Time flies

... when you're busy celebrating.  This past weekend was my birthday weekend; I took a couple of days off from work and went to Portland to play with friends.  Very casual playing -- nothing too structured, not much planning.  The weather cooperated -- well, it poured rain on Saturday, which was, of course, the day we were all over town shopping, but it wasn't raining sideways, and it wasn't snowing, and I call that a win for January.  And a lot of the time, there was sunshine and blue skies:

My kind of weather.  Didn't even need my gloves the day I took that picture.

Since I was going to be there for several days, I decided to rent a little cottage in the Alberta Arts district, about 3 blocks away from the friends I was there to play with it.  It was a lovely space -- lots of light and clean lines, which made for a very peaceful experience.  

 

At home there is a lot of stuff that demands my attention when I get up, but at the cottage I found myself starting the day with a peaceful hour with a cup of tea and my journal.

Can't replicate the light and clean line at home (yet -- too much stuff) but I'll work on the hour with tea and journal.

It was a very easy weekend.  There was cat visiting with the very handsome Henry:

Also, yarn shopping, fabric shopping, dinner out, dinner in, walks around the neighborhood, a very strange movie, a very small amount of football watching, and lots and lots of knitting.  I cast on Piper's Journey right before I left, and it grew from this

to this:

I also made a lot of progress on the tubular stripey cowl - I'm into the home stretch with the medium and dark blues.  

At the end of this section I'll graft the beginning to the end, which means I'll have to break out the Kitchener stitch tutorial,  I might be procrastinating a little about that.  That's OK.  While I procrastinate on that, I'm into the lace section of Piper's Journey and am having a lot of fun.  I wasn't sure I was on the right track, but now it's beginning to look like lace, and I am Very Happy.

I like what happens when I decide to dedicate myself to celebrations.  I need to find room for more of those in my life.