It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to recount three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My cell phone carrier gives its customers perks once a week. Sometimes it’s a few bucks off Dunkin Donuts, other times it’s a free movie rental. This week, though, was a free season pass to MLB TV, which will let me watch non-local games on my phone. While we’ve been part of a season ticket group to the Nationals since they moved to town, my heart lies with the Mets. And since the Nats games are blacked out, but New York is not, this is truly an outstanding gift. Plus, the New York tv games are hosted by two players and one of the radio announcers from when I was a teenager, so it’s really worked out for me. (At least it does until the Mets intentionally walk a player to load the bases. Then it’s just time to turn the game off, because chances are it’s over anyway.)

2. I was delighted to find, when I wandered down to the garden last weekend, that my violets were blooming. (A fifth of our plot is set aside for violets and strawberries.) I was so pleased to find them that I did all of what was supposed to be two weeks’ work, just because I knew there was a nosegay waiting for me at the end of it all.

3. Having enjoyed the series back in the day, we borrowed the Absolutely Fabulous movie from the library last weekend. The first part of the film was painful to watch and eventually we just decided there was no point to continuing on. We fast forwarded to the final couple minutes just to see how it turned out, but even then it didn’t really feel like we’d gained anything. But since we’d spent nothing to watch it, turning it off seemed like a win.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Our friend Sam is in town. We spend a nice evening together getting caught up and eating tacos and ice cream.

2. The roller coaster weather has both killed off a bunch of flowers and encouraged early leaf growth — and we’re lacking blue skies to show the remaining blooms off with the best contrast — but the cherry blossoms reach their peak and we brave the crowds to witness it.

3. We’re reminded about Saturday’s Earth Hour with just enough time to spare to make supper and dig out candles to light the apartment in the darkness. We eat risotto and then Rudi plays the guitar while I knit. The hour passes and then another.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently?

It’s Thursday, so it’s time to note three beautiful things from my week past:

1. Rudi, who’s been away for nearly two weeks on the final ski coaching trip of the year, returns home.

2. The library has copies of the Megan Follows version of Anne of Green Gables film. I’d remembered how much I loved it, but not precisely how excellent it is, particularly Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurt’s performances.

3. My volleyball team makes several improbable plays in a row, which leaves us all laughing so hard, we nearly need to take a time out to recover our composure.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. At the vegetarian taco shop, the handful of downstairs tables are taken, so I head upstairs for the first time. I’m pleasantly surprised to discover it’s a light, airy space with windows, a fireplace (that I suspect is just for show), and bookshelves that contain, among other things, a terrarium featuring exotic cacti (that remind me of the tiny floral department at the Hamden Bradlee’s when I was really young) and golden dinosaurs.

2. My Saturday mail contains a single item — a birthday (plus a month) card — which utterly makes my day.

3. After five straight nights of eating chili (after Rudi generously made twice as much as I’d asked for before leaving on his road trip last week, knowing how poorly I often feed myself when left to my own devices) for supper, it felt like such a treat to cook a veggie burger for myself.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Peach blossoms against the blue sky. The first tulips. Flowering trees

2. Clean sheets, somewhat overdue.

3. I feel better this evening and take myself up to the park to enjoy the last bit of warmth and sunshine before the impending cold snap. The dogs are running wild, and several stop to see if my knitting bag or tea cup contain anything they might like, before heading back to tennis balls and games of chase.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A visit to the main branch of my library during my mid-week #brownbagdc Twitter book club nets me the opportunity to conduct my chatting in person with the three librarians (Jo, Myra, and Esti) who run it. Because the main branch (sadly, the closest branch to my office) is closing on Saturday for three years in order to do extensive renovations, our chat hosts were offering walk-ins as many free books off their Advance Reader cart as we wanted. I restrain myself to two, and we discuss the possibility of an in-person book club meeting later in the year to do a book swap.

2. The unseasonably warm temperatures has had me wearing my early fall clothing (essentially, also my summer clothing, but with short socks and closed-toe shoes, rather than flip flops, and sometimes a shawl if I anticipate getting home after dark) and spending lots of time outside.

3. The most delicious King Cake I’ve ever had (raspberry cream cheese) and sparkly Mardi Gras-themed nails to match.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently?