Monday, June 24, 2019


I had a good time on the retreat – nice place, good weather. Here we are, just before departure yesterday:



We were a pleasant and very interesting group. I am on the left of the sitting-down-ers. The other oldie was older than I am, spry-er I think, very nimble-witted. Rather encouraging. The other knitter is in the back row, 6th from the left if you count everybody, or third from the left if you count the back row of standees only. My niece is on the far right, but the picture looks nothing like her.

I got three rows done on the Spring Shawl while we were there. Another day of normal knitting will surely finish the first ball of yarn. Then I'll update the sidebar.

The retreat was based on literature. I can very enthusiastically recommend Kipling’s short story, “The Gardener”. I have also read Flannery O’Connor’s story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” – distinctly gritty; and have made a start on Francois Mauriac’s “Nest of Vipers”. I don’t know whether I’ll persevere. All three authors were new to me although I had heard of them of course. The Kindle app on one's iPad makes instant access possible.

On Saturday morning, there we were on the edge of beyond, no newspapers, no access to television. Fr John began our session with a reference to Boris Johnson’s latest troubles, and everybody in the room knew what he was talking about.

The friend who was feeding the cats has clearly had a word with Perdita, who today re-joined the household. She still growls at Paradox, but there is nothing like the shouted obscenities we had when I got back from Shetland. That was when Perdita withdrew to her own quarters. That same friend is going to take me to see Helen's new house on Wednesday.

Today I haven’t knit at all, nor even watched Pointless.

Yesterday was Rachel’s 61st birthday – the first day of the rest of my life.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:40 PM

    So glad you enjyed the retreat. Sounds like maybe Perdita did some soul-searchng of her own. Hope the truce holds.

    Beverly in NJ

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  2. We studied "Le Noeud de Viperes" for French A Level, some fifty years ago. I seem to remember that it had what we have now learned to call an unreliable narrator.

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  3. Or if not soul searching of her own, an objective third party! Happy to hear the retreat was worthwhile. It surprises me that you have never read Kipling at all. Not even the Just So Stories? I may have read The Nest of Vipers, but I have no memory of it. I was at TNNA, the needle arts show, and got some yarn that is a wool/nettle blend from Erika Knight. Now I can try it and see for myself if I feel like a fairy tale character.

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  4. Anonymous1:47 PM

    So glad you are home and enjoyed your retreat...nice picture. missed you. pgnitter

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    1. Hi phknitter... Just curious, are you in Pacific Grove, CA? Or another pg? I work at SVMH and used to live in Salinas, CA

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  5. Welcome home! I'm glad you had a good time and that Perdita kept a civil tongue. Perhaps she understands now that though you might leave, you will return, and she needn't fret too much. I too was away from home, visiting my old home town, NY, where we did not enjoy such lovely weather!

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