A quiet Saturday with reasonably good sales and two visits from friends which passed the morning pleasantly. The first, Andrew, is taking time out from his work in a village for orphaned children in Russia. Andrew has always chosen hard situations for himself, bringing back enjoyable travellers' tales of crazy bureaucracy and muddle from places like Greece, Croatia and Bosnia. He has been in Russia for a year now and seems to find it rewarding as well as demanding. It's by way of being a pilot scheme not unlike the Pestalozzi children's villages. The orphans, often quite disturbed, are taken in by foster parents who give them a home environment whilst themselves having the support of the community in caring for the child. Andrew, as far as I can uderstand it, does most of the joinery, building and maintenance for them. He has experience in teaching but doesn't speak Russian well enough yet to be able to help in that way.