We’re back, at least for a while. Exhausted to the core. Got a lot done, much remains to be accomplished.

Anonymous, you struck a nerve with your comment. What I meant by “exercise my husband’s franchise” was that he must vote tomorrow, both on the question of whether Britain wants to switch to a system which allows the voter to list second, third, and however-many choices; and on seats in the Scottish parliament. I’m not British so I’m not involved.

The Oxford dictionary defines at least one of the meanings of “franchise” as “the right or privilege of voting at public elections”, derived from the Old French. My tendency to express in Old French or Latin, what might have been said in Anglo Saxon – “he’s got to vote tomorrow” – is one of the many things that annoyed C. about me. The last words she spoke to me on earth were, “I don’t understand”, although all she meant that time, I think, is that I had turned up unexpectedly at her bedside when she thought my husband had made the trip to visit her that day by himself.

Lady Macbeth switches elegantly between the two modes of speech:

“…this my hand
Will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”

Where to turn from here? Knitting? Vegetables? Knitting.

That rustic computer really isn’t up to the job. There I was at 8pm on Sunday, logged on, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready for Knit Nation registration to go live. I struggled for an hour, and failed. I started again first thing on Monday morning. That time I got all the way to the final hurdle after much further struggle, sun pouring in the window all the while, inviting me out to my vegetables. But then my credit card was rejected, and the “Try Again” button didn’t work.

I sent Rachel a mournful email (the computer will do at least that), as her children would be needed to keep my husband company while I waltzed off that weekend in July. She rang up and said, why don’t I do it on my computer? So we did it that way, and it all went through rapidly and smoothly (including my credit card number) – but it was already too late to get into Franklin’s “photographing your fabric” class on the Sunday morning. I’m on the waiting list.

One serious problem has at least been solved. I am going to meet one of you tomorrow at K1 Yarns for I guess what might be called a Yarn Crawl, although there’s nowhere else to go but there, and then lunch. Can one possibly not buy yarn, on such an occasion? Ahah! I can buy what will be needed for the classes I have signed up for – Franklin’s Tomten class, and a Travelling Stitch class on Sunday afternoon although I probably won’t go to that if I can’t get a place on “Photographing Your Fabric”.

Much else to say, including some breathtaking pictures of vegetables growing and not-growing. But that’s enough for now.