We’re still here on vacation, and I’ve managed to take hundreds of photos. There is a ton of stuff to see and do here, and we’re making a grand attempt to take it all in. Today is our last full day here, then we drive back to the DC area for a day, then home.
I did manage to find the yarn shop, and even bought a couple of things. Now there’s a surprise!
I also found some lovely sheep. These are in Colonial Williamsburg. They keep them in the pastures around the old reconstructed town. They shear them every year, and you can buy their wool in the shops. John drew the line at me buying a fleece and trying to stuff it into the overhead bin on the plane, so I settled for some finished wool. I’ll show photos of the loot in a different post when I photograph them. The sheep are Leicester Longwool, an 18th century breed from England.
This next photo might be familiar to those of you in the medical profession who use digoxin in your practice. This stuff (foxglove) grows all over the place here.
The nice thing about having a timeshare is that we have a kitchen. Even I can get tired of eating out for every meal. We tend to have lunch out, then cook dinner at “home”. That way we can have wine with dinner and nobody has to be the designated driver. Here I am stirring the stew pot.
Notice that like any good Colonial woman, I’m doing two domestic chores at once.
Speaking of spinning, I found the weaving and spinning cottage in Williamsburg yesterday. John gets the award of the week for standing patiently while I took photos and asked the very knowledgeable women every question I could think of.
The last place we toured yesterday was the Decorative Arts Museum, which has a fabulous collection of Colonial (and some later periods) furniture, pottery, quilts, and other household decorative items. I could have spent days there alone. The museum is on the site of the former Public Hospital, which was an insane asylum in Colonial times. A corner of the museum has a display of some of the items from the hospital. Here is John, demonstrating that perhaps I have driven him crazy after all.
Today we take the ferry across the James to the Smithfield area. It’s supposed to be hot and humid. The weather here makes me appreciate the Pacific Northwest. If I don’t melt in the heat, I’ll be back again with more photos next time!
LOL at that last photo of John!
Looks like you’re having a great time. 🙂
Great pictures. What a wonderful vacation. Love the spinning wheel pictures. At my workshop I spun some Leicester longwool. It’s a little coarse, but very pretty – and very long staple!
Lovely pictures – really makes me want to go to Williamsburg! I like to have a bit of extra room when we travel – we’ll be going to Bodega Bay (where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds but a lovely area in addition) in a couple of months with the progeny. We will rent a house – possibly only for 3 or 4 days so we can spend some time at Santa Cruz also. It’s especially nice to have the extra space with kids & most of the houses stock games & toy & beach gear for the children.
I bet you and your knowledgeable question made those spinners day!
Yes, and bottles of wine you buy for timeshare/home consumption are a lot cheaper than restaurant wine, too! So glad you’re having such a wonderful vacation!!!
Ooooh, I’ve been to that yarn shop. It has so much yarn! I can believe that you bought! Great pic of John!
It’s looking like a wonderful trip! 🙂
I love Williamsburg! I wish I had been a knitter the last time I was there. It looks like there was a WHOLE lot that I missed. Have fun!
Hoping you haven’t melted. I like the different wheels….do they use them all, or just the great wheel?
You are spinning some luscious dinner and yarn.
Ditto on that picture of John. Looks great. Sounds and looks like a wonderful vacation. So glad you’re having a great time.
You have officially made me miss parts of the “old life” and forced me to find pictures w/o the ex so that I can convince SF to go with me. There is so much to see and do and even though I don’t spin, I need to revisit that cottage again….Can’t wait for the rest of the pictures! I am so glad that you and John are having such a wonderful time!
Yes. That was the building I was thinking of when I visited Williamsburg–there were women spinning away. But most of the finished items seemed to be woven rather than knitted.
You should find a Kinkos or UPS store and ship your fleece home.
I would have loved the spinning cottage. Actually since I am such a history buff I probably would have loved it all.