No rhodos

I took my friend Jenny with me to an embroidery exhibition in the barn of a country house. Part of the attraction of this trip was to be a walk around the magnificent rhododendron filled gardens, but there was no sign of any colour and there was still a chilly wind so we settled for the embroideries.

Jenny was a good friend to take as she has a C&G in stump work and was able to explain to me the techniques used in the intricate work on show. We studied it all in detail and it was all so impressive that afterwards I wasn't sure whether I had been inspired or defeated!

We went to the nearby village and had excellent fish and chips in the pub, then wandered back through the tiny Surrey lanes. There were primroses on the banks and daffodils on village verges, but really not many signs of spring. This incredibly elderly tree was in the garden outside the barn and we wondered how many hundreds of years old it is.