I haven't written for reasons that will become apparent.  On Wednesday 9th May I went to work in the library for the evening shift.  When I returned home it was apparent that Booty was very unwell.  I took her to the vet on Thursday morning, and she was diagnosed as having suffered a mini stroke.  She was also dealing with the problem of a recurrent eye infection that she is prone to.  Our poor darling girl was in a very bad way indeed.  The vet prescribed a drug called Vivitonin, and said that she would have to stop taking her codeine (a painkiller for her arthritis).  

For pretty much a week, things continued unchanged.  She ate very little, lost a great deal of weight (not good on a slender greyhound), slept a lot and seemed very withdrawn.  Finally, a week after she started taking it, we awoke to find her roaching on her back, wagging her tail - a joyful sight.  The medication seemed to have kicked in, and she finally began to perk up.  We are not out of the woods yet.  Her appetite is not fully recovered, she tires very easily, and she is now looking very, very old and frail.  The stroke has partially paralysed her facial muscles so she is now drooling, her lip is drooping and eating is difficult (though we are helping her as much as possible).  She is still going for walks, though is tiring easily and needs to rest during them.  The good news is though that she has her spirit back and though she is very frail, she has regained her joie de vivre and interest.  

The vet has advised that she can go to hydrotherapy, so we are taking her on Thursday, but I am personally not convinced she will be up to it - this may need to be her last session.  However, I am willing to be led by her and we will give it a go.  

In the course of this week, we have moved very much closer to the end of her life, and it is breaking my heart.  Our top priority though is making her as comfortable and happy as possible, and taking each day as it comes.  At the moment, she is still very much enjoying life and we are doing everything we can to keep it that way.  

I'll do a separate post for our other news. 

Last weekend, we went over to Llandaff for a Ghost Walk with Jim of Cardiff History and Hauntings.  We had previously done one of his walks with Rita and Roger last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so as we had done one of the Edinburgh walks several years ago were keen to see this one.  A small group of us met Jim at the stone cross outside the Cathedral.  It was a cold night so I was wrapped up warm with a long coat and boots, and we'd remembered to bring torches too.  

The walk was an amazing mix of local history, folk tales and spooky happenings.  Jim does a huge amount of research so I was gripped by the many true stories about the Cathedral, the pilgrims who visited, the role of the area in many of the wars between the Welsh and the English, the English Civil War and its effects, Owain Glyndwr and his activities in the area, and stories about the village of Llandaff itself.  We explored the grounds of the cathedral, the Bishop's Palace,  the river bank, local woods, the graveyard and a piece of open ground just behind the Cathedral.  We also learned about the changing course of the river over time.  As the evening got darker, the bats flew overhead and the wind rustled through the trees, it was genuinely eerie at times. 

I can genuinely recommend the walks for anyone who is interested in the history and folklore of Cardiff.  Thankfully, there are no silly gimmicks and in fact Jim was showing us by the Cathedral a trick with his torch that made a very ghostly friar appear on the side of the building (clever use of shadows).  Whatever your views on the supernatural, this is a really interesting evening, but WRAP UP WARM!! 

I've been working in the Library today - extra shift for the Bank Holiday.  Worked yesterday as well.  The weather today has been dreadful - constant heavy rain and still quite cold.  In spite of it being May, I am still wearing winter jumpers and cardigans.   

So much to write about! After my last post, we headed swiftly into Easter and my birthday.  A huge thank you for everyone who sent gifts, flowers, cards and greetings - very much appreciated.  On the day itself, we had tickets to see Derren Brown in the Millennium Centre.  He was utterly amazing - very talented and funny and quite jaw dropping in what he does.  I loved his set too - had a fabulous steampunk look to it.  

Andrew had the week following Easter off work and we really enjoyed it.  It was great for him to be home and he painted the bathroom - the ensuite to our room.  We were fairly limited in the colour palette we could choose since we had decided to keep the tiles in there and we wanted something that would work with the colour of the main bedroom (a soft lavender).  Eventually we ended up with a lovely pale grey, with a white ceiling and woodwork.  It looks great - very crisp and fresh.  We also put in a new floor covering - a white design with a silver mosaic, again very simple and working well with the overall colour scheme.  

Then on the Thursday, we headed off to London for a quick weekend away.  The dogs went into kennels (always a wrench but we know they are very well looked after there) and we caught the train.  We stayed at the Premier Travelinn right in Southwark, just across the road from Vinopolis. We love this part of London.  While we were up in London we caught up with Warwick and had a special birthday dinner with him - a joint celebration.  It was lovely to see him.  We also had a special and very romantic dinner in Vinopolis itself - I had my 40th birthday party there and whenever we are in London we always try to eat there - it has so many special memories for us.  In the cocktail bar beforehand, Andrew had a cucumber Martini and I had my favourite, a peach Bellini.  Andrew let me try his Martini and I was bowled over by it - so cool and refreshing.  Definitely one to make over the summer.  

We also went on the DLR over to Stratford to have a look at the Olympics site which was very impressive, and came back via Canary Wharf, one of my favourite places.  On the Saturday morning, we had a lovely wander round Borough Market before getting a lunchtime train back to Cardiff.  We were able to drop off our luggage and have a quick coffee before heading out in the car to collect the hounds.  It was blissful to be reunited with them.  

Below I've attached some pictures.  

 

What a wonderful weekend.  Friday night was my last night in work before the Easter break - great to have a couple of weeks off.  On Saturday I had a really busy day.  In the morning, I went over to Busy Bees for a quilting course called "Flying South" with Marianne.  I knew I was going to have leave a little bit early so was organised and did all my fabric cutting out and organising before the course - fortunately Marianne had given us very clear instructions.  Originally, my thought had been to use some wonderful New Zealand fabrics that my aunt gave me last year (who lives in NZ, with my uncle).  But on reflection, I didn't think it was quite right for showcasing them and decided to go scrappy and use stash fabrics - no new purchases at all.  I'll post some pics separately of the fabrics and the blocks taking shape.  

The course was wonderful and flew by and soon it was time to take my leave.  Then back home and just time to say a quick Hello to Rita and Roger who had come over to look after the woofs while Andrew and I went to see Parsifal in hte Millennium Centre, performed in a concert setting by the Mariinsky.  It started at 4 and finished just after 10.  As usual, the performance was of a very high standard, though I was disappointed to see lots of empty seats.  We had booked a meal package with our tickets, and this was the usual very smooth, well organised operation.  As with much Wagner, I don't find the concert staging to be a problem - the music and singing is good enough to stand up by itself, and actually you're not distracted by odd or peculiar costumes, lighting or staging.  When we emerged, physically tired but greatly uplifted, I felt as though we had been away from home for much longer.  

Then it was back home for a much needed coffee.  On Sunday it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, far too nice for our original plan to see an exhibition at the National Museum of Wales about Scott's departure in the Terra Nova from Cardiff on his last voyage.  We looked for some alternatives, and came up with a garden in Monmouthshire called Dewstow.  This was a garden with underground grottoes and caves that had been developed by an eccentric owner then after the War, had been filled in and neglected before being rediscovered and restored.  It's a beautiful spot with views out over the Severn estuary.  We loved the garden and were enchanted by the tunnels and grottoes, many with a wonderful selection of ferns and climbers.  As we wandered around, there were many Easter bunnies hiding among shrubs, trees and vegetation.  Rita and Roger loved it too and it was a gorgeous afternoon completed with a cup of tea and slice of cake in the cafe afterwards, accompanied by a little robin, who was hopping about taking crumbs from the tabletops.  I took lots of lovely pictures - a few are shown below.  

Rita and Roger stayed over on Sunday night,  and we enjoyed a special glass of bubbly as an early celebration of my birthday (next Sunday for those needing a reminder!) and on Monday Andrew left for a client very early.  So all three of us walked the dogs over at Tredegar House and then they left from there.    I returned home to spend a quiet day catching up on domestic chores.    

It's been one of those weeks where I felt that things were shifting, changes that had started were becoming more tangible.  Sometimes change can be minor and running quietly through your life, and then you have a week where you can sit up and really notice it, even though the final increment was not that huge.  

I've got a project going on in my life that I'm not quite ready to write about, but will be able to reveal quite shortly, hopefully after Easter.  That's making progress and is part of what I'm talking about.  

However, the main thing to write about is that this week I went riding, over at Helen's.  Helen is blessed to be the owner of four horses, with a fifth currently residing with her as well.  She has two Lusitanos, and last year took on two black veteran cobs, Brynne and Rudy.  On previous visits we've done stuff with the horses- I've been involved in tack cleaning, feeding, grooming and clipping, but haven't ridden.  Tuesday was our first outing.  Helen was riding Jaitoso, her beautiful Lusitano and I was riding Brynne.   

As you can see from the pics, Brynne is a very hairy boy - he's not clipped at the moment (apart from his feathers) and of course at this time of year, is just starting to lose his teddy bear coat for the summer.  After catching and grooming him, we tacked up and had a comedy moment when it was time to mount.  Fortunately an old oil tin was pressed into service and from there I made my rather inelegant ascent.  However, once I was on, wow! It felt wonderful - and I realised how much I had missed it.  Horses are a bug that are pretty much impossible to cure.  There have been times in my life where horses havent' been a part of it, but it's amazing how often they creep back in, usually because I end up being friends with people who have them or work with them.  

We set off for a rather leisurely hack - Floss the sheepdog came with us, and we set off down the lane, Helen in front and Brynne having to trot every few paces to keep up as his legs are so much shorter.  He hadn't been ridden since arriving on the farm, and it was obvious that he was very interested but also very nervous.  He got spooked by a few things along the way - Floss leaping out of a hedge, dogs barking, a pheasant shooting out of a copse but was clearly also immensely interested.  After some road hacking we turned into a field of Helen's and onto grass, and at this point he nearly took off as it appeared that in his previous life grass was indelibly associated with galloping.  I didn't feel that a flat out gallop was what I wanted on our first ride together so we walked for a bit and then returned to the lane.  An hour was plenty for our first ride and on the way back Jaitoso hurt his hoof on a stone so Helen walked him.  After we returned, I got off (still not very elegant), untacked and then we turned them out.  It was a delight to watch Brynne having a blissful roll and then cantering round the field as they played together.  

Not surprisingly, I was stiff the next day but I am really looking forward to riding again, and forming a partnership with Brynne.  

Another very interesting week.  Last Saturday,  I went over to Busy Bees for their annual fabric sale, an event I've written about before and one I look forward to very much.  Using my experiences from previous years, I delayed my visit till the middle of the afternoon - going earlier in the day means fighting through a rugby scrum to see the fabric and in such a small shop it's really difficult, and much less pleasureable.  My patience was amply rewarded.  I've bought some lovely things - a selection of fat quarters, mostly in lovely autumn shades and some really cheerful zingy 30s feedsack prints in those lovely clear, fresh colours that put you in mind of a summer day.  I also treated myself to another Tilda fat quarter (though they are slightly bigger than that) in gorgeous shades of tan and cerise featuring a pretty design of a bird and foliage, very romantic and shamelessly indulgent.  

While I was there I paid the balance on a course I'm doing in a few weeks on Flying Geese.  Marianne, the tutor had the quilt top she's doing up on display and funnily enough, another lady was in the shop with her quilt top done in the same pattern but in a different colour way, looking for a binding fabric to complete it.  As always, with designs, it's absolutely fascinating to see how one design can look so different using different colour ways.   Marianne had done it using marine prints featuring sea creatures like sea horses on blue with sandy elements - the other lady had used beautiful greens and coral shades with white and grey accents.  She was very fortunate as Sandra in the shop was able to find her a lovely coral fabric that was just right for her backing and another green one for her binding.  As always at Busy Bees, this is one of the chief pleasures of visiting - it's so nice to meet other people picking out fabrics and sharing ideas.  After all this excitement, I was dropped off by Andrew near our house to visit a lady who had recently adopted a lurcher from GRW and had a few questions to discuss.  She was really nice, and her partner too, and they were both absolutely in love with their gorgeous new dog, who was utterly adorable, and incredibly handsome despite being rather badly mutilated and scarred from his previous life.  It was a real pleasure to be able to help in a small way with settling him in and helping his new owners feel supported.  As they only live round the corner, it's likely we'll probably do a few joint dog walks in future.  Andrew then walked round with Booty on the lead to pick me up and we walked home together for a gin and a happy look at my new stash. All week, the fabrics have been sitting on the coffee table and whenever I sit down with a few minutes to spare, I have been looking at them and thinking about ideas for making things with them, and admiring the colours and patterns.  As all sewers know, a bit of stash- stroking is very soothing and good for the soul.  

Andy has been a bit off colour this week.  He has an upset in his digestive system leading to a few problems and he has been very quiet and subdued, not at all his normal self.  He's eating a little bit, and is fortunately drinking normally.  We'll give him a couple more days and if he is not improving will take him to the vet, but at the moment, I am not too worried, though we are all struggling to live with the noxious smells he is producing. 

On Thursday, I attended a long awaited and very interesting meeting at RSPCA offices on the outskirts of Cardiff.  This was to discuss better data sharing between local Councils and the voluntary sector - not at first glance the most exciting of subjects, but one that is essential for campaigning organisations and hugely important for rescues.  As well as the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust were present, reps from local Councils, WG civil servants, a very nice lady from the BHS Welfare dept, and a telephone participant, the head of Animal Welfare at WG.  We covered a huge amount of ground and the meeting was very constructive and positive.  It will take a long time for some of the changes to filter through but I think we laid some good foundations.  By the time I got home I was shattered, and it was so nice just to spend some time on the sofa with Andy giving him a cuddle - he's been quite clingy while he's been ill and just keeps coming up mournfully and looking dejected until a cuddle is applied.  

This weekend has been quiet - nothing very exciting to report.  The weather today has been lovely - I've enjoyed hanging out washing in the garden and the frogs are still going great guns in the pond.  We've got narcissi, crocus and grape hyacinths in flower at the front of the house, with tulips in pots and annual seeds like Californian poppies starting to sprout interestingly.  On our walk today at Tredegar House, it was lovely to see one of the rhododendrons in flower, a beautiful white bloom with the faintest tinge of pink round the edge of the petals.  Also, I didn't need my coat, and all three of the dogs were coat-less - first time this spring as we are usually very cautious with Booty, wanting to keep her warm for her arthritis.  At this rate it will soon be time for the summer wardrobe switchover.  Hurrah!

Yet again, it's been a busy week,along with being the start of Lent.  Last year, for various very good reasons, Lent was a complete disaster but this year I thought I'd try again.  So I'm doing 40acts - a slightly different approach.   Rather than the traditional "giving something up" the idea is to take a more positive approach and it gently invites you each day via email to undertake a positive step. Today's was about moving outside our normal social sphere, and trying to engage or connect with someone from a background or culture that you wouldn't normally come across.  As things turned out, this was perfect.  

My friend Caroline, who is a Dog Warden and runs dog training classes does a great deal for local dog charities and of course knows nearly everyone involved in dog rescue and welfare in South Wales.  By a series of chances, she was offered the use of Fonmon Castle, a glorious castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, by Sir Brooke Boothby to use as a venue for a dog related event to raise money for local dog charities.  Caroline contacted me to see if I'd like to be involved and of course I said Yes.  We held the first organising meeting on Saturday, and already a huge amount has been accomplished.  My responsibilities are to act as secretary and minute taker during the meetings, to organise and run the dog show and to provide and run the show's website (with help from Andrew on that). 

From a standing start, we've got a date (Monday 4th June), a venue, a range of events, demonstrations, displays, two dog shows, sponsors, a gundog display, huskies, bouncy castles, a show raffle with great prizes, face painting and even paddling pools for dogs! The show will principally benefit three local dog charities - Friends of Cardiff Dogs Home, Hope Rescue and Four Paws Animal Rescue.  Hope and Four Paws take a lot of pound dogs from local authorities.   I've been charging around doing various elements and this morning, we were able to go over to the castle for a site meeting and to meet Sir Brooke to go over a few site details.  Unfortunately I had to drive over there via a great deal of rush hour traffic, but it was easy to find, being very close to the airport.  The castle is beautiful (see their website here) with lovely gardens and grounds.  Caroline took me down to the castle to meet the office manager and Sir Brooke joined us before we walked back to the group and did our site visit.  This went very well, and helped to clarify our thinking about the site layout, parking arrangements and so on.  I don't know many baronets so this was a perfect example of meeting someone from a social background that's outside my everyday experience.  Mainly, like the rest of the group, I was highly impressed by Sir Brooke's generosity in allowing the use of his land for the event, and even more so by his very positive, can-do approach - really helpful.  The site is used each year to host a variety of other events such as the Vale of Glamorgan show, polo matches and weddings so the estate team are well used to hosting this sort of thing, but even so we all found the morning a very positive experience.