MrsS, the cake is sitting in the oven .... I couldn't get an poppy seeds in the end so went with the grated lemon rind. I, too, had never heard of self-cleaning ovens before the New Year. On Christmas Day my main oven packed up at 11.00 a.m. and, as my NDN was away, I rang her and asked if I could use her oven. Anyway, after DH had literally spent hours cleaning it before she came home, I subsequently discovered about the joys of pyro-whatsit.
The talk of DDs going to France has reminded me of my DD's exchange to Paris when she was 13 (we had had the girl over the previous year). This was before the advent of mobiles of course, but I was rather surprised when I didn't hear anything and a bit worried, if I am honest. She rang on the very last day, but told me when she eventually got home that she knew if she spoke to me she would burst into tears. It turned out that the house was a bit of a mess and there was not a door on the toilet (just a curtain), the poor girl was menstruating, so she was terrified every time she went to use the loo. On the other hand, her exchange to Czechoslovakia which we were a trifle worried about as at that time they actually removed the children to summer camp to avoid the polution in the cities, was a great success. I can remember her coming home and telling me that the exchange girl's grandma had given her an orange, which was obviously a huge thing to do.
DS did an exchange with a Russian student when he was 16, and the Russian student couldn't understand why we wouldn't let DS go flying with him (he, aged 16 had a pilot's licence!).
It's raining here which is why I have baked - I was supposed to be getting on with yet more tubs and pots for the garden.