Perhaps i was slightly more vigorous today. Shall I make it tomorrow’s goal to reach the Catalog Room, which contains my computer, and see if I can’t activate it and show you some pictures?  I also have a telephone appt tomorrow to talk about arthroplasty, presumably with someone who knows what the word means. (I’ve looked it up. I do too.)

  Knitting went well. I finished that horrible round, and have whizzed through three more. It is not much slower than ribbing, in the rounds where it is possible to keep track of left-twist, right-twist in your head. And alternate rounds are just knit and purl, mostly knit. I’ll measure again tomorrow.

  There was an article in the Telegraph yesterday about making some spare cash by knitting. You were to price your efforts fairly, it said, by paying yourself the legal minimum wage for your time. I didn’t read much further. Can’t be done. The people who make money from their knitting are designers (and then, not much) and entrepreneurs, if that’s the word, who organise a stable of  knitters — old ladies like me — who are happy to knit for far less than the minimum wage.

Wordle: another quick one, but I scored only four. Thomas, Roger and Mark joined me there. Five for Alexander and Rachel. Six for Theo. Silence from Ketki which is most unusual. 

 Another such day. I walked a bit, bedroom to sitting room, instead of travelling by wheelchair. That was encouraging. However I don’t think there’s anything exercise can do. It’s a question I must pursue in future medical appointments, several of which loom.

 I’ve knit a bit more. I’m bogged down in another difficult round — lots of crosses, perversely arranged. I measured, and I’m  doing well. Kate Davies, who models the finished garment herself, is substantially shorter than I am, and she is wearing the vest short, so I can knit on comfortably for a couple of inches. 

We are all worrying about the Middle East. Wafa is a Yemini, actually born in Saudi  Arabia. I hope eventually to learn the whole story. David Remnick in the New Yorker is first rate. 

Wordle: another quick three for me. Theo and Roger, Rachel and Mark all joined me there. The others, who don’t deserve to be named, all scored four. I guess it was an easy one.

 And virtually nothing, again today. I got a bit further on with the knitting. Helen came, and bore off — among other things — Lennie’s shawl which she will post to him. I put in an order to Waitrose. Wafa disapproved of the prices but so far, fighting it out gram by gram, Waitrose comes out pretty well. Wafa will never save me enough money to pay for her presence, but her economical ways will achieve a lot.

 Perdita is much calmer, and spends a lot of time on my lap. I haven’t succeeded in coaxing her into bed. She sleeps in the kitchen, halfway between us.  

 The radio has been talking about “Don’t Look Now”, a grand old film. I’ve seen lots of movies in my long life, but find that I remember that one — including individual shots, such as the headmaster’s door — with unusual vividness. Perhaps we could contrive to see it again. Better, somehow, than sitting about in complete idleness.

  Wordle: my starter words, so often useless, pretty well did the job for me today. I scored a quick and easy three. Roger joined me there. Thomas and Ketki had four. Rachel, Alexander, and Theo needed five. Mark was today’s dunce. He got stuck on grn, grn, grn, ???, ??? and only just scraped home with a six. He added a note to say that four of his six words were political.

 Helen is safely home from Kirkmichael, where there was epic rain. She’ll come tomorrow and tell us about it. We’ve had a grey day here, with lots of rain, but not quite epic.

  Knitting has been advanced but slightly. I’m currently toiling around a round that involves six twists (12 stitches) for every 18 stitches of the pattern repeat, and it’s slow work.

  Mary Lou, when you grumble about the iPad correcting your spelling, do you mean the way it leaps in to make preposterous suggestions, overriding one’s blameless prose? I have always thought that I could override that feature if I understood the iPad better. We have ordered a stand for it, and are ready  to think of going on to a keyboard — but will I have to contend with this nuisance forever? You should see what it tried to suggest for “keyboard”. 

  Wordle: the results make it seem like a relatively easy one, but I found it a stinker. My starters gave me three brown vowels. Three! I gave up and entered a Jean-word for line three — those three vowels, in new positions, but I re-used a consonant. That produced nothing major — no new letters, no greens — but from it I was able to guess the answer. So, four for me.

  Thomas, Alexander, Rachel, and Roger were fellow fours. Five for Mark and Ketki. Theo posted a brilliant three in what must have been for him the middle of the night.

 I seem to be getting less and less done, but all is well. Helen stopped by on her way to Kirkmichael where she will continue to struggle with the driveway-and-ditch problem. There are some signs of progress on that one. Meanwhile the Downstairs Lavatory problem is in complete abeyance  here. Someone is booked to do something about it at the end of NEXT month. They have done a report. Insurance has agreed to pay. But Helen is afraid that they will spin on their heel, the day they actually arrive, and say that it is impossible 

Fortunately the other bathroom is perfectly adequate for our needs.

I was pleased by the outcome of yesterday’s by-election. Mrs Sturgeon recently extended the franchise to everyone  over 16 resident in Scotland. That includes me. I can’t vote in Westminster elections. I have actually voted only once. I chose Labour. They are in favour of the union, as am I, and have a good, new leader, another handsome youngish man with a subcontinental background. There are so many at the head of British political parties these days that it gets confusing. 

Wordle: another easy one, apparently. Four for me and Roger. Five for Alexander. Three for Theo, Rachel and Mark. Ketki and Thomas were the brilliant best, with twos.

 Again,  a day with some forward movement. Wafa and I got the shawl blocked. Helen has taken a picture of it. I’ll include it if I can. I am still picking out this blog with one finger on the iPad. Perhaps tomorrow’s achievement could be to get  the computer going again. The computer room is a long way away.

  And I resumed knitting the Argyll vest. A round and a half — better than nothing.

  Helen came, and, briefly, Archie. Also my religious friend. So we’ve packed a lot in. 

  Wordle: it was an easy one today, but I fell into the Wordle trap. My hard-won entry for line three gave me only four greens. Line four didn’t change things. So five for me. Rachel was another five, with the same pattern. The fours were Mark, Thomas, and Alexander. Theo was another five. He had my pattern in line three. Perhaps he thought of the possibilities and went off to test them in line four, as Alexander recommends.  Roger took six, with a different pattern. And Ketki scored three.

 Wet, grey, depressing. The morning was a series of events, and no knitting got done. C.  came and told me about Palermo, where she clearly had a grand time. She enjoyed Cooking with the Duchess, who seems to remember me and Archie vividly. Her husband the Duke, Lampedusa’s adopted son,  the model for Tancred in Il Gattopardo, died in May of this year. He was almost as old as I am. I am working on a message, so far only in my head, to send her. I will write in Italian, unnecessarily, as she speaks better English than I do.

And the NHS delivered a wheelchair, self-propelled, so I am mobile, at least somewhat. It’s hard work, but will be good exercise. And a holy friend came and we read a chapter of St Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews. And somehow it got to be lunchtime. 

KD is making great advances with this year’s winter book, Compass. It’s all about colour and involves an Advent calendar with little balls of her Milarrochy tweed. I am too late for that, a good thing — there are already too many little balls of yarn around here, without adding 24 more. But I’m looking forward to the book.  

Wordle: My starters gave me a green vowel and three brown consonants. I struggled mightily, rejecting many a tempting Jean-word that was wrong in one respect or another. I finally thought of an unlikely possibility, and it was right. Persevere with line three is my motto, as I said.

So, three for me, and for Mark and Rachel. Theo and Roger, father and son, scored four. Thomas and Ketki, mother and son., needed five. Alexander notched up a commendable two.

 Another day. Further forward.

I think I’ve finished Lenny’s shawl. There weren’t many loose ends, given that the skeins were 100 grams each. I knit the borders back and forth, to avoid having to create garter stitch by purling. I began by grafting the ends of the edging, and soon discovered that they were twisted. A careful unpicking took the rest of the morning knitting time.

Things went better after my nap. I sewed up the fourth border corner, and only after that attempted again to graft the edging. I don’t think it’s very elegantly done, but it can count as a success. This yarn — I’ve forgotten what it is— is called “Primavera”.I was disappointed when it arrived at how dark it was, but darkness now helps conceal clumsiness.

Tomorrow we will have to address the question of blocking. 

Helen is safely home, and very welcome. C. Is back too, and will be here tomorrow to tell me how she got on “Cooking with the Duchess”.

I am alarmed to realise how far I have declined since I last lived in this dear house. Wafa and Perdita and I are, however, getting on well.

Wordle: Another day when fours predominate: me and Alexander and Ketki and Theo and Roger. Thomas and Mark slid home with threes, Rachel needed five.

 Still no knitting, but continued recovery. We got the shawl out and found darning needle and scissors. Ready to start. Archie came by, between assignments — he supports autistic people in the community. The cat continues to relax and to sit on my lap. She even purrs. Archie (who loves her) said that she will continue to be attached to Wafa who feeds her.  Wafa continues to try to slim her down somewhat. I plead for my cat and sometimes secure another half-sachet for her.

I haven’t even read  (still Richard Cobb in Tunbridge Wells) but I feel that that, too, is drawing closer.

Much restorative sleep. Restorative , I hope.

Wordle: a tricky one, I thought, but most of us got four, including me. Rachel distinguished herself with a three. There was uncharacteristic trouble in DC, however. Roger scored five, and Theo failed.

 Another good day. Still no knitting, but I think I am recovering my strength and hope to resume tomorrow. I had a bath, using a clever get-in-and-out-of-the-tub gadget that the Council gave us. The sun shone. A neighbour came around who wants to buy my house when I die or leave for other reasons. She already has one but wants to stay in Drummond Place and downsize a bit. She had some useful advice about wheelchairs.

Perdita is transferring her affections to Wafa who feeds her. I think she is relaxing a bit, too.

Wordle: we came close today to the day I always want, when we all score the same. But Thomas spoiled it with a five. The rest of us had fours.

Thank you for your help with Friday’s word. I think the answer is that I was indeed spelling ALURE wrong, but there is another word unknown to us all which is spelled like that and which Wordle accepted. The Bot wasn’t so wrong after all. 

 I’m very droopy, as you predict, Mary Lou, much nap. But all is going well. Perdita remains jumpy and anxious. I wonder if she will eventually come back to my bed? We were inseparable from kittenhood until Paradox displaced her. Now she sleeps Wafa, who feeds her. She is trying to slim her down a bit. Perdita doesn’t like that. 

Wafa takes grand care of me, better perhaps than Cramond at bullying me into doing exercises. Certainly better at seasoning our food.

No knitting. Some attention to duty, but not much.

Wordle: I failed! Winning streak cut short in the early fifties.

Yesterday’s word was AZURE. My preceding word had been ALURE. That’s the one that provoked WordleBot into hinting that it wasn’t a word. Is there a different way to spell it?

Today I started with one brown tile from my two starters, and things never got much better. There were poor scores all round. Alexander and Thomas both needed six. Five for Roger. Then things get better. Four for Ketki, Mark, and Theo. A brilliant three for Rachel.

 Here I am, home. Wafa has made wonderful food, which I cannot do justice to. We have enough to eat for a week at least. Perdita is uneasy, probably worrying about That Other Cat. She looks very well.

   The actual homecoming went smoothly. A Cramond carer had done the packing. Alexander and Ketki came in the early afternoon. They were followed by a get-you-up-the-stairs firm, who brought us here. And managed that bit comfortably. And here we are.

   I haven’t done anything yet. I will see to it all in the morning. Famous Last Words.

   Wordle: Four for me. My two starters produced two green vowels, one brown one, and a brown consonant. An anagram, in fact, which I don’t like. My line three turned all of them green, but I guessed wrong for the fifth letter. Wordle told me after line two that there was only one more possibility. After my line three, it said “There was only one possible solution left, and this wasn’t it.” I’ll try to remember tomorrow to tell you  what my line three was. It wasn’t obscene or politically dubious., as far as I can see. It was the second letter I was missing. 

   Others had trouble too. Ketki and Theo  scored six, Alexander five, four for Thomas and Roger, a sensational two for Rachel. Silence so far from Mark.

 Again, I seem to have omitted to post yesterday’s little essay. No wonder nobody commented on it.

   The weather continues gloomy and equinoctial, I got a lot done towards tomorrow’s home-going. It’s all rather exciting. Wafa and Perdita are already there. Much packing was done here. 

   I’ve heard from C. in Palermo. It sounds as if she is having a grand time. She is about to spend a day Cooking with the Duchess, as Archie and I did. Tomasi di Lampedusa’s adopted son, the Duke of Palma, is her husband. He was the model for Tancred in the book, appearance and mannerism-wise. The actual duke is a distinguished musicologist which there is no evidence of Tancred’s being.

   I’ve finished the 54-row pattern chart for Kate Davies’ Argyle vest, and embarked on the bit where you repeat the last 36 rows of it until you reach armhole-level (which won’t, in fact, be all that much further away).

   Wordle: I got yet another three, along with Thomas and Theo. Four for Roger and Mark. Five for Alrxander and Ketki. Rachel was today’s superstar with a two. 

 Weather gloomy, wet and dark. Worse in Greece, where Helen (and her pupils) sound as if they may be marooned on Mount Pelion when the mosaic course finishes.

   If all goes well, Wafa and Perdita will move into Drummond Place tomorrow. Paradox’ new owner has sent me a delicious picture of her, in the posture of a cat who completely trusts her housemates, flat  on her back, furry tummy available for scratching.

   I had a shower this morning and am ready for the new adventure, as far as cleanliness can take me. I also put in a grocery order, to be delivered on Friday, as I re-assume the responsibilities of life.

   And I’ve finished round 53 of the Argyll vest, and wound and attached a new ball of yarn, the fourth I think. It’s looking good.

   Comment yesterday: I don’t think kimchi-making would quite  do as an activity here. Too high a proportion of us are slightly demented or hard of hearing or both. It’s not like the retirement community where my mother used to live, Meadow Lakes, near Princeton. Nor like the English one Richard Osman imagines for his thrillers.

   Wordle: another three! This time the starters gave me one green vowel and two brown tile#, a vowel and a consonant. I struggled as before to think of anything, and, as before, when I succeeded, it was right. Again WordleBot was rude: there were 11 words to choose from, it said. I was lucky. I still can’t think of any others. It certainly pays off to hold out for a real entry, rather than a Jean-word, for line three.

    Rachel, Alexander and Theo were the other threes. Thomas and Ketki needed four, Mark five. Roger scored a brilliant two.

   

   

 Another day. Wet and blustery here.

   My home-going draws near. I’m worried about it. If I have to come back here, what will I bring? Perdita will be all right with Helen. I’ve already chosen three pictures. But what about books? Which  are the ones I can’t live without knowing they’re available at arm’s length?  And what about cooking? Can I face a future in which I never slice another onion? Wiser not to think ahead. I’m going home to cat and pictures and books and onions on Friday. That’s enuf for now.

   Knitting progresses, and looks better and better. I’ve now reached round 50 of KD’s Argyll vest, and have nearly finished the third skein of yarn. I’m confident that I have enough knitting (and yarn-winding) to last until I get back to Drummond Place. I meant to mention that KD showed us a very attractive coloured version, the other day, of a two-toned cardigan she had published previously. Unpronounceable and instantly forgettable Gaelic name, alas. I would find a cardigan useful if I have to come back here.

Wordle: My starters — as often, I feel — yielded one green and one brown tile, both vowels. It was extraordinarily difficult to think of ANY word for line three. My starters knock out the five commonest consonants, and all vowels except Y. I finally found a word, and it was right, so three for me. WordleBot in the Times was very scornful. There were a dozen or so possibilities. I was lucky, it said.

   Alexander, Mark and Thomas were fellow threes. Rachel and Roger both got stuck on ???, grn, ???, grn, grn. Rachel got out of it with five, Roger went the whole way with six. Ketki was the only four. Theo scored five but approached that score by a different route from the one just mentioned. 

Roger

 So, what happened today? Nothing much. The knitting has progressed to round 47 (of Kate Davies’ Argyll vest) and, despite occasional lapses, it’s looking good. I’ll need a few more tools once I reach the underarms — I think the timing will come out about right. I should be home before I need anything more. 

  I saw the physiotherapist today. She agreed with Alexander and Ketki that I will need help getting up the steps when I get home on Friday, and was glad to hear that that had been arranged. We talked about wheelchairs. She thinks I should aim at self-propelled, rather than electric such as everybody has in DC. 

  I think what I need now is a conference with a non-specialist doctor. I am being overwhelmed with lungs and heart and hip.

  Books: a pleasanter topic. Keeping a list of books-read is sort of fun. I was pleased to discover how many of us do it. I have separate pages for each calendar year, and at the bottom add a little list of books I might want to read, picked up from reviews and recommendations, today I started reading “Still Life: Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood” by Richard Cobb. I’m finding it a bit slow and heavy, but will persevere.

Wordle: yesterday was the day my great-grandson Lennie was born. My starters gave me four browns: H, I, T, R. Surely the answer was BIRTH? But it wasn’t.

Twos, threes and fours today. I had a four. Poor Thomas got stuck on ???, grn, grn, grn, grn and needed five. His father Alexander scored a brilliant two. No news from Roger. 

 C. was here this morning. She will be jetting off to Palermo tomorrow. Helen is already on the slopes of Mt. Pelion. Both will be back soon. Alexander and Ketki will be here for the great transfer — Cramond to Drummond Place— on Friday. And I’ll have Wafa, and my dear cat. I am nevertheless feeling slightly anxious and bereft.

   I have no more news for you of Lenny in London.

   Knitting progresses well. I have embarked on round 44. It’s looking wonderfully sculptural. 

   I have made a practice, for a good few years now, of making a note of the books I finish reading. It is depressing, looking back, to see how many of them I have no memory of at all. Never mind that, for the moment. Today I finished The Favour by Nicci French, and when I went to inscribe it, was horrified to find that I didn’t finish anything in September. I doubt if that has ever happened before. Most recent reading, according to the record, has been re-reading: Jane Austen and Ruth Rendell, primarily.

   Wordle: again I have something to say which I must suppress until tomorrow. We were three-four-five today. Threes for Mark, Thomas, Theo and Ketki.  Fours for me, Roger and Alexander. Poor Rachel needed five, bogged down, no doubt, by the responsibilities of additional grandmotherhood. 

 Today’s news: Lenny Edward William H. I’m sure, if I were only a bit more technologically inventive, I could show you pictures of him, but as it is you will have to wait until I get home next week. It is for him, of course, that that shawl is destined. 

   It was a brisk labour, but even so Lizzie says, never again. 

  And my more recent knitting, Kate Davies’ Argyll vest, has reached the beginning of round 42. I continue to improve, I think, in distinguishing left from right — never easy — and understanding how the pattern works. 

  Not much else to report. Helen has reached Mount Pelion and is busy arranging the materials for her mosaic class. C., bless her, has been to Drummond Place and has ensured that the key to the house is in the key safe. Wafa is arriving the day before I do, and will need it. So will I, indeed. I don’t have any keys with me. 

   I sat out in the garden for a while this morning. No one else was there. It was quiet. But there were no little birds, no sparrows. We are under an Edinburgh Airport flight path. Maybe that explains it. But I felt both saddened and alarmed.

Wordle: it was another easy one, I gather. Thomas, Theo, Alexander and Mark got threes. Four for Ketki, Rachel, and Roger. And I thoroughly un-distinguished myself with a five. No Jean-words, either. All of my entries were serious attempts.

 So, Wednesday I left Wordle out and yesterday it was knitting. I”d better start there. I have reached round 38. It’s looking well. It’s slow work, but since it’s a sleeveless pullover, it’ll be nearly finished (except for some ribbing) when it’s finished.

   A quiet day otherwise. C. came.. She’s busy packing for a holiday in Sicily.

   I had no nap today (own fault) and am suddenly overwhelmed with tired. I’d better go to bed once I’ve told you about Wordle.

   It was another pretty easy one. Thomas, Mark, and Rachel needed four. There were threes for me and Roger and Theo, twos for Alexander and Ketki. 

 I have just discovered that I never published yesterday’s blog entry, quite apart from having forgotten to include Wordle in its excitements. So now it’s up, and here is today’s.

   But nothing much happened today. Helen has gone to Thessaloniki, as a prelude to teaching mosaic-making on the slopes of Mt Pelion. I have realised that my departure for Drummond Place is really getting quite close — next Friday, in fact. Alexander and Ketki are in charge. And I think Wafa will be involved

  Wordle: I seem to be lacking a day in my record of Wordle results. My glorious  two was on Tuesday the 19th, as recorded here. Yesterday I scored three for a forgotten word. Today was another three. My starters gave me one green and four browns — i.e., no more letters to supply, just an anagram to solve. Alexander, Ketki, Mark and Roger were the other threes. Rachel, Thomas and Theo had the fours.