The Ride Home

Sunday morning and another delicious meal and we were on our way towards home.   We left New Hampshire and headed to Deerfield, Massachusetts.   What an adorable village.   We toured several of the homes and had a fine meal at the Deerfield Inn.   Some homes had tour guide while others were self guided. There was a lot to see here and you would definitely need more than an afternoon.  Also part of Deerfield was the Deerfield Academy, a boarding school. 

Some of the homes, such as this one, currently serve as dormitories for the Boarding School.

Deerfield Academy Boarding School

Roses still in bloom in November 

Home of the headmaster of the Boarding School

Before leaving Deerfield we stopped at The Flynt Museum.    They had an extraordinary collection of needlework.   

Orpheus charming the animals, circa 1650. 

Charity, hope and faith, from England circa 1654 - 1660 

Above and below, close ups of Charity, hope and faith.    Look at those bullion knots!

Esther and Ahasuerus, London, circa 1650-1675

Gloves, English or French, 1675

Looking glass, England, circa 1660

Sampler stitched by Elizabeth White of Massachusetts (or possibly northern Connecticut,) 1677, age 10

Ruth Hawkins, age 10, 1692, London

Below are three pieces from the Deerfield Society of Needlework.   Only the best needlework was permitted to have the “D” stitched in the lower center motif.  

French waistcoat, 1750

And the special treat at the end of the display…….a casket.  Not just any casket but one stitched by Trisha Nguyen. Caskets were lidded boxes stitched by girls in the 17th century.  Completed caskets once stitched once assembled they held various personal objects serving as both their skill and their families wealth. 

Back in the car; home safely by 8 pm; crashed on the sofa; and then up early and off to my son’s to babysit for the week.   No rest for the weary and all my trip goodies left spread across the dining room table waiting for my return. I didn’t even bother to unpack, just took my suitcase as it was and did my  laundry there.   

Knowing that once I got the kiddos out the door in the morning, I would be free until pick up time at Day Care and the bus stop, I took my sewing machine with me as well as some projects.   Surely I was out of my mind.   I did not put in one cross stitch, I did not finish one strawberry, I did not cut one quilt block….all I managed to do crafting-wise was to do some paper crafts making these tags for an upcoming project idea.

I did manage to sew ONE quilt block on my 100Days/100 Blocks Quilt.   I was getting a cramp from trying to pat myself on the back for keeping up with this one since the start August 1st.  My missing the deadline has humbled me. I’ve got 13 blocks to cut and sew. It’s on my (long) to-do list for the week.  Looking forward to getting this sent off to be long armed.   Once the inner and outer borders are added, this will be queen sized and way too big for me to quilt on my machine.  Been there/done that and it wasn’t fun.  So far, this quilt has been sewn ENTIRELY on my new-to-me 1947 Singer Featherweight machine!  

First 80 blocks have been sashed and sewn together. 20 more to join and add; then inner and outer borders and done!  It has been a challenge some weeks to keep up but I have enjoyed the process.

It was a good week spending time with the kiddos but it was also great when 8 pm bedtime came around too!  Often, I was soaked from bath-time and just as often this Damma fell asleep when I laid down and read bedtime stories.

Miss Raegan is ready for picture day at school.

My little helpers as I was cooking dinner.  They pulled the bar stools over to the stove to watch me cook …..hot dogs of all things!

Finally Friday afternoon I was back in my own little nest I just kind of vegged out for a day and a half.   I saw that The Crown had a new season out so I thought I would chill and watch it.   I was about 5 episodes in and wondering why there was so many flashbacks……well seems I was so brain dead that I started watched from the beginning again.  Geez, it is obvious I am not the sharpest tool in the box.  

At the Shaker Retreat I managed so little stitching.  I did put in a few stitches on Garden of Stitches SAL.   I had caught up in September and then hit Row 18 and stopped.   But I am back at it again and have finished Row 18 and I am moving through the next rows easily.   I hope to start on Row 22 before this weekend. 

Stay tuned,  I already have a trip in June 2023 and October 2023 and November 2023 on the books with Stacy.   We will have to see what we can add to our list of must see’s along the way.