Monday, October 15, 2012

Vacation at last! And TUSAL as well. Looooooong

People were wondering why I was wordless last week.  :D  Well, part of the reason was that I wasn't home and didn't want to say I wasn't home.  lol!  We did go up to Boston to visit the boy child for Parents Weekend -- and it was wonderful to see him and clean his apartment for him.  lol!  The cleaning was my idea, not his.

But after that, we went up to this.


That's the view out the window of the cottage we rented up in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  Right on the ocean.  Love it!


It was our first vacation in 3 years (I'd been saying two, but I was wrong.).  And it was our first empty nest vacation too.  Very odd feeling!

We had lots of fun.  Visited some of our usual haunts.  Like Boothbay.


Which of course included our favorite ice cream joint.


We did a bit of outlet shopping at Freeport.  Which, of course, is dominated by LL Bean.


Ate at the restaurant of one of the Beans.  Yummy Lobster Rolls.  Mmmmmmm.


And found a British Goods store, Bridgham & Cook Ltd.  And went a bit crazy.


Loved it!


This is inside the store.  They even had shelves full of scarves which were the colors of the different colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.  So cool!


These are my purchases.  Couldn't resist.


(Sorry for the sideways pic.)  And we also had to get some of this to try.  Been curious about it ever since I saw some commentators trying it at the Australian Open.  (Yes, it's Australian, not British.)


We also went to Wiscasset.   Finally tried the lobster rolls at the famous Red's Eats.


(That's the father type with his man bag.)

This is the bridge between Boothbay and Wiscasset, which always gets backed up due to the human traffic waiting in lines for Red's Eats.  In the summer, there can be quite a backup -- both human and car.  Which is why we've never tried Red's Eats before this time.  The line was always too long.


We went antiquing in Wiscasset.  Fun things to see.  These pics are from Waterstreet Antiques.  Lots of neat stuff.


The tag said the fabric on the right is from the 19th century.



(A collection of planes.)




I found the most items at the Showcase Antiques Gallery.  Love this display.


My purchases -- the father type found the little coronation jug for me.  I was thrilled!


The jug, darner and little Japanese car are all very small.  And look at the lip of the jug.


Love it!

We also did some of this, of course.


This is at Ocean Point.  So pretty!



Wouldn't you love to live in that house?  Or this one?


Right there on the edge of the rocks with those views!


(Have man bag -- and iPad -- will travel.)

Oh, and we also lazed around the cottage.  Which was quite cozy.


Love this stove.


Ignore all the luggage.  This is when we first arrived.

The cottage actually had quite a few stitched pieces around too, some embroidered, some cross stitch, some in needle point.  This one took me back -- I still have one exactly like it that I think my mom stitched.


Before I forget, here is my TUSAL for the month.


Mia was sooooooooooooo happy to see us when we got home.  This is the longest we've left her since she was a kitten.  She'd probably given up on us.  lol!   She just kept purring and meowing and meowing and rubbing, and being very excited and happy.  Now she's sacked out on the Bridgham & Cook bag.


Sorry no stitchy pics this week.  I was working on my Susan Singleton SAL, which we don't show till December.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a great week!

Monday, October 1, 2012

See Jane cross the finish line.....

Yup, she's done.  (I find I'm typing "yup" a lot these days.  Comes from IM'ing with the boy child.  lol!)

Jane Philpott Sampler by Shakespeare's Peddler
40ct Homespun Linen (Lakeside)
AVAS and NPI called for

She's a beauty.


Her border is a bit wonky so my pictures always look like they're crooked!



I looked back and found that I started her at the beginning of August.  Jane did a good job keeping me entertained during all the trauma of taking the boy child to college and getting used to the empty nest.

I won a giveaway from Donna of By the Bay Needleart fame.  I got to choose one of her latest releases, and I chose this one.


I love Donna's series Birds of a Funky Feather.  Now I have all 4 that have come out so far.


Thank you, Donna, for the giveaway!

I did pick up some framing over the weekend, but I haven't unwrapped the pieces yet.  I want to keep them safe until I can hang them up.  I want to hang them in here.


That's right, the girl child's old room.  We started painting yesterday.  Got most of the work done too.  Lots more detail work to be painted and prepped though -- that picture rail has to be done for example.  (Thanks again, Carol, for telling me what that rail thingie is!)


Mia quite enjoyed the painting.  We had two of the windows open, so she just sat in the windows, gazing on the world outside and wondering what in blazes we were doing.  lol!  And she didn't walk in the paint trays even once.  :D

I think it'll be a while before the sewing/craft room is finished.  We'll take it slow but sure.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Enjoy the first day of October!