Archie phoned last night to say he had reached his English destination. He had been anxious about catching a train. He regularly flies on his own, everywhere in the known world, but this was the first time in his life he had had to catch a train by himself. There was no way I could ditch the car and walk around the station with him, but we did see a Departures screen as we glided in and it prompted me to tell him that when a platform was posted for his train, he would have to set himself the task of finding it. Platforms are higgledy piggledy at Waverley. He seems to have managed.

The marathon turned out not to interfere either with Mass-going or with train-catching. Worry for nothing. It was won by a man from Kenya, as often happens. Is it acceptable, in these p.c. days, to allude to a quality in which one race is superior to others? As is clearly the case with black Africans and fleetness of foot.

Greek Helen is working on a new web address for her mosaics, and says that she is going to be a web designer when she grows up. Me, I’m going to be a chilli farmer:

I suppose Down Under, and in the US, and other such-like warm places, chilli-growing is no great cause for excitement. But success here is unexpected, at least to me, and I am happily anticipating the three varieties I will grow on the kitchen windowsill next year. At the moment, Big Nameless from Waitrose is carrying a fair crop, as you see, and the best of the Apaches from Tesco has not only branched but is budding.

I didn’t get much done in the way of knitting last week in Strathardle, but I finished a swatch of Faded Blue Raincoat, both the lace pattern from The Knitter and Bay Laurel. I like both a lot, but have decided to go with the lace. Next I need to cast off the swatch, photograph it for you, press it, see how the gauge stacks up with what the magazine says, and cast on. It can be the Strathardle WIP, over the summer.

Meanwhile, of course, I have resumed Relax2. It was curling tightly at the bottom. Yesterday, once Archie was safely dispatched and the lunch dishes done, I finally got the ironing board out, misted it with my chilli-plant-mister, and steamed it. I had expected the curl to provide more in the way of mileage than it did, but otherwise am very pleased with the way things are going. I put in the fifth round of eyelets last night. The fabric is beautiful. I think I was slightly disappointed with the yarn when I first saw it in the skein, but I needn’t have been.

And the skeins of Pakokku have arrived! bought on my behalf by Jeanne in Rochester’s sister at Maryland Sheep and Wool. They are unbelievably beautiful. Typing those sentences brings life into focus: my husband has a hospital appt this afternoon; I’ll need a sock to knit. So the Pakokku must be wound this morning. I’ll take a picture before I start.