Twenty to the dozen.

A gentle, soft breeze greeted us as we ventured off on the morning walk. For the first time this year there was no need for a warming jacket or jumper - shirt sleeve weather has at last arrived. The even better news is that Digby's sore hip definitely improves when the cold and damp of winter is replaced by the heat of the new season. He scampered along next to his big brother , little legs pumping away twenty to the dozen, for the first three hundred yards before electing to sit out the rest of the expedition.

Back at the house the tiler is doing something unspecified and unscheduled to the floor of the kitchen while the English joiner and his Irish mate are installing the cupboards in the dog room. Wilf and Digby will soon have a special storage area just for them where toys, grooming brushes, towels and the rest of the paraphenalia of dog life can be stored. This should bring an end to the mad morning rush of trying to find harnesses and leads that somehow manage to move and hide themselves overnight.

We're hoping that the weather will hold and that it will stay warm enough to have lunch and possibly dinner on the outside terrace. This years long extended winter is finally drawing to a close. The Wahl clippers beckon.