Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My college roommate and her family welcome me as a last-minute guest for the weekend. She and I eat Indian food; visit her local coffeehouse, farmers market, and farm stand (where I buy a ton of apples, cider doughnuts, and delicious bread; and catch up.

2. Hours in the car mean I get to put a dent in The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling, a witchy romance sequel to a book I read last year.

3. Eri and I head to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival, which is conveniently located in the town next to hers. The temperatures are mild, the rain mostly dissipates, we get to admire both animals and animal products, her childhood friend sees us and hands off her cider doughnut leftovers, I find a skein of sparkly punk rock yarn, and she procures soft, new gloves in a pretty hue.

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

Three beautiful things from my last week:

1. My dad is home from the hospital and his relevant numbers are still slowly improving.

2. The trees in Connecticut are starting to look very festive in their yellow, orange, and red finery.

3. The farm stand is out of cider doughnuts, but I curl up with an ice cream cone next to the fire pit and read for a bit.

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

So, last week, we had some family health emergencies on top of regular family health crises, and in the wake of spending 20 hours a day in the hospital, I lost track of the blog. But since the only time I’ve missed a weekly TBT things post was after my grandmother died, I wanted to share three beautiful things from last week, just half a week later than usual:

1. Karen and I got a lovely afternoon visit in together, with stuffed French toast, a dry walk along the river, and a chat. It was needed.

2. Rudi and I went down to our alma mater for its 50 Years of Volleyball celebration. I played a single year, but it had a profound impact on my life. The team didn’t pull off a win, but they did have some solid plays and we enjoyed watching the game in person. And we met the coach, the director of athletics, my former captain’s daughter, and a bunch of the current players’ parents.

3. This year, I was in charge of making Dad’s birthday pie. It wasn’t as good as Mum’s, but it was a solid check-plus, which we’re taking as a win. Plus, I sliced enough apples for the Thanksgiving pie and froze them and some pie crust, so we’re doing well!

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Saturday’s and Sunday’s sunsets were both gorgeous, if completely different. Saturday’s was deep pink altocumulus clouds piled above and behind the Washington Monument. Sunday’s, seen near the end of my Virginia-Connecticut flight, was thick stripes of pastel haze.

2. Rudi rescued a chipmunk from drowning in the bucket of water I emptied from the basement dehumidifiers.

3. I’ve turned the heel of the sock I’m knitting and am chugging on toward the toe.

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

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to check in with our 2023 bookish goals and see how we’re doing. I’m not optimistic:

1. Read 52 books. (I’m actually on track to hit this number for the first time in years.)
2. Read more of my own collection. (I’m at five, but have a whole pile of personal books up here in Connecticut with me.)
3. Listen to more audiobooks [12]. (I’m at nine, and have several in progress, so this seems doable.)
4. Read more diversely [1/3]. (I’m closer to a quarter, but it’s still possible.)
5. Read more nonfiction [5]. (I’m nearly done with my fourth, so if I get that Grann book when I return to D.C., it’s possible.)
6. Read more internationally. (Japanese manga has been my friend this year. I’ve read three so far.)
7. Read more poetry. (I’ve bought more poetry books, but haven’t actually finished one this year. Time to work on this!)
8. Read at least two classics. (Failing at this one utterly so far.)
9. Put a book in every bag I own and read them instead of playing on my phone while I’m out. (Often true.)
10. Actually review everything I finish. (Have I reviewed anything this year?)

Huh. Turns out I was doing better than I thought. Only three of these are utter failures so far, and while I probably won’t get all the book reviews for the year in, the other two are possibilities.

How are your bookish goals going this year?