Today I had a great afternoon, although the end of it was freezing cold........... I had lunch in a little cafe next to Gare St Lazare, then caught a train to Vernon, 45 minutes from Paris, where there was an exhibition of a local stitchers group in a hall in the centre of town. A ten minute walk from the station took me there.

The ground floor was filled with the creations of these ladies, including some huge samplers (they must have larger walls than I have). In the mezzanine floor, there were some commercial stands, including my teacher, Veronique de Luna, but also Isabelle Vautier, Sophie Delaborde and Jacky from AMAP. I had the opportunity to see their creations in real life, believe me, they are wonderful. Of course I could not resist some new AMAPs, plus Vicky Clayton silks and wooden thread keepers, together with a couple of pink and green creations from Sophie, and Isabelle Vautier's new book of red samplers. She sweetly inscribed this to me, I'm so lucky! These French designers are lovely people, very special, so lovely to talk to as well as being so creative. Jacky told me she likes to work on very fine linen, one over one in half crosses, and it does give a lovely effect, I admired the tiny cushion from the Quaker accessories, so tiny, and it is filled with rice!

The getting cold happened on the way home, I had to wait ages in the station, and there was no heating, I was glad to get into the train, I can tell you. I have turned the heater on here, the weather has not been great this week, but today is really cold and foggy. The clocks go forward overnight and it will be nice to have longer evenings, but I hope it warms up a little. I am just about to have spaghetti bolognaise, as that will be warming.

I'll take photos of my new acquisitions tomorrow, I need to find the camera...