Joe and I don’t take vacations. We’re both self employed, and somehow we’ve ended up with bosses that don’t think two weeks off in the summer is a reasonable thing- so we haven’t had a vacation in a while. We took the girls home to Newfoundland a few summers ago, and Joe and I had a canoe weekend two years ago, but really, we simply don’t vacation. We have businesses that only run when we work on them, so a day off means everything comes to a grinding halt. We try to avoid that. All that said, running your own self means that you can also bust a move really hard and earn time off for good behaviour, and that’s what Joe and I did this week.
Megan, Ken and Pato roll into Montreal today at 4:00 and Joe and I are already in Kingston, 1/4 of the way there. We stayed with my Auntie Yvonne last night (best hostess in the world, hands down) and today we’ll leap back in the car and drive to Montreal, welcome Team Knit as the arrive, and then – GET THIS.
Instead of driving straight back home like we did last year, we’re going to have dinner in Montreal, then stay in a hotel, and then get up and have a glorious half-day in la Belle Ville. We’ll buy some bagels, we’ll walk to to Jardins des Floralies, perhaps go to Notre Dame… then head for home. It’s like 24 hours of vacation, and I’m so excited.
I’ve got a sock. I’ll report back in.
Wave as you drive by Brockville!
You should take an extra half day in Kingston on the way back. Take a boat tour through the 1000 Islands!
Good for you !!! (nice sock….)
How wonderful for you. Enjoy!!
Please wave as you pass Brighton on your way home.
GOOD FOR YOU!!! Here’s hoping you have a wonderful time. Relax, knit in the car – enjoy the family and put work out of your minds for these few days. You’ve earned it and you deserve it.
PS – The sock looks beautiful!
I’m in a similar position. My husband keeps telling me that we could go to the beach and rent a house with Wi-Fi and I could work there. And I’m all, pardon me for not being excited that I get to work while you (with your 3 weeks paid vacation) get to go to the beach! I haven’t had an actual week’s vacation in years because it takes a great deal of planning to make up for that income you won’t get (and I’m the primary source of income right now).
Good for you for making the time and actually taking it. Enjoy yourself to the fullest!
Have fun. I think you should extend it through Monday.
I hope you have a fantastic time off.
The whole self employed thing… yeah. I am too, and believe me, my boss is a tyrant.
Visit Patisserie Belge in Montreal if you can: 3485 Avenue du Parc. SO worth it.
I hear you. Weddings and funerals and major medical emergencies–and half of those we do without each other. The one time we did get a romantic weekend, we got a call about . . . a major medical emergency. Can’t win!
Enjoy it and don’t even think about things back home!!!
Hello
There is a knit night @ Effiloché on Firday night. Come and join us! Also, Montreal is wonderful at summer time but use the subway because there are too much constructions on the roads.
Have a wonderful week-end!
Lucky you – I love Montreal (only been here once, but the love is there!). You should go see the Biodome 🙂 Great place ! And there are a few nice Yarn stores too 🙂
My bosses will not let us have vacations either. We are self employed.
You’re spending time in two of my favorite places on earth. My daughter lives in Montreal, and could point you towards her favorite LYS, on Monkland.
have a delightful time!
Trying to squeeze time off into a one-person business is not the easiest thing to do. I have to find someone to feed my alpacas, but it is worth the effort to take some time to rejuvenate. Enjoy your mini-vacation. Rest and relax. We’ll all be here waiting for you when you return!
…and a lovely sock it is, too.
Old Kingston along the water is one of my fave spots to visit and I hope you found it so. In Brockville, there is (was?) the very best dining establishment near the water and called, My Place. OMG – have dinner there if you possibly can. Enjoy every minute of your vacation!
That’s my sock I’m traveling with this week too! I’m becoming addicted to the bobbles and tho I curse them often I miss them when I get to the foot. Enjoy your well-deserved vacation. Go Team Knit!
Bon voyage,enjoy the sights in Montreal. Pity you don’t eat meat . They have the best smoked meat on rye ever.
Just got back from a fabulous week in Montreal. I love that city. Enjoy your stay and eat a bagel for me.
That is definitely one of the reasons I am grateful to being gainfully not self-employed even if my vacations are almost all stay-cations and involve doing things like dishes.
And even more dishes.
I’m not even home to make all of these dishes! Help!
Welcome! I’m sure you’ll have a great time! We even arranged for perfect weather while you’re here.
I can vacation as long as I have a catsitter, but I’d almost consider it a vacation to take care of those Alpacas that Teresa mentioned – maybe there’s a way for knitters to create an exchange there? Like house sitting, but with furry friends.
Enjoy the mini-vacation! Even a little time away refreshes a person. It’s just putting it into practice that’s hard.
Go Team Knit!
Have a great vacation. Even a day really helps.
Between the shop and a farm, time off is precious. Even just a couple of days away is a real treat. We toured Ottawa on our day! Enjoy!
Laissez un Bon Temps! J’adore Montreal. Congratulations to Meg, Pato and Ken!
Agree on the boat tour on 1000 islands!
My husband and I vacation there every 4th of July, and we got married on the Wellesley Island, and have gone on the tour every year, but we always loved it… though we are on the United States side on the Uncle Sam boat tour.
Enjoy your mini vacation!
I love La Belle Ville. I have spent a lot of time in Montreal and I love it. Enjoy your mini getaway!
Enjoy! Sometimes little sneakaways are more fun than the vacations you have to plan for.
Go, Team Knit!
Enjoy! You deserve it!
If you haven’t already decided where to have dinner in Montreal, consider the Reservoir brew pub. Beers are excellent and it’s in a nice area that is NOT St. Denis. We went there a few weeks ago and it was lovely. Enjoy Montreal!
Good for you! Enjoy your rest! 🙂
That sounds just lovely! Sometimes the semi-spontaneous, super brief breaks are the best. Enjoy, and congratulations to Team Knit! What an achievement!
Have a great trip! That is one awesome looking sock. Can’t wait to read the details.
Yup, I’m in the same spot. Those long weekends are good breaks though. Not enough time for you to worry about what you are not doing but enough time to recharge. Enjoy!
Being self-employed myself, I know exactly how vacations can be hard to navigate. Enjoy your time in Montreal, you definitely deserve it. If serendipity worked my way, I would go to my Friday knit night at Effiloché (6252, rue Saint-Hubert) and you would be there sitting and knitting… but I know you have better things to do while in the city 😉
I know this sounds like heresy but, here goes: Make this vacation REALLY different: Put down the needles for 24 hours. Have a knit-free vacation. I know this sounds like cutting off oxygen, but it will really make this vacation different. It is only 24 hours. Also make it a no knit disucssion zone, for your husband’s sake. Focus on everything else in the world. Just for 24 hours. You will come back refreshed, energized and inspired.
Have oodles of fun! I just got back from vacation this Monday. And can you believe I want another one already?
Have fun in Montreal. My husband and I spent our honeymoon there and love it. We’ve been back 2 or 3 times since and really do enjoy the city; trying to figure out when we can return. (We’re visiting Toronto in Aug for a few days.)
Patty In NJ
Enjoy Montreal! And the vacation.
V. nice sock, which pattern is it?
Have fun!!! I LOVE that sock!!!
Have a great time–it’s so fun to have a break away from the routine once in awhile!
I completely agree on the self employed no vacation thing and also on the take the day and run with it idea. There’s such a freedom and immediacy on those short ones. Of course whatever isn’t done is still waiting when you get back but I found when I worked for someone else, the same was true only I got paid for the day.
Know you will have great time and my best to your Team.
I hope you have a lovely day off. I certainly cherish the times I don’t have to worry about anything but what I want to do and where I want to eat.
Good for you! Enjoy the drive, the company and the destination. Nice sock. Go Team Knit!
Oh, you are adorable.
That’s a half-completed sock from your August sock club kit, and it isn’t even August yet.
BUSTED.
Good for you! As someone who, along with the husband, is self employed I strongly urge you to make a yearly habit of this!!! It really helps us come back to work refreshed and happy. Sometimes we even do separate vacations – he skis and I go to an artists’ retreat and play with beads for 5 days. Clown camp is another excellent option we have tried and will do again!!!! Really, we went to clown camp – a total hoot!!
Enjoy your day off.
I happen to be wearing my Flabellas today — what a delightful surprise to see them on your needles! This go round looks to be human sized (I’m just glad I read the many posts before casting on). These socks require more than the usual amount of focus (especially once you think you’ve got the pattern down — I speak from experience). They should keep you busy for awhile.
Have a great vacation!
Congrats to the riders on a job well done. Love the sock, but consider this:
24 hours; hotel; husband who loves and supports your world, no matter what – as you do his.
Even if this is intended for the world’s greatest Blue Jay, stash the sock and enjoy the break. Now, if you were working on the gansey while traveling to and from, that might be a different story….
Vacation? What’s that? Oh, right, when I don’t go to the day job for two weeks and instead spend the entire time dyeing yarn and wool and spinning yarn to sell. Yeah, I like vacation.
What? Take a trip somewhere? I don’t understand. You’re talking crazy talk.
Oh how I understand the life of the self employed !!! Having had a vacuum, sewing and quilting business for 29 years, our vacations are almost non-existent….. Sometimes a company would send us somewhere for training and husband has to attend trade shows … but those days are filled with work. Now the last of our three kids has graduated from college, once he is on his own I will finally be able to think of a 48 hr. vacation!!! Enjoy yours!
Maria
It sounds like a great mini-vacation to me. Have a wonderful time!
Keep heading east to Quebec City. Just went there for 4 nights a week ago for the end of the summer music festival. It’s just like going to Europe- without having to fly! Loved it.
Sock very large and most pink, but I’m sure there is a reason, anyway have a wonderful time with Team Knit and Joe and celebrate!
Eve from Carlisle
If you get a chance on the way back, stop in the gift shop at Upper Canada Village and buy some of their marvelous cheese & a loaf of bread… add a bunch of grapes, and you have a picnic lunch on the banks of the St Lawrence. Mmmmmm…. *drool*
Good for you! You deserve it. My husband and I have our own business too, so I understand exactly. I hope you have a wonderful time!
Montreal..bagels, smoked meat and dill pickles…enjoy your weekend, you certainly deserve a holiday.
My husband and I do this occasionally for roughly the same reason (more time is not available) and we feel like teenagers who have snuck away for the day. Feels conspiratorial! So hard-earned and so enjoyed.
Love the sock-in-progress – it looks nice and fancy. What is the pattern and what yarn are you using? I hope you will post a picture when you are finished.
May you have a wonderful non-vacation!
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Enjoy La Belle Ville – it’s beautiful. Don’t know where you’re staying but there is a good car park next to the Town Hall.
Congratulations to Team Knit.
– Pam
are those the signature double point needles you are using? They are the best thing ever to happen to my knitting! I owe a thanks to you for posting about them awhile back which made me go take a look at them.
Have a great vacation! (maybe tell your “boss” to give you an extra day?)
My Beloved and I went to Montreal for our honeymoon, and I love that city. We stayed in B&B’s and just wandered around and looked at everything. Hope your weekend is wonderful!
That’s great! I hope you have the best time!!!
Flabella! I loved knitting those socks; gave them to a friend who loved them more than me, but I think I’m going to have to make another pair for me.
NewBoy and I call that going on Daycation. It’s awesome.
Have a wonderful time! (Tess Designer Yarns does that peachy/raspberry colorway and it’s actually in my current project.)
Have a great time! It sounds wonderful.
Those socks are beautiful. I am knitting some with bobbles right now, and I am not in love with bobbles after being terrified of them! Can’t wait to check out this pattern.
Have a great time! I recommend Restaurant L’Academie on St. Denis…’cuz I miss it.
That’s a sock?? Really?
Looks like to start of a floozie’s bustier to me (not that that’s a bad thing, you understand) >:-)
Enjoy your vacation! Don’t give a thought to Joe’s poor negelcted gansey…home…alone…unloved…ignored.
Well, you certainly DESERVE a vacation! Have a blast! BTW… I loved your throwing out the ball story & ironically, I was heimliched in the literal sense that same week! Glad that neither one of us actually choked ; )
Hey, bienvenue chez nous! The weather should be nice, not too hot, the next couple of days, and the city is lovely in summer!
If I see you on the street, I will totally Kinnear you.
I’m so glad for you and Joe. You two need a minnie time off. You both work so hard, and even thow I don’t know you I feel that I do,and I like you both. Have fun kids! Enjoy each other and be safe comeing home.
Have a wonderful time. Good luck to the bikers.
A weekend in Montréal, one of my favorite places in the entire world….
I won’t say I hate you, but my dislike for you is very strong right now…. 🙂
Only kidding, have a great time–and we want pictures!!!!!
Enjoy!!!
Vacation? What’s that? Is that another one of those “Canadian things” that I never seem to understand?
Enjoy!
P.S. By the way – random advice: It is sugested that you not let a four month old kitten into close proximity with a nubbly cotton yarn. They do not mix well. Thank heavens the skein was three-quarters used. It’s a long time unravelling!
I also vote for 24 hrs without knitting. Just pay attention to each other. It will seem so much more special afterwards. Have a super time together.
Have fun on your vacay day!!!! Do I see bobbles on that there sock?
Welcome to Kingston! Enjoy your well deserved holiday. Congrats to the bikers.
You have a sock and…?
Have a great weekend you crazy kids! My dad always says the beauty of being self-employed is you get to pick which 72 hours in the week that you work!
That is awesome. We love Montreal (live less than 3 hrs from it here in Vermont). you should try Le Taj … oh wait a sec, it is dinner time already. mmmh, if you are there for lunch, i think they have a terrific lunch buffet (although i have only tried them for dinner) http://www.restaurantletaj.com/
I recognize that sock because I knit it in February using Frog Creek Fibers Raspberries and Chocolate. I saved Happy Go Lucky for Cascadia. Congratulations to the bikers(all 3) and enjoy Montreal.
Montreal is lovely; always enjoy visiting. Our son has been studying there for his Masters Degree and we’ve taken the opportunity to visit often. However, that being said … give great care to the bed bug epidemic there; they are virtually everywhere and particularly in the downtown area hotels. Check the mattresses and the bedsheets carefully – and if you’re not sure whether the place has them and you can’t see anything on the bed sheets, you can apply a coating of vaseline to the base of the bed legs where the little beggars get ‘stuck’ on the way up to find you and can’t get any further. Just make sure your bed sheets never touch the floor and you’re golden! Eeeeewwww! Have a great time nonetheless!
In the bike-centric area where I live, Megan and Pato are simply carbo-loading! ;^) Another job well done, by riders and parents who raised such great people they would do this.
Someone needs to give your bosses a stern lecture on treating their staff better. Have a wonderful trip!
I’ll be in Montreal, too! Although I’ll be going to the Osheaga festival. With my knitting, of course. Hope you have a fun (mini) vacation!
Too funny, I read it as a glorious day in Belleville, not La Belle Ville, and was a little confused. Not that Belleville’s terrible or anything, but it’s also not a place I’d tend to spend a “glorious day” 😉
good for you!! have fun.
Hey, I had an Aunt Yvonne. Other than my family, I’ve never known of anyone else with an Aunt Yvonne. (It’s not that common in the midwest.)
Yay!!! Have fun!
Have a great time!! Get some rest and good food and enjoy the sights. Can’t wait to see photos of the cycling trio!
A la Monty Python
“Run away, run away”
if anyone deserves it, it’s you.
Have a blast (you will)! Happy-go-Lucky brings joy everywhere . . . not that La Belle needs help.
Enjoy!! Have not been to Montreal since my Honeymoon, really should plan a trip, that was 42 years ago!
Hope you’re having a good time in Montreal! Last week, I went to the Old Montreal and had a really good time! I’m from Montreal 😉
Sounds like a great time your having. I want to say thanks to you and your gang for your blog. I get so envious of your travels and always eagerly await the next installment.
I’m self employed too. We must work for the same boss, since I’m not allowed to be off much more than you are. Have fun on your trip. I’m planning on calling in sick late next week, too. Also, pretty sock – what pattern is it?
Have a wonderful mini-vaca together!
You crazy kids livin’ wild. I’m glad you’ll be enjoying a beautiful city. Your blog reflects the relentless (however invigorating and creative) schedule of deadlines and projects. Have a lovely stretch time.
Joyeuses vacances dans la belle provence!
Enjoy your microvacation. I am self-employed too and my boss is brutal. We manage to turn our periodic visits to my husband’s oncologist (in another state) into long weekends, and enjoy the train ride. Even doing that is a major effort of logistics to cover the shop and have someone come and check in on the pets twice a day.
oh! two cities i love! kingston and montreal = the makings of a mighty fine getaway. enjoy and send the blog’s best wishes to the intrepid Team Knit! 🙂
I’m wearing those exact socks right now!
Also, I’m jealous — I’ve always wanted to go to Montreal.
Bienvenue! It’s a little chilly here today, but supposed to be lovely tomorrow. The fireworks are on tonight too, which is always fun. If you want to hit up a LYS I recommend A la Tricoteuse which is on the corner of St-Hubert and Rachel, which is also in a nice neighbourhood to have dinner. Amusez-vous!
It’s the route we took on our honeymoon – Kingston is such a beautiful place to be, I hope the weather treats you well. I’m jealous, I loved that drive across Canada (I’m American, and yes, Canada is a perfect place to honeymoon).
I surely get that. I do take my computer to the beach and work from there… or today, we drove to a state park 40 miles away which is a civil war fort, because they have civil war reenactors there. I took the laptop and, while the kids were eating lunch, I sent off invoices and answered email. The reenactors were cool, and I got to do stuff with the kids and got work done… but I wouldn’t actually call it a vacation.
You deserve a vacation. Enjoy it!
Hope you’re having a grand time! I had thought (foolishly) that while hubby’s arm was in a cast, we could take a daytrip. Couldn’t “break” him loose. Oh well, I’ll keep trying when time allows!
Enjoy your vacation. I typed “yarn harlot first pitch” into Google and NOTHING came up except your entry about it. No videos. Mariah Carey’s did. Your secret is safe with us!
Alors! You make me homesick.
Bienvenue a Montreal. Love it and have a wonderful time for me!
Congrats on the mini vacation. Sounds like you really need one. That sock is looking lovely and can’t wait to see it finished 🙂
loving the pics on twitter! 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Sounds wonderful, have a great time! I know what you mean about the vacations. I’m a freelance writer. One of the perks I thought I would like about making my own schedule and all that is that I’d be able to take time off whenever I wanted without clearing it with a boss. Instead, now I take my laptop with me on vacations and work from everywhere. I feel guilty if I take a day off, something I never felt when I worked for someone else! If I don’t work, all I can picture is my bank account dwindling!
gasp! are those bobbles??? have fun on vacation!!
Ahh, I’m so happy I live in Sweden and have 6 weeks paid vacation every year. No need to plan every hour of the day, just take every day as it comes. But I hope you will enjoy your 24 hours 😉
The sock looks like Flabella. I did that pattern in a green & yellow STR mill end that resembles Green-Eyed Monster. It looks good in green, too.
I can relate. Have a great time!
Hope it’s fun!!
(lovely sock!)
I just made one of those socks too! I’m about half way down the leg of the second one. I’m sure you’ll finish yours way before I get mine done! They are my “knit on my way to work because I’m in a carpool” socks.
Never mind Montreal: report on the sock. It looks interesting.
All right, report on Montreal, too. I haven’t been there in… thinking… 23 years, since I was there on business, but my husband and I also honeymooned there. Lots of lovely memories (even from the business trip — it’s that belle a ville).
My mother and I are looking to create a blog comparable to this for our website, I stumbled across your site hoping to get ideas on the theme along with design. I am taking some html coding course in college but not confident that I would be able to create a blog such as this one just yet. Did you code this blog all by yourself or employ an expert?
I just had to say – we had my new husband’s son sing the Mancini “Two For The Road” at our wedding in May. The song is a good omen for your wee vacation.