Thanks, Paula, Snap, Stefany and Juergen.

Paula, I searched for the discussion about your beads (I even searched "paula"!) but couldn't find it here, so Stefany is probably right and it was in another group. And Stefany, what you've been able to tell me already is really interesting, especially the possibility that the beads might have been together in this order from the start. If you find out more, please let me know. For some reason, they seemed Chinese and not Japanese to me. Why? Why does one wear these blinkers?

And no, Juergen, I'm not a woman - more's the pity, I sometimes think!

Cheers,

Will