It’s Friday night and the house is quiet. Rudi has turned in, caching energy for tomorrow’s hilly ride. Two of the cats are dozing in the bedroom with him, one in an Amazon box here in the living room.

We started the weekend out with jazz this evening, but it was a bit different than our normal Friday wind-down with friends. First, the weather and the event’s popularity have combined to make it so there is nowhere to sit in the sculpture garden. So I pulled up space on the median strip outside the garden between the sidewalk and the street. And we were not the only blanket parked there! Second, most of our friends are out of town this weekend, so, although Sarah was able to spend a little time with us, for the most part it was just Rudi and me. Luckily, I’m rather fond of Rudi, the weather was gorgeous, and the people squatting around us were all very friendly and cheerful.

The weekend itself looks quite busy. On the agenda:

• Distribute publicity for Michael’s play next weekend. Are you a local? If so (or if you’re going to be in town soon), make sure you don’t miss the world premiere of The Quick Brown Fox Jumped over the Lazy Dogs during the Fringe Festival. The play will be performed July 18 and 19 and 24-26. The reading I saw of it a couple years back was fantastic.
• Buy some tomato props for the garden, weed and water, and plant some fall seeds. I wonder if it’s too late to plant zucchini and more beans for the summer…
• Go fruit picking. Blueberries and raspberries are both currently in season and I’m eating them every day. Today I made blueberry apricot muffins, yesterday I had a yogurt parfait. Who knows what I could make next?
• Watch Tour de France coverage. I think Rudi is delighted in my interest this year…
• Knit on my Tour de France knit-along project. Originally a sweater, it’s now a pair of socks. Yeah, I was surprised, too.
• Read, preferably outside. I currently have three or four books going, so I don’t feel like it’s unreasonable to finish at least one of them.
• Bike a bit or swim — both days.
• Pay bills. It’s that weekend of the month.
• Clean. It’s only one word, but it’s such a big task. The mess has gotten out of hand and I’m pretty sure it’s now procreating and making lots more little messes. But this is supposed to be the last temperate weekend of the summer, so I refuse to spend any of the nice parts inside. Cleaning will only happen after dark or when it’s rainy or too humid to be comfortable outside anymore. Hmmm… That sounds kind of defeatist from the outset, doesn’t it? Too bad!

What are you up to this weekend?