Current affairs


When Mr al-Megrahi was allowed to go back to Libya to die, my husband's sister, known here as C., remarked that he didn't look to her like someone in the final weeks of life. She was right -- but none of us expected then that he would survive not only Colonel Gadaffi but C. herself. Life is funny that way: we already knew that.


Knitting


Little to report, really. I reached the critical point of the Brownstone and have done the first raglan-decrease row. No more measuring, no more calculating – it’s a straight run from here to the end, and then we get to see whether I got it right. I finished the 5^th and attached the 6^th skein of the original order – I think it’s going to prove darkish, like the last one, so there won’t be another line here.

I see I cast this baby on in mid-September. So there ought to be plenty of time to knit something for Little Thomas before Christmas.

I know I am meant to be spending odd moments working on two-colour brioche in the round as a challenge to myself, but there aren’t all that many odd moments around here and I can’t keep my hands off the Brownstone.

Non-knit

We have invited a friend to lunch who is in charge of Scottish pictures at the NGofS, partly because it will be nice to see her, and partly in order to show her the newly-discovered juvenile portrait of James ??????? by his artist brother. She’s coming on November 4 and I will report what she says.

Thank you for the pointer to the tetrapods, Judith. I have bookmarked the page, and am inclined to think I’ll go ahead and take the plunge. We’ve got a birthday looming. I think you’re right that a tetrapod is what’s wanted – my husband manages fine, if slowly, with an ordinary walking stick when it’s just a question of walking about. It’s stability for garden use we’re looking for.

I was encouraged by your comment (Tuesday), metropolitanrebecca, about your neighbour’s fall and its lack of unpleasant after-effects.

How did Blogger know that your comment wasn’t spam, Judith? They are very clever. I have things set up so that all comments on posts more than a fortnight old come through to me for moderation – and they’re all junk. Blogger does it automatically for more recent ones, and only very rarely makes a mistake in either direction.

I am particularly puzzled -- all bloggers will understand -- by the brief comments, usually in bad English, usually saying how useful the blog has been but occasionally slamming it, containing no links. What’s the point? Cui bono? Blogger unerringly weeds them out.

Catdownunder, you must be having spring. Don’t forget that your assignment (or your father’s) is to look at runner beans as they start to climb, before they get all tangled up, and see which way around the pole they are going. I can’t remember how on earth we got onto that subject, but I do remember that that’s what you were supposed to do.