No movement on those VKB’s. The reserve price for the one that ends today – Spring, ’46, no less – is absurdly low, and I’m the only bidder. Perhaps some knitting fiend is lurking with a last-second bid. It closes during our usual supper-time, if I’ve counted right, so I’ll have to trust my killer bid to do the job.

I didn’t finish that other piece of shrug-front yesterday, but should today.

When I get back to my beloved Princess shawl, blog-entries will be even duller than that. What on earth do I write about, during Princess periods? No more knitting-talk for today, anyhow.

Thomas Lynch: I was delighted to find a fellow fan in the Curmudgeon.

James’ wife Cathy used to go to talks by thriller writers; presumably now that she is a published writer herself, she gives ‘em. I went with her once to one in a tent in Charlotte Square, a book festival which was part of the Edinburgh Festival itself. As we settled into our seats I read the programme for the first time and discovered with a real thrill of horror that Thomas Lynch was not only there, but was giving a talk at that very moment.

I couldn’t leap up and rush out – one doesn’t treat daughters-in-law like that, and anyway I didn’t have a ticket for Lynch. But after the talks there he was in a corner of a tent, rather on his own as I remember. I bought a book I already had and took it to him to sign, babbling about t’riffic fan, didn’t know you were here, went to the wrong talk. I may even have mentioned that I used to live in Detroit.

I don’t remember what he said, if anything, but he signed the book, “Well met in Edinburgh.”

Now, as I may have mentioned before – it’s an important point – ah’m no so green as ah’m cabbage-lookin. He may have signed them all like that. But I prefer to believe that, with only seconds available for reflection, he found the perfect phrase for me.

Miscellany

I got back to work on my husband’s magnum opus and his Palm Pilot yesterday, and discovered to my considerable distress that Documents to Go, the bridge program, seems to have forgotten all the files I had laboriously identified to it. There are further oddities about the files themselves, and only Documents to Go could have been meddling with them. I got the first 50 re-identified, and will soldier on today.

Now I’ve got to go take the car in for its MOT..