I had a laid-back weekend. Friday night we spent time up at the park, reading and enjoying the bats zooming inches over the grass and then soaring high into the air after their prey. We came home to eat supper and I found the Washington Mystics playing on tv. As a Connecticut girl, I’m a big fan of women’s basketball, and D.C.’s and Dallas’ teams put on a good show that went into overtime. We concluded the evening with homemade chocolate chip ice cream.

Yesterday, I did indeed get to sleep in. I also stopped by the local yarn shop just to browse for the first time since February (okay, I may have bought a new set of dpns made out of driftwood and some Soak, because one can always use more). I then headed down to the garden, where I put in a couple hours of weeding, yanking out the vines that had made the jump from the adjacent woods and pulling out some not-yet-budding milkweed (yes, monarchs… but weed is in the name and it grows like it; trust me, there’s still plenty left!) that was overshadowing plants I wanted to produce food for me. I then picked some figs from the tree by the garden and then did some grocery shopping, the combination thereof (grocery shopping itself is small potatoes compared to hauling three full bags all home by myself) I’m pretty sure justified eating as much pizza and ice cream as I wanted, which I did while watching the Chuck Brown Day anniversary concert, which was being livestreamed on YouTube.

Today, I went to the farmers market (no boxes of tomatoes this week, but plenty of other goodies), then had a pleasant brunch with Corey in the bedroom in front of the fan while listening to the Nationals game on the radio. I did a few chores around the house and then head over to Arlington to return the overdue book I had from their library. I celebrated finding my way to the library (Roads in Arlington move like staircases at Hogwarts. It’s best if you just don’t fight the concept.) by getting a cup of tea at a local coffeehouse and then taking a less circuitous route back to D.C. After a stop to water the garden and pick basil for our supper, I hightailed it for the park, where Rudi and I stayed until the sun turned in for the night.

It was a good weekend. How was yours?

I’m not sure if particulates from the Western fires have made their way across the country or what, but the sunset tonight was just incredible.

Since I don’t have to spend all weekend working, the next few days stretch before me luxuriously. Here’s how I hope to fill them:

• Sleeping in: No obligations tomorrow and Rudi is off on a bike ride with friends.
• Gardening: The back section of my garden is out of control. Plus, Now is the time to put in seeds for lettuce so that I have plants by the time the cool weather comes around.
• Finishing my sock: And thinking what to work on during the Tour de France this year.
• Reading: I’m quite enjoying the book I’m reading, even if it isn’t all happy. Also, I should probably head to Arlington to return my book.
• Going to the farmers market: I wonder what Rudi would think about getting a box of seconds tomatoes for saucing.
• Doing laundry: Doesn’t it feel like I should have less clothing to wash during the pandemic? (Other than masks, of course.)
• Holding an ’80s dance party: It’s been a while, and it’s time.
• Making dill pickles: Our bread & butter ones came out really well, so it’s time to expand our repertoire.

What’s on your weekend to-do list?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Just a few buildings up from ours, we pass a foraging albino squirrel.

2. Local green grapes are now in season!

3. The weather has been cooler this week (high temperatures in the 80s, lows below 70, and sometimes even reasonable levels of humidity). It has made such a difference in my mood.

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

I had the afternoon off today and swore to myself that I would not work for any of it. I packed a bag of supplies (bug spray, long sleeve layer, headphones, several books, and, it turns out, not my knitting), swung by the farmers market for snacks, and took myself up to the park. I did not grab my chair because I had a plan — I was going to use our hammock.

Last summer, I’d tried to use our hammock at the park, but couldn’t find trees that were close enough for the length of straps we have. However, I hadn’t given any thought a handful of smaller trees by the fence, and this summer I have seen several people with hammocks using them. Today was my day.

First, I pulled out Eoin Colfer’s Highfire. It started with a chapter about an anti-social dragon, which boded particularly well, but then switched focus to a teen boy and then a crooked cop. I’m sure it’ll be great when they all get on the same page, but until then I just wanted more dragon.

So I switched to The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. I think this middle-grade novel might be the next right read.

On the knitting front, my sock hasn’t had a lot of work done on it this week, but I will wrap it up in the next few days. (See forgetting to pack it above.) The Tour de France kicks off next weekend, so I’d like to go in with a recent FO under my belt. I haven’t decided what I’d like to knit, but I do think it will be a fresh cast-on, rather than the resumption of a project. I’m looking forward to it.

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what others have been reading and crafting lately!

Bout of Books 29 kicked off at the start of the week, and I’m intending to take part again.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01 a.m. Monday, August 17, and runs through Sunday, August 23, in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. All reading-in-place times, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges are completely optional. For Bout of Books 29 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Yesterday, I started off the week by finishing Oona Out of Order shortly after midnight. Now I can get it back to the library.

Last night, I read the first chapter of Undercover Bromance, which succeeded in pissing me off by having the main character be remarkably attractive and rich and successful, but unlucky in love. I’m going to give it until the main female character is introduced to see if it has any redeeming qualities, but I’m not holding my breath.

This evening, because I was reminded about it in raidergirl3’s blog post earlier, I started When We Were Vikings. The start of the story makes me uneasy and I’m not sure I want to keep reading it if it’s going to leave me stressed out all the time.

My rest of the plan for the week involves reading the first chapter or two of each of the library books I currently have out to see which can be returned to the library. Including the two above, I’ve started nine, none of which has captured my fancy (but also none of which, so far, has made me want to give up).

I have (ahem) 15 out that I haven’t yet given a shot. If you’ve read any of them and recommend I start there, let me know:

• Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
• Homerooms and Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell
• The Night Country by Melissa Albert
• Each Tiny Spark by Pablo Cartaya
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Another Word for Home by Jasmine Warga
• The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
• Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
• The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
• The First Dinosaur by Ian Lendler
• Highfire by Eoin Colfer
• Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden
• Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (I really want to find my copy of the first book in the series and reread it before starting this one)
• Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer
• The Travelers by Regina Porter