Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I went for a pre-work bike ride today in an effort to actually see daylight in person. There was frost on the grass, but the sun was out and the air wasn’t unpleasantly cold (although it did remind me I should look for my other knit headband). Plus, I got to stop and pick up a bag of bagels on my way home.

2. In prepping for my weeklong staycation, I’ve requested a whole heap of holiday reads. Each morning, I get a nice ping about which ones are waiting for me. I’ll be running over to the local branch tomorrow evening to pick a pile of them up.

3. I ran into Rudi’s friend Matt at the concert last Saturday. It was nice to chat with someone I knew in person for a few minutes.

How about you? It’s been a rough month. What’s been beautiful in your world?

I have reached the last stripe of my sock’s foot before I start the toe decreases. By this time next week, I will have a finished pair of fall socks!

I also hope to have returned this book to the library by then, with all my field hockey girls and guy ready to head into the 1990s with a better sense of their future. I’ve left them in Salem after a night at Papa Gino’s on Halloween for a couple of weeks now, and it’s probably best to propel them the rest of the way through their senior year season.

On audio, I’ve started Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. I don’t usually bunch books in a series, so it’s a testament to the fact that I enjoyed the first book in the Brown sisters series that I’m listening to this in 2020.

Head to As Kat Knits to see what others are reading and knitting.

Sweet Science
35 N St., N.E.
Sunday, Nov. 8, afternoon
Conditions: Pleasant

A week ago Sunday, it was a lovely day and I wanted to get in a slightly longer ride, so I decided to head to Sweet Science, which had opened back in January. This is where I was going when I ran across The Roasted Boon last month. It’s just as well I changed my plans; that day I had enough time to get to where I thought Sweet Science was, but not actually to where it is.

NoMa is sort of a created business district, built out of several older neighborhoods and comprising a historic area once known as Swampoodle. It’s north of Union Station, and includes Uline Arena (where the Beatles first played in the U.S. and now home to an REI), NPR’s new headquarters, Union Market, and Gallaudet University. Sweet Science is tucked into the very edge of the neighborhood, at the boundary of Near Northeast and Eckington.

When Rudi asked me where exactly Sweet Science was, I had a ready answer: on the block that ends at The Chicken and the Egg statues!

(It should be noted that neither photo does justice to the size of these statues. The utility box the chicken is standing on is about six feet tall, and the egg is at least ten feet tall.)

Anyway, back to my visit!

Sweet Science had some of the most interesting drinks I’d seen in a while and I ended up ordering a Goat Noir — steamed goat’s milk and dark chocolate sauce — which made for a very earthy (albeit less smooth than cow’s milk) hot chocolate. It reminded me of these amazing chocolate chèvre cheese balls one of the farmers at our local market introduced last Christmas. I paired it with a sweet potato biscuit and their homemade seasonal cranberry jam. Everything was delicious, and I’d easily recommend both. You could even buy a jar of their jam!

There was plenty of indoor seating, but outside you had to rely on benches. Luckily, there was a free one facing into a tree box and hemmed in on the street by a construction vehicle, which gave me the opportunity to turn my back to the sidewalk and eat and drink without feeling too vulnerable from others walking by in close proximity. With a number of bike racks on the block, I look forward to returning with Rudi once he’s back in town.

Total mileage: 7.75 miles

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl asks about the top ten characters I’d name a pet after, but I probably wouldn’t do that. Or, rather, I might, but I would have ended up there, rather than starting there, if that makes sense. (I’m totally not judging you if you do. I’d be the first to ask if that was the inspiration, to be honest.)

So, instead, I’ll give you a topic-adjacent list and give you ten of my favorite pets in books in the order in which they occurred to me:

1. Eartha Kitty in The Voting Booth
2. Fang in the Harry Potter series
3. Dog Monday in Rilla of Ingleside
4. Old Lace in the Runaways graphic novel series
5. Winn-Dixie in Because of Winn-Dixie
6. Hound in the Penderwicks series
7. Pickwick in the Thursday Next series
8. Cat Annoyance in The Man Called Ove
9. Ivan in The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
10. Max in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

What are some of your favorite bookish pets?

Also, since you’re here, may I direct you to information on next month’s Virtual Advent Tour?

There was less sun this weekend than I would have hoped for, but also less rain than predicted, so I’ll take that tradeoff (this time).

I got in a short bike ride and Coffeeneuring stop yesterday, ran by the grocery store, and went to the last outdoor concert of the season. Rudi and I had a cross-country Netflix date, and we both recommend Love, Guaranteed if you have access.

This morning there was a trip to the farmers market. I’m trying to get all my Thanksgiving shopping done early — today was a pie pumpkin and potatoes; yesterday was cranberries and cheese. I’ll be celebrating here on my own, so look for a post about what that looks like sometime next week. I discovered an open bag of stuffing my cupboard tonight. It’s already stale bread; can it go … staler?

There were a couple trips to the garden, some cooking, some laundry, and a little knitting and reading. And there was a lot of sleep. But since Corey is now lying on my wrists as I’m typing this, I’m guessing it’s time to do it again. He’s not very subtle, my 20-pound cat.

How was your weekend?

Welcome to signups for this year’s Virtual Advent Tour. 2020 marks my sixth year as host of this annual event.

2020 has been a hard year for everyone, and the current world scenario doesn’t suggest the upcoming holidays are going to be any easier. We’re all thinking about how to celebrate differently at a time when tradition is particularly dear. But there are some annual events that can continue unabated, and this is one of them! Our celebration has been virtual since Zoom was the sound you made trying out your new sled Christmas afternoon! (Depending on when you last went sledding, of course!)

As you likely know, the typical Advent calendar is a season-marking device, often paper, but sometimes crafted of other materials, to count down from December 1st until Christmas. Each day, you open a door to unveil a hidden scene or piece of chocolate or some other delight. The Virtual Advent Tour is a bloggers’ take on that. In our version, each morning I’ll point you to a post at someone’s blog in which they share something about their holiday season.

Would you be willing to share a winter (or summer, if you’re south of the equator) holiday post or two next month? You’d know the date(s) ahead of time (and can request a specific one if you’d like) and there’s no need to tell me what you’re going to write about in advance. Your post can be as simple or as complex and in whatever format suits you — text, video, or audio are all good.

If you’re looking for inspiration, folks have shared favorite holiday music, ways they’ve adapted to being away from family, charities, recipes, religious calendar dates, books, local events, memories, traditions both old and new, and more. And if you’re worried about repeating something you’ve said in an earlier past, well, that can be part of the fun, too. While some people get a new Advent calendar each year, my family has always reused ours.

If this sounds fun and you’d like to participate, please leave me a comment on this post telling me what date(s) you’d like. I’ll update this post as people claim days.

(more…)