Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Fort Reno concerts started back up last week, which seems fitting because it’s impossible not to equate heat waves and the free local series, now in its 51st year, held at the highest point in the District, where even on the most miserable evening, it feels like a slight breeze gives you some relief. We introduced our new friends to the concerts and they are excited to share the experience with their teenaged nephews when they come for a prolonged visit in a few weeks.

2. Every year, the Fort Reno organizers designate one of its evenings as the Night of a Thousand Cakes in memory of the late local musician John Stabb’s birthday. Attendees bring cakes and other goodies to share, and I’ve been lucky enough to make the evening fit into my schedule several times over the years. This year, I left the baking a little late in the day and then discovered partway into the coffee cake recipe that I had no eggs and no sour cream. I did have farm yogurt, which is pretty tangy, so I made that substitution without even blinking. And did you know that you can substitute both a quarter cup of yogurt and a mixture of baking soda and vinegar for an egg? Since I needed two, I used both, which worked perfectly. We didn’t get a thousand cakes, but we did exceed Amanda’s hopes for at least ten, and a smaller crowd than usual means Rudi and I got to take home our leftovers!

3. Yesterday and today’s Tour de France stages have been filled with beautiful fields of sunflowers. Some people might watch for mountains or cathedrals or even the bike racing, but I watch for flowers — sunflowers and lavender — and coastlines.

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

I was hoping Corey would stay asleep on the chair so I could demonstrate that I’d legitimately made progress on my shawl, but my counting woke him up. But this week’s book is the same size as last week’s books, so hopefully you can tell I’ve been working hard even without a 20-pound cat as a constant.

The knitting itself is not difficult, which, of course, means I’ve messed it up a bunch of times. Somehow alternating just two stitches on half the rows is harder than my brain can handle. Also, next time remind me not to wind my single ply yarn into a center-pull ball because holy hell, the knots and yarn barf I’ve had to put up with!

The advantage of actually knitting means I’m also doing a lot of reading. Sometimes it’s listening to an audiobook, which has the advantage of not needing to turn pages, but because of the aforementioned fuck-ups, I sometimes need to chant the stitches when I’m having difficulty paying attention, which then means I need to pause the book because I can’t pay attention to someone reading to me while talking aloud to my brain. Otherwise, I can read a print book, paying attention to the pattern on the right-side rows and reading a couple pages while knitting back on the wrong sides. It’s slow going, but not horrible.

On my phone, I have finished my cycling book, The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle, and downloaded the first of Peter Mayle’s Sam Levitt heist series, Vintage Caper, which is about to move from Los Angeles to France. It seems appropriate for Tour de France knitting, although I’m also pretty sure I figured out who perpetrated the crime in the scene in which that character was introduced, so it’s good that I’m looking for setting in this book, rather than solid crime writing.

In print, I’ve started Jasmine Guillory’s The Proposal, a modern Los Angeles romance, in which the meet-cute happens because a writer’s boyfriend proposed to her at a Dodgers game (spelling her name wrong on the Jumbotron) and then, after she turns him down, a doctor and his sister help her escape from the media who want to interview her about it. You know, as it happens all the time. It’s light and frothy and innocuous, which is probably about right, given I can’t reliably wrap my head around two stitches.

I have Tommy Orange’s There There out from the library, so I should probably turn to that next, since there’s bound to be a long holds list for it. But if it doesn’t grab me right away, I might just return it again and resume reading my wintry books, Early Riser and Naughty on Ice, to combat our heat.

Want to see what other folks are reading and crafting? Head over to As Kat Knits for the roundup.

We’ve had two days in a row with highs below 90, so Mother Nature feels she needs to smack us upside the head. When my outdoor volleyball game and Rudi’s group bike ride start this evening, the heat index is due to be over 100 degrees. Yay… Don’t worry; we’re very good about hydrating.

Still, there’s nothing to do, but suck it up. And maybe bring my bathing suit to take a dip at the pool afterwards. Or, of course, I could opt to dance all night instead.

(The Eels do a very nice cover of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s original, which I hear playing in my head on a daily basis every time I have to go outside at midday this time of the year.)

Wishing you all cool breezes and iced tea…

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is “auto-buy authors.” I’m positive I don’t have ten (although I’ll note below which they are), but I certainly have ten whose works must immediately be put on hold at the library:

1. Jasper Fforde (must buy)
2. Rainbow Rowell (must buy)
3. Barbara Kingsolver
4. J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith
5. Sherry Thomas (I need to track down her backlist)
6. Brian Selznick (must buy his later works; still have to finish going through his backlist)
7. Toni Morrison
8. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (only applies to their works together, since I haven’t read either of their solo catalogues)
9. Becky Albertalli
10. Nicola Yoon

Erin Morganstern has only published The Night Circus, but if her sophomore effort, due out this fall, is anywhere near as good, I’ll be adding her to my must-buy list, too.

The weekend was a nice one. It included a Tour de France watching party at a bar in Virginia with Rudi’s bike club on Friday; trips to the garden, library, grocery store, bagel shop; and farmers market; time in the pool; and a delicious Bastille Day supper of vegetarian crepes, chevre and crackers, and creamsicle ice cream.

There was reading and knitting and cuddling with the cat. There was a bike ride and holding hands and lounging on a bench at the park.

All in all, a pleasant way to pass a couple days in the middle of July, wouldn’t you say?

This is probably my favorite song that Rudi plays on the guitar. Short of recording him performing it, I thought I’d dig up a cover of it as a calm way to begin our Sunday mornings.

Here is Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana covering Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird.”