A pretty good day. Alexander came over – his last full day of being 59. Helen came round. Alexander and I walked as far as the corner shop – that was my outing. He got my DVD-player operational. I thought I’d like to watch the famous Visconti movie with Burt Lancaster as Il Gattopardo. Now I can.

Helen says that my dear cleaner will be back from Roumania next week, and that her mother-in-law is better. That's good news. 

And knitting went well. So far there seem to be no problems with knitting the border charts of the Cameron shawl from top to bottom. They start with row 110. I’ve now worked through row 105. This kind of knitting – Shetland lace – has somewhat the same fascination as 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles.

The first ball of yarn is beginning to look a bit depleted, but there’s still a long way to go.

Coronavirus

The Six Nations match between Italy and Ireland in ten days time has been cancelled, or at any rate postponed sine die.. That’s almost as serious as stopping the Venice Carnival. Alexander and Ketki’s sons are planning to go on a school trip to Pompeii soon, and their parents were looking forward to a weekend away on their own. Nothing has been heard from the school yet, but it seems unlikely that the trip will happen. Pompeii is a long way from Lombardy and the Veneto – but the radio said this morning that there are cases in Sicily (which is even farther).

Kristen, I’m sure you’re right that the death rate for the coronavirus is more like 2% than 20%. The news tonight said that about 20% of those infected got seriously ill. Maybe that was meant as a correction. The death rate for oldies like me is around 15% -- that doesn’t sound too bad.

Lent

I decided after all to give up cider completely – so Freecell continues. Maybe abstinence will make me feel stronger in time for the christening in London at the end of March. I’m really beginning to wonder whether I’m up to it.