Lizzie celebrated a belated 21^st birthday yesterday. Isn't this lovely:

The birthday itself, on April 5^th, was celebrated in Chicago. Now that she's home, what she wanted was a family Sunday lunch, so that's what they did. From left to right, Joe, Lizzie, Thomas (this year's bridegroom), Hellie, and Hellie's boyfriend Matt who might have been a fiancé himself if Liverpool had won the League and Hellie had accepted him.

I don't recognise the mosaic (it's been more than three years since we last ventured to London). A wedding anniversary present last year from Greek Helen?

Horticulture

Things are going great guns on the doorstep. I am greatly looking forward to getting a couple more troughs and some big pots and doubling this in spades, next year.

The carrots have come up, replacing Salad Leaves (mild). Can't get the pic -- we'll have to skip the carrots for today.

The lollo rosso lettuce is coming along nicely – it will eventually be thinned down to three or four plants. The empty-seeming pot next to it is where the beetroot are.

And the peas have seized control of the tripod. The idea is not to provide any support, but to hope they will spill picturesquely down the sides. My husband says it won't work. There's a courgette in the middle, nearly swamped. It's meant to trail picturesquely, too. Yesterday I moved the other one, the one whose first true leaves were pecked out while we were in Strathardle a week ago. I'm still curious as to what it will do, so saved it in a pot of its own.

Knitting

Yesterday I managed the minimum I prescribe for myself – that is, I made the circuit once, and a bit more. I am just past the halfway point of round 132 of the borders of the Unst Bridal Shawl. Four to go, after this one! The right-side, odd-numbered rows are getting faster too, as the trellis diminishes to a point over the head of the last full motif and in so doing, reduces the number of k3tog's per repeat. They are what takes the time.

Looking at Scarf Style, now that I have succeeded in locating it, I find that I have tucked inside it a kind message from Judith about the Potato Chip Scarf. I had entirely forgotten. The link is to the result of a Ravelry search for a pattern of that name. There seem to be lots, and there is also one of that ilk in Scarf Style called Ruffles by Amanda Blair Brown, in which the effect is achieved with short rows. Judith's version – she has  written it out for me in full – does away with that. It sounds easy and fun.

Another one for Christmas '14 – although I still hope it will never happen.