Well! I certainly am racking up the miles lately! I’ve put well over 800 miles on my car since the beginning of the month. I’m well aware that this might be peanuts to some people (like, say, my sister), but for me, that’s huge. (To give you an idea, my car will be 7 years old in December, and I only just passed 47,000 miles last week.) This total for the month includes, of course, the 220 mile round trip to Rhinebeck last week, and the 90-mile (round trip) to the Garden State Sheep and Wool festival, and the 70 or so to Liberty State Park and back … and the 90 that we put on today, going down to Pennington and back.

Chappy mentioned this yesterday. The owner of our favorite coffeeshop on Martha’s Vineyard (source of Mom’s favorite blueberry scones) was here in NJ for a book signing for her new cookbook, Table Talk. (Mom wrote about this on her blog, too.) So, naturally, we trekked down to Pennington to see her and get a signed copy.

Um–I should tell you that the cookbook DOES have the Blueberry Scone recipe in it. The one my Mom drools over. The scones that she buys and hoards in the freezer. The scones that she loves so much that, one year, I called Espresso Love and ordered a half-dozen to be shipped overnight just to surprise Mom. And, boy, was she surprised! Actually, she ended up with extras because Carol (the owner) had misunderstood and, even though I specifically said Valentine’s Day when I placed the order, she goofed and shipped them a week early, and then felt so badly about it, she shipped another batch the following (correct) week, free of charge, so Mom ended up with a full dozen.

Anyway, yeah, THAT recipe is in there. So is a great beef stew recipe, which I know is great because the market where we bought the book today cooked up a batch and was giving out samples. (Yes, the book-signing was at a grocery store, how cool is that, huh?) There are breakfast foods, baked goods, main courses … a little of everything, and the recipes look good. I can already vouch for the blueberry scones, the beef stew, and the Presidential Muffins, which I often get at Espresso Love, so I’m sure the rest of the cookbook won’t disappoint.The title of the book is Table Talk by Carol McManus.

Then, since we were down that way (it’s not like Pennington is right around the corner), we stopped at the Wooly Lamb yarn shop. It’s in a shopping center right on Route 31, and has a very nice selection. I noticed it the first time I went down to visit Liz, but since the only times I’ve gone past it, I’ve had Chappy feeling queasy in the backseat, this was my first chance to actually STOP. And, about this rather poor picture? I kinneared it from a discreet corner, and–had I mentioned that it’s been raining all day?–somebody said, “Was that lightning??” Tee!

Anyway, it WAS a nice shop, and two little skeins of sock yarn followed me home. Plymouth Yarn Co Happy Feet (90% Superwash merino/10% nylon). As we wandered around the store, in fact, Mom had pulled one of these skeins out of the bin and said, “What a mess” because the skein was an untwisted, tangled pile in amongst all the other yarn. I took pity on it and its friend and retwisted it, and went on my way, browsing through the store … but before we left, I took another look at the sock yarn, and thought, “It really IS pretty yarn.” And, at only $6.50 a skein, well, it’s NICE to patronize independent stores, right? Even one week after Rhinebeck and with money really tight and just having bought a cookbook?

Right next to the yarn shop is a quilt shop, the Pennington Quilt Works, and I have to tell you, I’ve never seen such a NICE quilt shop.  Huge (huge!) selection of fabric, tons of space, lots of light … If I ever take up quilting again, this is definitely a store worth a 90 mile drive to visit. I haven’t even seen a quilt store I liked since the old Contented Heart closed in Basking Ridge about 15 years ago, and this one was lovely. And, did you know they make variegated THREAD now? You know, like multicolored yarn, but thread, for sewing? I had no idea, but how cool! If I could have thought of a reason to use it, I would have bought a spool.

And–even more–there’s a beading shop in the same building. Artful Beads, who was just quieting down after a morning kid’s party. Very nice shop–also big, also well-lit, with a nice, classy atmosphere. Wooden tables, mirrors … not cheap plastic chairs and flimsy tables. It made me wish I were more adept with pliers. (Because, really, I understand the concept of beading, but don’t see how you do things like twist wire around itself, because, it’s WIRE, how do you keep it from turning?)

And that other project of mine? Done. So now–knitting wise–I can concentrate on my sweater!

I’ll leave you with some Sky. It’s not today’s sky, oh no. Today’s sky is gray and wet and dreary, but it’s a pretty one that was on my camera from the other day.

And, meanwhile, Chappy’s just glad to have us HOME.

Tags: General, Martha's Vineyard, Reading, Sky // 9 Comments »