The idea of plugging the camera in and then accessing it as a device, didn't work – when I tried to copy or move pics, I got an error message somewhat to the effect that the device named was in use; totally unintelligible. I'll keep at it. Meanwhile, I had to fire up old Slowcoach yesterday – I'll explain the problem in a moment; it would be wonderful if you could help with that one – so I mailed the picture to myself, and here it is:

That's the centre of the Unst Bridal Shawl, with the fifth repeat (of 19, I think I said) in process. Not a very good picture. I'm pleased with the effect. The pattern offers a couple of alternative centres, but I didn't linger over them. The repeat is 18 rows, 6 of which are plain-vanilla garter stitch. You wouldn't think so to look at it.

Cup Runneth Over Dep't

IK turned up yesterday – the spring issue, which seems more appropriate to the season than VK's winter one. I haven't finished taking it in yet, but I like what I see so far. I think I'm in favour of the new, post-Eunny editor. Shirley Paden's shawl is nice – I'm a fan of hers.

Computer Problem

(This is going to be totally boring for almost all – but the few who read on, may be able to help with a serious recurring problem.)

My husband and I are both using Open Office, and I'm getting pretty good at it. But I'm stuck on this one,

He has several hundred files, each concerning a different picture by his artist, each with its own footnotes. Endnotes, actually. I have had to translate each file from DOS-based Word Perfect to modern Word Perfect to Microsoft Word, and sometimes this process has thrown up mild formatting issues – they tend to come out right & left justified; he prefers left only. Sometimes the indentation is odd, usually because he's put it in with the space bar. I can deal with that sort of thing.

But sometimes we find the endnotes, not together at the end where they belong, but broken up, a bunch here, a bunch there. My husband flies into a rage, thinking that half the notes are lost. The only thing I can do about that is fire up Old Slowcoach, load the file into Word, go to Insert>Reference>Footnote, change to Endnote, and tell the program that I want the notes at the end of the document, not at the end of a “section”. In this situation, I always find that the note numbering has been changed to Roman numerals; I switch back to Arabic.

The equivalent Insert>Reference>Footnote process in Open Office doesn't have any options about end of section/end of document, nor about the style of numbering. These options must exist somewhere. When I re-load the file into Open Office after the process just described, the program obeys – the notes are at the end, the numbering is Arabic.

Pretty recondite problem. All suggestions very gratefully received. Computers are funny beasts.

Medical

I started feeling much better yesterday evening, after a grim week in which I thought there was nothing to look forward to but endoscopy and death. It would be wonderful if that nice young dr is right, and the trouble was those osteoporosis pills. Wednesday was my day for pill-taking and I much enjoyed not doing it – maybe that's relevant. He has referred me for a bone scan which will no doubt take place in the fullness of time.

Gratuitous Picture of Grandchild 

Rachel's son Joe got to interview the former England rugby great Jonny Wilkinson this week. That's Joe on the right. "He was very nice, not very tall and completely normal", was Joe's verdict. What I want to know is whether Joe told Wilkinson that he (Jonny) once signed a souvenir half-sized rugby ball for him (Joe) after a match at Twickenham. I think he was kind enough to add a couple of words of greeting to the signature. Joe and that ball were inseparable for many months. If memory serves (not entirely reliable) he was clutching it at his cousin Kirsty's Christening in Cornwall -- hundreds of miles from Twickenham -- early in 2001.