I just finished the last ones that I have............ I am still waiting on about six more from the client, but they haven't been delivered yet, so a tiny bit of spare time to catch up on decision sheets and answer questions from the developers. Some of which do my head in.

Last night I did finish the stitching on Mimi's Pin Cube, and I've just started the Box Fob. Although the directions for Nun Stitch were illegible without my magnifier, and then in fact wrong, the numbers were in the wrong places. I got better directions off the web just now, to confirm that in fact what I was doing last night instead of the impossible directions was correct.

Yes, it does sometimes rain here (notwithstanding the snotty assistant in Debenhams who told me last year they didn't sell umbrellas becaused it never rained), and this morning it was pouring down.......... it has cleared up now, at about midday. I am at work briefly, but I'm going to take my stuff home and do it later, so I can stitch instead until the light goes.

These three-day weekends are rather boring when there's no-one you know in town, and it's cold and gets dark at 5pm. The only person I know here is Nicky, of course, and I don't really think he wants to spend weekends with me as well as all week.

I have done a fair bit of stitching, I finished the beading on a Just Nan Filagree Fancy that I started before Christmas, and have made some inroads into the Inglestone sampler. And I have cast off the La Droguerie striped mohair scarf, only need to darn in ends and sew on the flowers. I like it, but I always find going to La Droguerie is such an effort. You have to stand in a long queue, more than one long queue if you want things from different areas of the shop, then another long queue to pay. It's not the sort of place you can go and help yourself to whatever you want and then pay for it, oh no, you have to speak to a "counsellor" to get most stuff, I think they would freak if you started taking the number of skeins you wanted from the wall where they are on hooks. It's marginally better managed at the branch inside Le Bon Marche, but they don't have all the knitting stuff there, which is why I had to go to the main shop to get the scarf kits.

The sun is still shining, so I think I'll take the opportunity to go home and do some more of the Inglestone sampler. Perhaps I should bring all UFOs to Cyprus? If I stay here long enough, I should get them all finished.

Did some more of my Sue Hawkins spot sampler last night, I can see why I put it aside for so long. The directions, the chart and the photo do not match at all! There is a drawn thread square where it tells you to withdraw threads in groups of two, leaving two in between, but the instructions and diagram for needleweaving are over four! Well, I shall just have to try and work this out this weekend in the daylight. It is getting dark here at 5pm lately, and the lighting in my flat is not great. I wouldn't imagine there's any possibility of buying a daylight lamp in Nicosia, in fact I am going off after work to try and buy a decent pair of embroidery scissors, as I have left mine in Paris, and this is causing some trepidation. No specialist embroidery shops in Nicosia!

There is a three-day weekend, as tomorrow is a holiday........ I am going downtown tomorrow, as there will be some sort of celebration in Elftheria Square. Apart from that, I intend to devote most of my time to being at home and stitching or knitting or even doing the boring old ironing and some tidying up. I haven't got anything much to read, I run out of books quickly here.

Before the Evil Dwarf returns............... I am not looking forward to this, since after three weeks of absence, he is bound to be in the mood to throw his weight around. Really he is the rudest, most overbearing boss I have ever had, he has the complete Napoleon Syndrome that short men often get. Not that he is really my boss, just for the duration of this project - if it were permanent, I would certainly be looking for another job. As it is, I think everyone on this project has said they don't want to work with him again.

So what to do on this last day of freedom? Well, I have one decision sheet to revise and one to finish, also a meeting to discuss the Process Analysis Report. This is supposed to be finished by the 15th of January, some hope. I was reading another stitcher's blog, and she takes her embroidery to work with her to do between phone calls, I wish! I guess my job is so different from that, and really I do enjoy it normally, it is just that on this project there is the horror of the Evil Dwarf.

Last night I went home about 7pm and didn't do much - ate some baked potato and village salad, watched the news in Greek, did some washing and did Kakuro puzzles until about 11pm. That's the trouble when you get out of work so late, and I never get out much earlier than 7pm. Today I've started at 8:15 am, and it's possible I won't get out until 8pm.

That said, I would like to do some stitching tonight, or maybe knit some more of my alpaca scarf that I would like to have finished by the weekend so that I can stitch the flowers on it. This is one of the kits from La Droguerie that I got for Christmas, the other is a crochet one of flowers that get sewn together to make a scarf. I don't do a lot of crochet, but this I can manage.

I haven't brought back a lot of stitching - the La ruche kit I have had trouble getting started, also a Sue Hawkins spot sampler that has been half-stitched for ages (the Queen Stitch is one of the few things left, surprise, surprise).

Yes, well, I didn't take it away with me, I left it in the office in Paris......... while I lounged around at home, also took a quick trip to Copenhagen that nearly ended up with me staying there because of the snow. Finally I got back to recuperate my computer from the office and take the plane back to Nicosia on Saturday afternoon.

It's the first day back at work today, and it is only a three day week, as Friday is a public holiday as well. I have a lot of stuff to finish from before Christmas.........