Dear Friends,

Thank you for your messages. My husband died on Monday evening. Helen and Alexander and I were with him, as we had been all day. He had seen, and known, Rachel and James in the few days preceding. And he was at home, as he very much wanted to be, and as he had been for the preceding six months. It was a “good death”, insofar as that is not too  much of an oxymoron.

I am doing fine, again supported by my excellent children, and my cat. Don’t worry.

I haven’t touched my knitting all week. This worries me a bit. I hope the wonderful Poilliwog won’t be overwhelmed in gloom. The birth of its wearer, Miss Kiernan, any moment now, may spur me forward. I remember an Aran sweater, probably my first, knit during some pregnancy or other, finished, pretty good – certainly a good size for the teenager next door. But I couldn’t look at it without feeling the nausea of early pregnancy, and was glad to see it out the door.

The knitting that tempts me is Debbie New’s fantastic socks, on the cover of the XRX Sock Book. I’ve looked at them often. Have I even attempted a stitch or two? Maybe I’ll try again – not to think of finishing, just to get to grips with the idea.

I have exercised my prerogative as a newly-made rich widow (I hope) by booking my cruise.

I read about them in some newspaper not long ago. When the EU Common Fishing Policy forced many West Coast fishermen out of business, two enterprising souls converted a pair of decommissioned boats and started offering cruises of the Hebrides. (The Scottish fishing industry is one group of people who welcome Brexit with open arms.)

They have had a great success, so much so that they have now had a somewhat more stable boat of the same size built for themselves locally. They make a feature of local food, including sometimes lobsters fished from the boat. They’re all sold out for this year. I’ve booked myself in for July, ’18.

The newspaper article reported the owner as saying, interestingly, that after 12 passengers, you have to go up to 50 before you make a profit again. So 12 it is, with four crew.

In all these 60+ years, I have never set foot on a Hebride. I find I could have had the Mekong Delta for about the same price, but

            a) that would have involved airports and long flights

            b) and health insurance, not easy at my advanced age

            c) and renewing my passport

            d) and anyway I have no interest in the Mekong Delta