A Few Vacation Photos, or More Accurately What I Bought in New Hampshire

My sister, my sister-in-law, and I needed some girl time together. We miss our lazy afternoons at the lake talking and floating in the water. 

I figured we'd get some good talking time if we went for a long ride. 

And one long ride that I've been meaning to make in New Hampshire is the drive from the seacoast to ABC Stitch Therapy in Grantham. 

That's right. I got to visit one of my go-to online stores. 


They have recently relocated to a brand new building and though it took a bit of driving on my part, we found it. Did I mention we actually had to pull over on the interstate because of a downpour? I seriously could not see. 

My sister once upon a time dabbled in the sewing world, but she doesn't stitch any more. My sister-in-law still dabbles, but she's moved on into the knitting world. But they were willing to indulge me and walked around pointing out stuff like pros.

Even on a cloudy, rainy day, this space has plenty of light. Especially the upstairs section which is where the hand-painted canvases are. Once my sis got a look at some of those prices, she got scared. I tried to convince her she could have a career painting them. We'll see. She's the one in the family with the innate drawing talent.

Here's what I bought: 

A 2012 Homespun Elegance patriotic sheep. The new Yvette Stanton Portuguese Whitework book, and a witch's hat thread holder.

I also picked up one of the Riolis kits from Russia. The instructions are in 6 languages and thankfully one of them is English.

The nice ladies at ABC asked us if we'd noticed the thrift shop just up the road - 65 Roses. So we went to check it out and first tumbled into the Farmer's Table for a delicious lunch. I had a locally grown grass fed Angus burger which was perfection. 

I won't detail how some people got karmically and comically paid back courtesy of the rain. But next time I take off for the car, the two I was traveling with will be hot on my heels because they got completely drenched, soaked to the skin, complete with squishing shoes and wet hair that lasted for hours. 

Well. We still had plenty of daylight hours and I took off for Center Harbor to visit Patternworks and Keepsake Quilting. The white 100% cotton yarn is for experimenting with dyeing and using it for needlepoint.

The owl grab n go kit made me happy. I used to buy her stuff in the shop in Barrington, NH that is now closed. Wool applique = easy and fun. 

 We saw some ocean on an incredibly clear day.

 The newly rebuilt pavillion at Hampton Beach.  (This one's for Anna.)

 We saw some old houses.

 And some beautiful roses.

 And a view of Great Bay which is what I grew up with - water and sky. I love my home.