We've Moved!

We left home 8 days ago. Spent a few days in Freeport, Maine. Yes, of course we went shopping at L.L.Bean. It's been almost 20 years since we had been there, so we noticed a few changes in town but our main purpose for the stop was Mr. Bean's offerings. Our second day there, Mr. O said he was going to walk into Freeport and left me the vehicle, to follow along later. On my way to meet up with Mr. O, I took a little detour through a quilt shop. I spent a wonderful hour shopping and admiring many of the samples at Cotton Weeds Quilt Shop.

So many cute stitchery patterns.

And the wool projects! Oh my! I was asked only to take general shots not photos of each projects, so these are just a very few of them.

There were loads of needle punch projects and patterns and one of the employees kindly gave me a short demo. I was introduced to this craft almost 50 years ago but it never looked this good! I am proud of the restraint I showed and so I admired the work and moved on.

There were so many patterns I found and loved, but I again showed great restraint and kept my pattern purchases to 2 along with 2 magazines and a couple pieces of neutral fabric, a package of needles and perle cotton.

There ia a quilt-along featured in this issue of American Patchwork and Quilting that I really want to try to take part in, so I "needed" this magazine. Hopefully in the not to distant future I can get to it.

On to LLBean for  a little more shopping and browsing...

Loved some of their displays! Just look at these toques. Do they scream vintage or what?

The next morning we were on "the move" again. Next stop Dennisport, Cape Cod, Mass.

Our new "home" was right on the beach, and our first morning found us walking on a very chilly, windy beach. Brrrr!

More sight seeing and a walk through town offered many photo opps,

Nauset Lighthouse, dressed for the holiday season.

While touring, we stopped at many Thrift shops, ( I am on the hunt for a vintage electric iron; heavy and  if I am really lucky, maybe in red or aqua) I saw so many lovely things and I did buy a small, fairly heavy travel iron, just the right size for retreats, work days or maybe to set up a small ironing station near my machine. My other BIG purchase was a seasonal item to add a little cheer for the next leg of the journey.

We sure needed a little something to induce a smile on our next travel day. While travelling through New York City we were stopped for 5 hours in traffic on the ramps leading to the George Washington Bridge. With daylight driving hours very short, I was not too happy to have spent the best part of the day sandwiched between transports on a boring, very "fumey" highway! Needless to say we will not be adding an I LOVE NEW YORK bumper sticker to our car this trip!

After 16.5 hours on the road we arrived very late at night in the cold and dark, at our next "new home" in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Even though I was tired enough to sleep on a bus station bench for the night, it was sure a pleasure to have such a comfortable place to call home when we arrived.

Yes, I have a place to set up my sewing machine to get a little stitching done in the evenings; as a matter of fact I have a special quilty, fun day planned for tomorrow, but you will have to wait til tomorrow night for details.

Yup! That's me on the front step. I love my "new house"!

The day after arriving here was a miserable, windy, rainy day; perfect for relaxing after a gruelling drive.

We did go out in the late afternoon to get a few supplies, and we shopped at a "new to me" grocery store. Very interesting grocery shopping...

Trader Joes. I liked it!

The drive back from the grocery store. I didn't like it so much!

Sunday we spent the day at Busch Gardens Christmas Festivities. The theme for the day was lights and music. Their information pamplet claims they have over 6 million lights! Very mesmerizing! 

I'm pretty sure they have that tree well lit.

Don't these tree decorations look good enough to eat?

Today was a total opposite look at Christmas. We visited Colonial Williamsburg, with a historic look at the history of Christmas customs. This was definitely an "unplugged Christmas" and I have to say much more appealing to my tastes.

I have some wonderful photos, but I can't seem to get them from my camera to my Ipad and my IT guy is sound asleep in bed (which is where I should be)

Tomorrow is a big day again, so I'll have more to share. See you then.

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale