No, Natasha, NO!!

When they got home Natasha lay awake all night, tormented by the problem she could not solve: which did she love- Anatole or Prince Andrei? She loved Prince Andrei- she remembered distinctly how deeply she loved him. But she loved Anatole too: of that there was no doubt. "Otherwise how could all that have happened ?" she said to herself. "If, after that, I could return his smile when we said goodbye; if I could let things go so far, it means that I fell in love with him at first sight. So he must be kind, noble and splendid, and I could not help loving him. What am I to do if I love him and the other too?" she asked herself and was unable to find an answer to these terrible questions.

War and Peace Vol 1, Part v, ch 13, by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy

I have been gripped by the end of volume 1 of War and Peace (even though I've read it before and know the ending), hoping that this time Natasha would not be enticed away by Anatole (the bounder!) and would remain faithful to Andre.

It was a bit too exciting for listening to while knitting on the Monkey sock though- yup, I made a mistake and had to rip back a couple of rows- but at least I spotted it quickly.

I think I had better wait a couple of weeks before I download volume 2, the excitement might be a bit too much for my knitting sanity. Now that I'm knitting fancy-schmancy socks I might have to treat myself to some wooden sock blockers to set off the wonderful stitch pattern.

More plants came through the post today- some courgette (zucchini) seedlings : a variety called Buckingham which will be a vivid yellow.

A couple of years ago I grew some which developed into a yellow round fruit which resembled a tennis ball. They looked fab and tasted pretty good too.

Some of my friends grow courgettes in their gardens as much for the flowers as the fruit. The flowers do look quite striking, so I'm really looking forward to these. Wonder what the bees will make of them?