Oh, Carol, yes! “Cooking with the Duchess” in Palermo must be “my” duchess – but, alas! the link didn’t come through with your comment today. Please re-send. Rick Stein had a Weekend in Palermo program on television here recently, including the duchess. The food in Palermo looks pretty inviting. Street food tours are available, and Archie is interested. What a relief, not to be committed to art museums. I can always go back and visit them next time.

 But it sounds as if your reference is to a newspaper article.

I have progressed with the Soutache. Things are calming down – the stitch count even comes out right, these days. I have hit the centre section where 12 rows are repeated over and over for a long time.

AND I have ordered yarn from Jamieson and Smith for that Amedro shawl, for next year’s great-grand-baby. I gave up and wrote to them and they wrote back promptly to say that I could order the shawl kit as per the website – I won’t be sorry to have the pattern again, with the charting done for me – and just announce in the comment box that I want “fawn” instead of “white”.

So I did that, also ordering the new book about J&S themselves (+ some patterns). I will certainly let you know what happens.

Non-knit

I watched the ceremony at the Cenotaph on Sunday morning. It was very moving. What a security nightmare that must have been!

Michael Foot, a former lefty Labour party leader, turned up one year in inappropriately informal dress. I was glad to see that Jeremy Corbyn, the present Labour leader, alarmingly left-wing, was nevertheless properly turned out.

I have been watching “The Crown” on Netflix, I am ashamed to admit. I doubt if what really happened was much like that, but it has a hypnotic fascination.

Here is today's cat picture (Paradox) – not dead;  totally in charge.