Thank you for your messages. Yes, tomorrow is my 90th birthday. Rachel and Ed and James and Cathy are here, Alexander and Ketki coming this evening (I think) or tomorrow. We will have a birthday lunch, with simple food I hope, at Helen’s house and Perdita will be there. And Archie. Helen herself, and David, will be — indeed, are — in Greece where they will be marking his 60th birthday on the same day.

   I’m feeling pretty well. One of the Hospital-from-Home doctors warned me that I might have taken a permanent step further down the slope. We are now aiming at another month or so here at Cramond cocooned in aimless luxury. I am going to work seriously with the physiotherapist on getting up and down six steps. That’s what we have outside the house so that’s what I have to be able to do in an emergency. There are devices such as wheelchair lifts but they are ugly and I would like to avoid. Then Paradox will come home to me and Perdita will stay with Helen where she is so happy. Wafa — who is to be my long-term carer — is not pleased with that arrangement because she prefers Perdita. Everybody prefers Perdita.

   No knitting I’m afraid.

   But Rachel, who is staying at DP, has brought me “Fair Isle Knitting” by Carina Olsson, originally published in Swedish and now in English. (in the US), and delivered to me by Amazon as the result of a pre-order. It looks rather promising and I hope to report further. 

Wordle: I had an agonising four today. I forgot one of my own few principles or it might have been much quicker. Theo, Thomas and Ketki also had fours. Everybody else got there in three.