...in the form of a nasty bout of tonsillitis and related awfulness that has struck me down and left me languishing in bed all weekend.  I was feeling a bit dodgy on Thursday and Friday then on Saturday morning I woke to blinding headaches, dizzy spells and hideously painful raw throat :(  It hasn't been the happiest of weekends but I am starting to feel a little bit better.

Having the puppy, of course, I've had to pull myself together three times a day to take him outside, so I didn't completely miss the glorious sunshine that visited London yesterday.  I couldn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked but we had a couple of nice long walks in the park on the new extendable lead (which means I don't always have to run along with him) and spent an hour in a different local park this morning off the lead - for the first time!  It was great seeing him bound about free of the shackles of a lead yet perfectly safe in a fenced off area.  All my hard work this week teaching him the recall seems to be paying off; not only did he not run away the minute I let him off the lead but he came back every time I asked him to - once from quite far away!  I felt very proud.

So, lately this blog's been focused more on Benji's training than my own, but I hope to rectify that this week with at least two runs and another swim.  As far as the dog is concerned, this week I will be continuing with the recall and the 'leave it' commands and starting to teach him to heel.  If he could also learn to leave my knitting alone that will be a very welcome bonus.