Not too bad a day. I did a circuit of the Gardens, well away from the few other fresh-air seekers. I changed the litter tray. I got the rubbish into its gull-proof bag, down the steps and onto the railing. That’s about it. I’m very inclined to go to Crombies first thing tomorrow for some sausages.

I watched the Queen last night, and was a bit disappointed. It was recorded, like a Christmas message, with clips interspersed of Britons doing heroic things. When Diana died, the Queen spoke to us live, and it was electrifying. I think I was expecting something like that.

I also think I’m not the only one to be uneasy about the health of the Prime Minister. We’re not being told much, at least, not today.

But on the other hand, I’m having a wonderful time with the Virus Scarf. Weavinfool, yes, it is the Blue Sky 21-color scarf, and it’s perfect for these troubled times. The yarn is delicious on the hands, soft and bouncy. (I think “squishy” is the technical term.) The colours are good. The fact that the percentage-achieved can be calculated precisely for the progress line in the sidebar (rows-so-far-knit divided by 524) is gratifying to an obsessive like me. The pattern consists of a row-by-row specification of each stripe and the number of rows it contains, and they can each be struck off once knit, and that’s gratifying too.

I’ll take pics tomorrow.

Reading

There was what I thought a sensationally good article in Saturday’s Financial Times, by the novelist Arundhati Roy, about India and the coronavirus. I asked Alexander if he had seen it, or would he like me to send? And he said they are trying not to accept anything but the most necessary from the outside world, but would I put it aside? That was sort of scary. He recommended her Booker-winning “The God of Small Things”.

I sought it on Amazon, and they told me I already had it. (Amazon could double their profits at a stroke if they stopped preventing silly old fools like me from buying books twice.) Sure enough. And I seem to have read about ¼ of it. I’ve gone back to the beginning and am enjoying it very much.