The Valentine Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h...

...is a very simple exercise that every person with a Geographically Undesirable (GU) partner should indulge in, every once in a while. The Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h simply increases the romantic window of opportunity around Valentine's Day. It's a bit like having a birthday week. Or month. Or year.

So instead of a measly 24 hours to shower each other with overpriced flowers and fripperies, you stretch the whole thing out for as long as humanly possible. After all, if your other half is GU, the chances are that you will not have seen them for a while before Valentine's Day and you may not be certain when you'll see them afterwards - so why not make the best of it?!

I recommend it as I have just spent the best part of 10 days in the same time zone as my partner, blissfully free of all Skype, ad-hoc phonecalls, text messages and email. It's been wonderful. It is also why my blog has been so quiet over the past two weeks. I've not been home. Nope, I have been in Canada enjoying a Valentine Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h, as follows:

1) Tackling some slopes at Whistler and losing the daily Scrabble tournament with my partner's son.

2) Spending glorious days and evenings in and around Vancouver.

3) Taking time to catch up with both knitting and non knitting friends. This included a sneaky mini-sock knitting lesson from Dotty (just check the size difference between my mini sock and Dotty's hubby sock) and also, a coffee with Rabbitch, who was in the midst of plotting a serious quantity of Revenge, for a very good reason.

4) Stashing. You know, this trip, I did assert that I would not buy any more yarn. There have been mutterings of 'Stash Down' and 'Yarn Diet' under my roof. Do you know what? I did not purchase one single skein of yarn. Not one. Honest. Yep, there is yarn in the photograph above. Ahh, I did not buy any yarn but my fella did. Now how jealous are you feeling right now?!

I picked out 5 skeins to play with and um, he picked out 13 skeins for me to make him and his son something. Here my lovely GU partner models one of the nine skeins of Classy Dream in Colour that he particularly liked and that Dotty helped him to pick out.

I think that the colour goes well with his eyes, so I am happy - the question is: which sweater to knit? Dotty has suggested the Cobblestone Pullover (a great choice) but I would like to offer him a choice of a few patterns, so he feels that he has had input?

5) Romancing and being romanced. Well, you can hardly have a Valentine Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h without it, eh? What? You mean that it is not usual to use raw new potatoes as the basis of a romantic heart candle display...? Pah, so I shouldn't mention the two small skull and crossbones and four Catapaulted Cupids either?! Nor the fact that there is a half made Ikea chair in the background plus the fact that if you have any idea about my sport, there is something in this photo that would make you laugh out loud.

Sadly, my Valentine Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h ended this morning.

I discovered myself back in London after a long night strapped into a seat, next to a surly globe-trotting teenager without the ability to control her airline issue pillow or blanket and without a clear understanding of individual aircraft seat boundaries. Bless her oversized, shaggy airline bed socks, baggy clothing, plethera of magazines, PC, shoes, books, discarded sweets and crisps wrappers. Ugh.

Actually, it feels as though I have spent ten days attached to an overextended length of elastic and have found myself whipped back home involuntarily because I accidentially lost my footing on a wet Vancouver pavement yesterday evening.

During take off, I am usually settled in my seat, happy in the knowledge that I am headed out on a specific jouney or returning to the familiarity and reassurance of home. Last night, as the plane accelerated down the runway in Vancouver, my head conjured up 'Home' and I felt a bit confused - I had to smother this very peculiar, rising feeling that if I was going home, I was headed the wrong direction. Hmm.

So now I face the aftermath of my Valentine Time S-t-r-e-t-c-h:

• jetlag
• unpacking
• catching up at work
• trying not to miss my fella too much.

Something tells me that this could be the trickiest part.