It has been a lovely day. After 2 or 3 long weeks of cold winter weather, we had a break today in the 40's with two more even warmer, though rainy, days coming up. A reprieve, as it were, on the solstice. When I lived in Colorado, we had these reprieves off and on all winter. Here, not so much!
 |
| Colorado snow! |
I worked late last night on a computer consulting project, so I got to sleep in till 10! Trisha called at 11 and said, "lets go!" and we went shopping. We stayed away from the weekend-before-Christmas crowds and headed for a little country town called Conway. We'd heard of a "pop-up shop" selling woven, felted and other lovely hand crafted items. This woman's studio and shop were beautiful. I envied her the organized, beautifully furnished space filled with weaving looms, a sewing machine, and tons of yarn and felting supplies.
After that we explored the
Field Memorial Library in Conway. It is a wonderful green patina-domed rotunda with wings on 3 sides. It's ceiling is held up below the dome with marble pillars. Very patterned and veined marble. It also trims the doors and covers the walls. The floors are mosaics. This building was donated to the people of Conway by Marshall Field about the time of the industrial revolution when Andrew Carnegie was also building libraries around the country. What a wonderful sound our voices made echoing around under the dome. I think the librarian was happy to have us there, as we were the only guests. She never even hushed us. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten my camera!
 |
| Loot |
But where I was really anxious to go was
"Loot", a newish store in Turners Falls which carries all kinds of factory, school, office and other old building cast-offs. Being a mixed media artist, this was right up my alley, so to speak! We must have poured over that stuff for an hour! There were typeface letters, and all kinds of other lettered signage, there were old newspaper ad plates, skeleton keys, little tiny things, big industrial things, some new and crafty things and many tiny succulent plants. There were big nail bins filled with amazing little vintagy things: old matches, ephemera, tags of many colors, old photos, die cut metal hearts, onionskin and other magical papers and things...
 |
| More loot |
Turners Falls is an old factory town on the Connecticut River. There are still lots of working mills, but most of them are either empty or repurposed. Imagine the loot you could find in the attics and cellars of these old buildings! Evidently the owners of
Loot did just that. Now, instead of running off to Homegoods, I think I'll be visiting Loot regularly!
Then the Loot folks sent us around the corner to
Funkshun, which was fun too! They had aprons, potholders, various other stitched wonders made with these MAN fabrics. Trisha got an apron and a doll for Christmas presents. How fun is that!?! They had WOMAN things too, Wonder Women and cowgirls...
We had a late lunch at the deli of the local co-op and watched the people walk by. A woman set up a guitar outside and sang her heart out. "Halleluiah" by Leonard Cohen was the first one I heard and what a great voice!
One more thing I had to do was go to Trader Joe's and buy Pecans for my Mom's Christmas pie. (This year's requests were Pecan and Mincemeat pies.) What a zoo that was! The pecan shelf was naked! There were no pecans in the store. I grabbed a bag of raw cashews for myself and got out of there. Another back road to our little town and we were home in time for supper!
I love a good weekend adventure with Trisha!
Hugs,
Sherry
Well, it certainly sounds like ya'll had a fun filled day. My son is in Alamosa CO which is freezing most of the year. He says it is okay during the day when the sun is shining, but too cold to go out at night. They won't thaw out until at least April. He is thinking to move next year to a different part of the State. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a cold weather gal at all. Born in Mississippi and raised in TX and LA. I lived in the South all my life. And now in a desert country that is hot most of the year. But when it is cold, it goes straight through to your bones. No central heat, no insulation. Just concrete surrounding us. Wishing you happy holidays. Tammy
ReplyDeleteDear Sherry,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your christmas comment on my blog,-I too wish you a wonderful christmas time, and all the very best for the new year.
Seems you have beautiful snowy weather,--here in Denmark we have only grey rainy weather, so no white christmas for us.
Sending you hugs,-
Dorthe
Sherry, love the new look! and the details of your lovely day with Tricia.......my dad's family owned a farm, well, some still do, in Conway and the library was always a favorite visit of mine. the Helen E. James from our high school was related to the Field family, perhaps that was her maiden name, my memory is terrible these days.....anyway, i know there is a connection :) Hope you enjoy being back in your old neighborhood, there used to be plenty of trails through the woods, back in the day one could get from your house to the golf course.......
ReplyDeleteSeasons Greetings Sherry!
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvellous time you two had!
I think you had the right idea heading for a country town with less crowds!
Pre-Christmas shopping was crazy in Auckland where I live!
I loved everything you showed us and especially your snow photo - I've never been in snow like that!
After being on my feet for a couple of days I can finally relax and sit in a quiet spot reading - oh the joy!
Sherry, I loved seeing your old garden in the previous post, it looks a bit like mine which meanders here and there!!
Happy holidays
Hugs
Shane