Although I haven’t given this weekend’s activities a lot of forethought, I would like to accomplish a few things:

1. I need to get down to the garden. It’s probably time to harvest the final tomatoes, whether they’re ripe now or not. Plus, I should have some more peppers that are ready. The chard has been a staple and I believe there ought to be some lettuce ready for harvest.
2. A trip to the library. I owe them a few bucks for a video I forgot to return, and I’d like to borrow some new things.
3. Come up with a cleaning game plan for the next month. Rudi has scheduled a bike ride the morning of our holiday party, which means that we cannot count on getting the majority of it taken care of that day. People seem to keep tidy houses on a regular basis, so I’m sure that if we just plot it out (and stick to it), we could, too. At least for a month.
4. Deal with the clothing transition. All the clothing I own seems to be out right now. There is not enough room in the Burrow for that to continue. This task will also probably necessitate laundry.
5. Bake. I have several pounds of apples in the fridge. It’s time for the apple crisp. Possibly also some apple sauce, depending on some of those apples. I have a pumpkin in the kitchen, too. Ooh, and quince and plums in the fridge…
6. Knit. Mum’s shawl only needs a bit more work. And I should really get around to weaving in all the ends on my fingerless mitts, rather than just wearing them with the yarn tucked inside. (I’ve just been thinking of it as extra insulation…) And I just have to knit the foot of my sock to have a new pair done. And Christmas is something crazy like 45 days away! Oh, and I should email Heidi to ask what size her twins are so I can get started on the sweater she asked me to to finish for her last spring.
7. Read. I picked up a large number of used books last month and should probably work on reading some more of them. And I bought a new novel tonight while at a book reading.
8. Hit the farmers’ market. We’ll definitely need milk. Also, sweet potatoes and celery, if it’s there (or celeriac, if it’s not). And maybe some ricotta to make a lasagna…
9. Start the Christmas mix cd I’ve been talking about making for several years now. Rudi will be gone most of the day, which makes it a fine time to poke through the collection. Generally, I’m a no holiday tunes person before Thanksgiving, but leaving it that late in the season almost guarantees that it won’t get made.
10. Maybe we’ll go to the movies. Since Rudi’ll be away, tomorrow is out, but perhaps Sunday. There are several films out I wouldn’t mind seeing.

I guess I should stop there or there will only be disappointment in Mudville come Monday morning! Who knew you could plan so much without planning at all?!

What are you hoping to do this weekend?

Three beautiful things before the end of Thursday:

1. Sarah and I have been hunting for cider doughnuts in the greater D.C. but have been unable to find any to satisfy our seasonal craving. While up in Connecticut, a google search revealed doughnuts for sale at a farm two towns over from my folks’. The whole family piled into the car and a drive through the countryside brought us to a family farm within 20 minutes. We ate the bag of doughnut holes on the ride home and consumed a bag of full-sized cider doughnuts the following day, but I saved a bag to bring back to D.C. so that when Sarah recovers from her bout of piggy flu and ear infection, she, Rudi, and I can have a little party.

2. The best part of being sick when I was a kid was that I could watch tv all day. Recent television programming has done away with daytime syndicated reruns, instead relying on talk shows and news programming and stuff that generally no one wants to watch, even when they’re healthy. One of the only good things about the digital tv transition is the addition of RTV, which shows old programs. Tuesday, a stomach bug kept me home from work, giving me the chance to take advantage of this benefit for the first time. I watched Kate and Allie, Bachelor Father, Adam 12, Dragnet, and Marcus Welby, M.D. in between naps. It totally redeemed the sick day.

3. I was upstairs in the bathroom when I heard my mother scream. Flinging open the door, I was relieved to hear nervous laughter coming from downstairs.

“Maybe you’d better stay up there.”

“Spider?”

“Nope.”

“Mouse?”

“Nope.”

“Snake?”

“Yep.”

“In the house?”

“Uh huh.”

I trooped downstairs. A baby garter snake had accidentally let itself into the front hallway and was trying to figure out how to escape. It had wedged itself into a narrow fissure below the front door’s threshold and periodically would wave its little head and flickery tongue out in a desperate bid for freedom.

I grabbed a magazine card and got down to try to ease the snake into coming out where I could rescue it.

“I’m surprised you don’t have your camera out,” I remarked to my mother.

She disappeared, but returned in time to hand me a section of newspaper to scoop up the snake when it slithered out from under the door and tried to escape behind it, much to the delight of my parents’ two cats.

Mum opened the screen door, but once I was outside, she asked me to pause so she could snap a shot of her interloper.

“Wait! Just one more shot!” she called out, as the snake, impatient with the snapping shutter, dropped from the newspaper to the ground and slithered away.

(Admit it, bloggers… Doesn’t it sound familiar?)

What’s been beautiful in your world recently?