The Mileses have gone out for a Chinese, with their son Alistair.

 

We had another nice day. C. brought me back here after Mass, and she and James had a happy time with family photographs she had brought along. Heterosexuality seems very strange at moments like that – that, although closely related to James, I wasn’t related to any of the people in the pictures. James and C. are first cousins, so they were very much her relatives too. Then we all had a jolly lunch which Cathy had gone up to Marks and Spencer to fetch. Helen was with us, in good form. She has since driven off to Kirkmichael, for yet another confrontation with our neighbour.

 

I didn’t do more than a few stitches of knitting. I’ve finished the 13^th pattern repeat in the centre of the new shawl. One more is required, and then some rows of garter st. The first skein of yarn will clearly be enough. I’m moving forward.

 

I keep meaning to tell you that I am reading “The Secrets of Wishtide”  by Kate Saunders. Her obituary was in the Times last week. My husband and I sometimes picked up interesting reading books by reading obituaries, and this is another one. It is a representative of genre I particularly dislike – historical detective. But I’m greatly enjoying this one. I’m having a bit of difficulty keeping the characters straight, but that’s where Kindle scores. I can (and do) stop and look them up and refresh my memory.

 

But the main book news is that I have pre-ordered (at considerable expense) Annemor Sundbo’s “Norway’s Knitted Heritage”. Meg was positively apoplectic with enthusiasm. But – oh! I fear this is so frequent and so sad a story – Amazon proved to be cheaper, and of course the book wouldn’t have to cross the sea and come back again,  I ordered from them. Will I ever knit Norwegian again? Still, it sounds as if this one belongs in my library.

 

Wordle: I was again among the Dunces of the Day: five – and I needed help from Cathy to achieve that. Thomas and Rachel joined me with that unimpressive score. Fours elsewhere – there were no threes. Cathy isn’t a Wordle-doer. I think she would enjoy it. She fears its too competitive.