How is it already Sunday night? I swear, I am the most unproductive person!

Friday night, I chatted with my folks while I took my evening constitutional, then finished my audiobook. Rudi made us a delicious pizza for supper. It was the last of the dough from the pizzeria, which might mean we have to order out later this week. I’m just going to tack on dough from them every time now, because for $5, it gets us two otherwise homemade meals.

Saturday, I slept in, at least until 13 airplanes buzzed my apartment. I think Corey, who was curled up next to me, thought we were under attack. Or maybe that I’d added a new, horrible alarm to my phone. I made waffles for brunch (breakfast for me, lunch for Rudi) and then finished reading my print novel. There may have been a nap on the sofa after that while Rudi finished his all-day conference call.

We took a walk after that — nearly five miles! — and stopped at the grocery store. We won’t be going back to that one for a while, so we stocked up on whatever we could carry.

This morning, I headed over to the farmers market, where my haul included another bucket of strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, fiddleheads, potatoes, carrots, and the gigantic five-pound box of what the mushroom people considered “seconds.” I mean, do you see anything in that box you wouldn’t actually want?!

I also bought a bunch of seedlings — six tomato plants, two peppers, and a cucumber — from the nursery that comes to the market, so Rudi and I took them down to the garden this evening and put them in the ground. It may have been the fastest we’ve ever turned around seedlings, but more rain was expected tonight, so we wanted them to have a nice dousing. (Plus, Corey enjoys munching seedlings he discovers in the entryway.)

I browsed some yarn — this weekend would have been the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and I’m contemplating buying a skein or two as a treat, not that I need it. But I decided to give it a day or two, to see if the urge wears off once nostalgia isn’t as heavily at play.

We watched the season finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, which (pun intended) hit all the right notes in what is one of the tightest shows on tv this season. We did, however, need some lighthearted watching to finish the night off, so I introduced Rudi to Agatha Raisin. Rudi made a delicious cottage pie, which we enjoyed as thunder rumbled overhead and Corey dozed on my chest.

And, now, the workweek looms. But while it does, I’m hoping you can share your favorite meat-free mushroom dishes. Because we have a fair few more fungi to finish.

I discovered this mural on Hughes Mews, a little dead-end alleyway in Foggy Bottom, while Rudi and I were out for a late afternoon/evening constitutional.

Mum made the mask, which matches an apron she made me for my birthday several years back. She also sent one made from the same material as the curtains in my brother’s and my childhood bedroom, plus one more in a navy material that I didn’t recognize (but that I would guess came from a suit she made herself).

When you live in the middle of the city, there is no going out of the house without a mask on. Or, at least, this is true if you are us. Cases in D.C. are on the rise and critical care beds in Montgomery County, Maryland, directly to the north of us, are full. Other people may feel cavalier about this information, but I’m not. Our sidewalks aren’t wide enough to give people the suggested six-foot berth they suggest is minimally acceptable, which pushes someone out into the street, and that’s if both of us are wearing masks. If you’re not wearing a mask, I assume you are disregarding other health recommendations and try to get even more space.

So, I’m grateful to Mum for the masks, because that stretches a little further how long we can go between loads of laundry. We are nearly out of quarters, so Rudi is going to see if he can find a bank that’s open where we can get a couple rolls on Monday morning. We had more than three rolls at the start of quarantine, because I suspected we’d need them; now I wish I’d gotten two more, since the closest bank to us has suspended its operations for the time being. And since everyone wants you to use a credit card right now, it’s not like I can just use the change I’ve gotten during the week. Although if we can’t find a bank, maybe Rudi could start paying for our weekly day-old bagels with a $10 and asking for a couple bucks in quarters with our change. They and the egg people at the market are the only people I know who still prefer cash.

Okay, I’ve rambled on enough. Time to wash the day’s dishes and go to bed!

I fell asleep while photos were uploading last night, so we’re getting my post this morning instead…

The garden doesn’t know the world is falling apart. It just knows that rain has been falling and the temperatures have been pleasant for stretching a little taller each day. So each time we show up at the plot, it looks like this:

The violets are done for the season, so Rudi and I yank out the leaves. Because they grow by rhizome, they will be fine and will bloom again next spring (or, even, in the right conditions, in the fall). But without this step, there will be no strawberries, because the violets have dwarfed them for the most part.

The dahlia and gerbera daisy that I planted a couple weeks ago are bright spots in the garden, and it’s obvious from looking that the slugs think they look nice, too:

The tallest of my peas have reached the top of the supports I could give them once it was obvious I might have to work with what I had, rather than being able to acquire more garden stakes. I threw the tomato cages in to pinch hit last month and the peas thought they made a great addition to my more traditional trellising:

And they showed their pleasure with this:

There will be peas within the month!

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The first loaf of bread I made from our sourdough was decidedly … meh. But the next time I decided to try the bread machine recipe from King Arthur’s Flour, which as you might expect, was a winner. It has made excellent breakfasts this week.

2. Our bucket of strawberries lasted us until yesterday, when we used up both the last of them and the slightly soured heavy cream I had in the fridge in a fool. Before that, they graced ice cream and yogurt. I’ve ordered another bucket from this week’s farmers market and expect to finally get around to baking that shortcake.

3. This week’s tv watching brought a series finale for God Friended Me and a season finale for Star Trek: Picard. Both were fine, hitting their emotional marks and wrapping up loose storylines, and I was glad to have spent the time getting to know their characters.

How about you? What beautiful things are you finding as you make your way through this new landscape?

I have just one more evening of reading The Flatshare. I reached a moment of peace, where everyone was still relatively okay, and decided to put the book down for the night. I looked at the chunk of pages left, then ticked off five separate story elements left to be resolved, and decided that was too many for 50 pages and that it must be 75. Turns out it was 80, including the acknowledgements. I look forward to the fast resolution.

I’m also nearing the end on my audiobook, Size 12 Is Not Fat, by Meg Cabot. Former pop star turned assistant residence hall director Heather has figured out who the murderer must be, but she has to convince Cooper still, not to mention, the N.Y.C. police.

I’m not quite as close to finished with my second Smock Madness sock, but I have memorized the pattern, so that has to be something, right?

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

Some people have yard flamingos. Others have yard mammoths. (Their yard was not especially bigger than their decoration.)