Sounds lovely Needa, mine have had to make do with a short trip to the local park when it was quiet today, as I'm on my own with the dcs until Friday and need to pace myself so I don't run out of energy. They don't seem too fussed though, both are snoring away in their beds. We have had a few really good 'sofa games' and I found some particularly robust boxes for playing hide-the treat in.
Dh's Great-Great Aunt was a massive animal lover - used to have an animal sanctuary in Wales, then move back to Warwickshire and took in every waif and stray there. She had a Deerhound called Peter. Lovely woman, very much on the Autistic Spectrum, with her obsession being animals. She used to encourage wild rats through the catflap and hand fed them! 
When dh was lodging in Lancashire before our new house had finished being built the place he stayed had an enormous Deerhound cross called Dennis. I love that name for a great shaggy hound too. Couldn't use it myself though as it was my Step-Grandad's name and I don't the the family would understand, not least of all because the whole of that side of the family is terrified of dogs!
Pip has decided that he no longer has to sit when asked. 
Now lots of Lurchers don't like to sit, but he has never had an issue with it. He does 'the Saluki bum hover', where they actually rest their bum on the backs of their feet, rather than putting it on the floor, but it works for him and sit has always been his default offering if when wants something. Well, not today. He has suddenly decided that if asked to sit he just has to skim the ground for a second then spring back up again. So, we've been doing lots of ad-hoc two minute sessions reminding him what's expected today. Tomorrow I will be upping the ante and building in a short sit-stay.
Little monkey has started Saluki whingeing at me when I ask him to sit before he comes back in from the garden too. He used to sit automatically and wait until he was invited in, now I get back-chat if I ask!
Thinking about heading for a beach at the weekend to let ours have a really good run. Really depends how well I am, but if we possibly can we will, as they deserve some proper freedom after all the shorter walks they've been getting. It's a long drive to any beaches from here, but we've done Blackpool before (great beach for dogs as it's so wide). The only fly in the ointment might be that Pip has grown so much that we can't use the crate for travel anymore. I was just about to buy a dog guard, when dh announced he wants to sell the car, so they'd have to be in the boot without a guard, which isn't ideal for a long run.
Dh's plan is to sell the car and the camper and buy a newer VW camper which will have more space for them to have a mahoosive crate with divider at the back. He doesn't use the car on a daily basis anymore as he now cycles and catches the train for his commute. Problem is, I know how long dh's plans tend to take to come to fruition and we still need to take the dogs out in the meantime. I was planning to get a dog-guard specific to the car this month and then a tailgate guard next month, but he's vetoed it. Think I may just overrule him and buy the biggest crate I can fit in the boot - not having any sort of car/dog control isn't an option imho. Men huh?
The plan was for me to restart driving lessons this spring and then have the car myself, but this health relapse has called that into question. Whatever happens, I am definitely not driving a great big VW camper on a daily basis after I pass my test, so we'll have to get another car, which could be the same as the one we've got, but newer and therefore use the same guard.