And there she goes...

The days have been surprisingly sunny the last week or so and this is such a shock to the system that I feel like a mole just out of hibernation but not convinced at all that winter is over. I'm looking over my shoulder, perhaps even somewhat hunched over in the expectation of some major snow wallop. Perhaps the cold nights and brisk frosty mornings account for this fatalism, or perhaps just a relentless winter which I was strangely certain would NEVER end.

But there are crocus blossoms sprinkled about the house foundation near the kitchen door. The snowdrops are done for another year, blooming in the snow beginning early March. I don't know how many times they were covered by snow and just kept on going. A nice lesson here in resilience.

There was a meeting at work yesterday which in the space of a few minutes removed 90% of the stress I expected to have to wade through over the next month. I don't have to do 6 road trips in the first two weeks of May and have everything ready for the designer by THIS Friday. The fact that this is pretty much impossible didn't stop me from expecting to pull it off as I could see no alternative. The contract ends on the 15th of May, period. Everything must be done by that date as no money can be spent (according to contract requirements) after that date. Hence I believed I needed to go into overdrive to get all the commitments done.

Now the situation is this: a few more days at the editing end; later deadline if necessary to get everything to the designer; a bigger block of time to get things to and back from the printer and the CD burning folks. Then two trips the week of the 19th of May, one to Truro and one to Sydney. The other four will be done by and colleagues early in June. So, you know what? I feel so much better and I can breathe! Still have lots of work to do of course but without the added pressure of an impossible schedule.

Saturday the 26th I'm going to a Lace workshop in the valley at Gaspereau Valley Fibres.
I am looking forward to this, since I'm very new to lace knitting and would appreciate learning anything useful and meeting others with a similar interest.  The cost is $25 so it won't break the bank.  I'd hoped to have company for this jaunt but my friend isn't feeling well, so I'll go by myself.

Today I find out what my tax situation is--will I have to cough up more or will I get something back? Will what comes back (if it does) be of any real use in the travel fund?  I have to make a decision about the Knitaly tour in the next week to hold a seat.  Even with all my number crunching I'm still at least $3K short of what I need to do this.  And I'm going on pogie in a month, so my income will be less than half of what it has been for most of the winter.

In early June I will have a two week writing retreat, aka house-sitting gig.  I'm looking forward to being away from home with laptop, pens and notebooks and plan to make a concerted effort to whack away at the Boomer book project.  Between that and playing with the kitties it should be a very pleasant break.  Let's hope it will be a productive one as well.  I will be staying in Lunenburg

Lunenburg has many lovely cafes and is about 10 minutes closer to my absolutely favourite haunt The Biscuit Eater.  This is the best local haunt for writers, artists and interesting folk--you'll see everyone there, enjoy great coffee, delectable sweets, and monumental biscuits--of course I go at every opportunity!

I've saved the best news for last.  On June 14th we will celebrate the 2nd Annual Mahone Bay Knit in Public Day at the Biscuit Eater.  We meet at 11:oo and can knit through the afternoon if we like.  Last year there were some fascinating sock projects and wonderful company.  The B.E. provided a number of surprise draws, think books and cake and Have a Yarn offered a lovely discount to participants.  Great fun--join us if you can.