Thanks,
guys! Of course I was watching tennis yesterday, and I can tell you that k2p2
rib is a pretty difficult stitch to execute while Murray
I am sure
Mr Murray would have preferred it to happen a month ago, and win him the Wimbledon trophy. But winning an Olympic gold medal is a
good deal better than not winning an Olympic gold medal, and defeating Mr
Djokovic and Mr Federer in successive matches without losing a set is
something, too. Surely Murray
I learned
in my on-line magazine reading this morning that the American Olympic Committee
pays $25,000 for a gold, and pro rata for other medals. Presumably many other
nations do the same. And here I thought the one thing to be said for this whole
rather tedious business was that the athletes were competing for glory (and
future sponsorship money), not for cash on the barrel-head.
In 1948 my
father was Sports Editor of the Associated Press. He met the woman for whom he
left us, while he was covering the Olympics in London
So I start
out with a bias against the London Olympics.
Little to
report, as far as actual knitting is concerned. The red socks are now within a
few rounds of completion – due less to tennis-knitting than to subsequent
peaceful television-watching. I hope to
cast on for Candace Strick’s socks today.
Dining-room:
the bookcase has all its shelves, and I think it has been shored up from below
to my husband’s satisfaction, although I am not quite sure about that. He is
always very cross during any such operation – it occurred to me years ago that
that ensures a flow of adrenalin. One does not err through inattention
while hanging a picture or shoring up a bookcase with my husband. I hope today
to start filling it with books.
Miscellaneous:
while they were in Strathardle recently, the Beijing Mileses went camping in
Glenderby (pronounced "Glen-DAR-by"). There is a ruined bothy there, perhaps an hour’s walk from our
village. They all went up for a campfire supper, then Cathy and Alistair came
home to sleep in beds, the cowards, while James and the girls remained.
The elder
daughter, Rachel-the-Younger, is a keen and skilful photographer. She was eager
to have a chance to photograph deer, and succeeded. I downloaded this from her
Facebook page just now:
Two points
of interest.
Notice the
albino deer. I have never seen such a thing.
Notice the
quantity. I have not been up Glenderby myself for a good many years, but when I
used to go, I never saw deer in anything like that number. Half a dozen would
have been a lot, in my day. What chance have my vegetables got?
The British athletes get no monetary reward, as far as I know, but the Royal Mail is producing a stamp for each gold medal winner and painting a post box gold in each of their home towns. Seems more in keeping with the spirit of the thing, I feel. A lot of the athletes are millionaires already!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to the British team on several fine performances yesterday.
ReplyDeleteRegarding deer - they are such a nuisance. At my old house in northern NJ, on a 1/4 acre lot, I regularly counted 14 grazing happily on my hosta. One year we had six fawn gamboling around - a singleton, a set of twins and a set of triplets. I'm pretty sure that suggests an overly well-fed herd. The fawns are awfully cute but the adults do so much damage.
Glad to hear the dining room is nearing completion.
Beverly in NJ
Deer also carry ticks which carry Lyme disease in its many variations, at least one of which is widespread in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteSince the only significant predator, humans, have been prevented from hunting deer in much of the US east coast, deer have become a major pest.
So much so that several states have changed the laws against collecting deer carcasses from the roads - anyone can collect any number of car-struck deer, as long as they notify the police in the jurisdiction that they have done so. This saves the authorities the cost of having to pay their overstressed animal control officers to haul off deer carcasses.
I presume the deer are red deer. The pale one , which will not be a true albino since it has some pigment in it's coat, is a variation that is quite common in fallow deer, so I see no reason why it shouldn't happen in a red.
ReplyDeleteDear Jean,
ReplyDeleteWe have WHITE deer where I live. They are apparently a recessive branch of the regular white-tail deer. It's amusing (and, alas, at times dangerous) to see out-of-town drivers taken by surprise if the deer are grazing alongside the road.
Website: http://www.senecawhitedeer.org/
And now I will see if I can post this comment without being forced to create a Blogger account -- I have had to abandon at least four or five comments on your blog in the past few months. Wish me luck!