Saturday 19th October

 Yesterday began with a proper Autumn mistiness. I would go so far as to say fogginess. But we weren't deceived... we clung to the promise of the weather forecast.  At just after 10 we in the morning we collected my father, ignoring the seeping damp cold and fog, and set off for a local cafe. 

These undertakings are always weather dependent as I can't really go inside cafes etc safely. My father was wearing 2 pairs of trousers for warmth, and I had packed extra blankets, and a hat and scarf to wrap him up snugly. I've even knitted warm chunky 'gaiters' as he calls them for his ankles.

The forecast stayed true,  and the sun came out, burning through the mist, and we able to sit out in the sun and enjoy coffee together. Perfect! All the blankets and woollies stayed in the car.

In the afternoon a friend came round with a jar of her freshly made whisky marmalade 

which I'm very much looking forward to.

And my lovely gardening lady came round with bags of bulbs and trays of violas to plant up my tubs and pots.

Today was a round of what my Northern Irish relations call 'messages', or 'errand' to us Southerners;

We had a couple of packs of logs for an open fire that's never going to happen for us now, and I'd promised to a friend with a woodstove, and one of the planted pots went to other friends who have had a hard time recently. Finally a tray of Egyptian Walking Onions have been handed over to keen vegetable gardening friends.

It's a great feeling to have actually carried out good intentions instead of leaving them hanging around.

We finished the evening with a zoom catchup with our overseas friends. 

A lovely day.

I've been getting on with the Collaboration stitching; one and a half motifs ready, and the background stitched down...

And I've chosen the yarn for my chunky cardigan 

And the Adult surprise cardigan grows, slowly slowly. Each row takes 10-15 minutes now with 200 stitches and still increasing. The good thing is that somehow each row is along the back and the fronts and up the sides. The pattern is weird, but should resolve into a garment,  eventually... you just have to remember the magic incantation at the end as you fold it in an impossibly origami-style way.