being self employed at home can be quite isolating and I like meeting the new people, learning new stuff and enjoying the change of scene. These days, 98% of books are self issued or returned, so assistants do things like helping with IT queries, take bookings for special requests, help people find things, book meeting rooms, sell stationery, shelving, tidying and so on. Having good IT skills has been a real bonus, as has the fact I have used an academic library myself when doing my MBA. I'd say over half the queries we have are IT related, e.g. printer won't work, how do I do a certain thing in Powerpoint, saving files on personal areas on servers, integration of software into saved work e.g. programme called Endnotes for academic references and so on. I've also been so impressed by the courtesy and politeness of the majority of the students - many of them are from overseas and have impeccable manners. As the extended opening hours are an experiment, we also have to do hourly surveys of the numbers of students and hand out questionnaires too to guage their views on the opening arrangements. All in all, it is proving very enjoyable and I'm sure the time until June will fly by.

Firstly, dear readers, many apologies for the hiatus in posting. A variety of reasons, some of which I'll be writing about. Most importantly, though, I really wanted to write about last weekend. Regular readers will recall that just before Christmas our nephew James came over for the weekend with the intention of going into a local fun dog show with Boola, our beautiful blonde greyhound. Both James and Boola had been equipped with fancy dress costumes (I'd made Boola's outfit) and were looking forward to strutting their stuff. However, come the day, we and most of South Wales were knee deep in snow and the show was called off. Paula, the lady who organised it, rearranged the date for Valentine's weekend in February and we agreed with James that he could come back for it and try again.

Boola's festive elf costume was obviously inappropriate so after some consultation with James and his mum, the emailing of pics of James wearing a range of potential outfits, we settled on James appearing as a jester with Boola wearing an appropriate costume to match.

For Boola's costume, I started with a plain blue cotton that I cut into a basic dog coat with a Velcro fastening at the neck and a separate plain blue collar, also fastened with Velcro. Then I took a layer cake from Moda and cut the fabrics into 2.5" squares. The fabrics were patterned - all really cheerful, slightly mad with lots of featured cherries, teapots and paisleys in a gorgeous palette of bright reds, yellows, blue, ivory and black. I simply sewed the squares into rows and then into a bigger square then stitched this onto the blue coat, leaving a plain blue area at the back and the curved area at the front. More patchwork was added to the girth (another Velcro closure) and I added a patchwork layer to the collar. The next stage was to hem and tidy the coat, then I finished it by quilting diagonally across the squares in a sort of diamond pattern - which gave it a fabulous look and texture. Finally, for the collar I cut out lots of felt into two different length triangles then added these to the inside of the collar, giving a wonderful array of points - the finishing touch was to painstakingly sew on bells to the ends of the points. Boola looked wonderful when it was finished and I was very pleased with it.

We collected James on the Friday night and came home for supper, a film and then bed for James. In the morning, we took the dogs to the park as usual and I went through with James how he should lead Boola, doing turns and a quick practice of his leading technique. Home for a bite to eat, then it was time to go to the show. The venue was a church hall in Risca, and when we arrived it was packed with what felt like hundreds of dogs, puppies, children and adults in a delightful atmosphere of anarchic enjoyment. Inside the church hall, the vestry was doing a roaring trade in cups of tea, the vicar was looking harassed as he trotted around with cardboard boxes, there was a tombola, a raffle and a variety of charity stalls including a set up to have your dogs toenails trimmed. Some pews had been commandeered to mark off the "ring" at the bottom of the hall. We went to enter our classes and found to our horror that there was no Fancy Dress class. For a moment, I was not impressed (to put it mildly) but the organiser suggested that an alternative might be the "Best Matched Pair" class so we put in an entry for that, Most Beautiful Eyes, Best Veteran and Best Child Handler. James watched the early classes with interest to get a feel of how they would go - the first ones were the puppy classes and they were anarchy! Pups playing, children wandering around, fond parents standing on chairs to take pics, an "accident" in the ring and the judge patiently making her way round.

Soon it was time for James' first go in the ring - Most Beautiful Eyes. For this class, no walking around was expected, just holding your dog while the judge had a look at them, so a good one for James to start with. He looked very confident and relaxed in the ring, and Boola was his usual laid back self. No rosette, but that was OK. Then back into the ring for Best Child Handler. For this, the tiny ring was a problem so each entrant had to do a quick trot up and down with a turn and have their dog examined. James did a lovely turn. Then the steward handed the rosettes to the judge, and to my surprise and utter delight she made a beeline for James and presented him with a First. James was grinning from ear to ear and I was so pleased with both of them I got a bit teary. Even better, the rosette was wonderful, with a a gorgeous red heart edged ribbon to decorate it - a really nice touch for Valentines' weekend. Then it was time for Best Veteran - another rosette, this time a Second. James was looking over the moon by this stage. The last class was for Best Matched Pair. We put on Boola's costume and James wriggled into his outfit, both with jingling bells. Into the ring - a variety of others including owners and dogs in matching Welsh rugby jerseys. Once again, the judge bore down - another first!! I was particularly proud of that one since I felt it rewarded my efforts with the costume. James was now festooned with rosettes and he was particularly appreciative of the fact that with every First rosette he'd been presented with a prize of fifty poo biodegradable poo bags - just what every nine year old dreams of.

Finally, there was a Best in Show class for all the First prize winners. Back into the ring, and hopes were high. Boola however had other plans and decided that standing around waiting to be looked at was really far too much work and decided to lie down and go to sleep. Andrew and I were in hysterics - so we weren't at all surprised that the judge didn't give James the award. Then it was time to say thank you to Paula, the organiser and have a quick chat before disappearing home. James had a lot to say to his parents when he got home and also called his grandparents with all his news.

Later, we had a nice beef casserole from the slow cooker, watched a film and James headed upstairs for bed after a very exciting day. On Sunday, James announced that as he had three rosettes, Boola could keep one to add to his collection and he would take the other two home with him to pin up in his bedroom. He also said that he would like to go to some more dog shows so we are putting together a list of potential dates for later this year. Claire, Basil and the other two boys came over and we met them at the RSPB reserve at Newport - we went there with Rita and Roger on New Year's Day. Unfortunately, the weather was dismal again, being wet, cold and windy so birds were few and far between. We then came home and had a big family lunch followed by the official Boola birthday cake (it was his 11th birthday on the 10th of February). This was a Victoria sponge filled with some of Claire's home made jam, plus cream cheese frosting and topped with more frosting. Very yummy and enjoyed by everyone, dogs and humans. Then it was time for the boys to go home - James still wearing his rosettes. All in all, a very happy and successful weekend.

Yesterday I had a lovely day over at Busy Bees. This was the all day Pineapple Block course. Andrew gave me a hand lugging my stuff in. This is the only trouble with quilting - it is not really a very portable hobby. As well as a heavy sewing machine, you have large, awkward cutting mats, big square rulers, bags of fabric and tools and a packed lunch. Anyway, we all got ourselves settled and away we went. Sue, our lovely tutor is an excellent teacher. Clear, warm, inspiring and watchful - able to see when people can get on with it, and when they need help. We started out by tracing the block designs onto our Stitch N Tear, then Sue demonstrated the principle behind foundation piecing (the technique we were using). Then back to our tables, sort out our fabric and tentatively make a start on our blocks. By the end of the day, I had a beautiful block finished and trimmed, and Sue had also gone over in detail how we could finish the quilt with sashing and borders, and even ideas for putting blocks together using colour combinations. She had also brought in some examples, a finished quilt top, some individual quilt blocks and a very pretty cushion.

Just as importantly she had brought in a big plate full of her mum's home made pineapple loaf cake, which we all enjoyed with our cups of herb tea during the day. In the afternoon she gave us each a copy of the recipe, so I've come home with a thorough grounding in foundation piecing, plus a useful recipe! What a great day. As with other courses I've done there, it was a real pleasure from start to finish. A really nice bunch of other women doing the course, a fantastic tutor and the pleasure of learning and spending the day uninterrupted in doing a deeply pleasureable and interesting activity. As so often on these courses, it was also fascinating to see how exactly the same block could end up looking so different when made up in different fabrics.

Came home and we had a quiet, peaceful evening. This morning, I did the annual RSPB Garden Birdwatch, an annual mass participation survey of British bird life. This afternoon, we went down to Ikea as we wanted a new rug for the hall and also some new doormats - because of the dogs, we seem to get through these quickly. Andrew took Andy and Boola out for a run this afternoon - they all had a great time.

It's been a sad week. On Tuesday, Paula came with me over to Busy Bees so we could choose some fabric together for a course I am doing this coming Saturday. This helped us both a bit. The shop is lovely, very small, crammed with fabric and lots of other happy customers. As is usual, you end up having conversations with lots of other customers, ooh-ing over other people's fabric choices and also met another lady who will be doing the same course as me and had also come to buy supplies. The warmth and happiness of the shop atmosphere was good for us both - I am sorry to say though that I succumbed to temptation. As well as the layer cake I had got for the class, I also bought a Moda pack of gorgeous "Candy Bars" - these are like a charm square but cut in half so are 5" x 2.5" pieces. Forty in each pack - four packs. Absolutely lovely. I've been making some Dresden Plate blocks with them, and they have been a joy to do.

The week has been cold, crisp and frosty - lots of ice on the pond and the grass frozen over at the park. Paula has been walking over the park most days - she feels the exercise is doing her good, but it's hard as she keeps bumping into other dog walkers who of course want to know where Jim is. We met her on one of these on Thursday and it was a fresh blow - I hadn't realised how much I had mentally associated her with the dogs, seeing her walking alone was awful. Part of me kept expecting Jim to pop out and do his usual joyful bark of greeting at us, while wagging his tail and asking Andrew to play with him.

Yesterday, we went over to Paula's and she asked us to take a few things like some of the unused dog biscuits, chews and a coat that will fit Booty. A lot of the other stuff like dog beds, towels, leads etc is going to the greyhound charity where it will come in useful for the hounds who are in our care - a mutual friend is picking these up shortly. Going to the house for the first time without both dogs was dreadful - I sat down and immediately started crying. It seemed so empty and of course there were no dog beds, blankets etc. Paula came in and we talked about it and had a cry together. I think some of these "firsts" are always tough.

In the evening, we felt like watching a film, but there was nothing recorded or on Sky that we particularly wanted to see, so watched Leon. It was wonderful - I have a huge crush on Jean Reno, and the film was also noticeable for being the screen debut of Natalie Portman, aged I think 12. She was excellent in it.

Today has been a quiet day. We took the dogs over to the sea wall at St Bride's - it was wonderful. Apart from fishermen perched on the edge, it was quiet and lonely and peaceful and bleak. The dogs loved sniffing everything. Andrew went for a run this afternoon (he went running with Andy and Boola yesterday) and now we're about to enjoy some roast beef. Happily I've got a large and strong glass of gin., which is going down beautifully.

I saw Paula and Jim last Thursday - he and Boola enjoyed playing together over the park. Since then he went off his food and drink and on Sunday morning we had a frantic early morning phone call from Paula as he'd got stuck coming down the stairs - his back end was struggling. Andrew took them both over to the vet for an emergency appointment, and the news when he returned was what we'd dreaded but half expected. Jim was put to sleep quietly at home today - he went very peacefully apparently.

Paula thinks that Baloo's death hastened Jim's. Although he had lots of friends over the park, having another dog around makes a huge difference at home. Jim was fifteen, very elderly, but such a character. He was a lurcher, with a mainly greyhound appearance apart from his broken coat which was grey (with a great deal of white in his later years). He was quite small, and was a bit intimidated when he first met Boola (who is a huge boy) but they were soon playing together, chasing each other round in circles over the park. Jim had lots of friends and admirers. When you got admitted to his inner circle of special friends, he would greet you with a helicopter tail wag, a play bow and a series of loud Woofs. He adored Andrew and they used to play together a lot.

As is usual on these occasions, I feel a mix of emotions. The dear old boy had lived a long and very happy life - with Paula, every single day was with a devoted owner who gave him oodles of love and every care a dog could need, as well as lots of canine company, both from Baloo and his other doggy friends over the park. When the time came, he was able to go peacefully, in his own home, in the loving arms of his mistress - something any dog owner would want for a much loved pet. Even though I know all this, it hasn't stopped the grief at his departure. Because of our friendship with Paula, and her illness we've spent a great deal of time with her dogs and they both became very dear to us. During her illness Paula has always been worried about what will happen to the dogs, and at least she is now spared that. I do hope though that these two sudden losses will not have too bad an impact on her. Unless you've owned a dog, it's difficult to explain the (very necessary and welcome) discipline and daily structure they bring in terms of providing a daily walk, and the other routines of dog ownership. Paula would struggle valiantly to get to the park with the dogs every day and it was a big motivator for her.

So far, 2011 is not getting off to the best of starts. Andrew and I were both very miserable yesterday and today I've been very low. I spoke with Paula this afternoon, and I've asked her to come with me tomorrow afternoon - I have received the list for a quilt workshop I'm doing shortly, and she'll be helping me choose some fabric - maybe this will help us both. The workshop is for a Pineapple block, and I need to buy a layer cake for it.

So after a rocky end to the week, we were delighted to welcome Rita and Roger on New Year's Eve. They drove over in time for lunch and we walked the dogs in the afternoon. In the evening, we made sure Booty was well dosed up on her Valium and sure enough at midnight there was a fusillade of fireworks.

On New Year's Day, I had booked tickets for all four of us to go on a guided walk over at the RSPB Newport Wetlands centre. This is just over from one of our favourite walks, along the sea wall at St. Brides, and is somewhere we've been meaning to visit for ages. I was amazed at how many people turned up - probably about 40 of us. The guides split us into two groups then took us through the reserve up to the coastal/tidal area and then back through the reed beds down to the visitor centre. We were out for nearly two hours and then as part of the ticket price, we had a complimentary hot drink in the cafe. We thoroughly enjoyed it and are now looking forward to visiting again.

By the afternoon, we were all shattered, and most of us had a nap! Another nice meal on Saturday night and on Sunday, Paula joined us for lunch - Andrew did braised pheasant in cider, and it was delicious, followed by an apple and mincemeat crumble. It was lovely to see Paula and I think she was glad to have some company and be out of the house for a bit. After a relaxing afternoon chatting, Rita and Roger headed home around tea time and we had a very quiet evening.

Since then, I've been working on a consultation document for WAG, on proposed changes to the licensing arrangements for dog breeding establishments. It has been a bit of a War and Peace, the first draft is about 3500 words and eight pages long! It's now with some other people for comments and suggestions, before it gets polished and finally submitted.

Yesterday, we popped down to Swansea to see fave aunty Hilary which was lovely. Good to have a chat and catch up with all the news and particularly enjoyed her famous home made mince pies. We exchanged presents and caught up with all the news. After we came home, we finally had our Christmas dinner! It was delicious and we really enjoyed it, with lovely crispy roast potatoes, parsnips, sprouts, cranberry sauce, home made stuffing and lovely turkey. Also enjoyed a really good white Burgundy with it.

Today, after a dog walk this morning, Andrew and I popped into town this afternoon. We visited Clarks and Andrew was delighted to get a new pair of shoes (black brogues) for work and a nice pair of brown leather casual shoes in the sale - only £38 for both pairs! I had a L'Occitane notification of their sale, which entitled me to a further discount, so we went along there and I stocked up, including a birthday present for a friend. We'd told Paula we were going there, and she asked me to get her some shampoo. So, after leaving town, we called in at Paula's on the way home, to drop off her shampoo and catch up with a cuppa. Jim was delighted to see Andrew and they had a lotof fun playing together while Paula and I had a look at what I'd bought in the sale. Then home, sent out the first draft of the consultation to various parties for comments and now we'll soon be enjoying a gin and later some dinner.

And it just got a whole lot worse. Yesterday, Paula asked Andrew to take her and Baloo (her second greyhound) to the vet, as she has been limping for a while and rest has not improved it. Andrew took them and the vet decided to do some exploratory X Rays. Paula and Andrew went back in the afternoon, and the news was what every greyhound owner dreads - bone cancer. Nobody is quite sure why these dogs are more prone. It is more common in greys and other large, long legged breeds like Great Danes. Some say that there is simply more leg to get cancer in, and others think there may be a link between the cancer and the fast growth rate in long leg bones in some of the hound species. Anyway, we know it is the worst pain, and there is almost never a good way back. The vet offered to put her to sleep straight away, but Paula decided to take her home, and allow the vet to come round today, to put her to sleep at home.

Andrew came home absolutely devestated, and we spent one of the most miserable evenings I can remember. Originally, Paula asked if Andrew would come round and be with her when the vet visited. Naturally Andrew agreed but it was with a very sad heart. Later in the evening, Paula said her daughter would be coming up so no need for Andrew to be there. This morning, we took ours to the park, and we saw Paula, walking Jim and Baloo near the lake. We were able to say goodbye to the beautiful girl, which was a small comfort. Things just carried on getting worse. Boola got his foot stuck in the footbridge near the lake (a sharply worded letter is now on its way to the park management) and then after pausing for a moment, I set off again and felt my calf muscle do a horrible crunching tear - both painful and deeply annoying. By the time I got back to the car, I was thinking "What's next?" although with considerably more swear words.

It 's been a quiet day - we've been doing some shopping and preparations for tomorrow's visit by Andrew's parents. Andy had to go to the vet this afternoon anyway - but fortunately he simply needs some anti-inflammatories to deal with a leg that he walloped when having a particularly eventful zoomie in the bedroom one day.

We spoke with Paula earlier this evening. Apparently, all went very peacefully and the dear girl is now at peace and free from pain, which is thankfully one of the great blessings of dog ownership, that we can take this hard decision for the creatures we love. I will be very pleased to see the back of the end of 2010.

Firstly, a very happy Christmas to all my readers. By Thursday of last week, the roads were just clear enough for us to go and pick up our turkey, and do the last shopping for fresh stuff. Christmas Eve was the traditional routine - a seafood feast with a celebratory viewing of Muppet Christmas Carol (with obligatory and tuneless singing along). However, I wasn't feeling too brilliant and Andrew was astonished when I voluntarily tucked myself into bed at about 11. By Christmas morning, I was in the full grip of a particularly nasty virus. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were just a blur. I was running a high temperature, feeling very light headed and the lurgy had thoughtfully settled on my chest and throat. Yesterday was a slight improvement but still pretty grim. We've still not had our Christmas dinner, as all I can manage is soup, smoothies and ice cream. I've lost the power of speech, so can't talk to anyone, unless sputtering croaking counts. I feel desperately sorry for Andrew, as it must be counting among the dullest Christmas EVER for him as I am terrible company. He is being his usual brilliant self, and is making me strange medicinal potions involving honey, whiskey and Lemsip that leave me feeling even more spaced out (in a good way). Occasionally he varies the medicine by administering doses of Navy Strength Plymouth Gin. One of the most horrible and painful effects of the virus has been the way it has made what's left of my lymph nodes turn into throbbing golf balls - my neck, armpits and other areas have been really sore.

I'm sorry this is not a more festive post - hopefully when I'm feeling a bit better we'll be able to enjoy our Christmas feast and start talking to people again. The main beneficiaries have been the dogs who have been enjoying a good deal of cold turkey.

Snow. Great white drifts of it. Harummph. Britain as a whole doesn't do snow. So, when it fell last week, everything ground to a halt. Fair play to the weather forecasters, by Wednesday they said it would be here overnight on Thursday and into Friday. So, on Wednesday evening, I went out and did a shop to stock up, to ensure we didn't run out of basics. I expected that on Thursday the supermarkets would be mad. I was also feeling quite frustrated, since on the weekend was the local greyhound charity dog show, and middle nephew was coming over for it. Moreover, I had made Boola a fancy dress costume to complement nephew and was looking forward to seeing them in the ring together. Sure enough, the snow fell on Thursday night and into Friday, and we were soon engulfed in it. Andrew managed to get home from Birmingham and miraculouosly was able to meet James on the platform at Bristol to travel back together. They got a taxi out to the house, and a journey that takes normally no more than 20 minutes took about an hour. Eventually, cold tired and hungry the weary travellers returned and we were all able to sit down and eat.

By Saturday it was apparent we would not be going to the dog show. We called Paula. the organiser (another Paula, not our close friend), and she couldn't even get out of her drive. Looking at the conditions, it would have been foolish and even dangerous to have tried to get there. However, two lovely costumes were waiting, so James and Boola got dressed up and we did a photoshoot out on the grassy area near the houses. James loved his elf costume so much he is now planning to wear it for Christmas visits to relatives, and was also very happy with Boola's appearance. On the bright side, Paula is organising another show at the venue in February, so James has already decided he will come back for that. Pics attached of Boola and James in costume and the snow locally. Of course, this will mean making another costume for Boola, but that could be fun.

James and Andrew then struggled through the snow round to our local shops for a paper and some other perishables, then returned home and took the dogs out to play in it for a bit. Then we had a quiet afternoon before having supper and watching "How to Tame Your Dragon" which was quite funny in places, and I was very struck by the resemblance between Toothless, the main dragon character and Andy our greyhound. Sunday morning, another quick outing in the snow for the dogs before an early lunch and back on to the train for Andrew and James. It was lovely to see James and he was able to email some nice pics of his costume to various friends and relations, and I've offered to get him some prints framed. These have been ordered and I received an email today from Photobox to say they've been dispatched, so I might be able to give them to James when we see his family over Christmas.

Seeing anyone else looks unlikely at the moment. Yesterday it snowed steadily all day and it is now thick outside. At the moment, the main worry is that we are due to collect our turkey on Thursday from Penarth and this will be difficult along with shopping for last minute fresh stuff for Christmas. I was very impressed though that the postman got through today, and we received an enormous backlog of cards - he hadn't been for a couple of days and there were masses. So, for the moment, I am hunkered down in the house with the dogs. Luckily, virtually our Christmas shopping had been done, and cards and parcels had all been posted in good time, so we are quite lucky in that respect. The weather has affected the delivery of many parcels and of course these days people also have home deliveries of groceries too. I will post more as this week unfolds.

Well, it's been very busy. After my last post, we spent the weekend indoors, and made the apple and rosemary jelly. It set beautifully and is the most glorious colour - a sort of pinky-gold. We tried some on Sunday evening with our roast pork and it was fabulous, so we're confident about giving it as part of Christmas gifts. This was followed by a week of pre-festivity bustle - peak card making season and I sent a box of hand made cards down to the GRW charity shop. Cards for overseas needed to get away early, and we had a few to go.

Last weekend, we went down to see our friend Rhian in Burry Port with the two hounds. Took a parcel of festive goodies, including some jelly, some biscuits for the dogs and some home made chocolate and cranberry bark. It was lovely to see Rhian and the dogs, and we went over to Pembrey Country Park for a walk, cold but not raining or too windy. Callie and Mic, Rhian's dogs are very settled and happy and it is still so lovely to see them looking so healthy and full of life, when I remember how they used to be. Callie was a bony hat rack when she first came to us for foster care - now she is a glossy, muscular dog, with a twinkle in her eye, bags of confidence and a sweet, trusting nature. Mic still bears physical scars from his past but now his coat is lustrous, his eyes shine and he is another love sponge - just demands cuddles. Seeing the two of them galloping about, sniffing, playing and cavorting is one of those Christmas gifts that is priceless. I attach some pics of all of us.

Since then, I'm beginning to feel like we are over the busiest part of the run up to Christmas. I've posted all our cards, and I only have to make one for Andrew. On Sunday, we got our tree and that is now up and decorated in the living room and looks (and smells) wonderful. We bought a plain wreath and decorated it with ribbon, baubles and orange slices that I'd dried in the oven, so it looks gorgeous on the front door. I love putting up and decorating the tree - it is one of the most deeply charged emotional moments of the year. Many of the baubles are very old and have a story to tell, and have been picked up on various travels. More importantly, the smell and the look of the tree, twinkling away in the house, immediately transports me to childhood Christmases and every one since. Even when I lived by myself in a flat, I would always have a real tree and it's a tradition that matters hugely to me. One of my favourite poems is "A Celebration of Christmas Trees" by TS Eliot and I love the way the poem captures the fact that what matters at Christmas is the repetition rather than novelty - rituals of any kind build their power as they are repeated, gathering layers of meaning and significance as they go. This is why I am always horrified when I read magazines or even see cookery programmes that gaily suggest novelty at Christmas - that seems to me to be entirely missing the point, of how it is celebrated. It is of course very powerful too to create your own traditions - something Andrew and I wanted to do as a couple, rather than simply replicate bits of our individual festive DNA.

Once the house was sorted, I could then move on to my other task this week, making a fancy dress costume for Boola, our greyhound. James, middle nephew is coming for the weekend, and is going to enter a junior handler class with Boola at a local greyhound charity show. Another of the classes is a Fancy Dress one and James said he would be up for it. So I ordered an elf costume for James over the net, and decided to make one for Boola. Essentially it is in two parts - I've made a green coat for him with felt triangles peeping out at the hem in red and green. It has a simple girth closure with a Velcro fastener. Above this, is a green collar, again adorned with many more felt triangles in two different lengths, but also with bells sewn on., and also fastened with Velcro. It's been a bit of a faff to make, but I am hugely pleased with it now I've done it and would now feel a lot more confident having a go at something like this again. The hardest part was trying to interrupt Boola's nap this afternoon to do some fittings - he was very unimpressed at having precious sofa time disrupted and made his views very clear.

Unfortunately, I caught the Welsh news tonight on TV and it seems we are in for some severe weather at the end of the week - fingers crossed that James can still come and the show goes ahead. Because of the weather, I nipped out this evening to stock up at the supermarket, thinking that tomorrow will be chaotic, as people often tend to panic buy and it's a busy time of year anyway. So, if nothing else we've got plenty of food and supplies in regardless of the snow.

Last Friday, we had a wonderful day. Hilary, my aunt who lives in Swansea came up for the day for us to go Christmas shopping in Cardiff. We met her at the train station and headed over to trhe new St Davids 2 development and John Lewis as she hadn't yet had a chance to have a look round it. We had a wonderful day shopping and I was delighted to see that Jo Malone have now opened a Cardiff branch. On the way back to meet Andrew, we found a little stall in the centre of the open space selling German sausages (bratwurst) like you see at German Christmas markets. I was delighted, and we stopped and enjoyed one. Just as we sat down on a bench to eat our sausages, it began to snow. It was a wonderful moment, sitting there in the gently falling snow, under twinkling lights and feeling very festive.

Later that night, we had a booking at Bully's restaurant - to finally and belatedly celebrate our anniversary. Between returning home from town after dropping off Hil at the railway station and getting ready to go out in the early evening, the snow fell heavily and by the time the taxi driver picked us up the world was white. Central Cardiff was deserted and when we got to the restaurant about half of the bookings had been cancelled - such a shame. Anyway, having got there, we had a wonderful evening and the food was as superb as ever, along with a sumptuous wine list. I finished the meal with a particularly delicious cherry parfait, a coffee and one of their selection of Armagnacs - lovely. Eventually meandered home (taxi driver found roads still passable).

By Saturday morning Cardiff was snowed in and most of the rest of the weekend and this week we, like most of the country, have been in the grip of very cold weather. Although we've had no more significant snow (yet - some is forecast for tonight) and most of the roads are passable, pavements have been transformed into sheet ice, since gritting is only applied to roads. Walking the dogs is difficult and they hate the stone hard surfaces and razor like grass under their paws. Night time temperatures have been low enough for us to have the heating on overnight to ensure pipes don't freeze, the garden pond is nearly frozen over and we've been putting out masses of bird food. To my astonishment and delight, we were visited by a snipe earlier in the week, while I was washing up. I watched it, entranced while it pecked at some meal worms I'd put out, before something disturbed it and it flew away. We live very close to the Severn estuary and have many lakes and rheens near us, so the area is good for water fowl, but it was still a huge surprise.

Yesterday was a painfully bittersweet day. Our dear friend Paula has terminal cancer and this year has been awful as we've watched its slow encroachment and her valiant resistance. She invited me over as she was going through her quilting stash and giving it to me. On the one hand, we had a great afternoon, sitting upstairs in her spare bedroom, playing with piles of fabric. On the other, I felt so sad and miserable, as this seemed to mark another milestone on her journey. I did feel immensely grateful and privileged though, and it's really rather nice in a way to think about how her fabrics will be a form of legacy. I'm not ashamed to say though I came home yesterday and just wept - and today has been hard too. In another development, her daughter has said she will give a home to Paula's two beloved dogs (also much loved greyhounds) when Paula is no longer able to care for them. This was something that Paula was worried about, and it will be an immense comfort to her to know this is taken care of. Although we love Jim and Blue, it would not have been feasible for us to have had them, much as I would have liked to, and Andrew and I did discuss this many times. When Andrew is away, it is a struggle to walk three dogs single handed, and walking five simply wouldn't be possible.

This weekend, we're mindful of the weather forecast and are planning to hibernate. In particular, we're going to make some apple and rosemary jelly (some to keep, and some to give for Christmas) - the apples are from Andrew's parents' garden and the rosemary from our garden.

Finally, I'd like to say that if you would like one of my hand made Christmas cards this year, and you're not already on our list, then please drop me an email with your address and I'll be delighted to send you one, or a festive ATC if you prefer/as well.

This post is all about Boola. Readers will recall that we've been doing our Kennel Club classes. After successfully doing our Bronze, Caroline our lovely tutor invited us back to do the Silver Award. The classes have been going very well, although we had to miss one when we were away in Cornwall. Anyway, last night was the moment of truth - the examination. I was nervous although Boola of course was his usual relaxed self and prepared by getting in some nap time after we came back from our morning walk. Unusually for a Tuesday night, Andrew was here so he waved us off when the time came. I hate being late for important appointments (well I just hate being late) so left in very good time. As is usually the way, this meant that every single traffic light was on green and we got there in record time! Of course, when time is against you, you can guarantee that's when the lights will all be on red and the traffic will be a nightmare.

As well as the examination, it was an opportunity for me to return a book to Caroline that she had lent me the previous week, a textbook on dog welfare that she had found useful and thought I would enjoy. I did, and am now ordering it from Amazon.

We went through the various elements of the test, starting with the two minute Stay. Boola of course always comes to class with his own sheepskin rug which makes this part of the test a dream once he is nicely settled. Like most greyhounds, he gets down on to his rug and stretches out and is then relaxed for ages. Several other people have found that a blanket or coat on the floor really helps with the Stay - I can't blame the dogs, it must be a lot more comfortable and inviting than a cold, hard church hall floor.

The hour simply flew by, especially as we had to do outside elements as well, including a demonstration of getting into a car and our road walk where dogs show that they can be walked in an urban environment full of interesting distractions. Suddenly it was over, and Caroline was dashing about with certificates and rosettes - Boola had passed. The hour had over-run slightly and another class (the Bronzes) were waiting to come in. So without further ado, it was time to go home, pausing only to give Caroline a thank you card and gift on the way out.

Home, and Andrew had baked a couple of pizzas I had made earlier in the day and opened a bottle of wine. Boola had some roast chicken and promptly fell asleep. I sat there contentedly munching my pizza and admiring his new rosette. The certificate will be framed and will join his Bronze one in the downstairs loo. Caroline will be running some Gold classes so I will have to decide if we want to do those - the syllabus looks pretty tough. She also mentioned training as an award assessor - something else to consider.

I was shattered last night and slept like a log. We woke early this morning and got the dogs over to Tredegar for a lovely early walk. The sun was rising as we were travelling over there and gave everything that wonderful rose gold glow you get at this time of the year - trees looked as though they were on fire. The park was quiet and Boola enjoyed running around sniffing everything although we didn't see any squirrels, much to Andy's disappointment. As a special treat for Boola, we served their favourite breakfast when we got home - I fried two packs of liver and served this with their kibble. After that the entire pack has spent the morning in a state of deep relaxation on various sofas - greyhound happiness exemplified.

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

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

In previous blog posts, I've been enthusiastic about a company called Photobox. I use them regularly for ordering digital prints and a variety of other photo gifts. With Christmas coming up, I wanted to order some presents, and one of the things I also like to do is to put a selection of photographs in with Christmas cards for people who we may not have seen much of during the year. I am almost tempted to do a "Round Robin" but am brought back to my senses by thinking about the ones that Rita and Roger receive (Andrew's parents). Every Christmas they show us the best ones and they are without exception, wince-making and unintentionally hilarious. Tarquin's record breaking ascent of K2 is casually mentioned along with the knighthood, the Nobel Prize and of course the tribe of lovely and over achieving children. Someone really ought to collect the best (worst) examples although knowing the internet someone probably already does. Anyway, what I do is pop in a few pics, with a printed label on the back, giving a few brief details - "Here is Andrew receiving his Nobel Prize" "Here is Kate ascending K2" etc etc. Hopefully the recipient can enjoy, keep the pics if they wish and dispose if they don't. In general too they tend to be sent to people who don't read the blog - if I know someone is a reader, then there's no point in sending pics since they will be overdosed on our doings anyway.

So this year, I ordered the usual set of prints for the Christmas cards, and now am pleased to say they arrived promptly, and I've affixed the labels and even made some pretty little folders for the snaps using some Christmas paper. Once the cards are done, all I need to do is pop these in - it's good to have that feeling of being organised. While I was at it, I also ordered a few other gifts. For a friend I ordered a mug and a collage calendar poster - plus some fridge magnets and some stickers. I uploaded the order on Monday night and everything arrived on Wednesday - Keith our postie was laden when I answered the door to him. Everything looked good until I came to check the photo mug. At first I could see something was wrong but couldn't quite work it out - then it dawned on me the design was upside down. I called the company directly on Wednesday lunchtime shortly after Keith's delivery - company immediately assured me a replacement would be rushed out and sure enough a perfect mug turned up with Keith on Thursday. Now that's what I call good service.

In a spookily similar example, I also used the Thorntons website this week to order various chocolate goodies including ones that can be iced free of charge with the recipient's name. Order placed on Monday - huge box arrived on Wednesday via our regular courier ( a really nice lady - we are very blessed by her and Keith). Unfortunately, despite very secure packing one of the chocolate figures was smashed - I calleed the helpline and a lovely lady immediately assured me that a replacement would be rushed out to me. I've heard several times that companies actually build stronger customer loyalty when they get it right correcting something that's gone wrong and I can see how this might be the case. In these circumstances, I am very happy to say that both Photobox and Thorntons have demonstrated exemplary customer service and I am happy to recommend them. Overall, I am making excellent headway with the Christmas shopping - it is nearly all done now. Next week my fave auntie comes up from Swansea and we are having a day together in Cardiff to enjoy some shopping - it will be a pleasure as I will have very few things on my list so will be able to relax and enjoy myself sauntering round John Lewis stroking fabric and sighing over the luscious collection of handbags. The next challenge is the wrapping - I am not so good at this. And it always amazes me how incredibly time consuming it can be.

Tonight has been an evening of relaxation. We're nearly at the end of Downton Abbey - I am going to be utterly bereft when it finishes as it has become strangely addictive. Like most women, I now have a crush on the adorable valet and there is something so amazingly sexy about both men and women when buttoned up in Edwardian costumes - the sexual appeal is subtle rather than overt and therefore much more powerful. It's also lovely to see women with beautiful pale faces rather than orange perma-tans - again, very classy and very, very sexy. One of the strange things is seeing some of the staff smoking indoors in the kitchen. It made me realise how quickly the smoking ban has settled into our consciousness - it just looks odd and unpleasant now to see a lighted cigarette indoors. Oddly, I probably wouldn't feel that way about a pipe - firstly, they don't seem to be smoked so much these days and secondly both Andrew and myself had grandfathers who were devoted pipe smokers. As a consequence, we both have very happy memories attached to them and in general, pipe tobacco is usually very fragrant and pleasant to be around - often it smells of fruit such as cherries For many years, Andrew had a pair of chairs inherited from his grandparents and the covers retained a very faint (but aromatic) aroma of pipe tobacco - there was something very reassuring and pleasant about the smell.

Since I last wrote, Andrew and I took the dogs and had a short break in Cornwall. We stayed in the Travelodge in Saltash, near Plymouth where we used to live. We chose the Travelodge as dogs are welcome and by booking well in advance were able to take advantage of their very cheap room deals.

It was great to be back in Plymouth and we managed to pack in a surprising amount in a few days. We saw lots of my dear friend Leila, which was great, and also managed to have a wonderful night at the gloriously named Finnygook Inn at Portwrinkle. If you are ever in SE Cornwall and want a good pub, this one ticks all the boxes. Great, friendly staff, really nice drinks, fabulous food, a beautiful real fire, spotless loos, everything you could want. In all, six of us got together and it was fabulous to catch up on the news, and just to enjoy a relaxed evening out. While we were in the pub, the woofs stayed in the car, and Andrew popped out regularly to check on them. Our table was cunningly located by the window so we could keep an eye on the car.

We had the obligatory stroll along the Hoe plus some really enjoyable walks over at Mount Edgecumbe Country Park and up on Bodmin Moor, to the Hurlers. The Hurlers are an ancient series of stone circles (subject of many myths and legends) and are one of my most favourite places in the world. The moor location is stunning, and you can see ruined tin mines in the distance. Nearby is the Cheesewring, a granite tor feature which is wonderful and offers glorious views over moorland and countryside. I also managed to do a surprise visit to the landfill site where I used to work, and gave my old boss a jolt as he was peacefully working to suddenly be faced with my smiling face!

Before we knew it, it was time for a last breakfast with Leila and then back home, via the South Devon coast road, which is a drive of astonishing beauty, stopping off at Slapton Sands to allow the dogs a quick stretch of the legs before the journey home. The dogs especially enjoyed their first taste of what a proper pasty is like (courtesy of Ivor Dewdney, a Plymouth institution) and it was great to go on the Torpoint ferry as well and enjoy the close up view of the river. Definately a trip we'd like to repeat.

Since returning, the days have flown by. Andrew went up to Chester on Friday for the funeral of his great uncle Bob, who had died at the age of 95. He had passed away peacefully after a long life, mostly very well, but marred by illness in the last few months. You can never be glad someone has died but this came close, in the sense of a long life peacefully enjoyed and a gentle passing - who could wish for more?

Over the weekend, I was making a quilt (will be doing a separate post on this over on my craft blog) and then on Sunday Andrew headed up to London early as he had a Monday morning meeting. Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary and it was sad to be spending it apart from him. I had tucked his anniversary card into his suitcase before he left, and Andrew had entrusted his card for me to Andy's care. The day passed peacefully and quietly - I finished my quilt (yay!!), and in the evening watched some of the Robert Plant programmes that have been aired lately which I had recorded. Yesterday is also special in that it marks the first anniversary of Boola's arrival with us (initially as a foster dog). A year is not a long time, yet I feel Boola has been with us for ages - he has settled in to become a much loved character and member of our family. On first joining us, he seemed stressed and nervous, and it's been a real joy watching him relax, settle in and unfurl his gorgeous personality. This is one party dog - he adores company, canine and human, is very laid back but will also not be backward in telling you if he wants some chicken or thinks it's time for a cuddle.

We're going to be having a joint celebration on the weekend - our dear friend Paula is coming round for a meal on Saturday night, and we'll probably make a special joint anniversary/Gotcha Day cake for us and for Boola. The following weekend, Andrew and I will probably go out for a meal, most likely back to Bully's which we enjoy so much.