The student show was hard work – art is hard work. But at least it counts as an outing, I guess. Alexander had been to the Glasgow student show the day before – he liked ours a bit better. I was (am) afraid that my feebleness prevented him and Helen from bounding about through the whole building and perhaps discovering a small treasure. I am very feeble. But we covered the ground and first floor, and went next door to see textiles. There was some interesting machine knitting there.

Mary Lou, thank you very much for your tip – to enlarge the Spring Shawl pattern on the computer and then print it. I only need a relatively small bit. I haven’t tried yet – will I be able to enlarge it? Today’s knitting went well – another six or eight rows and all the stitches added up. I’ll soon be finished with the part which is completely charted.

I’ve also progressed a bit with the Calcutta Cup scarf – the new skein (the yarn is called Croft) wound and joined in.

Non-knit

It was encouraging to learn how many old boys were still about (and on their feet, and compos mentis) for the D-Day anniversary celebrations today.

My mother’s parents had a house on White Rock Lake, just outside of Dallas. I think they bought the plot and planned the house themselves. It was a large plot, virtually a smallholding. They had a cow, and chickens, and a large vegetable garden and a black couple, John and Mary, to look after things. How pleased I was, in childhood, to discover that John was really Mr Macgregor, just like in Peter Rabbit!

We visited there often. It is an almost-paradise, in memory.

The lake was big enough to sail on, but – surely – not so big that you couldn’t see to the far side. Today in the (London) Times it says that the murdered body of a glamorous transsexual has been found floating there. Tempora mutantur..