I still have a few letters to do on the eyelet alphabet, but I started the borders on the left-hand side, they take quite a while. I'll be glad when I get on to the letters that form the lower left half, that will be quicker. Next weekend should be a good weekend for stitching, as it is three days, Monday is "Clean Monday" (Kathare Deftera), which is the Carnival weekend before the start of Lent.

Yesterday I went up to the Hilton and bought books, including two by Carol Smith, who is a good thriller writer. I get a taxi there and back, it's the easiest. I also went shopping down Makariou, to Zara Home, where I bought a white jasmine candle, a silk cushion, a crochet lavender sachet and a box made of stiffened filet crochet, good for keeping thread in, I think. Then on to Accessorize, where I bought shoes and an umbrella. I hope they will start to get their spring stock in, I could do with some new scarves and so on.

Today I will go out for something to eat later (I didn't yesterday, just had the fruit and bread I bought on Friday), it is a sunny weekend, much appreciated after the downpour last Saturday. I still feel quite tired and need a walk to energize myself. It was quite traumatic having our old project director in the office on Friday, actually, he is very exhausting to have around, and of course I don't like him, as he was so mean to me. And vile to Nicky as well, which of course makes me angry. I was skyping with Nicky while he was there, and Nicky is saying "if he says anything to you, reply in Greek". But there was also one of the clients in the room who speaks French well, as he studied in France, and this guy was talking to me in French, so that made the old PD really cross, he hates it if people speak French or Greek or whatever in front of him. This never used to stop him having long conversations in Spanish in front of the rest of us though.

I'm trying to think whether I should buy the kit for Queen Sofia's Stitching Bag, from Giulia Punti Antichi - 150 euros! It is very beautiful, but very expensive. I did pre-order a couple of things from Nashville (the stitching chair and the Alyssum scissor pocket), but I didn't pre-order this, I'm still trying to decide. There is also a lovely new Quaker sampler from CHS, and I am on a sampler spree at present, and plan to spend most of the year catching up on samplers I have bought and neglected to start. Decisions, decisions! I do try to spend not too much money these days - I've never been too wonderful at saving, but now I am really trying hard, and days like yesterday when I go out and spend quite a bit a rare.

Mmmm, well off to read a bit more and finish the latest border, then maybe out into the sunshine - forecast was for 17 degrees today, so I will walk past the temperature gauge in Eleftheria Square and see what it really is.