I admit that there’s been a lot going on around here behind the scenes recently, which hasn’t left me as focused as I’d like for knitting and reading. Half of my train travel this week was spent sleeping or drowsing and much of the other half mentally puttering, although I did pick up my knitting at each station we stopped at, offering passengers boarding the train the option of picking a seat next to me and my needles or next to someone else with less pointy occupations. (It worked to my advantage.)

I’m into the second set of mosaic knitting of the pattern, which puts me in the final third of the shawl. I love the color combination and the copper sparkle in the purple yarn (which never shows up in the photos I take) and the pattern itself. Were it not for my choosing to include a yarn that has both been munched on by moths and nicked by my ball winder’s gear (meaning I need to spit splice yarn back together with surprising frequency), I do believe I’d be done already. I recommend it to anyone who might want to work on a mosaic shawl, and I can see myself making a second one in the future (but with unnicked yarn next time).

I also thought I’d finish A Covert Affair, the second book in the Librarian and the Spy series), but I didn’t do that either. The first part of the book was set locally, but the characters are now off to India, so I’m hoping the change of scenery will interest me more. I started Hope Rides Again on the train (it seemed appropriate), but the opening chapters annoyed me. As I said to my book group today, probably what most annoys me is that real life Joe Biden continues to participate in the presidential bid, so I have very little sympathy for the fictional counterpart also engaged in that activity (as well as amateur sleuthing. But I’m also questioning some authorial choices, including having the fictional Joe reading a fictional version of the real first book in the series. It feels a little too on the nose and a little too self-congratulatory and a lot lazy, which is disappointing. I’m going to give it 50 pages, but there is a possibility it will go back to the library.

The audiobook du jour is Mackenzi Lee’s A Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, which expired the last time I had it out before I had a chance to get very far into it. Our heroine is about to set forth for the Continent and a future in medicine and although I believe this means we will have to say farewell to Percy and Monty, I’m excited for Felicity’s prospects of getting to practice medicine again.

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what other people are reading and crafting.

I’m home from my trip to Connecticut, which sped past ridiculously fast. I hope to get back again soon.

Flights were very expensive, so I took the train up and back (to the same town where the airport is located). I admit that I may have picked up my knitting every time we got to a stop today in order to discourage anyone from taking the vacant seat next to me.

Here’s some of what I spied from the train on the way back to D.C.:

One of the graveyards, Holy Trinity Cemetery, in my hometown:

We stopped for a while in New Haven to change engines, and I decided I had enough time to run into the train station and pick up a couple doughnuts. You know, as souvenirs … that I ate on the trip home.

NYC:

Philly (the first photo is Boathouse Row):

Bridget, did you see me waving as we went past?

After the jump, you’ll find the answers to Saturday’s ’80s music quiz. (more…)

My mother’s yard is full of pollinator-friendly flowers and I snapped photos of two swallowtails this evening as we were working outside.

I’m really sleepy, so will give everyone one more day with yesterday’s quiz before revealing the answers.

As I was driving back to my folks’ this evening, the radio station I was listening to was highlighting all the songs that were #1 on this weekend through the 1980s. Since these were the songs of my elementary and middle school days, I particularly enjoyed singing along. It is either an excellent memory booster to reach for lyrics of songs you haven’t heard in ages or a complete waste of valuable brain space. I’m going with option a.

Because I would like you to have excellent brains, too, I’m sharing the 10 songs that hit the top spot of the pop singles list the first week of each August during the 1980s. To make it a challenge for you, I’m arranging them alphabetically, and should you feel up to it, you can guess their order from 1980 to 1989.

“Every Breath You Take” by The Police

“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor

“Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr.

“Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2

“Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield

“Magic” by Olivia Newton-John

“Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx

“Roll with It” by Steve Winwood

“Shout” by Tears for Fears

I’ll be back tomorrow with the answers.

I’m hanging out in Connecticut this weekend, so this will not be my view for the next few days, although my parents do also get views of airplanes.

We feasted on pizza this evening and spent a pleasant pre-sunset hour on the back deck singing along with music. I’m getting together with Karen tomorrow and suspect Sunday may include helping my folks with some home improvement projects.

All in all, I’m looking forward to this escape from my norm, at least for a little while.