Shandy, I couldn’t let you make such a sacrifice! I will feel much better once I am safely back from next week’s wedding, with no further travel in sight until next year’s cruise. (I hope to go to Strathardle in August, but that doesn’t count because I will have my dear cats with me. And also I know where I'm going.)

 I remember where I am in “North and South”, and what’s going on. I’ll go back to it. Meanwhile the potato famine is not without interest, although there is lots I don’t understand about land tenure. I think the potatoes failed in Scotland, too, but we fared better because we also ate oatmeal, but there may be more to it than that.

The lunch party was successful, and I am sure the cats will be fine. I then watched tennis for a while, although I have abandoned Nadal and Kyrgios to their own devices.

The Grinch who stole Wimbledon from me last year has been at work again. His name is Kevin Anderson. Last year he beat Federer in the quarter-final, meaning that Rachel and I couldn’t see Federer in the semi-final despite having Centre Court tickets. Then, on Centre Court, Anderson played the longest and most boring semi-final in Wimbledon history so that we couldn’t see Nadal and Djokovic either. (They’ve changed the rules: a match of that epic tedium is no longer possible.)

Yesterday he was on Court Two. The final match on that court was to be Coco Gauff, the 15-year-old American sensation. But Anderson’s match dragged on, and Court One was finished, so they put up the roof there and moved Gauff over –and wouldn’t let the Court Two spectators in.They had sat there all afternoon in vain, watching Anderson and looking forward to Gauff.

She won handily, in straight sets, I am glad to say.

I did a bit of knitting today but not much. Lunch left me very tired, although Archie did all the work.