Thursday, November 28, 2019


A strenuous day, or so it felt. I had an Italian lesson at seven this morning, and slept uneasily in anticipation of my early rise. All went well. My tutor said that my written Italian is better than my spoken. I was pleased at first, then less so. I continue to flounder around like a three-year-old.

Then a man came to see me about a door. Then Archie came, but didn’t succeed in getting my printer back into action.

Alexander said last night, of his son Thomas, “He seems to be enjoying lolling about at home, doing what he does best”. No further news today.

Thank you for reminding me of when I knit Gudrun’s hap. Only three years ago, and I have no memory of it whatsoever (except those YO loops on the edges of the central square). Linda sent me an address for a picture of it being blocked: http://jeanmiles.blogspot.com/2016/10/all-well.html. (Sorry to spell it out like that – it doesn’t seem to work when I insert it as a link.)

I was taken aback, not just at the forgetting, but at how much more energetic I sounded, three years ago. About to set off for London for great-granddaughter Orla’s Christening. I figured out that the hap must have been for nephew Theo’s son Emmett, and the blog confirms that. And it contains useful information about how much yarn I used.

The South African flag contains an unusual number of colours. I don’t want to tip it towards the old, apartheid flag in my ignorance. Go for green as the main colour? But an Irish friend of my youth told me that green is unlucky for babies. This needs some thought.

Reading, etc.

I’ve finished Middlemarch. I’m going to miss it.

All I wanted to say about Jonathan Miller was a remark about how the mind works. I was sitting with Helen and her husband David a couple of weeks ago, and the conversation turned to the border abbeys, and I remembered being at Fountains with my husband when we passed…..on the stairs. But I couldn’t find the name. All that came up was Alan Bennett, and I knew it wasn’t him.

I could feel that stirring about in my head wasn’t going to produce the answer. But, lying in bed the next morning, I thought, try Googling “Alan Bennett Beyond the Fringe”. That did it.

And now he’s dead. After dementia. Old age is very tough.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:10 AM

    A soft beige or fawn background? In the hot weather much of the countryside looks this tawny shade. You could use some but not all of the flag colours as long as you didn't accidentally recreate those of the old flag......
    JennyS

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  2. Anonymous11:27 AM

    As usual Jean your post brings up a host of issues, not all of which are appropriate to address here mainly because of the lengthiness involved. I need a monthly Knitting-and-Jean-Miles discussion group to explore them to my satisfaction:). But for now I confine myself to saying I remember why the Gudrun hap struck such a chord with me back then. It was the colors that people knitted it in. For me it is always the colors. And a yarn that was enjoyable to knit with in and of itself. Otherwise, I would never finish it. Chloe

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  3. White would work as the background, since it is in the flag, but a softer neutral might be easier for the parents. If Archie can’t get the printer working, there must be a bigger problem. Update drivers?

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