Franklin says he lives in central Paris and all is calm and normal. Funny old world, as we’ve often noticed.

 

The knitting has progressed quietly forward. I am carefully not doing too much at a time, and trying hard to concentrate, all for fear of losing the thread and making mistakes. But I have realised (I think) that I’ve got a fortnight before Rachel and Ed will be here – the week after Easter – and that might just be long enough after all to finish the edging and tidy the many ends – I have been dipping into stash and coming up with yarn the moths have been interested in before me, so there are an untoward number of ends. Blocking can be done while R&E are here, and then they can take the shawl back to London with them. As I’ve said, I hate knitting to deadlines, but this one might be worth pressing for.

 

Thank you, again, for your help with my future. Jenny, I didn’t know that there were differences between Scotland and England on inheritance tax. It doesn’t really affect us, since all the property is in Scotland, but it’s interesting. And your notion of lodging somebody here, or renting it out, might well be worth exploring. There is much in what you say, Chloe, about younger generations not being interested in Things. And it is a well-known phenomenon that people think they have Valuable Things (as I do), but the outside world doesn’t agree. That theme turned up only this morning in a private blog that an Oberlin friend of mine – even older than I am, but a good deal sounder of hip – writes to relatives and friends. A friend of hers had a couple of pictures ….but no, not worth anything to speak of.

 

Helen was here this morning, and will be off to Greece early tomorrow to hear the frogs singing the croaking chorus from Aristophanes, as they do in the spring in Greece. A further advantage of modern technology, as well as the ones I mentioned yesterday, is that we can remain in close contact. I’ve just had an appt for a Covid booster at a ridiculously distant site. I think I can deal with that by myself – or, at the worst, take taxis – but I’m glad to be able to confer.

 

Wordle: a very wide spread today. My score was an easy three, and nobody did better: I can assure you of that from the beginning. Mark and Alexander and Theo were the other threes. Four for Roger and Daughter-Rachel. The outliers were Thomas, with five, and poor Ketki (of all people) who failed. She had ???, ???, grn, grn, grn for line two. And also for lines three, four, and five. It looks as if she sort of went to pieces, in line six.

 

Chloe, I think you should join us in actually doing Wordle. It’s simple and brilliant.