All well. I’m nearly finished with row 95 of the Cameron Shawl border, counting down from 110.

Stashdragon, bless you for the news that Annie Modesitt is writing her blog again. I should have had the wit to look myself. I’ve binged on it, and am pretty well up to date. She’s had a very tough time. Is having…

Queer Joe has posted a 15-minute knitting video on Youtube and plans to go on with it. He’s not as slick as Andrew and Andrea, and is all the more endearing for that. Recommended.

Degrees of Separation

The civil servant who resigned, accusing Priti Patel of all sorts of nastiness, is married to a school friend of Greek Helen’s. The friend uses her maiden name. I know her, but have never met him. I knew that the friend was really Lady Something-or-Other, but didn’t make the connection until Rachel and Helen reminded me. But Helen knows both well – she says they have stayed in Kirkmichael with her.

Burt Lancaster is trickier. Fiona, you’re right, “Il Gattopardo” is the link. The author, in old age, adopted a handsome young man, himself a nobleman. He is still alive, and still handsome. Among his many titles is that of Duke of Palma, and it is his wife who does “Cooking with the Duchess” which Archie and I attended in early ’18. I sat next to the Duke at lunch that day.

When Visconti was making his famous film of “Il Gattopardo” in Palermo e dintorni, the Duke was helpful. I have a picture which I will scan for you when I can find the book of him and Lancaster bending over a table looking at some paper.

Other

The kimchi has calmed down, as expected. A cautious taste suggests that I was right -- the saltiness is less obtrusive now that there is some fizz.