Bad news on the floor front: it's not finished. Heavy sigh. Well, I thought Dougie was being optimistic. They're coming back next Sunday (at 8.30am! again!) to do the kitchen and finish off the beading in the rest of the downstairs. It does look better, I guess, and it certainly feels better. I can go downstairs in bare feet without risking frostbite.

I'm going to go ahead and get the dog on Thursday ... by Sunday he should be settled in enough not to freak out completely when strangers start destroying the kitchen. We'll go for a drive up to St Andrews or something, let Dougie and Bob get on with it. I went to visit him today, took a couple of photos which I'll put on the website once I get them developed. He was quite nervy but not in a snappy way, just trembling and starting at sudden movements. He is sooo tall, and elegant and beautiful. He got very excited when we left, thought he was going too, which was sad -- "see you on Thursday" means absolutely nothing to a dog!

Any name suggestions welcome: he's called Bertie at the home but honestly does not seem Bertie-ish. I like Finn, after Finn McCool, the Irish hero who built the Giant's Causeway so his girlfriend Staffa could get home to the Western Isles. I think one-syllable names are easier for dogs to pick up. He certainly doesn't react to Bertie. The woman who took us to his kennel asked if I was keeping the name. "Errr, I'm not sure..." I said. "I named him," she said, and I was glad I'd been diplomatic. She said she really likes greyhounds, and she's adopting one herself when she has a holiday, in June. So I gather from all that that she had wanted Bertie herself.

I did get some pots and plants on Saturday: I planted some lily bulbs (stargazer) and a little daisy bush. I also got seed trays and seeds for lobelias, aquelegias (sp?), night scented stock and nicotiana. Eventually I'll plant them, and the rocket seed too. The rocket is planted directly into the ground, I need to work a bit more on the bed before it's ready for that.