And they're off!

We got a bit of garden admiring in with Mary and Dee, and here is Clare College's wonderful fall foliage, taken from the bridge. The garden gates were closed, but we could see that it was mostly put to bed for the winter. Stalks neatly trimmed to exactly 8 inches long all over...

After a bit more gadding about town, including Evensong at King's College Chapel for Mary last night, our relatives have headed off this morning to bigger and better things in London. Stephen went on the train with them, on his way to give a talk somewhere, so they have a built-in porter and tour guide for the taxi ride from station to hotel.

I think they enjoyed their visit (and here are some dahlias from Magdalen College) though the most lasting memory may be of the technological schmozzle of yesterday. It went like this: "Hello, we're at the museum and it's lunchtime, so let's meet somewhere." Beep! "Hello, I'll just leave a message and you can call me, and yes, let's meet at the market. When?" Beep! "Hello, these phones aren't working very well, it never rings... but okay, we're at the market now, where are you?" Beep! And on and on and on. Darn cheap phones... I've already had mine in the shop twice because it just doesn't ring! Perhaps we will cut our losses on this and find a different company, since there seem to be about a hundred and two.

Other news: Elaine has a couple of ear infections! This would explain the cranky behaviour of the past week or more! If only I can convince her to get out the door to the pharmacy, we'll have her fixed up in no time.

Nothing exciting in the knitting department, though we've bought buttons for the pink cardigan, and I've made a mitt and a bit for Arthur from sale-bin Rowan Magpie. Nice stuff, very soft.
I've also gone a bit crazy with knitting squares for a possible blanket. I have about 11, I think, though they are only 6 inches square, so I'll need a lot! Arthur designed me this Halloween one (though I suggested only 2 eyes for the knitted version!) when he saw my "pumpkin" coloured yarn. He wants to design a Christmas one, too, but I don't really have Christmas-y colours. We'll keep you posted on that, you can be sure.