It took a few months, during which I could not publish photos of the project in progress because it was a surprise for my friends who were getting married, but my second bedspread is finished and here's a picture to prove it.



The trouble is, it's so much nicer than my own. But Sim and Vicky are the nicest couple around so it's fitting. I only hope they don't like it so I can keep it for myself.

I'm back in Dakar now, and strangely, happy to be home. My last trip to London made me realise that for better or for worse, Dakar is my home now and I feel better about it for having faced up to the fact. It's been raining and at three this morning I lay in bed watching a storm through the balcony doors. My baobab tree, which for one year has looked like it's had a bad case of syphilis, now has three new branches after I went at it with a scalpel. It has more leaves now than it ever did and I hope one day it will flower again.

Talking of trees, the frangipani tree is now too heavy to stand up under its own weight.



I guess that's why they're always bent over.

While I was away, some idiot came along and dumped a truck full of sand on our garden.



I doubt the plants will survive living under 6 feet of sand for the next month, and I further doubt, as Now optimistically believes will happen, that anyone will come along and move it.

To quote my friend, "Everyone talks about solidarity, but there's no consideration".

It's Ramadan here so I went along at 7pm to break the fast with Now. I'm obviously not fasting, but celebrated with him anyway. It was lovely to be in the damp heat, sitting on the shop floor, talking about the neighbours and laughing about how I will never get used to the amount of times I must hear "You've got fat Rose!" when I come back from England. I know I've got fat you lot, but shut it anyway.

And as if that wasn't a nice enough home-coming, the embassy has just rung to tell me my passport has arrived.