Scotland won

I'll say it again: Scotland won. The young men jumped into each other's arms for joy like football players, at the end.

It was most unexpected. Ireland played more stylish rugby throughout. Most of the action, all afternoon, was in Scotland’s half of the field (where Ireland needed to be, to score). The last few minutes, heart-stoppingly, were played out within inches of the Scottish line. Ireland were ahead 8-0 at one point, but subsequently Scotland were awarded four penalties and Greg Laidlaw kicked them all. 12-8, final score.

We seem to go in for world-class kickers (Gavin Hastings, Chris Paterson), whatever chaos reigns in the rest of the team. If Ireland had kicked as well, they would have won – their boy missed five kickable points.

Religion

The cathedral is our parish church. We don’t see the Cardinal there very often – but he always turns up for Christmas and for the Easter weekend; once recently, touchingly, he stood in when the cathedral clergy couldn’t take the Sunday morning Masses. And there are special occasions.

We have started going to Our Lady Star of the Sea in Leith a couple of miles away. My husband can’t walk as far as the cathedral any more. Our Lady S of the S is a pretty church, very friendly, with plenty of parking. Yesterday the priest there read out a sermon by the Cardinal about the Pope and the Conclave – he told us that the Cardinal was preaching that very sermon at that very moment in the cathedral at the other end of Leith Walk.

But he wasn’t. He didn’t turn up. Was that a mistake? But the cathedral must have been full to the rafters with cameras and newsmen. It could have been awkward. He has no one to protect him or keep order except a couple of clergymen.

The Today program seems to be steering clear of the story this morning. They have a stout, possibly errant Liberal Democrat peer to talk about instead. But it (the story) is not going to go away for a while.

Knitting

Another row of eyelets. I did iron the bottom edge and I think it will stay flat (although you can see it trying to flip, there on the right). I am grateful for yesterday’s suggestions, and you can be sure I will employ one of them if there’s trouble. It’s got to be flat. I continue to love the feel and the drape, and to be pleased with the look of it, size-wise. The designer would have had it more abundant, for one of my bulk. Notice the new ball of yarn.

If my guesses about percentage are right (see sidebar), it’s still got a slight lead on Lent. I reckon that the latter is about 29% over, not counting today. Lent should soon catch up and overtake.

The Purl Bee is offering a wonderful seed stitch wrap – not just 11 different colours, but 11 different yarns. One can so easily imagine snuggling down in it in weather like this. But could one endure working that much seed stitch?