Today was another special day in our family. Happy birthday, Mum! I’m sorry I did not get to spend the day with you today, but am glad you and Dad got to get out for pizza together!

(This shot is from three weeks ago, when we were baking together. I have another action shot, but Mum wanted me to take this one so you all could see her hat, and since it’s her birthday, this is the one I shall share.)

And here’s one with the whole family from a couple summers ago, where you can actually see Mum’s face:

While my nails remain scantily clad in their chipped September polish, I still haven’t come up with a Halloween costume idea I like, and I bought gingerbread from a bake sale instead of doing my own baking, I got through quite a bit of my to-do list for the weekend.

Rudi had yesterday off, so after a relaxed start to the day, we did a little cleaning and a little laundry, and then rode across town on a 13-mile Coffeeneuring bike ride to the Lamond-Riggs neighborhood, where we got to check out a new-to-us library and coffee shop. (More on that to come in a future post…)

This morning, I hit the farmers market for apple cider and bought the first quince of the season. I moseyed up to the local park in the afternoon for their Halloween festival (and the aforementioned bake sale) and then rode down to the waterfront to check out the Crafty Bastards craft fair (where I failed to procure the tea I wanted or any Christmas presents, but where I did buy Christmas cards, so I should be set on that front). I treated myself to fried dough sticks from a food truck and the best chai I’ve had in D.C. from a coffeehouse/restaurant and walked most of the way back across town.

I did not finish any knitting projects, but I’m way closer with the Halloween socks, which I knit while watching World Series baseball (but not on Friday, because the Sox kept screwing up every time Rudi turned on the game) and reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the illustrated version, which is heavy enough to stay open on its own if I prop it on the sofa bolster).

How was your weekend?

I need for there to be a weekend with fewer fun things to do in it. I want a day to hang around the house and read and knit (and clean, but that’s less of a want and more of a need; our annual party is in five weeks).

That said, in addition to the reading, knitting, and cleaning, here’s what else the weekend holds:

• Check out Crafty Bastards.
• Take at least one Coffeeneuring ride to a library and cafe with Rudi.
• Stop in on the annual Halloween party and festival at our local park.
• Procure cider at the farmers market.
• Bake.
• Buy paper towels and cat litter.
• Send some mail.
• Do laundry. (God, I hope we don’t need quarters again already…
• Paint my nails Halloween colors.
• Contemplate needs for Halloween costumes and decorations.

How about you? What’s on tap for your weekend?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. As I was riding to my volleyball game, I saw a shooting star. (If I’d taken the bus, I would have missed it.)

2. I walked up to order a sandwich at the bakery/grilled cheese stand, and the cook handed one to me fresh off the grill.

3. Someone took the time to send in a note via our work website comment form thanking us for a resource we’d created and telling us what his favorite parts were.

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

With a rainy weekend ahead of us, here’s the book and knitting I’ll be prioritizing:

That’s this year’s Halloween sock and Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, Unsheltered, which I just picked up at the library tonight. She is one of my favorite storytellers, so I expect the book to speed by.

Have you been to Kat’s for more reading and knitting updates?