Safely there, safely back. We had a grand time, in beautiful weather, but very cold. Paradox rediscovered her talent for mousing. The papers are full of rich people with Second Homes retiring to the country for social isolation, to the irritation of the locals, but I prefer to hunker down here. I'm very glad to be safely back, cats and all.

It is strange to reflect that we are all, to a considerable extent, thinking about the same things today. And yesterday, and tomorrow.

My May small-boat cruise to the upper left hand corner of the Scottish mainland has been cancelled. I gave up hope at least a week ago, but it is still sad news. C. and I will probably re-book, but the length of time for which I need to stay alive and on my feet is obviously increased thereby. Among the many pleasures of anticipation has been the choosing, rejecting, re-choosing of my cruise wardrobe. Maybe I should go ahead and buy one brightly-coloured item.

And I have also been reflecting that this would be a suitable moment for buying yarn for a new project. Absurd, in my case, given how many projects are backed up in the stash collection, and how long it will take to finish the modest accumulation in the progress bar to the right, and how old I am.

What would it be? Brooklyn Tweed’s (and Norah Gaughan’s) “Foldlines”? I bought the pattern, but never the yarn. Indeed, was going to use Madelinetosh of some sort. But now I think, let’s go for Arbor. Something red – there are lots of good ones.

Alexander mentioned the other day the “found poem” which he composed from this blog for my 80^th birthday, and had printed on tea towels. You’ll find it, in full, in the entry for Thursday August 15 2013. He thinks the overall sense of gloom is appropriate to current events, and I agree. What could have been the occasion which prompted me to write: “These are times such as none of us have ever experienced”? Whatever it was, it’s truer now.

When my father was old (=about my present age) and going blind from macular degeneration, he read Gibbon’s Decline and Fall. I don’t know for sure whether he read it because he was going blind. I don’t know whether he finished reading it. But that might be a project worth undertaking. The Weekend Financial Times has a feature in which various pundits suggest various titles to read while one is in social isolation. Someone offers Il Gattopardo; otherwise I’m not terribly impressed with the suggestions. But Gibbon, yes.

I re-engaged with the Oak Park scarf while we were away. Pic tomorrow.