The Table

So here's the new table made from old wood. It is not a finely made piece of furniture, but we were attracted to the pencil legs and the different boards used on the top. We are not very fancy people in general, and we were on a budget. This table was pretty inexpensive -- less than the IKEA table we tried. It measures 37 inches across, a little wider than the fellow said it was and a little wider than I wanted. Our dining room is not very wide. We may remove the rug to see if it makes the room a little airier feeling. We are used to the room being empty -- it is weird to have something so big in it. We'll be able to seat lots of friends and family at Thanksgiving -- if we can find some chairs by then . . . . I don't know how interior designers do their jobs. I get so tired of searching for stuff and making decisions.

I came down with a cold this weekend -- a parting gift from my darling daughter -- so I have been pretty lazy the last day or so. I did hook up these little coasters. I wanted them to look like wood block prints and I think I succeeded. They are simple and rough and I love the brightly colored wool (all dyed by my sister Barb of thimblefolk.)

Brimfield Antique Market

Pete and I spent yesterday in Brimfield, Massachusetts at the famous antique market. It's held three times a year, in May, July and September. I've wanted to go for years, and since we were still in need of a dining room table, we got up early, got on a ferry and headed north.

We had a rocking and rolling ferry ride over to New London -- a storm that continues to blow as I write this was making great rolling waves toss the huge boat around. When we were once again on solid ground we meandered through eastern Connecticut, ending up in Brimfield just before noon.

The antiques market is huge. We only managed to hit four or five fields before having to head back to New London to make our 5 o'clock ferry reservation home. There were not many antique tables large enough for us for sale, and the few that were available were too fancy and too expensive. We finally found a table that was newly made from old wood that appealed to both of us -- and that cost less than the hideous new Ikea table we tried a few weeks ago. So we bought it.

We were pretty single-minded about finding a table and chairs, but I managed to take some photos of the hooked rugs for sale. I thought they'd be a visual treat for my rug hooking friends. So here they are.