Thursday 28th December

 In spite of sleeping very badly last night  - some nights are just 'non-sleeping nights' - I seemed to be full of energy today. Don't worry, it won't last - normal behaviour will probably return by tomorrow morning!

Although, having said that, the various items on 'the list' didn't involve much physical activity.

I decided to knit some more of the sock 'until the colour of the yarn changes'. It didn't change for ages and ages and ages, by which time there were only a few rows and then some kitchener stitching to do.

So, the first sock is complete, apart from the 'fore thought / after thought' heel, marked by a solitary line of murky coloured knitting about halfway long the length. I'm leaving it there, along with the little blue stitch marker, so that I have a slight chance of making the second sock at least similar if not identical.

So far, so good.

During lunch I jotted down a number of disconnected thoughts I wanted to keep track of;

 now, at the end of the day, I'm jolly pleased with myself because I have ticked most of them off.

The cross stitching was something I really, really needed to make a start on. I am hopeless at STARTING a cross stitch piece, but once it is underway I feel a great sense of relief. I don't think I am giving any secrets away if I share this afternoon's work;

I started at quarter to three, and by a quarter to five I had stitched all the way round the space marked 'L', and back stitched the outside edge. Now what? I have some ideas how to continue, but as you can see from the piece of paper the plan is currently woefully incomplete... The chances of finishing it before the end of December are - zero! Ang, if I tell you that E and F are still empty on this piece of Aida, at least you can start planning?

Finally, another thing that's been waiting for me to get 'a round tuit' was tying out Himself's +3 reading glasses for playing the piano. I have been having tremendous difficulty (again) in making out all the dots and squiggles on the paper using my usual varifocals. When I visit the opticians, we always have a go at creating the perfect pair of glasses for being able to read the music and see the piano keys, and have never succeeded. (I first encountered the problem playing for an Ash Wednesday service, where the lighting was very dim, and discovered that if I sat far enough back to read the music my arms weren't long enough to reach the keyboard. My playing was less than perfect that night...) 

 It looks as though this cheap pair of reading glasses might be a good place to start. 

After all that virtuous activity I'm going to finish that cup of tea in the second photograph before it gets too cold, and go and have a little sit-down with a magazine.