If it's Spring...

... it must be time to paint something - in this case the upstairs landing, where the leaky roof left water stains down one wall, and the bits of my bedroom I didn't get to before I moved in. The roof was fixed in November, but I haven't been able to face painting before now.

There was an interesting piece in the Telegraph on Saturday, about Prozac slowing tumour growth in people with lymphoma. It ties in with what I've suspected about emotions and cancer being linked - improve the mood and slow the progress of cancer. I still feel guilty that Herbie developed cancer about four months after we moved house. He was a nervous, traumatised dog when he came to me, and he felt safe in that tiny little house with low ceilings, and upstairs windows almost at floor level. I was tired of hitting my head on the beams and having to duck every time I went downstairs, and wanted somewhere bigger. But for Herbie, that house was somewhere he had come to trust, and feel safe, and I took him away from it.

There's no going back, though.

Ten Today

His Royal Herbiness has reached the grand old age of ten. To celebrate, he has just spat rice all over the carpet, then wiped his face on my ironing pile. Happy Birthday, old boy.

(Another favourite recycled picture.)

Happy hounds

Herbie has seen his old friend Guinness several times this week. She is 13 ,but she still manages to run towards him with a fair turn of speed, and I find it touching to see two older dogs rushing up to each other to say hello and sniff, their creaky joints forgotten.

I've been reading an online dog magazine, or rather the free copy they have online, at Dogs Naturally. Plenty of interesting articles, including one on the increase in cancer cases.

I am working hard at the moment, coming home scrambled every evening, to face a Holly who wants to play. It's the longstanding dilemma of dog-owners, staying employed while also being a good dog-parent. I haven't come up with a solution yet.

Now Easter's over...

... it's election time. I think I am going to get a box set of DVDs and not watch any TV for a month, in order to avoid the next few weeks of improbable claims and promises.

Are any of the parties going to do anything to help dogs? I should cocoa, as my grandmother used to say, with both eyebrows raised. Free dog-biscuits? Dogs allowed in shops? There are six million dog-owning households in the UK.

In the meantime, I've discovered a handy site full of hints on dog nutrition and health, Dogaware. Much more interesting and useful than party political broadcasts.