Good Monday morning to all of you, happy long weekend to my American friends, and happy new week to everyone!  We’re only 2/3 of the way through our weekend over here and off on a hiking adventure today, but so far it’s been nice and balanced – some activity, some rest, some productivity.  I wasn’t actually planning to do any unpacking or organizing over the weekend, but Nugget woke up on Saturday morning inspired to create “our bird-watching headquarters” in the sunroom, and he spent the better part of two days cleaning and organizing.  (Is he 5 or 50, you guys?)  The sunroom has become the repository for boxes yet-to-be-unpacked and a lot of stuff I still have to find homes for, so it needed a lot of work.  Between us, Nugget and I probably unpacked a dozen boxes and set up and cleaned our Adirondack chairs (which were on our front porch in Old Town and were decidedly grimy with city dust and dirt).  We took a break to hike at one of our local parks, which was fun except that on the way to the park I got weirdly carsick – not a problem I usually have – and it took pretty much the entire hike to stop feeling queasy.  I recovered just in time to head out and run some errands to pick up a few things the kids need for school.  So that was Saturday.

Sunday was a bit more weighted to the “fun” side of the scales, although Nugget and I both put in some time in the sunroom, and I worked a tiny bit – I have a couple of action items that are due this week and stressing me out, and I got started on one of them to make myself feel better.  In the morning, Peanut and I drove into Arlington to meet up with her BFF for a playdate.  S’s mom suggested a new-to-us park that had a field and a creek for the girls to explore.  While S stood fastidiously on the bank, Peanut shouted “ALASKA!” and leapt into the deepest part of the running stream, getting drenched to her waist.  It was glorious.  We headed home for lunch, then back out for what is becoming our Sunday tradition – paddling.  This time, we kayaked from Fletcher’s Cove and Peanut was my boat buddy.  It was less dramatic than when I had her in my boat at Riverbend Park, but it’s definitely a workout; she doesn’t help paddle at all.  Meanwhile, Nugget and Daddy were in a paddling rhythm, crushing the current like it was no big thing.  We finished the day with takeout, and then at 6:45 p.m. the kids reminded me that I promised to build a fire pit so we could make s’mores.  Over Steve’s full-throated objection I found myself in the garage, screwing together a new fire pit, then building a full-on campfire for the kids at bedtime.  Hey, it’s the last weekend before school starts.  If not now, when?

Reading.  What a week!  I feel like my reading was at pre-pandemic levels of volume and excitement this past week.  It’s a good feeling!  Early in the week, I finished up The Pickwick Papers, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Review – for the Classics Club – coming later this month, but I have a couple of books in line ahead of it.  After Pickwick, I wanted to read something a bit shorter, so I grabbed one of my new acquisitions: Down in the Valley, a slim little volume that reads like an oral history, and is basically an edited transcription of a tour of Laurie Lee’s home region, given by the author himself to a filmmaker.  It was lovely to read.  Moving right along!  Since it’s the last weekend of official “summer” around here (although it will still be warm for several weeks yet), I figured I’d better get to One Fine Day, which I’ve been meaning to read this season.  It was gorgeous and I loved every word.  Ended the weekend with another one I’ve been meaning to get around to for some time now: A Memoir of Jane Austen, by the author’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh.  I’m still in early chapters, but it’s an interesting read.

Watching.  With all of that reading, watching was minimal – as expected.  A few episodes in our family re-watch of Rock the Park (including Wrangell-St. Elias, which was the episode that gave Peanut the aforementioned idea to shout “ALASKA!” and do “the Polar Plunge” into the creek on her playdate.  Otherwise, not much – just a couple of videos from Miranda Mills’ YouTube channel – on her new life in Yorkshire, summer reads, and favorite books from spring.  Her book recommendations are always winners for me, so I enjoyed that.

Listening.  Still binge-catching-up on The Mom Hour.  I listened to an old (early pandemic) episode full of encouragement for supervising distance learning, a few episodes about this weird summer we are having, and now I’m midway through an episode on “decluttering for the weirdest fall ever.”  It’s such a well-made podcast and I can listen to Meagan and Sarah for hours (obviously) but I probably should make a dent in some of the other shows that are piling up on my podcatcher.

Moving.  It was sort of an all-over-the-place kind of week.  I squeezed in a couple of runs – now that the weather is finally cooling off a little bit (not a lot; it’s still hot here) I am more inspired to get out there, but of course the schedule is about to tighten again.  A paddling afternoon on Sunday, naturally.  And a lot of that “functional fitness” from chasing the kids around, gardening, cleaning the house, hauling boxes, building fire pits – you know, the usual.

Making.  About that fire pit!  It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it?  Pretty pleased with myself for whipping up both the fire pit and the fire itself (that Girl Scout experience helped).  My only complaint about the fire pit is it’s so shallow that it required constant feeding to keep the fire going.  It’s not going to be easy to build a fire, kick back and drink a beer with Steve.  But the kids LOVED it and their s’mores.  Worth every drop of sweat in screwing the thing together in the garage on a hot September night, and in running back and forth between the fire pit and the woodpile to keep it going!

Blogging.  Bookish week coming atcha!  I have a Classics Club review for you on Wednesday, and a Themed Reads post for September on Friday.  I’m excited to share both, so do visit me again then.

Loving.  I suppose I can’t talk about my fire pit since I just went on and on about it above.  Oooh!  But can I tell you about my new bird feeders?  Over the last week I’ve shifted my feeder stations around again.  First, I am delighted to report that birds are eating at the tray feeder I hung last week.  We’ve had chickadees, tufted titmice, and a few cardinals all popping by to grab a snack here and there.  I’m still getting the hang of keeping the tray feeder clean and dry, but it’s nice to see the bigger birds that can’t fit at my tube feeder.  Then the nyjer (thistle) feeder in the backyard suddenly became a hot spot!  I was starting to despair of it, when I noticed a chickadee pop by to grab some thistle.  Within a day after the first chickadee, the goldfinches and the other chickadees descended on the backyard.  At one point, I saw four of them all clustered on the nyjer feeder!  YAY, it’s working!  I am loving watching all of my backyard birds.  I know it’s total pandemic cliche, but I don’t even care.  BIRDS 4EVER.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?