And so - here we are, another anniversary (11 years today) and another Christmas and this time in a strange and foreign land (!!) away from everyone we know and love ?!!

I don't really have much to report - life goes on very much as usual except for the excitement of kicking out the cheating, lying, lazy tart I called a house-keeper! I spent 10 months arguing with friends about how we should treat our maids - only to have it all kicked back in my face and being proven wrong once again! The more you give, the more they want and the more they disrespect - so I don't think I'll want another live-in again. My spare guest room with the kingsize double bed can remain empty rather than enjoyed by someone who's used to sleeping on a pallet on a floor of a 5 foot square room!

Onwards and Upwards ............ still waiting for some representative of the Bridal Show to call me regarding the humongous show in March; perhaps I will invest in a stall and start showing off my work. In the meantime I'm really enjoying making my Christmas ornaments for my beloved tree which is looking superb this year, I must say.

Have located the Swarovski agents in Dubai finally who are a terrific bunch of people and whose shop makes me drool just thinking of it. They have the most amazing selection of crystals I have ever seen and they are very helpful and obliging so hopefully, once I start the ball rolling, I can just buy things direct instead of having to wait weeks and weeks for the stuff to arrive.

I'm going to enclose a couple of photos of the majlis, our proper guest bedroom, for you all to enjoy !! It's already booked for a week in February and it looks like it's going to be a real crowd puller !

I will be attempting to call my friends during the next few days to wish everyone a very happy christmas. If you don't hear from me, then it would mean that the voip has been blocked again and I was unable to get through! I will not be calling by phone because I would become bankrupt in about 15 minutes - too, too expensive to call from here.

So here's to all of you who bother to read this - we wish you a truly happy christmas and a wonderfully prosperous new year. If any of you want to see the Middle East, we now have TWO spare bedrooms going cheap (!!) and all of you are welcome for your holidays!

Dazzit - over and out for today!