Peering anxiously out of the window, I would say that things are slightly better today. Slightly. I didn’t go to Mass  – C. came here afterwards and we had a nice time. And without her visit I wouldn’t have known that the new dramatization of another of JK Rowling’s Cameron Strikes starts this evening.

 

Knitting has progressed reasonably well. I measured Fergus’ sweater more or less properly on the kitchen table. I think I may need to go all the way to the next six-over-six cross before the back of the sweater is the right length. I’m halfway there.

 

Kate Davies has given us Allover-club members an essay on steeking. It can’t very well appear in the book since it is full of live links. That’s OK by me. Her standards for finishing a steek are a good deal higher than mine. We get a new pattern tomorrow – that’s always exciting.

 

Today’s newspapers are already full of photographs-of-the-year. And we’ve still got nearly a month to go before life resumes a peaceful course.

 

Listening to the radio as I was falling asleep last night – as I regularly do – I learned that Tom Lehrer wrote a Christmas carol (“Hark the Herald Tribune sings…”). You’ll  find it by typing in Youtube Lehrer Christmas Carol. I love him unreservedly, and am happy to be assured that he is still alive despite being measurably older than I am. Not many people are (both alive and that old). The Christmas carol is far from his best, but I am glad to have made its acquaintance. “Wernher von Braun” is my absolute fave. Devastating, but not a syllable that would have done Herr Braun any good in a libel court.

Wordle: I was the first to log in this morning, with a three which I was rather proud of, and for a while I thought I had beaten them all. But no — Thomas also scored three. Theo got four, Alexander and his wife Ketki and their friend Mark five, Big Rachel six.

KirstenM — comment Friday — I, too, would benefit greatly from some restriction on Freecell-playing. Other than strength of character, which I lack. If I update my computer, will I still have it? I insist on the Microsoft version.