It has been another quite pleasant-looking day out there. Again, I stayed in. But Helen came to see me, safely home from Greece. Her husband David will follow on Thursday, and they will all decamp to Strathardle for Easter.

 

Knitting went well. I did my final scallop yesterday evening, and am in the same position today: one to go. When I achieve it, I’ll be halfway along the fourth (and final) side of the shawl.

 

Archie’s younger brothers Mungo and Fergus are coming to see me tomorrow, to cook a Mindful Chef package (somewhat augmented) for our lunch. That will be fun. Mungo read Arabic at Oxford and is employed in London in some way that makes use of that language. Fergus is coming up to his last few weeks at Bristol University. I gather the ordeal of Final Exams is not what it was in my day. Archie can’t come tomorrow because his job assisting and supporting autistic people involves a shift at an inconvenient time.

 

Helen and I are going to visit a care home tomorrow morning, somewhat closer and slightly cheaper than the one where I spent a tranquil fortnight last May. We are trying to set up a family conference ( me, Helen, Rachel, Ketki) in Easter week, to discuss My Future.

 

Biden: Lynda kindly sent me a link to an article in the Washington Post about Biden’s non-appearance at the Coronation, “hewing to precedent”. It was interesting to read about it with an American slant. What a curious situation it is: America rich and powerful and deeply divided, stuck in the 18^th century. Britain impoverished and diminished, trying to move into the 21^st. Whatever Biden’s reasons for staying away, it still seems to me a most unfortunate coincidence that he is able to prance about a part of the King’s realm only a couple of weeks beforehand. I was glad to learn that Clinton will be part of the Good Friday Agreement party.

 

Wordle: my starters served me well today. I had an easy three. Alexander and Theo were the other threes. Roger was the only five. Fours elsewhere.