Sorry about that. Blame Wimbledon. I’ve just watched Nadal win a five-set thriller. Yesterday Djokovic did the same. That sort of thing cuts badly into knitting-time and blogging-time.

 

Knitting, however, moves forward well. I’ve found the needle gauge and moved the stitches onto a slightly shorter needle. That helps a bit. Since the decrease round, the pattern has become so simple as to be almost difficult.

 

Wordle: I failed again yesterday. Got it in five today. The interesting thing about today’s word is that Alexander, Ketki, Thomas and I all got it without a single brown tile. Mark spoiled the group symmetry a bit by having two.

 

Helen is safely back for the moment. She had a good, hard-working time, I think, teaching mosaic-making on Mt Pelion. There were three couples from Texas in her class, Texan as all get out, enthusiastic Trump supporters. She found them delightful. Life is full of similar surprises. Lisa, she was delighted with the postcard, and more than a bit envious that you managed to see the Unswept Floor in the Vatican museum. It is a favourite of hers; she has made an adaptation of it. But she has never managed to see the original.

 

A physiotherapist brought me an outdoor walker today. I hope to take it for a spin tomorrow. Current thinking on the hip is that I will press forward enthusiastically with exercising, and wait for my NHS referral to orthopaedics to come up with an appointment. I would probably have to wait quite a while for an actual hip operation, but the hope is that orthopaedic advice may come fairly soon.