Yes, the baby with his rattle came back from London, but I have found a way to stop the flicking of the worry beads, I just stare very fixedly at his hand while he is flicking them and he stops. We all do that now, it was David's idea.

David has escaped back to Israel early for the weekend, because he has something on tonight. The rest of us are suffering still............. Nicky was actually late, he overslept, the rest of us are all envious, as no-one else can sleep past 5am. I feel exhausted as soon as I wake up, Leo has bags under his eyes, Alec sounds so weary.

I did get a nice parcel yesterday from SBB, the Just Nan "Flower Girls", plus two charts from Abby Rose for stitching smalls. Their service was good, she emailed me to say there would be a wait, emailed when they were sent and the parcel arrived within a week, so I was pretty happy. I'm looking forward to getting the silks from them when I get back to Paris. Actually there should be a few things waiting for me.

I left at nearly 9pm last night, and I was so hungry I had to go get a baked potato, so I didn't get home until after 9. Then there was a puddle of water on my bedroom floor - there was a freak storm yesterday, something that hasn't happened here in 35 years, and it must have been because of this, everywhere in town was flooded. So I had to mop up. It was strange, the windows were closed and I am on the second floor, so I don't pretend to understand it. There were fallen trees everywhere as well, and sadly one lady was killed at the town markets, since an iron bar flew off something and on to her.

Some questions:

Have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so, did you find it helpful?

I quite often use a large magnifying glass that hangs around my neck, while I am here in Cyprus. The light in my apartment is terrible, and, especially until I got the new specs, I was having trouble seeing. In Paris, I wouldn't use it so much, as I have a Daylight Lamp. This also has a magnifier, but I only use that on 40 count material. For anything less, the Daylight Lamp by itself is fine.

What is the biggest mishap you have had with your stitching material(i.e. spillages)?

When I was making the Secret Garden Needlebook, my Irish wolfhound knocked over a glass of wine and some went onto it. It was rinsed out immediately, and the Secret Garden suffered no ill effects, it is one of my favourite pieces. This was a long time ago in Australia, my dear Micky has no longer been with us for many years, and I miss him still. He was a very good dog and loved to sit and stitch with me. In the kitchen was a favourite spot because he could then also keep an eye on anything that was cooking.

How many cross stitch books do you own and how often do you use them?

I've got no idea how many stitching books I own, there are many subjects including cross-stitch. I use them quite regularly, but sort of in waves. At present my constant companion is the Lefkaritika book! I've got books in English, French, German and Danish that I use often. I regularly buy French ones these days, usually if I like the sound of them from the reviews in the magazines or if I see them in the FNAC or Le Bon Marche. I always enjoy books with lots of diagrams and I like books that deal with historical ot technical aspects. I'm not that keen on books that just have designs, although I do have a few, there's one from Ehrmann that I made a few things from. You could have bought the kits for these designs, but goodness, they were expensive, and it was cheaper to buy the book, blank canvas and the wool.

I have a LOT of books anyway, I read a huge amount, and a huge variety. I tend to read anything popular that comes out (although I draw the line at complete rubbish like Stephen King! whom the French seem to consider a literary author for some reason that entirely escapes me), but really what I like is history and poetry. I read a lot of poetry and I find it a great joy in times of sadness or depression. I can always tell when I am finding things tough, I tend to go straight for the Roman Odes of Horace!

Actually when I get home to Paris, I must sort out the books and give the year's quota of "airport books" to the library. I don't keep those, because I need the space for stitching books, and others of more long-term interest. My goodness, the clearing up over the holidays will be massive!

Have just found out that the only Greek Marlon has learned from his pupils this week is not something that can be repeated in polite company. Like many Greek words, it has English derivatives - "scatological" is one! This really is slightly depressing.