Something squatted on a raffia mat, shifting uneasily in the almost non-existent light.

She pushed aside memories, smiled at Laura and said: "A raffia mat?

They sat on rolled raffia mats under the awning, their faces lit by a single candle which flickered in a resin holder.

At the Primrose - old polished tables with raffia mats and thin, unprofessional waitresses in flowered smocks - they discussed the social implications of lack of domestic service and the vagaries of the adolescent mind.