Two beanies I made for Dave during his winter stay in New Hampshire. The green baby alpaca was not warm enough for anything below 20F so I made the brown one. (The lady at the wool shop said that camel would be warm enough.)

Since it is doubtful that will ever wear these again both are heading for the frog pond.

Finally finished my cardigan - 'Hey Teach' from knitty.com. I'll post a photo once I find someone to handle the camera. (Another drawback to being on my own.)

1. Crocheted booties for the xmas pile.

2. My first Fair Isle project!

3. Neckwarmer from one of the many 'one skein' books. Shown here unblocked, unfortunately after blocking it is now a couple of sizes too big.

Socks!

Proof that I did indeed knit a proper pair of socks, using sock yarn and small needles.

I'll savour the moment because it may never happen again!

Leyburn socks by pepperknit

Nothing new

Seriously. Finished a pair of socks but don't have a picture yet. Finished some scarves but haven't sent them in the post. Still working on my sweater. I hope to have it done before my trip out west.

Still missing Dave. :(

Not really happy with either of these but then I rarely am really happy with my work.

1. Colour is actually a bright hot pink. 2. The green is really soft but isn't as ruffle-y as it should have been. Can also be worn overlapped.

Coldplay concert

We went to see Coldplay last night. Key word being cold. The temperature dropped and there I was without a bit of knitted warmth. Obviously wasn't thinking straight, probably the lack of food earlier in the day. To top it off, I didn't want to chance my needles being confiscated so I missed out on a good deal of prime knitting time.

Oh, the music? Coldplay puts on a good concert. However they do need to get better opening bands.

In other news...

I finally finished the baby sweater.

And some scarves...

.

Photoless Connecticut

Not that Connecticut is undeserving of photos - we just forgot to take any.

After tea on Saturday we left Boston and headed to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. There wasn't much opportunity for photos. Once we got off the freeway it was dark and we were on rural highways, probably passed something photo worthy but there were no streetlamps so...it was dark. Until we got closer to the casino. I could tell that we were nearing the casino by the halo of light on the hills. And the steady stream of cars on a dark highway in the middle of nowhere.

Who would have thought that a large casino with four hotels would be totally booked? Tom Tom comes to the rescue again and finds us a Best Western near by. Except they had no vacancies. But the desk clerk was very helpful in directing us to another grouping of hotels not too far away. Days Inn at four in the morning... I didn't take pictures.

Sunday we set out to see Rob, with a quick stop for breakfast. Oh, and some outlet shopping. Spent time with Rob and his youngest, the darling Eloise. Forgot to take pictures.

We spent Sunday night in Atlantic City. I remembered to take pictures of the hotel room at Caesars. But my batteries were dead. Very nice room, fabulous shower. I just wish that it had a bathtub. :(

The nice thing about the hotel/casino? Smoke-free for the most part. Not so nice? They didn't have a 24 hour restaurant. Two in the morning and we had to go over to Bally's to eat. That wouldn't happen in Vegas...

Mom- I know I said I'd send you a postcard but, unlike Vegas, there weren't a lot of gift shops in the hotels. We did get some batteries though.

The AC Boardwalk. That's about it. Nice for a day trip but I'll take Vegas.

Monday evening we spent in Baltimore and got home Tuesday afternoon. Travel can be fun but it feels good to be back home. It feels even better to finally have Dave at home.

The Boston Tea Party*

*with equal parts hard cider

Dave's work trip was finally at an end so we spent five days making our way back home from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Thursday we went up to Kittery, Maine to do some shopping and then headed down to Boston, Massachusetts.

Dave had booked us into the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. The room was nice (I would have taken a picture but we'd already spread our stuff all over) but the bathroom needed a renovation.

Very...public restroomish. And take a look at the back of the door.

A bottle opener. Seriously.

That night we had dinner at MJ O'Connors, the pub next door to the hotel. A pint of Magners and Guinness Beef Stew. Yum!

On Friday we went to Brattle Book Shop (established 1825)

Art work on the side of the book shop

We went to the New England Aquarium, home to Myrtle the green sea turtle - 70+ years old and over 500 lbs. Did you know that penguins bite? and projectile poop?

Along with the turtles these are my favourites...

We also wandered around the Market Square. Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall. Had a cider at the Black Rose and of course, went to the Hard Rock Cafe. We met up with Dave's friend Ted at MJ O'Conners for a cider (Dave) and Irish Coffee (me).

On Saturday we went to Windsor Button (established 1936) where I bought buttons for the baby sweater I'm making and a skein of silk/seaweed yarn. I know, it sounds weird but its soft and beautiful. We strolled the Boston Commons and the Public Gardens.


In winter the Frog Pond is iced over and the Bostonians come here to skate.

Indulged in a bit of park bench smooching...

Afternoon Tea was set for 3pm back at our hotel. We had time to kill so we went to the pub next door and had a pint of cider.

Before our courses began we each had a glass of white port, infused with tea. Lovely was the only way I could describe it.

First course
The scone recipe was described as a cross between a scone and a Scottish rock biscuit. It was very good - made with currants, not too sweet.


Second course
Egg salad, chicken salad, salmon and pork tenderloin. Spiced cake, petit four, dark chocolate truffle and chocolate dipped strawberry.


Third course
Tea infused Crème brûlée.

We were lucky enough to be served by Cindy, one of only a handful of tea sommeliers in the world. She was very helpful in choosing teas and also suggested that we share pots of tea so we could sample a variety of the blends. Of course I bought tea to bring home. :)

The lobby of the Boston Park Plaza.

All in all, a great trip and I certainly wouldn't mind another visit.

How does it feel to be forty-one?

I feel tired.
Dave (who likes to point out that I've now caught up to him in age) feels tired.

And we're not even in the same state so that is not the reason. ;)

Today is my birthday.

I thought it would be depressing to be alone on my birthday but I had a good day.

I spent the morning chatting online with a couple of friends and I had several phone calls/texts of birthday wishes.

I went shopping and splurged just enough to feel good without having to feel guilty too.

I went to dinner with my boyfriend's brother (and he insisted on paying when he found out it was my birthday!).

This is what 41 looks like:

March 14 - Just shy of midnight we pulled into the parking slot for his apartment. Our apartment.


Three days earlier my home was in California, almost 3000 miles west of where I now stood. How had that happened? I left behind all of my family, all of my friends. My two beautiful nieces whom I had the pleasure to help raise on a daily basis. I've never been one to take risks or embrace change. Isn't it amazing what love can do?

It's been five years now. We traded the one bedroom apartment for a 93-year-old house that needs a bit of work (quite a bit) and settled into a normal life of couplehood - work, chores, travel. Holidays with the kids every other year. Pretty good recipe for happily ever after.

So what happens when he has to go away for work and I have to be on my own for most of the year? I wonder why I moved out here. If he's not going to be here...what's the point?

And then I think about the last four years filled with work, chores and travel. And the holidays with the kids every other year. I think about how it makes me smile when I get his daily phone calls and how I start to cry when I see him after a long absence. I think about the love I have for this man.

That's the point. I am where I belong.

Another year, another try at keeping an updated journal.