Well, wow!
I was surprised to find how much the crowd loved
Nadal. There was support, more than polite, for Muller – but much more for
Nadal. I would have expected a Wimbledon crowd to group behind the underdog,
given that Nadal was neither English nor Federer.
I kept remembering, not much to the point, how we went
to CT in (what must have been) 1996 for my mother’s 90th birthday in
late October. Clinton was standing for re-election. I had been uneasy about him
– them – from the beginning, and expressed this unease again. My mother said
that she was absolutely behind him, being always for the underdog.
This was an idiotic statement; and to her credit – despite being 90, and a
lifelong Democrat – she corrected it. The underdog, of course, was poor old
Dole with his withered arm. I’m sure she voted for Clinton anyway.
Prince Felix (was it?) of Luxembourg was there yesterday
to support Muller. But if the post-match interviewer expected Muller to be even
mildly excited at the news, the attempt failed. There are only 50 people in
Luxembourg. Prince Felix, who plays a pretty good game of tennis himself, was
an old friend, we were told; of course he was there.
The BBC remained determined to keep me away from Venus
Williams. She was first on Centre Court yesterday, to be followed by Murray.
When transmission started, only one channel was available and that, of course,
had to be devoted to the British Girl. So I watched the midday news, and waited
until that channel was available for tennis. Fifteen minutes of silliness – and
then they went to an outside court. I managed to find Venus on the “red button”
for her last few games, and she looked very good indeed.
Not much knitting. Nadal-Muller knocked the needles
from one’s hands. I have, however, finished the basic patterning of the
Northmavine Hap, and am now embarking on a top garter stitch edge. The colours
all lasted the course, although without much to spare. I thought recently that
I had mastered the problem I have previously mentioned to you, and could read
the pattern in my knitting and keep everything properly lined up. It all went
wrong at the end (Wimbledon?). I don’t care.
But I don’t think I had any such difficulty knitting
Gudrun’s Hansel Hap at the end of last year – also feather-and-fan.
I love all your posts, Jean! But this was an especially fun one. I keep trying to find Tour de France coverage on America TV (good knitting and travelogue side benefits) but obviously I should be watching Wimbledon instead! Chloe
ReplyDeleteTour de France is on American NBC Sports. See the web site http://www.nbcsports.com/cycling.
DeleteWant that mTch incredible? I had to watch with the sound off being at work but admired muller. Whatever he has done in the past year he was in top form.
ReplyDeleteOf course I was happier that my guy RF won. And now we are into the fine and few rounds.
I found another knitting podcast you might like. Her name is Ella and she lives in/on Shetland and works for a wool company. She handknits/machine knits/designs. She's young and chatty (and must be smart). My only complaint is that she pronounced Cowichan wrong. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest so I know this. The camp in British Columbia where we spent weeks every summer for a while still sold woolens in the Totem Trader. A developer who had invented the varible pitch propeller invested in property on the Princess Louisa Inlet and built a "resort" for Hollywood types (rich ones) and that's why the camp had a woolen shop. When the endeavor failed (it's cold in northern British Columbia) Young Life bought it (and still owns it today) and we longed for those authentic Cowichan sweaters. We were poor Christian workers and couldn't afford $100 sweaters (they are 4 to 5 times that price now). Anyway, I am crazy about Cowichan sweaters and have a Chinook pattern I ordered from Etsy but Ella suggested the Japanese version of Canadian Knits for Cowichan graphs/designs and I ordered the Chinese version as I'm sure the charts at least will be fascinating. Yeah, I can't read Chinese 😂.
ReplyDeleteI can't talk tennis 🎾 but I'm glad you are enjoying It and I hope you'll see more of Venus.
How DOES one pronounce "Cowichan"?
Delete-- Gretchen (aka stashdragon)
We pronounced it COW-ichan not Cow-I-chan (with the emphasis on the eeeee sound😊) I looked it up to be sure. Cowichan: a Salishan people of Vancouver Island.
DeleteWe have the opposite problem here - it is all Williams all the time, when I like to see some of the other players. Feather and Fan is easy to mix up, a few wrong YO's and I'm back to fudging.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barbara-Kay! Chloe
ReplyDelete