9 September: Catching up

StatCounter tells me that visitor numbers have dropped - apart from those perennial searches for Fred Knittle and string bag patterns.

So, while everyone else is away, here are some fresh delights, just for you.

The purple jersey (wonderful phrase for the Middlesbrough or Liverpool accents) is finished, though it wasn't dry for the knitting and spinning workshop on Saturday. Here's a picture -

And a close up of the neck - a few rows of garter stitch instead of the hood - and the button fastening. There was just one orphan button in the box that was the right size and colour.

The workshop was exhausting, and I came home with a sore throat. A couple of participants learnt new things, but perhaps not as much as I did.

And I haven't yet mentioned the new CD from the Young@Heart Chorus; it's called mostly live, and it's available for very reasonable cost from www.youngatheartchorus.com. Among the tracks are a studio version of Fix You by Fred Knittle, and excellent versions of Every Breath You Take, Forever Young, Ruby Tuesday, and, my current favourite (sorry, Fred) - Jealous Guy; I like this version better than any other I've heard.

There, that should give the stats a bit of a boost.

3 December: Fred Knittle again

I have been trying to divert searches for Fred (and there have been a lot of them) to the Young @ Heart chorus website - www.youngatheartchorus.com- and have now got a download of Fred singing Fix You.

The mp3 track is available from the website for a very small cost.

It's a great song, and Fred sings it wonderfully - buy it for Christmas.

23 November: Fred Knittle rocks!

Statcounter tells me there have been a lot of visitors looking for information about Fred Knittle.

I know little about him, or the Young @ Heart chorus - only what was in the TV programme and what is on their website, which you can find at www.youngatheartchorus.com.

Anyone know of any similar group in Britain?

Update on 2 December - there is now a piece about Fred on the Young @ Heart chorus website.

22 November: In the garden

Madame Alfred Carriere* needed a trim.

There were 6-8 foot lengths of growth sticking out all over the top, and the wind had broken one down; half an hour with the stepladder and secateurs had the old girl (though she is only 4 years old) looking much tidier.

Then I looked for some more contributions to my series of leaf litter photos. This is liquidambar leaves by the cyclamen -

And here are magnolia leaves by foxglove and sweet williams -

And the lily looked lovely, with still a bit of nasturtium surviving the frosts -


On the technology front, the "upgraded" broadband doesn't seem to have made any difference. And the Statcounter is pretty incomprehensible, especially as it refuses to ignore my own visits. Still, it revealed that the String Bag was Google's top choice for "fred knittle fix you".

I'm not sure I want this sort of publicity.

* She is, of course, a rose.

12 November: Salute to Fred Knittle

Last night we caught a documentary on More4 about a New England singing group called Young @ Heart, a bunch of geriatrics who haven't given in to old age, and who have a lot of rock songs in their eclectic repertoire.

It was riveting. Far and away the best thing I've seen on TV for ages.

And at the end Fred, a big fat guy in his 80s, on oxygen, who couldn't stand up, sang absolutely wonderfully and beautifully 'Fix you', a Coldplay song, for two of the group who'd died that week.

DH has had to download the Coldplay album and the video.

The documentary is being shown again on Channel 4 on 22 November - WATCH IT.

Update on 2 December: There is now a piece about Fred on the Young @ Heart chorus website - www.youngatheartchorus.com