Dispatches from the Remote Remote Office

Good morning, friends! It doesn't feel like Monday to me after this past weekend, but I did remember to log in to my work email, so that's something! We arrived safely in Florida after a very early start on Saturday -- my alarm went off at 3 a.m. -- and got in on time and without a hitch. Some very good family friends (my best friend's parents who are like a second set of parents to me) were here for a visit before going to see their youngest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson in Miami, so we were able to have brunch with them right after we arrived, and then we spent the day relaxing outside before we all turned in early. Both Rainbow and I slept about 10 hours Saturday night! 

Yesterday we all felt more human and I was able to go for a long walk. I've only been down here at this time of year once before, a number of years ago, and it's interesting to see how much is different compared to December. There are plants and flowers blooming that aren't when we're here at the holidays, and even the wildlife is different. Usually in December there are tons of ducks around (there are lots of ponds in the housing development), but yesterday I saw only two on my walk. I have, however, seen a lot of birds we don't normally see up North. I am relatively new to birding, having only downloaded the Merlin app and started tracking the birds I see late last year, but I added four new birds to my life list yesterday, including the very first pileated woodpecker I've ever seen in real life -- it was so much bigger than I expected!

My knitting goal while we're here is to get as much done on my May(be) Queen as I can. I had finished the collar before we left, and yesterday I was able to get through the short-row shaping and start the yoke. It doesn't look like much yet, but I can tell that it's definitely progressing faster than my first one because I am more familiar with the pattern this time around and understand what I'm supposed to be doing, so I am not flipping back and forth as much.

I have about 40 or so more rounds before the sleeve separation, which doesn't seem like much except that there are increases every other round. But, given that I don't have to worry about cooking meals, packing lunches, or doing school pick-ups this week, I do have some more time in my day, so I'm trying to take full advantage of it.

Though it feels like I'm on vacation, I am still working while we're here, so I'm going to stop here for today. I'll leave you with one of my favorite views from the neighborhood here, though, so if you need a little mental vacation today, click to embiggen and join me here for a few minutes:

Have a great start to your week!