Plymouth Rocks

Got home today after a 13-hour drive. Normally it takes about 10, but I veered off into Pennsylvania after spending an hour idling on the Cross Bronx Expressway and noticing how traffic was building rather than thinning out as I got farther south in NJ. I took the "leisurely" route, and was going to stop at That Pet Place in Lancaster, PA, but a sudden thunderstorm convinced me to motor on--good thing since I'd misjudged the extra time involved in passing through all those little picturesque towns.

I won't bore you with all the stuff we did and saw, but thought that those of you who live in New England might want to pay a visit to the Sampler in Plymouth if you ever get a chance (Hi, Mom--that's Mom keeping an eye on things). It's a lovely store on Court Street, stocked with a very thoughtful selection of different kinds of samplers. I bought a few charts, including two shown here and some others, and ordered some they were out of ("Plymouth," for one), including the most amazing little (measuring maybe 2 inches by 2 inches) sampler called "Mermaid" to be done on 40 count silk gauze. I especially loved this shop because I'm finding that I'm a sampler purist at heart.

Stash: the larger one is by The Sampler Company and is called the "Church on the Hill Sampler." The smaller one is called "Dear Diary," although I'll call it just "Boston," and is a Little House Needleworks design.
After a fabulous seafood lunch (baked scrod) at the East Bay Grill just a couple of blocks away, we explored the waterfront nearby (Hi, Sis!) Okay, I'm a New Englander, born and bred, but what the heck IS a scrod, anyway?

I was disappointed by the Brimfield Antiques show in one respect. There were literally acres of vendors--and too much stuff even to contemplate in just a day. I felt like we just took a little bite but I felt as if I were running from table to table, searching. I'd scan quickly and then run to the next one--NOT the best way to spot that treasure. Next year I'll come back on the day they do the textile show. I did see some lovely embroidered pieces and gorgeous linens offered by a couple of vendors, but they were way out of my price range (I saw an amazing hand-stitched table cloth that I'd like to have bought and made into curtains for my sewing/craft/computer room, but for $400, I wasn't going to take the scissors to it, so I passed.) I found a couple of old samplers, but they were in pretty bad condition and not particularly attractive either, so I came home empty-handed.
I stitched lots on Whale Hunting and will show pictures later this weekend. I'm happy to be home and looking forward to catching up with everyone's blogs.