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What I Did on My Summer Vacation
It damn near killed me, going on a week-long ramble through the beauties of New York and New England with a self-imposed strict ban on social media.
Friends, I can’t not post all these pix. We saw so much, had such a dreamlike time in our rented car and loose itinerary. Here, in no good order, are things I wanted to save, savor, share, and wonder about.
In New York
A tapestry I keep thinking about. At the Cloisters.
David and the skeeriest devil ever at the bottom of that painting.
The High Line at night. Spectacular. And empty.
Ramen waiting.
At Shelburne Farms, Vermont
The greens.
An excellent fireplace. Almost big enough.
Livin’ the dream.
Tawny brown Jersey cows. Knittable.
Tawny brown hay rolls. Likewise knittable.
Plumbing fixture, on point.
Dahlias!
Bookshelf. File away this colorway for a blanket.
The barn.
Lake Champlain, with decorative Adirondacks to sit upon and gaze upon.
Here’s your needlepoint chart for this.
Crafty lifestyles of the super loaded.
And the Ticonderoga, asail forever at Shelburne Museum.
Between Burlington and Boston
The garden at the inn that gave me Marsh Lily fever.
We imagined Great-Aunt Margaret during our stay here. Surely there was a Great-Aunt Margaret here.
Name that yarn store. Yes, I bought yarn. (Dream in Color Bluefaced Leicester/Cashmere/Silk, color Rain Cloud. Dreamy!)
Spotted in the wild, Rutland, Vermont.
A distressed surface? Quick—get me a handknit. (That’s the third rectangle of knitting bringing great joy these days: Jade Sapphire cashmere, Nesting Wrap pattern.)
Easel Sweater No. 1 was a constant companion. A wool sweater in July seemed like a bad idea until . . . it was cool and wonderful.
Look! Real Estate Insomnia came to life! In Cambridge, we strolled past the Joseph Thorp House, the mansion of my insomniac dreams.
Now, back home, I’m lingering over the hospitality of my SILs Liz and Tiff at their camp on the lake.
And treasuring this kind of thing like a ruby ring.
Thank you for indulging me. Now I have all these pix in one handy place I can endlessly revisit.
What a beautiful family, and such a lovely vacation.
You said it!
Thank you! Can’t believe I’m the shortest person in the family now.
I kept wanting to hit the like button! Beautiful. Aunt Margaret was so glad you finally were able to visit.
Am looking forward to my media blackout, complete with rustic cabin, in 1.5 weeks.
One lesson for me was what a compulsion it is for me to see something beautiful and instantly want to share it on Instagram. Such a weird habit. I was annoyed by how often I had this impulse. Can’t I just SEE something?
Isn’t that enough? I found by the week’s end that I was slightly less manic about seeing these beautiful sights, somewhat able simply to take them in. But as you can see, I still took a lot of photos. There is one mushroom in Vermont that will never have its moment on the internet, sadly. If only I’d taken a photo!
Love the blog but have to know where that yarn shop is located and the bookstore in Rutland. Thanks
It’s been a while but it looks like the yarn shelves at WEBS.
Absolutely WEBS.
Good eye, Sheila. The bookstore in Rutland is Phoenix Books, with such a nice guy managing the shop. We had lunch at the Sandwich Shoppe, an amazing local institution where the chalkboard is ten feet high, a zillion options, and the whole thing erasable as if one day they’ll decide to wipe it all off and start over.
I knew it was WEBS! Just passed through after dropping my kids at camp in Palmer, Mass.
<3 <3 <3
I loved all your photos, Ann….but the last one was the best.
Thanks for all the great pics: the Cloisters, Shelburne Farms, the High Line. But the yarn store: Webs? What else would look like that around here?
Definitely Webs! They were in the midst of their summer sale, lordy. Hard to resist, but I had to remind myself: I have a yarn store. I HAVE A WAREHOUSE OF YARN AT HOME.
If you walked out of Webs buying only one yarn, then you are truly a woman of inestimable strength.
PRO TIP: Have husband waiting in car. Ups the stakes just enough.
I love the family photos. So fun to see the little guys you wrote about in the mid 2000’s as young men.
Thank you, Catherine. I am mystified by it all, really. How did they get up there? Proof that Cinnamon Sugar Pop-Tarts are excellent nutrition for the growing boy.
One can never share too many photos. I agree though, the last one is the best. Happy Knitting!
Happy knitting to you, too, Jo-Anne. We’re lucky to have such a delicious hobby.
I had a Great Aunt Margaret. Didn’t everyone? BTW, the gents look like they are not part of the social media ban thing.
I’m pretty sure they were group texting themselves, while standing in front of each other. #2017
First those gorgeous dahlias… (think of that as a color combo inspiration) and then the [gasp] barn. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more incredible one. It’s castle-like. Took my breath away. I’m so happy that you had a most wonderful vacation! Thank you for sharing your highlights with us.
That barn reminds me of the barns at some of the stud farms around Lexington, Kentucky. Those horses live waaaaay better than I do.
Thanks for sharing your vacation pix and I am impressed with your fortitude going tech-less. WEBS, I can only dream.
The barn at Shelburne Farms took my breath away too. It houses a K-8 school, farm animals for kids to visit, a very fine cheddar-making operation, and a grilled-cheese stand that I will remember for the rest of my life.
That library with the wing chairs and the deep sofa and a whole wall of books! I could live in that room.
Me too!
Totally. Just glorious to see. All the fabrics and textures and colors. Plus out the window is that vista across the lawn to Lake Champlain. Rooms are available at the Inn at Shelburne Farms during the warm season. Would have loved to wander down there in my PJs for a book.
beautiful photos- I am stunned by the Immense “barn” with turrets
Such a lovely family road trip! Where did you come across that amazing barn?
It’s the Farm Barn at Shelburne Farms. Amazing.
Looks like a fantastic vacation. I love the Cloisters–it has been forever since I’ve visited, need to go back. And hooray for being successful on a social media blackout!
I visited in college, ages ago. The gardens are so much more thoughtful now—really beautiful to see.
Wonderful photographs, you have a wonderful eye for composition. I enjoyed my armchair travels with you.
Thank you! It’s hard to take a bad picture with so much beauty around.
I hate to tell you this, but I don’t know what yarn store it was. My first thought was Webs because it looks so large in the photo. Please, enlighten me.
Good eye! That’s the front part of Webs–there’s a whole warehouse behind it with tons more yarns. Epic!
Sigh. So lovely. I named my daughter after my Great-Aunt Margaret.
I had a Great Aunt Melvina – isn’t that the best? She had a lovely sheep farm and many of those interior and garden pics could have been from her place. Not that barn though – whoa! Glad you had beautiful, social media-free family travels!
Ah Vahmont! So homesick!!!!
The final picture is a keeper for sure! If you were driving, you may have driven right past my I-95 exit in CT. I need to take a road trip North for sure but first I need to go back to Nashville for a visit…it’s been 2 1/4 years since my last visit. Meanwhile, I’m loving your projects.
Please give a holler when you head this way! Would love to see you, Jan.
Love the colorway inspiration. Sorry I missed you in NYC. Come back soon!!
I’ll be back before you know it!
So much to love! Thank you! That bookshelf colorway…! I imagine a whole collection, made from different types of bookshelves. children’s bookshelf, used bookstore bookshelf, etc. I love the last shot. You and the boys are all in checks! It’s like you’re from the same collection. 😀 xoA
The checks are so funny–I hadn’t noticed that, Alice!
And the bookshelf idea, wow. I’d love to talk more about this idea–we have some things coming up that would be so interesting to do using this idea.
If this whole yarn and knitting thing doesn’t work out, you could be a travel agent! 😉 I want to travel your same itinerary. What a great trip!
Love, love, love your trip (and I always prefer to take them without internet interruption, so you done good in my book). By the way, that’s Saint Michael and the Dragon, by the Master of Belmonte.
Gretchen! That dragon! I couldn’t get over it! For those who are brave, here’s a detail:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/88/a6/32/88a632128631ee58ec4afc6eee8fb9c1.jpg
But wait–there’s more!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3elOBXBcCM
Interviewed Griffith Mann for our alumni magazine a few years ago, and he was sweet, smart, and accommodating. And I loved how jazzed he was about this piece.
Oh, what a fantastic video–thank you so much! Such a gorgeous painting. The decorative patterns, the serenity of Saint Michael, and especially the demon.
Griffith Mann is right to evoke the original setting for this painting: a church, probably dark, a haunting place with music and incense in the air.
Loved all the pictures. The double sink – I would probably have to kneel to use them. Fantastic idea for photo shot of what it would look like for needlepoint.
That magnificent walnut? mahogony? bar belongs on the victoriaelizabethbarnes.com blog. She would snap it up in a heartbeat and have her (long-suffering) husband tranform it into a vanity for the bath. (You should follow her blog. Hilarious.) The needlepoint canvas made me LOL. And hurrah for the semi-matching shirts on your two incredible boys!
You have a very handsome family, Ann. Thanks for sharing your vacation; the barn was my favorite picture. I might have to get there myself some year soon.
You’re a true creative–I love the way you look at the world. That bookcase color way is brilliant. I never see things that way. And your other pictures are beautifully framed. This fits into that category of “other people are doing more fun things/making better choices than me.” Loved being on your trip vicariously.
I love all of these pics (and colors schemes) madly. Glad but sad you were so close, come to the Adirondacks next time you’re in the northeast! We have a dearth of yarn stores, but great scenery.
Such beautiful pics! The spousal unit hails from the Adirondacks. That’s just breathtakingly beautiful country up there. And Webs – it’s just yarn overload x 2. I have to take a paper bag with me in case I hyperventilate. Glad you’re back.
Hey–I’m a Great Aunt Margaret! I do not have such an elegant domicile, however.
Thanks for sharing your great trip!
Looks idyllic! (Is your new yarn…GRAY?)
Wow ! Great post…. made me homesick for Vt where I used to live. And visits to the Adirondacks. And of course Webs… I think I have a log cabin blankie inspired by your bookshelf pic. Really enjoyed this post. Thanks to you both for MDK. Regards from Hell’s Kitchen. P-
Thanks for taking us along on such a lovely looking adventure, even belatedly. You’ve made me wish we were headed that way again soon. I think it’s Hubby’s turn to pick our destination though.
PS I’m going to be hoping that MDK will be bringing us that colorway, it is inspired.
Looks like a college exploration ramble to me!
That’s a darn good-lookin’ family you have there, lady. I envy you Lake Champlain, New York City, and WEBS the most. But Shelburne Farms is not too shabby either! Also I linked back to Easel No. 1 and was surprised to see why I gravitated toward blending two particular stash yarn strands – red cashmere and lavender silk/mohair. Melanie inspired me to knit and now she’s influencing my color choices. Yikes!
Sorry, Ann, the link back was to the Nesting Wrap pattern. My memory isn’t what it used to be.
Hi Ann
Lots of familiar places and then some not
Thanks for making my morning more colorful!
Cheers
Serena Kusserow
You have such a personable family and are so kind to share your life with us. Your view of your life and surroundings is charming, approachable and humorous. Thanks for including us in your adventures!
That was lovely, thank you so much for sharing! I see your kids are growing with the same speed of light mine did. It makes you dizzy doesn’t it? Great family photo too. Family time together is the best. (:
Your trip looks so relaxing….I am so jealous!
Well, you’ve got the New England roadtrip DOWN is all I can say! Wow.
I laughed. I cried. I’m not even joking.
Greetings from Massachusetts!
Looks like a nice time. I grew up in New england and wax nostagic.
All looks good, what a beautiful peoples