OK it's safe -- I'm in a better mood. Not quite refreshed and revitalised, but well on the way. I've been for healthful walks, done some gardening (read: weeding), found a fantastic garden centre (bought one micanopsis, himalayan poppy, blue) and bought some other plants at the Ingliston Market (nemesia, cornflowers and one sad little strawberry).

Here's some news: I'd sent off a cheque to a greyhound rescue organisation that offers to trace your dog's pedigree, and got a spiffy printout in return. Bertie's maternal grandfather, Polnoon Chief, came second in the Scottish Derby in 1991! Then he retired to stud and had over 480 kids, so Bertie's actually nothing special, if you do the arithmetic ...

If you're interested, you can see the pedigree here. It's quite a big scan, so only if you're really, really interested.

Slightly unnerving thing: I found a greyhound database site today where you could search on a dog's name. So I put in Hardtobehumble (aka Bertie) and there was a reference with a note: "Rescued greyhund now owned by Mrs Barbara Agnew of South Queensferry". So the rescue organisation had added Bertie to the database already ... fair enough, I guess. But still ...