I’m eager to be heading to bed, so this will be a quick sketch of what I hope the weekend includes:

• Swimming at the pool.
• Finishing my sock. (I had to rip the toe back again. These socks are way more persnickety than the cat they’re named after.)
• Picking tomatoes and basil from my garden.
• Partaking of a festival.
• Watching a movie.
• Doing laundry.
• Making something with my plums. (I have yellow ones in a white colander and purple ones in a yellow bowl. If they weren’t a haven for fruit flies, they would be ideal counter decorations.)
• Heading to the shore.
• Painting my toenails.
• Dancing.
• Cleaning the kitchen.
• Enjoying a thunderstorm.

How about you? What are you hoping to do this weekend?

With just over two weeks left in August, three weeks until Labor Day, and about five weeks until the autumnal equinox, it seems a good time to think about what I’d still like to do this summer:

• Get back to the beach again.
• See a few more movies outside.
• Swim at the pool twice a week until it closes for the season.
• Explore Teddy Roosevelt Island, the Arboretum, or the Aquatic Garden (since I’ve never been to any of them).
• Find a park where the trees are the right distance for hanging our hammock. Barring that, spread out a blanket and read all afternoon.
• Finish knitting a second pair of socks.
• Relax over strawberry daiquiris.
• Attend the National Book Festival and a few neighborhood festivals.
• Check out the two new ice cream shops that have opened nearby.
• Watch the dragon boat regatta.

How about you? What are you hoping to accomplish before summer comes to an end?

The highlight of this weekend was hanging out with my friend Julia. She wanted to check out the artisan pop-up booths at the new Wharf development and I was content to do that.

I biked down to Hains Point (a peninsular park that juts out into the Potomac where the Anacostia River empties into it), where there were empty bikeshare docks (as opposed to the more popular Wharf stops) and hopped aboard the new six-passenger jitney boat they run back and forth across the harbor. Obviously, if you can take a boat to your destination on a sunny summer Saturday, you should avail yourself of that option. Sadly, the ride was over in two minutes, but still…

I had a very delicious slice of blueberry lemon curd pie and a cup of tea at the hardware store/bike shop/cafe while we chatted and then Julia and I did a couple loops of the Wharf shops and restaurants and the fish market before we needed to catch the metro so she could get to her evening plans. It was a pleasant way to pass the afternoon.

The weekend also included time at the garden, the donation of more than 50 books to the Friends-of sale at my local branch library, a re-watch of the original Mamma Mia, a nap, an ice cream cone (rocky road), reading, knitting, sleeping in, the farmers market, and watching the sunset at the park with Rudi.

How was your weekend?

My solo Friday evening plan — to watch Black Panther out in a local park — was rained out, so I pivoted, ordered a ridiculous amount of Thai takeout (including a very tasty dessert), and watched an episode of Miss Fisher instead.

Tomorrow will be busy. I need to gather and then run book donations to the library, then stop at the garden, where an emergency vine-pulling work day has been called. I’ll also harvest some tomatoes and some beans while I’m there. My friend Julia and I are finally getting together in the afternoon, after our plans were cancelled due the rain two weeks ago. Depending on how ambitious I feel, I may make my way over to Solid State Books on H St., N.E., after we part ways, since they’ve moved into their permanent spot since I stopped in back in the spring. But I did just buy books last weekend, so maybe I should wait some. We’ll see. There’s also some festival taking place at Malcolm X Park tomorrow afternoon and evening that I could swing by, as well. Or maybe I’ll just come home and knit. Or go watch Mamma Mia, although Rudi would be disappointed to miss that…

Sunday I’m hoping for more low-key: Sleep in. Farmers market. And since the heat is due back, possibly reading by the pool. Maybe reading in the pool. Maybe just a long nap at home. There’s a theater event over in Arlington that involves procuring discounted tickets for their upcoming season, but it’s all the way across the river, so the odds of my feeling motivated by then are pretty slim. Rudi should be home by suppertime, so that will be nice.

Other things I should do:

• Wash laundry.
• Bake.
• Paint my nails.
• Pay bills.
• Trade in my summer reading voucher for baseball tickets.
• Buy cat litter.
• Send some cards.
• Figure out why my fountain pen isn’t working.
• Find my coffee table.
• Dance around the living room.

How about you? What’s on your to-do list for the weekend?

Here’s what happening around me:

Hearing: The a/c running. The fridge making settling noises.

Feeling: Corey purring as he lies with his full weight against my left wrist. (He thinks I have difficulty blogging without him lying on me in some way, preferably over at least one wrist and a paw or his chin on my boobs. He is not ergonomically correct.)

Smelling: Not mildew. Rudi had the day off today and he put the braided rug back down in the living room for the first time since the flood.

Seeing: Hope Never Dies, lying spread-eagle in front of me where I put it down after reading the first few chapters earlier.

Tasting: Toothpaste is the predominant taste, but there’s still a hint of the garlic from the delicious tagine Rudi made earlier.