I've come to the conclusion that the older we get, the faster time flies by! Which really doesn't seem fair! With my child raising, full time working and other required things behind me, I'm really enjoying these days of my life. Writing, knitting, reading, travel, and doing what I want, when I want. So I sure wish the days wouldn't pass quite as quickly. But here we are into March already!

The calendar might say that spring is a mere couple weeks away, but I'm sure those of you in the north are not feeling that. It's been a terrible winter for snow and cold. And although, no, we do not get snow here on Cedar Key, we've had some pretty chilly weather. Some overnight freezes and some days struggling to get to 60 degrees. So I'm also looking forward to some spring-like weather.

The year began with Ray and I celebrating 2013 in our beloved Paris. However, it wasn't quite the celebration we'd hoped for. He ended up in ICU for nine days with flu, pneumonia and a viral infection in his bronchial airways. Not fun! And it delayed us getting home by eight days. But all is well now, he's fully recovered and we did manage to enjoy some of Paris before he took sick.

Here's the gorgeous tree at Galleries Lafayette department store

And some delicious wine I enjoyed, along with some of the sights that make me know I'm truly in Paris

And a few weeks after we returned home, we got a new addition to our family. We now have Toulouse, our blue classic tabby with white Maine Coon cat.  Toulouse is now almost 5 months old and a complete delight! He's fit right into the family and is extremely playful, friendly and affectionate. He has also been mentioned in my book 5, coming out later this year.

Speaking of book 5, it has been completed and is in the hands of my editor.  I will be beginning work on book 6 soon but for right now, I'm taking a much-needed break. Which means I've been doing lots of knitting and reading.  And next month I'll be going to Stitches, the knitting convention in Atlanta with my good friend and personal assistant, Alice. We're looking forward to 5 days of girl time, fun and yarn, yarn, yarn! We've also signed up for two knitting classes, one of which is with Lily Chin, so I think that'll be fun.

June will find me and Ray in the Boston area because our granddaughter will be graduating from high school. It seems like yesterday that my Kaela was just a little girl and here she is a young woman already! And I'm so very proud of her. So another fun time ahead.

I guess it's no wonder my years seem to fly by. There's always something going on or someplace to go. And I can hardly believe that it was 8 years last month since we moved to Cedar Key! And so much has happened in these 8 years, both good and bad. 

I've stayed in touch with some of my previous blogger friends over at Facebook and some I still hear from now and again via email.  One blogger friend in particular I had the opportunity to get together with a few times during my recent trip to Paris. We had first met on my trip there back in 2007 and this time we got together for lunch at a tea salon (photo below) lunch another day and one evening while Ray was in the hospital, Pat invited me to her home for a wonderful Morrocan dinner. It was great getting to spend some quality time with her on this trip!

That brings you up to date for this time. So I'm wishing you a Happy Spring with all good things coming your way. See you here next time............