Wednesday, July 26, 2017

A better day. I’ve achieved about half of the task the lawyer set me; I’ve sorted and filed some more paper from the dining room table; I’ve finished all of the Polliwog except for the last three rounds of sleeve ribbing and the sewn cast-off. Maybe I can sign off both it and the Northmavine Hap tomorrow. The latter only lacks the clipping of loose ends.

Andrew and Andrea’s interview with Veronik Avery was as interesting as might have been expected. She is not sleek and continental, as I had thought, but homely and friendly.

Thank you very much for your kind suggestions. Southern Gal, Wagner would be wasted on me – and I prefer not to go out in the evening. One of the plays I have signed up for is a matinee, but the other is not, and I’m anxious about it.

Tamar, I am well endowed with EZ videos, and watching them while I knit is an excellent idea. Shandy, my husband and I used to watch Our Soap (“Neighbours”) over lunch, and often follow it up with a documentary of some sort, pre-recorded. We had got to the point in life where drama was too much for us – everybody rushing about in the dark and speaking elliptically.

Then, over supper, we would watch all of the evening news, including “Scotland Today”, and the beginning of another documentary, until the bedtime carers came. Plenty of knitting time, when all that is added together.

Now, I watch “Pointless”, which I adore, and try to keep up with “Neighbours”, but it’s not the same. I’ve never tried knitting to the radio, and that’s a good idea too.


I watched the rest of the documentary about Diana PofW, after all. There is no doubt that she has left her sons with a sense of how much she loved them, despite being rejected by her own mother and unsuccessful in most of her adult relationships. That’s no small achievement. And, on the negative side, the sheer awfulness of her marriage to Prince Charles has made it possible for the Royals to marry anyone they want to, instead of having to hold out for a nobly-born virgin.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:31 AM

    Veronik is une quebecoise (can't do the accents here) and so not "continental" unless we mean North America, and I would expect her to be down-to-earth. Thanks to you, Jean, I know about Andrew and Andrea; thanks to some current paid work I haven't yet watched them. Love to knit to radio, usually in podcast form these days. Haven't commented here for a long time, though still a faithful follower, and seem to have lost my Google comment ability, so will return to commenting as Anonymous.
    - Beth in Ontario

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  2. Rebecca in Minnesota1:59 AM

    My husband and I had a good laugh over your description of trying to deal with drama in one's advancing years. So true!

    I always had a soft spot for Princess Diana. She seemed so vulnerable and wounded, yet was strong in all the good work she did. It's no wonder she was loved. I hope the video will make it to the U.S.

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  3. Anonymous11:09 AM

    Amen to all of the above, and I don't know if audiobooks were mentioned somewhere along the line. Although I never listened to them when I was alone in the house (radio might feel less solitary) I did enjoy both knitting and driving to them -- although not all at once, of course. Even listening to Out of Africa after having both read the book and watched the movie, it was absolutely wonderful with the particular narrator/reader that the U.S. public library version provides. Chloe

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    1. Oh yes, Chloe beat me to the punch. There is something so comforting about being read to!

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  4. I have become an archers fan. Yes I know it's considered silly by many but I enjoy it. I listen to the omnibus on sundays while I am doing my end of weekend prepare for the workweek chores. Also BBC radio 4 and 4 extra comedies are wonderful. I love them and of course news quiz and just a minute. You can listen again on your iPad for 30 days to all broadcast programs via the iPlayer app. Including the Proms concerts. In fact all BBC radio shows. I have forsaken US radio almost completely except for a Scott Simon and Peter Segal's shows

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  5. I believe it was Christmas 1980 when my husband and I visited his sister's family who were at Cambridge for the year. I returned with all kinds of Princess Diana souvenirs, such as a coffee mug and a haircut! The wedding euphoria was still high. I've enjoyed your clearer view of the ensuing years and feel I have a better understanding than before. It's something that all the misery didn't go for nothing, changes have been made in royal expectations.

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  6. =Tamar6:45 PM

    Wow, congratulations on the paperwork achievement! I truly loathe doing paperwork. (The sweater knitting is impressive too, but I sort of expect that here.)

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  7. I had to google "Pointless" and it does sound like fun, the kind of very British show that would likely be ruined if they tried to copy it here in the US. I was wondering about what you said about Princess Diana's marriage and how it made it possible for the royals to marry more for happiness than for duty. I've always thought it a pity Princess Margaret couldn't marry her choice, but then I wouldn't have thought Wallis Simpson a suitable choice for queen. Last, must echo southern gal's praise of BBC radio. I listen online and can't believe the fantastic range.

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  8. We watch Pointless whenever we are travelling and the BBC network is available. It is always a fun to see that is still being broadcast. For some reason it is not available on BBC Canada.

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  9. I'm always surprised by the quality of the programming on Radio 4. For example, the book of the week was about fishing for Greenland sharks, a thrilling account. A little later a Syrian who had owned a courtyard house in Aleppo was introduced to the man who had set up a war-zone clinic in that same house. It's the serendipitous aspect that appeals to me.

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