Thank you for all your kind messages, very much indeed.

My husband is making progress, I think, although not as briskly as I might have hoped. He is on a course of (fairly strong, I presume) antibiotics for the chest infection. That will finish this weekend, and it is entirely possible that he will feel more sprightly when it is done. I am to bring in slippers today – that's progress. He has been completely bedridden for five days now (counting today) and muscles must be wasting.

My sister was here when it all happened, thank goodness. In some ways Thursday was the worst, when he was visibly weaker than usual and lacking in appetite. I even asked if she could stay a few days longer. But on Friday morning it was obvious I had to call the dr and from there on out we were in the capable hands of the NHS.

I think we've arranged an Emergency Proxy Vote for him. It is greatly to the credit of British democracy, I feel, that there is provision for such a thing. Of course there's proxy voting, and postal voting (rather too much, if you listen to me). But there is also a special provision for people who are struck down in the last few days before a poll.

The only difficulty is, he wants to vote SNP. We've still got 48 hours to talk sense to him. I wish he could have seen the news last night. A perfectly harmless Labour election rally on the streets of Glasgow – involving their new leader, Jim Murphy, whom I'm rather keen on – had to be abandoned in the face of an aggressive-bordering-on-violent SNP attack. Then we saw Sturgeon saying it was nothing to do with her. I couldn't be the only one to have had a brief flicker in which I thought of Germany in the 30's. Austerity, financial crisis, it's-all-their-fault: the elements are familiar.

They'll probably come and get me before lunchtime.

Let's switch to knitting.

We had excellent pictures on Sunday of the new princess. Googling reveals that the shawl comes from the same firm (G.H. Hurt in Nottingham) as the one her brother was carried home in, and may indeed be the same shawl. The Mail says that one was presented to the royals when Prince Charles was born – that happened in Buckingham Palace, I think, so he didn't have to be carried anywhere. And then there was another for Prince William.

But Googling this morning produces nothing, zilch, nada, about that cap. It must be hand-knit, and it's very neat. Her elder brother Prince George was born in July and went home bare-headed. The knitosphere will inform us shortly, I'm sure. Let me know when you spot anything.

As for me, not much. Hospital visiting is enormously tiring, as you say. I come home and go to bed at 7 and then wake up in the early hours. I did a bit better yesterday (stayed up until 8) and finished off the 7^th pattern repeat (of 10) on the back of the Sous Sous. Time to switch back to the Tokyo shawl.

Alexander is coming back today for another visit to his father, and today is the day for my cloudy eye to be laser-treated. It's all go.