Well, I slept from 1pm to 6pm! Then woke up, had a shower and went out for something to eat, just got back. Of course very little stitching progress today. And still no idea if Sylvain will be here tonight or tomorrow night. I hope he has booked a room, he is far too tall for my sofa.

A couple of things - Trina, I have quite a few of the Filagree Fancies from Just Nan. I imagine they are discontinued, as I bought them before I moved to France in 2001. You'd be welcome to any of the charts for those I've finished, but I'm not sure at the moment which ones they are, as they are all in Paris and I am in Cyprus. Give me a few weeks and I'll sort them out. They all came in little packets with the chart, fabric, beads and charm, obviously I've used the supplies, but I think you can get equivalents separately.

Anne, yes, I will miss Cyprus, and I really do think this time they will have to let me go. The bosses keep on saying things to me like, why do you have to be so nice to the customers? Er, I say, I thought that was my job! Of course there are a few things I will not miss like the smoking, the appalling driving and the immigration officials, but really I've had a good time here. And I've been incredibly lucky to go to the Lefkaritika classes, which virtually no foreigners can get into. I'll certainly treasure my time at Cyprus Handicrafts and talking with the ladies at Lefkara, and it's not out of the question that I will go back there one day. I'll miss my colleagues, Alec and David especially, as I also worked with them on the project before this one, and neither speaks French, so they won't be coming to France (unless the rest of us get stuck and need the black belt architects to bail us out!). There's a thought! Although I gather I'm now supposed to be a black belt architect, as they call us elderly ones, as well, just by osmosis.

On the plus side, there are some benefits, like being in my own apartment with all my own things and not having the one thread I need in the wrong country. I can also go shopping in a rational fashion, and use my membership to the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. There is nothing like getting up early on Sunday morning and walking through the deserted streets of Paris to the members entrance of the Louvre and browsing around for a couple of hours before going to the street market or lunch or whatever. And maybe I can even go to some of those openings of exhibitions they keep on inviting me to! And maybe Nicky will come for the weekend, this is something he has mentioned. I wish he spoke French... I actually tried to tell Sylvain I don't speak French well enough to be an architect on a French project, but he just laughed.

Well, I had better go and do something, and try not to go to bed too late, as I may well see Sylvain over the breakfast table...