Helen (anon) – it’s no use my trying to leave a comment on your comment. It would just vanish. So I’ll say it here – yes, the Times columnist (Matthew Parris, no need to be shy about his name) mentioned the goats in Llandudno as part of his argument that the animals are planning a takeover. Today Llandudno, tomorrow the world.

I had a good Italian lesson this morning. Sometimes I feel I am making progress, and today was one of the times, “Lockdown” in Italian is “lockdown”.

And, Mary Lou, I’m terribly glad to hear that you’ve got a “Gertrude Jekyll” rose. The thought will enhance my pleasure in my new one. What I really want, though, is a “Perdita”, for obvious reasons. (I’ve said this before, I’m sure.) It’s another Austin rose. It doesn’t seem to be on offer in GB.

I’m toiling through a long base-colour section of the Virus Scarf at the moment. It’s still very pleasant knitting. Shandy, I’m desperately glad to hear that you’re knitting again. It's very necessary, in these troubled times.When I broke my arms – first one, then the other, years apart – and tried to knit too soon, it produced a most uncomfortable feeling as if the arm were swinging free and unattached from the shoulder.

The coronavirus New Yorker (April 13) arrived today, the first of many, perhaps. It’s very good. Today’s Financial Times is alarmingly short of advertisements, but the New Yorker seems to be holding up all right.