Shandy: sorry. I usually try to check everything I’m not utterly sure of – such as, how to spell “Verginia” yesterday – but in this case, I misremembered. It is Tamar who pays bills by cheque (comment, Saturday) and, anyway, claims not to be entirely luddite. And I think things are a bit different in the US anyway – banks are more cautious.

 

Well, it was not too bad a day. I went out for a brief walk with Daniela when she first arrived, our new policy. No luck with cheetahs: sometimes the webcam for Den Two seems to be down, but even when I got access to both dens, nobody was home.

 

My big discovery for today is Stanley Tucci. I was idly watching YouTube at lunchtime, thinking of making myself some spaghetti olio e aglio, when I stumbled across him, making that very dish. His name was vaguely familiar, no more. I’ve discovered since that he is an actor: indeed I might have suspected that there was art behind his captivating artlessness. He has a book out for Christmas, and I am tempted, although in most cases a celebrity cook’s first book – this is Tucci’s third – is the one to go for.

 

I did some knitting, too.