I'm sorry to have let you down. 

Helen is here and I am dictating to you this morning. I haven't heard from my sister since the election. I miss it as a source of irritation. Now I have nothing to think about except the dreadful state of British politics. I think I can remember a previous occasion longer ago than most can remember when a new Labour government was hoping to put everything right on the profits of 'growth', only there was no growth and things went on as bad as before if not worse. I fear that's where we are again. 

Oh dear, dictation is not a substitute for actual writing but I really can't see very well these days. 

Wordle: 

Even that has deserted me. The Loch Lyne Mileses are on strike, something to do with the newsaper guild. My father, who was a newspaper man, didn't entirely approve of it and never joined. Just as my husband, who was an academic, never joined the association of university lecturers so I have no scruple whatsoever in crossing this virtual picket line. But the three Loch Fyne Mileses have dropped out,  Alexander giving up a winning streak of 104. My current streak is 17. Four today and Rachel Miles was the same but we haven't heard from Mark or the Americans. 

 I’m sorry to have left you in the lurch.  The main problem is failing eyesight. That doesn’t help with knitting either.

Wordle seems to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. I suppose there are only so  many five-letter words in the language. Yesterday Rachel and Ifailrd, with high scores elsewhere,  Today Mark and I got twos

I heard a little talk on the radio about children’s books. The speaker was younger than I am and mentioned some authors I don’t know. She omitted two: Beatrix Potter and Lewis Carroll. How is that possible?. How did an editor fail to catch it? Alice is more quoted than Shakespeare these days.

   I’ll try to write again soon. I’m expecting new glasses. That might help.

.?

I failed .

All well. I am sorry to be so unreliable. I’m feeling pretty well. 

I’ve done some knitting — indeed am near the point when I will divide the work at the armpits. I must send you a picture soon, MaryLou. My eyes are bad, and won't get better but I think I can hold on and finish it. There’s a good stripey  shawl in KD’s shawl book. I could knit that again.

Helen came this morning. We agreed on being bored with constant news stories about Mohammed al Fayed’s predatory ways. (Why is he all over the news of a sudden?)  And puzzled as to why nobody mentions Dodi and Diana who must be on everybody’s mind.

   Helen believes they were murdered because they threatened a major embarrassment to the royal family. I am a devoted follower of William of Ockham whose prime tenet is that the simplest explanation is usually the best, so my vote is that it was an accident. 

  Wordle: four for me today. I’ve got my winning streak back up to 19, after a double failure on the first and second of the month. 

  Nothing to report. I’m comfortable but  increasingly sleepy. I have been prescribed something based on a very modest dose of morphine but have resisted taking it (a) because I don’t need it; it is possible to manoeuvre the hip into a comfortable position; and  b) because morphine seems a step too far at this point in my general decline.

  I’ve finished Waugh’s Men at Arms and proceeded to Pinker’s famous Language Instinct. I think I must have read it long ago because I am assailed by the feeling (and it feels familiar) that Pinker himself doesn’t know enough languages. Is he just talking about English?

   I still haven’t figured out a way to resume knitting.

   Wordle: i am currently in the happy position of having scored three for four successive .days. Yesterday, at least, was pire fluke. My starters gave me three greens.  I thought of a word. I typed it in. It was right. It was only afterwards that I realised there were at least six other possibilities .

   Today I had two greens and two browns and may well have come up with the only answer. Everybody else on the home team had three as well except for Rachel and Ketki who both scored two.  Theo was another three. Roger was today’s dunce with four.

   

   

 I’m sorry.for the gap. Nothing much is wrong — just feebleness. I lie here and listen to Audiobooks, which have improved out of all recognition in recent years. Much is available, intelligently read — often by the author — and unabridged. 

   I’ve listened to Brideshead recently — I don’t think it works any more as Catholic apologetic — and have gone on to Waugh’s WWII trilogy, Men at Arms. There’s lots of Church in that, too. We’ll see if it works. Book 3 is weaker than the other two

   No knitting. I don’t think this chair is quite suitable. I must think of a solution.

   I was disappointed not to have the presidential debate on the World Service, which I listen to all night. Never mind. I’ve got the flavour of it this morning. Harris did well, and may have moved the dial a notch or two in her favour

 Wordle: i failed on both the first and the second of the month. My winning streak is now up to nine. The secret is line three. If I can think of a fully-qualifying word for that one, all is well. This morning I had three browns and a green. I hate anagrams, but got it without too much difficulty. Yesterday I had two browns, a v and a c. I struggled to think of any word (my starters carry off five very useful consonants). When I got one, I typed it in with no confidence at all — and it was right.

   

Every day I resolve to get my keyboard-and-,mouse organised. Every day I fail — more accurately, I don’t start. Here I am pecking with one finger again. Fortunately there is little to report.

   I have been singularly sleepy today. I don’t know whether it’s the sleep of the moribund or just making up for another uncomfortable night. Nights are fairly grim. No knitting, I’m afraid.

   And to add to this litany of woe, I failed at Wordle today. The winning streak was just over 40, and now it’s gone. I used a jean-word in line three. I must avoid that at all costs. Then I got stuck in a Wordle sprcial — four greens with the first letter missing. Pure luck. That’s no comfort.. 

   Three for Thomas and Rachel. Four for Mark and Alexander.Ketki nearly fell into my trap, but clambered out in time: five for her. No news from DC yet. 

 Am I slightly bettter? I hope so. I have been much hovered over by doctors today. Nothing much is wrong. Some of my numbers are slightly raised. They have stopped my “water pill” which certainly makes for a more comfortable life, but probably can’t go on

   Helen and David were here this morning, with the doctor. They will still be around tomorrow, then off to visit Davod’s mother in England somewhere.

   Wordle:  I cheated today — anything to keep the winning streak alive. I had two greens, in positions three and five, and a brown which had to be in position one or two. Most of the others had those two greens.

   Back and forth, up and down I went through the remaining letters, to no avail. So when Helen and David arrived I handed him the iPad. He saw the answer at once.  We scored four.

  Rachel had those two greens on line one and had to struggle all the way through to line five before she got it. Ketki and Mark did it in three. Fellow-fours from Alexander and Thomas. 

Three for Theo, four for Roger. Like Rachel, he had those two greens on line one.

   

Here we are.james was here over the weekend. He has given me. Bluetooth keyboard. Alexander and Ketki have been here today. They figured out how to connect it.`so we’re back in touch!

   Little has happened in my absence. James was here for three nights, sleeping on the dining room floor. It was nice to have Alexander and Ketki, too, although the whole performance has something the air of gathering round a deathbed. Helen and David are at Burnside until Wednesday or Thursday.

   I have enjoyed the Democratic convention enormously. my nephew Theo was there, contributing in some way — he’s a brilliant organiser. 

   Now we run up against a problem. i usually write the Wordle part of this blog flipping back and forth on the iPad — which at the moment is propped up securely so that I can see it as I type. I think the solution will be to type a Wordle section early in the day, before Bluetoothing. We may have to have American results a day late.

   Anyway, I scraped home with a six today, and very glad to have it. I had the four greens in line three. And then line four. And then line five. And i could still think of at least two possibilities for line six, but fortunately chose the right one. 

   I think Alexander also had six, and Ketki five. 

   I’ve figured out how to check without disturbing the iPad. We’re making progress here. Mark had a brilliant three, Thomas an even more brilliant two. His starter gave him one green vowel.

 Not a bad day. Jenny, i am sure you’re right that I must be careful about abrupt  changes of position and attentive to blood pressure. They are trying to engage a separate carer to help the first one with transfers and personal cate. I tremble at the expense and will try hard to prove it unnecessary.

   Little else today. Some knitting. The baby sweater is looking wonderful and deserves to be finished but I wonder if I’ll make it. There’s still plenty of time.

   But mostly I have just lain here peacefully listening  to Middlemarch. It’s terribly good. During the night I listened to the Democratic Convention, perforce. What a pleasant voice for shouting  Michelle has! I am afraid Kamala is a bit shrill.

   Wordle:  Nicely divided today. Four for me and Rachel and Mark. Five for Alexander Astonishing twos for Ketki and her son Thomas. 

Across the pond, it was 5 for Roger and no news from Theo

   

 Here we are.

   I got that far yesterday. We’ll see what I achieve today. I continue in reasonable health, but with the feeling that I have slipped down a notch or two. I have had some semi-blackouts while on the commode. I attribute this to trying to stand up too fast after a peaceful couple of hours listening to “Middlemarch” while lounging on my back. Others attribute more sinister causes.

    Helen was here at lunchtime, with her oldest bestest friend. Nice visit. I remembered the time when I met them in the midst of their first serious exams, Mods. They were required to dress up, since this was Oxford. A tourist approached us reverently and asked if this was graduation. I said no, this was examinations, graduation had been last week. I would happily have explained but the poor tourist slunk away.

  Franklin is posting a million times a day on Facebook. I can keep up as long as he posts only twice or thrice, but this is too much.

   Wordle: five for me again.Likewise for Rachel and Ketki.Four for Mark and Thomas.  A stunning two for Alexander. four for both Roger and Theo. Yesterday the considerable majority scored four, including me.

 I am going to leave this text less corrected tonight. I need a proper keyboard for the iPad.  I’m never going to get bCk to that laptop. Correction takes a long time.

    A quiet dY. C, came. Helen came kn the afternoon so that I wouldn’t be alone during the carer’s break. James is threatening to. O,e back next weekens. I don’t think things afe quite that bad.

   A lawyer is coming tomorrow to talk about minimizing inheritance tax. I think i’ve done all thT can reasonably be done but we’ll see.

   Wordle — a stinker. Rachel and Ketki and I all got six. No Jean-words, so by then I had eliminated a lot of comsonants. I just had to pick one that was pronouncable and keep fingers crossed. My winning streak is now 30. 

     Four for Mark and Alexander, three for clever Thomas. Five for both Roger and Theo. A stinker all around. At leSt it didn’t beat any of us.

  

 Slightly better today. Better appetite, certainly. Less dehydration. Helen and Alexander and Ketki all slept here last night. Bliss! They will all be back on Monday when a lawyer will come to advise on estate planning. I fear there is nothing to be done. I just hope the govt will leave me enuf to end my days at home in relative comfort

   Sleeping in the upsy-downsy chair was only a partial success.   Necrotic hip and sore bottom were completely fine. But I couldn’t sleep. Back to bed tonight.

   Thank you for your messages. 

   Wordle: I had a relatively good three today, joined there by Rachel and  Mark and Thomas. Alexander and Ketki needed four. Four for Theo, five for Roger. If disaster was going to strike, today it was usually in the fifth letter. I was lucky.

  

I am beginning to think I may  have lurched downwards in the last few days or so. Helen and my carer summoned a doctor again because my blood pressure was low and instead of going through the old routine of temperature-oxygen saturation-heart rate he talked sensibly about the end-game.

  No hospital if it can be avoided. No strenuous resurrection. Keep me comfortable. Sounds good. Meanwhile poor Alexander is on his way to see me because  of a blackout I am said to have had. I think I was there the whole time.

  No knitting. That’s bad. Part of the trouble —indeed a whole lot of it — is that I sleep very badly at night and then have to make up for it by sleeping all day. I think I’m going to try sleeping in my upsy-downsy chair tonight. I am much more comfortable here. Alexander and Ketki will stay in my bedroom, Helen in the diing room. All waiting for the funeral.

   Wordle: five for me, all genuine words  I got stuck for lack of the fourth letter. Five for Thomas — his problem was  the first letter. Four for Rachel. Three for Alexander and Mark. A brilliant TWO for Ketki.  Four for Roger. Three fornTheo.

    

 Not an entirely bad day except for lack of appetite. Helen has been here, always a pleasure, so that I would not be alone even during my carer’s afternoon break. Knitting has progressed, slowly. It is not comfortable to knit in my relatively new upsy-downsy chair. Is that what has slowed me?

Wordle: five today — and no Jean-words, either. Starters gave me a green and three browns. Ditto line three. Line four was better — four greens.

Rachel had four. Everyone else over here was three. No news from either of the American contingent yet.

 Sorry for the gap. Yesterday was the birthday, of course, and a very pleasant day too. Not too many people and all nicely strung out. James and Cathy were here at the weekend. Rachel came on Monday and has just now gone away, already much missed.

   Helen was in Ireland last week, staying with and learning from an Irish mosaicist. This week they are in Edinburgh with Helen leading. 

   The knitting is moving forward slowly. I’ve finished the initial 10 rounds of in-the-round garter, humiliated that I, who fancied myself as a knitter once, should be brought down by so basic a pattern. There are mistakes. I have left them. They mostly (or entirely) consist of turning around and setting off i  the wrong direction. That is less likely now that I have embarked on a st st section,

   (Mary Lou Egan’s “Overlap Pullover DK” Ravelry. V highly recommended.)

   Wordle: my starters gave me all five letters today, one of them green. Tnreefor me— anc Thomas and  Mark and Alexander. Ketki and Rachel were hoist by the familiar Wordld petard. They had everything except the second letter, and there were lots of possibilities. Both scraped home with six.

   Both Theo and Roger had second-letter difficulties. Theo fought his way free in four, but Roger was another four.

   Thank you for your birthday greetings.

   

 I’m sorry for the gap. James and Cathy have been here, for a very nice visit indeed, and tomorrow the hordes begin to gather for my borthday on Tuesday.

   The uarn arrived from Syephen and Penelope.  Athy and I got the fit skein wound. I found a corcular needle of the right length and gague, surprisingly easily. And today I cast on and plunged in.

   I doubt if I’ll get much knitting done beyond this. Breath a nd eyesight are alike failing. But they’ll be able show him pictures of my 91st birthday and say, look, that’s somethings she was knitting for you.

   I feel sure that “him” is the right pronoun, but you never know.

   The pattern is Mary Lou’s “Overlap Pullover Dk”. It’s in Ravelry. It’s wonderful. The yarn is German, called WALK. Dk merino, washable. My shade is called Manhattan.

  Wordle: undistinguished scores from the missing days, but at least no failures. Three  today!

 No yarn yet. Stephen and Penelope say they’ve sent it. The carrier says there is a delay. I can but wait. Well, I could knit something else I suppose.

   Lots of activity today. My friend who reads the bible with me brought along a seminarian this morning, a thoroughly nice man. He is studying in Rome, here for the summer to help in the parish. I sympathised about the weather but he seemed to think that Rome in the summer could have disadvantages — and even that cool grey Scotland wasn’t all that bad.

   Then Alexander came back, this time with all his family. They reported well of Burnside. Helen is about to have some changes made so that she and her family can actually live there. I think they brought some things away.

   The  lunch. Then Archie came, too late to be fed.

   Finally a bit of nap.

   Wordle: I would almost say, same old, same old. A green and two browns from my starters. A carefully-selected and fully-deliberate Jean-word for line three — now three greens. And the right guess, for line four.

   Alexander and Mark did it in three. Poor Rachel got stuck in a Wordle special and limped in with a six. Fellow-fours for the others. More fours from Theo and Roger.

   My winning streak has reached 20. It’s a start. 

   

 Well, here we are again. I’m pretty feeble but perhaps a bit better than the worst.

   I’m disappointed that Harrix, having rejected Shapiro, didn’t choose the ex-astronaut for her VP, but her actual choice sounds pretty good too. Better than Sarah Palin, 

   I have continued to pursue Jeremy Bamber. I hope I’m ready to stop. I think, in the end, I incline towards his innocence.

   The yarn from Stephen and Penelope should be here at any moment. I hope I will be strong enough to knit it.

   Wordle: a shameful six for me. But I thot I was beaten, so it was a great relief. The starters produced one brown vowel. AJean-word in line three advanced me nothing, except to establish another place where the vowel couldn’t be. Four was a real guess. Five was a Jean-word. I’m lucky to have got it.

   No one else was so dim. Fours for Mark Thomas, Ketki and Alexander. Five for Rachel. Four for Theo. Five for Roger. 

  

 I am sorry about yesterday. I had nothing to say, is all. I’m not terribly well. No appetite at all. I live on Complan and milkshakes and Waitrose’ delicious gazpacho. And cider.

   Mary Lou, yes, you had indeed inserted the pattern into my Ravelry library. Now I’m just waiting for the yarn from Stephen and Penelope. And hoping i’ll be strong enuf to do the knitting.

   91st birthday next week.

   Alexander was here this morning, on the way to Burnside with his family. They’ll all be here on Thursday on the way back. Helen is in Ireland all week, perhaps teaching mosaic-making. James is coming at the weekend, Rachel for the birthday itself.

   I continue to be obsessed with Jeremy Bamber despite my promise to let you alone on the subject. I have nearly finished another whole book on the subject. I’d like it to be Sheila (like the New Yorker)  but

   Wordle: I was the worst of all today. Never mind — I got it. Two browns and a green from my starters. A perfectly qualified line three advanced us nowhere. A  carefully-chosen Jean-word in line four helped a lor. I got it in five.

   Four was the everybody-score today, except for Thomas with abrilliant three. Four for Roger. Another brilliant three for Theo 

   

   

 On we go. I have been feeling seriously dim. Weather comme ci, comme ca, mostly ca.

   I am rrady to give up on poor Jeremy Bamber. Helen and her school friend have just breezed through — I won’t see her for another week — and I was able to introduce them to the Bamber website. Jacquie had no memory of the case at all. 

   I’ve got MeryLou’s pattern solidly into Ravelry. Tomorrow’s task must be to check needles and order if necessary.

     Meanwhile we’ e got a good essay from KD about More Work for the Undertaker. Maybe I should read it again. 

    Wordlr: familiar pattern, but I only scraped home with six. All real words too, no Jeans. Starters yielded two browns and a green. Line three made it three greens. Line four: four greens. Line five: no change. I was glad to get it in six.

   Four for Ketki  Rachel and Mark. Five for Thomas. A brilliant three for Alexander. Fives for Theo and Roger both.

   

 

 A day of even less achievement, if that be possible.Better weather, though, which cheers us all up.

   The main thing I’ve got to do is move the pattern Mary Lou recently sent me into my Ravelry library. But I haven’t even approached that chore yet. I also need to check that I’ve got free needles of the right size — Stephen and Penelope won’t be slow with the yarn. But instead I spent the day half-dozing to a whole book about the Bamber case: “The Murders at White House Farm.” I think I am coming around to the view that he did it. The difficulty about either answer is thr position and state of Sheila’s body.

   When I’ve finally finished or abandoned this book, i’ll listen to the New Yorker article again.

   Wordle: yet another. Starters gave me two greens and a brown. I quickly thought of a Line Three and happily typed it in. Trouble was, it was a Jean-word. I had overlooked the omission of the brown. However, it was useful, like many a Jean-word before it. I now had three greens plus the same old brown, and got it easily in four.

    Keyki,Alexander, and Mark all had two — unbelievable! Three for Thomas, fourfor Rachel. Two for Roger, three for Theo. My score is really pretty disgraceful.

   

 A dull day, leaving us all feeling dull. Helen was here this morning, and for lunch, with an old friend from our Birmingham days. 

   I haven’t done much, but I did hunker down to the baby-knitting issue. As long as the gauge is roughly right, I figure, nothing else matters much when you’re knitting for the unborn. If it doesn’t fit this year, it’ll do fine next. I have ordered a couple of bizarrely expensive skeins from Stephen & Penelope.

   And I’ve gone on brooding about Jeremy Bamber. Even if he got a full-scale judicial review, which I think he deserves, he has amassed such a tsunami of evidence — he and his external supporters — that it is hard to see how it could be done.

   I napped today to a whole book on the subject, which so far is filling up space by taking us through the family history. The mother —one of the victims — was at least as unhinged as the daughter, hospitalised for substantial periods, electrotherapy. 

   Wordle: the old story. My starters yielded two green vowels. I thot of a possible for line three. Three greens now. I thought of another possible — not at all likely — for line four. It was right.

   Four, also, for Thomas, Ketki and Rachel. Three for Mark (again!), five for Alexander. Fours for both of the transatlantic contributors, Roger and Theo.

 Less to report than ever. Helen, however, is back from Kirkmichael and may be able to stir me into action.  No knitting. I think I am right about that chair, and Helen agrees that pictures of me knitting show arms and shoulders free and body hunched slightly forward. The wheelchair the NHS gave me will do fine,  but how do I get in and out of it? I’m not allowed to initiate transfers on my own.

   Nor have I chosen a yarn yet.

   I continue to worry about Jeremy Bamber. Helen professes herself persuaded by the New Yorker. Obviously, if there was anyone alive in the house when Jeremy came back with the police, then he’s innocent, end of story. There is some evidence for that, not very strong. Why not concentrate there?

   Wordle: another five for me. The starters gave me a green and a brown. Line three made it three  greens. Line four much the same. I went away and read the newspaper for a while. The answer seemed obvious when I got back.

   Ketki, Rachel and Thomas three. Mark five. Alexander four. Theo and Roger over the pond both three — pretty clever.

  My sister is the only one who has written to me about Jeremy Bamber. I asked Rachel about her encounter with him in an appeal court, when she thought he was guilty. She thinks we’ll never know.  She doesn’t remember much. A friend of a friend was appearing as a barrister — she doesn’t even remember which side he was on.  But i’d welcome any opinion from anyone who got through this week’s article.

   I do a lot of lying awake at night. Last night I cast my mind to the question of why knitting has been so very dim lately (including nothing today), and i wonder if the answer could be my new upsy-downsy chair. But if so, what can I do about it? I must knit something for the new great-grand child.

    Wordle: five for me. I really thot I was beaten. My starters gave me a green and a brown. A titanic struggle produced a good Jean-word: three greens. More titanic struggling. I was completely resigned to failure, wildly typing in anything that could be pronounced.

   Mostly Wordle saved me from myself, but it allowed MENGE in line four. What does that mean?

      Five for Thomas, Alexander, and Rachel. Four for Ketki and Mark. Five for Roger. Silence from Theo so far.

 

I toiled all the way through the New Yorker piece on Jeremy Bamber yesterday. I still don’t know — don’t even think I know — whodunnit. It has to be either Jeremy or his schizophrenic sister Sheila, who was among the dead.

   The New Yorker does not so much try to prove Jeremy innocent as to show that Sheila could have done it. She was the first suspect. The New Yorker is hard on the clumsy police; on the natural family of the deceased (Jeremy was adopted) who disliked him and may have delayed or distorted evidence; on the judges at his trial and appeals (tainted by bad judgments on Irish terrorists or just by being English).     The natural family wound up in brisk possession of the considerable ptoperty, if you want to know cui bono. 

   The author of the article is in touch with Jeremy, who protests his innocence and has made a career of the case.

   Nothing much else to report. I’ve had another dopey day, and my excellent carer isn’t feeling very well. Mary Lou has most generously given me access to an ideal pattern of hers for the 10th great-grandchild and I am thinking about yarn.

   Nor must I think too long. It’s going to be hard work to do this in my current state and I’d best get started. Who would have thot that the will to knit would leave me before my last breath?

  Wordle: yet another four for for me. The usual pattern: three browns  from my starters. A fully-valid line three turned one of them green and added another brown consonant. 

   Others: three for Ketki and (yet again) Mark, four for Alexander and  Rachel (and I). Silence from Thomas.  Still in bed? Four for Roger, five forTheo.

   

 I have been at work all day reading the New Yorker account of the Bamber case.  Hmmm. It’s very long. I am afraid to leave it for fear I can never find my place again. Jeremy Bamber is not very nice, but that’s not a hanging offence.

   So,  no knitting.

   Helen and her friend came this morning, and we got a bit done.

   Kate Davies has posted another pattern in her Summer of Mystery series. We’ll get a proper essay on More Work for the Undertaker at the weekend. I don’t care for the pattern much. 

   I am greatly encouraged at how well Kamala is doing. 

   Wordle: my familiar pattern again. My starters produced four browns. I’m rotten at anagrams. I settled for a Jean-word, omitting one of the browns but otherwise fine, so I would have new places where the other three  browns could or couldn’t be, and two more consonants eliminated or not. It was useful, as such line threes so often are. I now had three greens, and got it in four.

   Rachel andAlexander both did it in two — distressingly brilliant. Three for Mark, four for Thomas, five for Ketki. Three for Roger, five for Theo.

    

 An exciting day. Joe — a grandson — rang up this morning to say that  he and Becca are expecting another baby in February. They’ve already got two. So as far as knitting was concerned, the rest of the day was devoted to thinking about that.

   Your Overlap Baby Sweater is well in the lead, Mary Lou, unless I can find something simpler and chunkier. My eyes are not what they were, nor am I in my first youth. Suggestions welcome.

   C. came. So did Helen, back from Kirkmichael. 

   I learned today that the New Yorker is about to run another big did-he-do-it piece next week, on Jeremy Bamber. There was a television series on that case in 2020. I got very interested. For what it’s worth, Rachel was hanging around the high court at the time of one of his appeals, because she had been called for jury duty, and she came away convinc3d of his guilt

    Wordle: four for me again. The starters gave me two browns. I thought of a word for line three — not at all a good one, but a qualifier. It turned both browns green. 

   Mark, Alexander, Theo and Roger were fellow fours.  Ketki and Thomas did it in three. Rachel needed five. 

 A better day, although largely devoted to sleep. Helen isn’t coming back until tomorrow. She and her friend were going to the sheep-dog trials today.

   That is a local sporting event, famously boring. In my day there was one man (and his dog) who could do it. He is buried next to my husband, but I can’t remember his name.

   One day I was walking to the village behind him. His sheep were in front, and in front of them, his dog. When the foremost sheep reached the track before the cemetery, its gate already open, he whistled to the dog, who translated the message into sheep: “Turn right here.” They did, calmly. The shepherd followed and closed the gate. It was beautiful to watch.

   I got a bit of knitting done today. I think i’ve figured out where I am in the first Spalding sleevd. I’ve figured out how to do half-brioche-in-the-round. Not much progress but a teeny bit.

   Last night’s sleep was better. My carer took a picture of my bottom to send to the district nurse. Everyone keeps telling me it’s getting better. It looks terrible.

   Wordle: four for me today. Starters produced two browns and a fgreen. I put a Jean-word in line three, in order to answer specific questions, which it did brilliantly — I now had three greens. Not much further struggle produced the answer.

   Rachel and Mark were the threes, Ketki and Thomas the fours. Uncharacteristic silence from Alexander. Four from Roger and Theo both.

N 

 A terrible sleepless night last night because of bedsores on my  bottom — I’m stuck in the same position all night because of my necrotic hip.   Then a peaceful day’s sleep today in my reclining chair where both bottom and hip are much more comfortable.  Now it’s nearly time for bed again. Not much of a life. No knitting. I think Helen will be home from Strathardle tomorrow.

    Still, I was conscious long enough greatly to enjoy the Obamas’ endorsement of Harris. I saw it somehow as a package clip with Hillary’s nomination eight years ago — she went straight for the “glass ceiling” idea, even then. Whereas Harris ended on the word “fun”.

    The vice-presidential choice will be interesting. Shapiro of Pennsylvania turns out to be a devout, practising Jew. I fear that wouldn’t leave Harris enough room to manoeuvre on Israel, so I’ll have to switch my choice to the astronaut. 

   Wordle: five for me this morning, but many of us didn’t find it easy. My starters gave me two greens and a brown. I didn’t use any Jean-words today — all legitimate guesses. Line three made it three greens. Line four achieved nothing except to eliminate two more useful letters. There simply weren’t enough left to form any English word. I went off to read my newspaper and suddenly thought of another way of looking at it.

   Ketki and Rachel were fellow-fives. Alexander scraped home with six. Thomas and Mark had fours, which passes as a good score today.

   Roger scored six and Theo five on the far shore today.

    

 Another inert day. The weather is grey, dull, warm. I had probably better make an effort to get out, once Helen gets back who is the only one qualified to use our getting-out machine.

   No knitting, either. No excuse.

   I heard Biden’s speech. I was 3/4’s asleep — it was after midnight, Edinburgh time. It seemed to me pretty banal. Obama’s continued  silence continues to worry me. American politics will now, presumably, cease to absorb for a while.

   Archie came to see me, ostensibly not for lunch but in fact he ate more than I could. 

   Wordle: my starters gave me two browns and a green. I used a Jean-word in line three and now had two greens and a great.y-reduced range of possible places for the brown. I got it in four. The home team were evenly divided between threes and fours, and split along gender lines.

  In DC or thereabouts, Theo got four and Roger three. 

Here I am. It has been what passes around here for an exciting day. Clare came early this morning. Mungo came at lunchtime — and cooked lunch. But by then I was hit by a stone wall of weariness and couldn’t eat. I have somewhat recovered after a good nap.  Mungo and his brother Fergus had a good time in Strathardle but came back yesterday (easily done by train once you get to Pitlochry). Helen will be there until the weekend.

 No more American news. Still no sign from Obama. I like Harris’ youthfulness and energy and cheerfulness. I hope the World Service broadcasts Biden’s speech tonight.

   I read a New Yorker story about Charlotte Dujardin before the last Olympics, and as a result watched the dressage with great interest, and rejoiced in her success. This is sad news.

   With the help of this blog and Google, I have discovered that the knitting I hope to return to is not a Kate Davies pattern at all, but one called “Spalding” from the Brooklyn Tweed website. And I have found the pattern in my Ravelry library. Maybe tomorrow I’ll resume knitting it. 

Wordle: four for me today — not the worst in our little group. My starters gave me two greens and two browns. Should be easy. Wasn’t.i used a Jean-word in line three, and now had three greens and a brown, which obviously had to be in the place it was’nt in. I now have a winning streak of five!

   Three for Rachel and Mark. Four for Alexander and Ketki (and me). Five for Thomas. 

   In the USA it was three for Roger in DC and five for Theo from whatever distant clime.

   

 All well. The carers have been exchanged. I’m not sure I don’t feel better already. Wendy is better at food.

And I like the way Kamala has taken charge of things, although I remain slightly worried that Mr Obama hasn’t endorsed her. 

I know the relationship with Israel is very difficult for an American administration. My own feeling is that we can’t go on like this, killing Palestians in quantity in Gaza most days  So I was pleased to hear that Harris was going to be out of town while Netanyahu was addressing both houses of congress, and pleased to learn that the Israelis were cross about it.

   Wordle: another five for me. That’s three in a row. No Jean-words today. Two browns and a green from the starters. Three greens (but no more) in line three and four. I think there was another possibility so I was probably lucky to score five.

   Three for Ketki, Alexander, and Thomas. Four for Rachel and Mark. Six for Roger, four for Theo. The latter has now gone off to lend a hand at the Convention. His lips are sealed.

 A pleasant day, weather-wise. I have done nothing but doze. My present carer insists that I keep my feet up. Dozing is close to the only option.

   I still need to look out the KD pattern which I am knitting as Fergus’ Calcutta Cup sweater . I got as far as finding the one identified in the sidebar, which is indeed here although there’s no reference to the Cup in it yet. But the nearly-finished one, with the cup in place, which we looked out yesterday, is more along the lines of a fisherman’s rib. I need to finish off the current sleeve (top-down) and knit the other one. 

Franklin is interesting on the horrors of living in Paris as the Olympics approach. He had some hope that the mayor might drown in the Seine but I gather she got out all right.

   KD’s essay on Coroner’s Pigeon was very interesting. I may have to read the book again. Interesting photographs accompanying the essay, too.

   American politics continue to be fully absorbing. I sort of hoped everything would coalesce around Kamala Harris and she could hit the ground running. I am surprised this morning at how hostile to her much of thr British press is.

   Wordle: five for me again. All my guesses were valid. Starters gave me three browns. First guess turned one of them green. Second guess (line four) was much more productive — three greens and a new brown.

Mark and Alexander and Rachel and Ketki all did it in three. Thomas was a fellow-five. Three for Theo, four for Roger.   

   

 Another day. Helen has gone off to Strathardle for a week, with two of her boys. I am somewhat anxious. I am meant to have a change of carers on Tuesday. I am not fit to look after myself, even quite briefly.

   Otherwise, there is not much to report. C. came this morning with a nephew and his girlfriend. Helen briefly this afternoon. No news from either. Helen and I had a mildly interesting conversation about how families don’t sit down and eat together any more, at least among us.

   And there are no developments on the American presidential front. Clouds are gathering over the domestic political situation. 

   Wordle: I scraped through with a five. My starters gave me two browns, a vowel and a consonant. A Jean-word in line three was no help at all — except of course for more positions in which the browns couldn’t appear. Line four was a serious guess and yielded three greens.

   I was the last to post, this morning. Nor did anyone else have so much trouble. Three for Ketki and Thomas. Four for Rachel, Alexander and Mark. Brilliance in DC: two for Theo, three for Roger. 

   

 Another quiet day. The world seems to have calmed down after yesterday’s exceptional computer outage. Helen was here this morning and we got some tidying done.

   We found the knitting I was doing before I switched to the KD MKAL. I’m much further along than I remembered. Only a sleeve to finish. I need to find the pattern, but I think I can do that. And I think I’ll be able to knit it, once I do. The yarn and the needles are much bigger.

   Helen says she would like a simple, short pullover such as other people’s mothers knit. It would be wicked to buy more yarn.

   A welcome, quiet day on the political front. I continue to follow events in America with obsessive interest. My current carer, who does not read or listen to the news at all, thinks Biden is not strong enough to go on. How does she think she knows? Even odder, a woman who comes most days to read the bible with me — we’re about to finish First Samuel — occasionally tells me that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. 

   Wordle: my starters gave me three browns and a green. I found a word, not at all likely but qualified, and typed it in. It was right. Three for me.Rachel and Ketki had fours. Three for the rest of the home team.Three for Roger. Four for Theo. 

 Nothing to report. I”ve been largely dozing. No news of Helen — was she teaching today? We have various problems which need referral to her. I’ll try phoning soon.

   I failed at Wordle — my winning streak hadn’t even reached 10. Roger had sox and Theo five, Mark a distinguished three. Four elsewhere . 

  A good day. Helen came. Without Mungo, whose birthday it is, because he has a cold. I sent them off to a near-by restaurant which is lavishly praised in today’s Times. Helen had the great pleasure of telling them about the article. The food was indeed delicious, Helen says, but no one was there.

   I haven’t anything much else to report. I haven’t knit. What am I to do? Perhaps I should look around through my project bags for something simpler and more suitable.

    Politics continues to obsess me. I am looking forward to Trump’s speech tonight. I have been listening to JDVance’s autobiography (see Tuesday) and wanting to find out more about my mother’s family, the Carrs. I think maybe my sister investigated them once.  Critics who comment on Vance pass over his Scotch-Irish heritage lightly, if they mention it at all, but he makes much of it.

   Wordle: yesterday’s word was QUITE. I would have done better — three instead of four — if I had remembered my own rule: when you’ve got a free-wheeling U, try a Q in front of it.

   I struggled today. Five, where I was joined by Alexander and Ketki. Six for Rachel. Four for Thomas and Mark. In DC, three for Theo (brilliant!), nothing from Roger yet. 

 An excellent day, weather-wise, and so also in London. Maybe St Swithen is doing his stuff.

   I watched the State Opening of Parliament. GB is not as divided a country as the US but still we have just come through a punishing election and I think a moment of national unity, however Gilbertian, does us no harm. (Bow! Ye lower middle classes! Bow, ye tradesmen! Bow, ye masses!)

   My husband had an MBE — “passing out of life with a second-class degree”, he said of it. I got to go to Buckingham Palace to see it being awarded, and I can assure you that singing the National Anthem in the presence of the sovereign is a spine-tingling moment. But there was also a lot of sitting about with the Palm Court orchestra and I can also tell you that they eschewed Gilbert and Sullivan altogether.

   I did a bit of knitting, but not enough to assure you that the task is properly resumed.

Wordle: today I forgot one of the few principles I bring to Wordle-solving and thus scored four when I might have had three. Three for Rachel. Five for Mark and Thomas. Four for the others, including Roger. No news from Theo yet — he may be too involved in politics for such frippery.8

 Grey, uninviting — but I don’t think it rained. St Swithen has stood by us that long.

   I’ve been trying to resume knitting that KD KAL shawl, and I’m not at all sure I can do it. What am I to do?  Try again tomorrow and try earlier in the day, would be a good first step. 

   Trump’s choice for VP sounds like a good one, except for having a name that sounds dangerously like a Wordle Special. Especially coming after a previous VP named Pence. I’ve started reading (listening to) his book, which Helen recommends. I was interested to learn that he claims a Scotch-Irish family. That’s what I am on my mother’s side, but James who’s keen on genealogy largely confines himself to Mileses. I can’t take the Scotch-Irish Carrs back much further than 1860 or so.  

   Wordle: we were remarkably uniform today.  Three for Mark, five for Rachel: four for all the rest of us, including the two in DC.i

 Saint Swithen’s Day. It hasn’t rained here, and for much of the afternoon it could justly be called “fair”. We shall see.

Helen was here this morning, on her way back from taking David to the airport. We got a bit of paperwork done.

The pundits don’t seem to be quite as sure as I am that Trump is now a shoo-in for the election in November. Last night, dozing and listening to the radio as I do, I heard somebody talking about the shooting and I thought it was Trump himself and I thought, he is much more upset than he thinks. But it turned out to be Biden speaking. No gaffes, just a general inarticulosy, hard to understand and follow.

     The King’s Speech is on Wednesday. I thot it was tomorrow. That will lay out a programme of domestic issues for me to worry about.

   The Princess of Wales seems to have done her Wimbledon to high praise all round. It was much more demanding than her previous appearance at the Trooping of the Colour. She was on show all through the match, and had to talk in royal fashion to strangers, and to stay on her feet throughout the presentation. She came through with flying colours. I am less happy about Princess Anne. She chose not to wear colour for her outing to Riding for the Disabled. The effect was a bit depressing.

   No knitting yet. Much dozing.

   Wordle: we were all on much of a level today. I scored four. My line three had four greens, with a gap in the second space. Several others fell into the same trap. Three for Rachel (brilliant!), five for Ketki, and otherwise four all round, including both Roger and Theo in DC.

 Oh dear. It’s all over. Youth won. The end was extremely gracious and good humoured. And I’m sure Djokovic enjoyed having the crowd cheer for him for once. The Princess of Wales looked well — awfully thin but she always was that.

   Helen and David came to see me this morning. (C.  has Covid.)  We were all agreed, for what that’s worth, that the American election is over. I can abandon my obsessive interest in whether Mr. Biden can be persuaded to stand aside. It doesn’t matter. He might as well run, since he’s obviously so keen to do so. He’ll lose, and so would any alternative.

   Am I wrong? I hope so.

   Tomorrow we get the King’s Speech, and I can settle down to worry about local affairs. And also to knitting again. I got yarn straightened out today, with Helen’s help.

   Wordle: five for me,with the help of a Jean-word in line three. Fives for Thomas and Alexander and Theo. Four for Rachel and Ketki and Mark. 

 I:m having a grand day of Wimbledon. The weather is fine both here and there, but I can’t get out because the current carer doesn’t know how the apparatus for the stairs works.

That much I wrote for you yesterday. Not until substantially later was it known that that tomorrow’s men’s singles final will be between Alcaraz and Djokovic, youth and age. So was it last year, they say. I have no memory of it. I’m for age.

Good news from both princesses. The Princess of Wales will hand out the men’s prizes tomorrow. The winning lady, today, will have to make do with the head of Wimbledon. And the Princess Royal has been to a Riding-for-the-Disabled event, saying she has no memory whatsoever of her accident. 

   Comment Thursday,Kirsten M: it had occurred to me already that we have a part-time queen. I am a great fan of hers. I think she is doing a terrific job of loving and supporting her husband and turning up for the boring things monarchs  must do and promoting interests of her own such as reading.  But, uniquely among senior royals as far as I know, she has humble family of her own and goes off occasionally to spend time with them. She still owns her own house. 

   Wordle: I failed yesterday. Like many of us, I had greens in the second and final positions (both vowels). Unlike anyone else, i kept on guessing wrong.

   Four today. But the NYT was acting up. It wanted me to sign up for a free app but try as I would I couldn’t do it. Eventually it let me in to save my grid. Nobody else seems to have suffered. 

  Mark got it in two, Rachel three. Four for Ketki and Thomas, five for Alexander. No news from DC yet today.

 A summer’s day, at last. At Wimbledon, even more so. The first woman’s semi-final was satisfyingly exciting. I am leaving the second to its own devices for the moment.

   The Queen was there yesterday. The BBC didn’t bother to tell me. So they must have things satisfactorily in hand for the weekend, if the Princess of Wales isn’t well enough to hand our prizes.

  I  meant to remark yesterday on the fact that Mr Dkokovic travels with a chef (along with much other staff). What a good idea, I thought. Meal times must be very uncertain during those long days on court, or waiting to go on. The last thing you want is to have to eat foreign muck in the middle of the night when it’s finally over.

   Helen was here this morning but is going off to the country to provide emotional support to a friend who is having a major depressive crisis about turning 60. I won’r see her until Monday. Archie however is coming on Saturday.

   Wordle: six for me. A narrow escape. Three vowels from my starters.  I was forced to resort to Jean-words and was resigned to defeat. Three for Rachel and Roger. Five for Alexander. Fours for the others.

 Better weather today, and for once better in London than here. I haven’t been very interested in today’s Wimbledon, since Djokovic’ opponent withdrew. 

David and Helen were here this afternoon,on their way back from a happy weekend in Kirkmichael. My iPad was still dropping the signal. (See yesterday) David seems to have fixed it by switching things off and on — the sovereign remedy. But tomorrow’s play will probably be entirely Ladies.

   KD has sent the third instalment of her MKAL. I like it, so I must try to forge on.

   C. was here this morning, in good form. No news.

   Wordle: luck again. My starters gave me a green and three browns. Should be easy. Wasn’t. But eventually I thought of a word. It was right except for the first letter. I tried another. Success. So, four for me.

   Little did I realise how many possibilities there were for that first letter. Ketki failed. Alexander and Mark and Thomas all needed five. Rachel and Roger were with me on four. Theo scraped home with six.

 

Groundhog Day

 I’ve been trying to watch Wimbledon but the signal has been unsteady. And every time it resumed, it went back to a few minutes before the previous break. I watched one section five or six times. I still have no resolution for either of the day’s big matches, but I’m ready to give up.

   At least I saw Mr Sinner. He has a very young and not very interesting face. A few years should help.

   And we had a Princess in the royal box — one of Prince Andrew’s daughters, I think. 

   I meant to say a few days ago: we have had the King and Queen in Edinburgh, doing a garden party and handing out awards. Literature figured prominently because the Queen is very keen on it, but there was no mention that I heard of JK Rowling, surely Scotland’s top author at the moment. Was she on holiday? Staying in the background on purpose? Or non grata in royal circles because of her views?

   Wordle: A familiar pattern for me. Two greens and a brown from my starters. I thought of a possible word. It was right. Ketki shared my three. Mark and Rachel were the fours. Five for Thomas and Alexander. In DC, five for Roger, four for Theo. Various people had to make various guesses at various letters — one and four, especially. I was lucky again.

   

 Sorry about yesterday — Wimbledon. I am surprised at how short-changed one feels without royals in the royal box. Perhaps memory deceives.. Aging tennis stars are almost as interesting. Rod Laver looks impossibly old and rather stout. Ann Jones is aging well. And we have McInroe and Henman commentating — completely ageless

   I still haven’t seen Mr Sinner. Nor is he playing today. It isn’t a perverse wish — he’s the top seed. I’m watching on my iPad. I might have more choice on a television set. The main BBC broadcast available on the iPad tends to stick to Centre Court unless there is a British Girl playing somewhere and mercifully they are all gone now.

   There is no news that I can detect of either of the princesses about whom I am concerned. Princess Anne must have been more badly hurt than we were told. She had to cancel an overseas trip, so presumably there were a few days without domestic engagements around now.  When she starts cancelling those we can really get going with worry. Nor is there any news on the American presidential front. (I am a Gretchen Whitmer fan.) I am concentrating hard on that one to avoid thinking about GB.

   Wordle: a Wordle special today. I scored three. Poor Theo failed and says he feels like a dunce. But there was nothing in it except pure luck. My starters gave me two greens and two browns. I formed them into a word, easily found a letter to fill the empty place. It was right. But it turned out there were five or six possibilities for that space. Theo reached my pattern by line four and kept guessing wrong. Pure luck.

   Two for Ketki and Alexander and Roger. Three for me and Mark.Four for Thomas and Rachel.

A whole day of a Labour government! and they haven’t come yet to take away my house and cat. Maybe it won’t be so bad. It sounds as if they’ll be going after the NHS and the trains and immigration first.  It has old people with big houses (and cats) in its sights, however. Council tax? Property tax? Wealth tax? Helen’s family will take the cat when I can’t afford to stay here, but I think she’s happier with me.

I had a happy day with Wimbledon. I watched Norrie-Zverev. It was exciting and the right man won. But this was the day — the first Saturday — when I went to Wimbledon with Helen, twice, and Rachel, once. Early train from Birmingham, bus from station to Wimbledon, half-an-hour’s queue, and it was all yours except for the show courts. I remember seeing Billie-Jean King win on an outside court, and Adriano Panatta in four sets on No. 3. He was the great love of my life.  “The supremely handsome man if you like your ice-cream runny” someone said. I don’t know quite what that means but I’m sure it’s true.

   He’s still alive. If you look him up, skip rapidly past to the old photographs. BJK has aged much better.

   But what I started to say was, if I had been there today, there was nothing I wanted to see. And I don’t think it would have been so easy to get there from Birmingham.

   Wordle: Well, I’m back in the saddle with a string of two. I got it in five today.  My starters gave me two browns. Line three, a Jean-word, turned one of them green. Line four, a serious guess, did  better: three greens. And line five was right.

   Three for Ketki. Mark and Roger were fellow-fives.The other locals, and Theo, scored four.

   Helen and David were here this morning, on their way to Kirkmichael. David knocked it off in four while she was having a pee.

 Another not-too-bad day. Grey, dull but dry. Better than Wimbledon, anyway. I wasn’t entirely well this morning. Things improved somewhat. The day’s other crisis was a blocked drain in the kitchen. Helen found us an emergency plumber who was very apologetic about how much he charged us to put it right. I was pleased to find that my fingers remembered the bank code to pay. 

   Another quite-good Wimbledon match. Alcaraz again. They are still keeping Mr Sinner from me. Rachel says that, although technically an Italian, he comes from the Alps and speaks German as his first language. Today’s match was between Mf Alcaraz and an American named Frances Tiafoe. Alcarez won in five sets. It is difficult enough remembering the difference between Francis and Frances without having to record exceptions as well.

   I’ ve seen a bit of Coco Gough’s match. She’s doing well.

  Wordle: a doddle today. My starters gave me three greens and a brown — which amounts to four greens, when you stop to think about it. There was a bit of Wordle-special about the initial letter, but I got it in four. I still don’t know what yesterday’s word was, and probably never will.

   Thomas, Ketki and Rachel were the threes today; fours for the rest of us, and for Roger and Theo inDC.

   

   

 Weather on the edge of summer again. I have largely devoted the day to tennis again— a memorable match, the first I’ve seen this year. 

  Helen came to see me, and (separately) Archie, briefly. He is hoping to come back next Thursday when we will face up to the Computer Question. I can’t go on like this, picking it out with one finger and showing you no pictures.

  The tennis was between Djokovic and a total unknown who not only comes from Edinburgh but went to the same school as Archie.  Djokovic won, but it was a close-fought thing.

   No news from the princesses, but plenty from poor Mr Biden. I watched some more of the infamous debate and it remains true that I don’t entirely see what the fuss is about. Biden didn’t do well, but he tried to address the questions. Jill’s encouragement afterwards — “You answered all the questions” — is not entirely as idiotic as it sounds. Whereas Mr Trump rarely or perhaps never made the slightest attempt to answer the question.  But lots of people seem to have despaired of Biden while still watching the debate.

   It continues to serve well to keep one’s mind off politics here.

   Wordle: I didn’t even finish today. My starters gave me three browns. A Jean-word,  in line three, turned one of them green. Another, in line four, achieved nothing. I got no further. The two remaining browns are both vowels. Someone will have to tell me the answer, after midnight.

  Ketki had three. Five for Mark. Fours for the other British-based. Four for hRoger in DC. No news from Theo so far. It’s a big holiday there, of course.

 Another not-quite summer’s day. Things were worse at Wimbledon, where it’s been raining. I watched a lot of it again today, but have been frustrated in my desire to see Mr. Sinner. There were too many British Girls in the way. 

   C. came this morning. She had solved Wordle and I hadn’t but there was no cheating this time. See below. Helen also looked in. 

   No knitting. I think, in decades past, I might have knit while I watched tennis, but that is more than I would be capable of now. 

   Franklin is faithfully logging on to Facebook almost every day, with photos and sometimes videos and brief reports on life in Paris. Sometimes I don’t understand, but it is always nice to hear from him, and I’m glad he’s well and has made a whole new life for himself.

   Wordle: I found it really, really, really hard. My starters produced two browns and a green. Line three — it was easy to find something — turned them all green. After that, I found it impossible to think of anything, even a Jean-word. Eventually I did. It was nearly lunch time.  Four for me.

    Rachel and Ketki had threes. Alexander and Thomas and I were the fours. Mark needed five (at last!)  Roger was another five, Theo another three. 

   

 Another somewhat-summer’s day. I have spent another pleasant afternoon at Wimbledon. I have still to see Mr Sinner in action. I was glad to watch Mr Djokovic’ easy win. The most disagreeable of players gradually becomes sympathetic as he becomes old.

   Helen was here. She finally found a nurse in a&e yesterday who gave Fergus some antibiotic — no doctor.  (See yesterday) And he seems fine this morning and the oozing wound has largely dried up. They can always take him back to Thessaloniki if all else fails. David is coming on Thursday and they hope to spend the weekend in Kirkmichael.

   Wordle: success today! My starters gave me three browns. Line three was a most unlikely word. I more or less made it up. But it turned one of the browns green and added another brown consonant. And I got it in four.

   So did almost everybody else, except for Thomas and Mark (again!) who had three, and Roger who hasn’t been heard from.

 Another summer’s day, albeit grey. I have had a nice time watching Wimbledon. It looks to me as if there are far more people these days. The last time I was there was the famous year when Smith and Psmith fought the men’s semi-final to a fifth-set score something like 27-25. Since then, and because of that match, the tie-break has been introduced into fifth sets.  So I saw tennis history being made. Nadal was on next but it was late and I was exhausted.

  Helen came this morning. Fergus’ wound is oozing a bit. He is the one who had an emergency appendectomy in Thessaloniki last week. He is travelling home as planned, but Helen will meet him at the airport and take him straight to a&e. 

   No knitting, for shame.Kate Davies has released a new pattern in our club. The current book is Traitor’s Purse, one of my absolute faves. The new pattern is very nice, too, but I have too much to knit already.

  I have been thinking, I don’t know why, about Sunday lunch at my grandparents’ house in Dallas in the old days. I think it possible that everything on the table except salt and pepper were home-grown. My grandfather had a cow, and kept chickens, with an extensive vegetable garden. I remember the live-in servant who kept it all going killing chickens and also making ice-cream in the proper old-fashioned way where you put ice and salt in the ice-cream maker, and then the cream mixture, and turn it (by hand, of course) until it becomes ice cream.

   I don’t remember any of this tasting particularly nice. I’m sure it was cooked to death before it reached me.

   Wordle: I failed again. That’s three in a week. I wonder if it is time for me to retire from Wordle? Today’s failure was especially humiliating. Starters gave me two green vowels. An easy guess for line three contributed nothing but to eliminate three more letters. A Jean-word in line four eliminated another and gave me a brown consonant.

   And here’s where mental incompetence comes in.  My guesses for lines five and six omitted the brown consonant.

   Three for Mark (that keeps happening); four for Alexander, Thomas, Theo and Roger; five for Ketki and Rachel.

   It is interesting, in a melancholy way, how the news media have shut down entirely on the three big stories I am interested in: 1) Princess Anne, now out of hospital and presumably conscious. There were no photographs of her leaving hospital. 2) The Princess of Wales; and 3) President Biden. Maybe tomorrow.

   

   

 I would go so far as to say, a summer’s day. Helen came to see me, and later on Laura — one of you. She is in Edinburgh with a tour group, not a knitting one. On to Dublin today or tomorrow. My carer was enchanted with the idea when I told her, and said quite rightly that we should have had a picture taken together.

   I’ve heard from my sister, who is worried (needless to say) about the American political situation. I continue to read a lot about it, but there is nothing for anyone to say. Was it a New Yorker columnist who bade him consider Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who predictably skewed the Supreme Court by delaying her own retirement? That’s not a consideration which is likely to weigh with Mr Biden.

     Nor is Mrs Biden going to be of any use, clearly. What about the sister? Or does it all come down to Obama? (Jill Biden belongs to a very small subset of the world population who irritate me intensely by insisting on being addressed as “Dr.” on the strength of a non-medical degree. I refuse.) 

   Wordle: I played with wild abandon this morning — two failures in a row would hardly have mattered, but I got it in six. Three was a Jean-word (and rather helpful). Four was a wild guess — I still don’t know what it means— which left me in the old Wordle four~green situation. No luck with five. But line six was right.

    Three for Mark. Five for Theo and Alexander — they both got briefly stuck in my four-green pattern. Four for the others. No news from Roger.

 A pleasant day, distinctly warm. No rain. I resumed knitting, at last. The new light certainly helps. I’m not so sure about the new glasses. So far I’ve done only one side of the current pattern round. I hope to finish the round this evening.

   Poor Mr Biden. There is an eloquent leader in the Economist, begging him to go, right now, for the sake of the western world. Never mind “western”. For the sake of the world. There’s lots of similar comment elsewhere but that’s the best I’ve read. I don’t think Jill is likely to be any help. Clinton and Obama combined might do it. It’s nice to have something to worry about.

   Helen came briefly this morning, before a day of teaching mosaic-making. News of Fergus continues good. He’s had his stitches out. He’ll be back here soon.

   Wordle: I failed! Such a relief after asking C. for help the other day. My starters gave me three browns. A fully legitimate line 3 advanced things not at all. Still three browns.

    Line 4 was a Jean-word (re-using a letter I had eliminated. No progress. Five was another Jean-word which at least gave me my first green of the day. Six was a fully qualified word and I typed it in, in full confidence.

   So, a busy and fruitless morning, achieving nothing but to relieve me of the burden of guilt.

   Three for Alexander. Four for Rachel and Mark. Five for Thomas and Ketki. In DC, six for Roger, five for Theo. I still don’t know what Roger and my sister think about current affairs. It’s a good deal less fun for them.

  Not too bad a day out there, weather-wise.  My difficulty these days is that I sleep badly at night and then spend the days making up for it. Doesn’t leave much time for consciousness.

   Such as there has been today has been devoted to the American presidential election. Much more fun to think about than our own. I listen to the World Service at night. They didn’t carry the debate, and comment was circumspect. It took me a while this morning to realise what the pundits were saying, and how unanimously. 

   I eventually listened to 15 or 20 minutes of the actual debate on Youtube. I don’t like Biden. And when you start from that point of view, his performance in the debate seemed typical and tolerable. But that’s not how the world is taking it. I haven’t heard from my sister. We didn’t have much of a chance to discuss politics while she was here, due to her Covid. And now even that chance is gone.

   Someone asked in a British “Any Questions” a couple of days ago, Are you two the only choice this country can offer? How much more resonant the question seems over there! Either Starmer or Sunak could steer GB for the next five years without total disaster (I hope) but in the White House….

Wordle: five for me. All I care about these days is not failing. Starters gave me two greens and a brown. Line three didn’t take long, but it was wrong. First letter missing! A Wordle special! Line four likewise! Panic! Fortunately, however, I had run out of possibilities

   Thomas and Theo,  more fives, had the same problem. Rachel and Ketki, two more fives, had a similar struggle with a gap in letter four. Alexander and Mark scored fours. Silence from Roger. He can’t even claim he was up all night watching the debate.

   

 Helen is home. And Fergus is doing well. So that’s that crisis dealt with. The carer-handover is complete, and we seem to be doing well.

   Otherwise there is singularly little to report. I have been cheerfully dozing. I’ve got some new glasses, a slight but distinct improvement on the old ones. And I’ve got the new lamp. So there’s no excuse for not knitting. We’ll see.

   I continue to be anxious about Princess Anne. Did she have a stroke?  Nobody seems to know anything about the actual event. She was alone, and goodness knows how long she lay before anyone came along.

   Wordle: at least I did it by myself today. A familiar pattern: two browns and a green from my starters. Line three was fully qualified but wrong. I got it in four. 

   The threes were Mark, Ketki and Rachel. Alexander joined me on four. Thomas had five, as did Roger in DC. This time it’s Theo we haven’t heard from.

    

 A good day. People have complained of its being hot, even. From inside, overcast, but brighter now. Agitation continues here with the carer handover, which will be complete tomorrow. And Helen will be home tomorrow.

    Thank you for y our comments yesterday about ramen. It’s a richLy complete dish, Tamar.  Kirsten’s recipe gives some idea. I’m more likely to get beri beri just bumbling along as I am, living on cider, sinking into the grave.

    C. came this morning. No news. She is going off to a wedding somewhere this weekend so I will not see her for a week. She will be the “and friend” on the invitation and will not know many people. 

   I chickened out with the new lamp — therefore no knitting. Helen will take things in hand tomorrow.

   Wordle: oh, dear. It’s a toughie, or so I found it. Three browns from my starters. Two Jean-words for lines three and four turned one of the browns green; otherwise no progress.  So I consulted C by email — I knew she had polished it off in three - and she gave me a clue.

   Maybe I would have got it? We’ll never know. But I feel terrible.

   The others posted later than usual but otherwise showed no signs of distress. Three for Thomas, Alexander and Mark. Four for Rachel, Ketki and Theo.

 A summer’s day, ending suddenly in rain. My new carer is here, learning the ropes. The previous one is going to visit family in Goa and India for a month. 

   No knitting, but a new bright light has arrived as recommended by Helen. We have assembled it, and located it beside my chair. I’ll report tomorrow. Helen is coming back from Thessaloniki on Thursday, not today as I had hoped.

   I’m uneasy about Princess Anne. Poor royal family! Ci mancava anche questo.

   I’ve been reading David Chang’s autobiography and am inspired to attempt a diet of ramen noodles. I think the only recipe I know is Nigella’s.

   Wordle: Another three for me! The starters yielded four browns. The struggle was relatively brief. The result didn’t seem at all likely but world at least eliminate another consonant and give me another place for each letter where it couldn’t go. But it was right!

   Rachel thoroughly redeemed yesterday’s failure with a two. Roger shared my three. Four elsewhere, except Mark, who scored five.

    My winning streak has now reached 50. My max was 67, long ago, in the days when I usually scored five. So its getting scary. 

 A summer's day! Even more so, I think, in England. I must get out, when Helen gets back. And I must sort out my computer problems so that I can show you some pictures. Rachel sent me a beautiful batch from her birthday party. I think I need Archie.

   Kirsten, I’m glad you’re enjoying tennis. I’ve loved it ever since we got a television set, rather later than everybody else. But my father took me to a Davis Cup match at Forest Hills in what must have been the late forties, and I enjoyed it enormously. The USofA had won both singles matches the day before. Australia had to win the doubles that day (they did) to keep hope flickering. I’ve been humming Waltzing Matilda to myself ever since. 

   I’m halfway around the next pattern round of the KD MKAL shawl. Goodness, it’s hard. My new lamp should be here soon. Maybe I should wait.

   Wordle: my two starter words yielded one (1) vowel, green. It was remarkably hard to think of any answer to fit. (My starters eliminate five very common consonants.) I finally found one — wrong, but helpful enough that I got it on the next line.

   It seems to have been on the difficult side all round, except for Mark who was home in three. Ketki and Theo were fellow-fours,  Alexander five, Thomas six, and poor Rachel failed. She got stuck for a first letter, as did Thomas. No news of Roger.

 Sunshine again! If this goes on until Helen gets back, i’ll have to venture out. The current carer hasn’t been instructed in the up-and-down-stairs machine, so we’re stuck. I wasn’t entirely sorry not to have to make the effort today.

   Rachel rang up — on her 66th birthday. The first day of the rest of my life, if ever there was one: June 23, 1958.

   And Clare came and we had a nice time talking about tennis. I’m waiting for Wimbledon. She’s been watching the subsidiary British grass-court tournaments, to get acquainted with everyone.

   Rachel says that Roger and Aunt-Helen are consumed with anxiety about the American election, as well they might be. I wish we had talked about it more, before she got ill. The British election is bad enough, but at least Starmer and Sunak are both sane, and even Farage close enough to that state, and none of them senile.

   I’ ve been thinking about “Don’t Look Now”, a propos what I wrote yesterday about Donald Sutherland. I remember visual images — a headmaster’s somewhat battered but still authoritative door; Sutherland dizzyingly high in a Venetian church; as well, of course, as that red raincoat. And what is it that is so scary about blindness? It was directed by Nicolas Roeg. I looked that up.

   Wordle: Unbelievable! Not only did I score a two last week, bit my three was unmatched in our little group today. My starters provided the two vowels, one green, one brown. I struggled but briefly, thought of a word, typed it in — and it was right! Sheer luck. I used to subscribe to the NYT to the extent that they would tell me how many other possible  answers there had been at each stage. There would have been lots today, I suspect.

   Four for Alexander and for both Theo and Roger in DC. Five for the rest of the home team.