Daniela’s back. She brought me flowers and chocolates. Ridiculous. But wonderful to see her. She’s looking very well, after three months in Romania.

 

The top of my Promotions screen, an hour ago, was what I thought was a brilliant business idea. It’s gone now. I’m sure I didn’t delete. It was for home-delivered ready-cooked meals – so far, so hum-drum. But the point was, they were cooked locally by local people, mostly ethnic, cooking their own food. Neither desperately expensive nor desperately cheap. I’ve forgotten the name, alas. Something slightly jocular. And it’s not in my computer rubbish bin. Where on earth could it be?

 

Amazon’s cider delivery came earlier than ever before, between 12 and 1. Most of the morning was spent on anxious study of the live map, as mentioned yesterday. I’m so slow on my feet these days that I am glad to be able to move to a position near the door when I know that the delivery, too, is near. Once it was here, I was able to have a civilised lunch with the first bottle, followed by a civilised nap. After that I caught up with the knitting a bit, and am ready for the ribbing on the first Evendoon sleeve. This is the point where one regrets top-down slightly – all that twirling it around in one’s lap.

 

Reading: I’ve just finished Le Carre’s “A Small Town in Germany” which I didn’t enjoy. I think he’s a near-great writer whom the 22^nd century will read as we read Trollope. But I didn’t like that one. I went on to “O Caledonia” recommended in the Sunday Times this week and sounding just my sort of thing – decrepit castle somewhere in Scotland, large family. I’m not liking that one either.

     You praise the firm restraint with which they write.

         I’m with you there, of course.

    They use the snaffle and the bit, of course –

        But where’s the bloody horse?

 

That was part of our family vocabulary, whenever I tried to slip a vegetarian meal past my husband. “Where’s the bloody horse?”

 

So I’ve fished a Ruth Rendell out of my Kindle archives and am enjoying it enormously.

 

Wordle: I’m getting better, as a result of being a member of our little group. The secret is not to put in a “Jean word” but to hold out for one which might actually be right. I did it in three again today, joined by Ketki and Mark. Thomas and his father Alexander needed four.