Let’s start with the pretty plants.

The peony collection is open! Of course, now that we’ve had storms, they are probably all flattened. I’ll have to check it out after work. We were too busy last evening for me to get out there and cut a bouquet, so it’s entirely possible I will have completely missed peony season. So short lived as it is, even with pleasant weather.

And that rhododendron is now fully blooming in the most amazing way. Just Wow.

Disclaimer: If you are doing the joji mystery KAL, spoilers are below

 

 

Last evening we had severe storms rolling in, AND, it was Miss Butterfly’s spring choir concert. I hurried to finish the second clue 1 piece from the current mystery stole project.

I wanted to grab photos before those storms started. I must say, even in the photo the light is already looking strange, even though those storms didn’t roll in for more than an hour.

The yarn here is a merino/silk that I dyed myself. I had purchased it way back when intending to use it for a big colorwork sweater. It was listed as a sport weight yarn, and that’s what the pattern required. However, once I received the yarn, it turned out to be far more of a fingering weight yarn. I dyed it up anyhow, seeing as I now had a ton of undyed yarn, and it’s been sitting in my stash ever since. I did make the Westknits mystery shawl Doodler out of 3 of the colors:

Remember this goofy thing?!

In any case, I pulled out those skeins, and chose 5 colors. Then, I thought it would be entirely possible that I didn’t have enough green leftover, so I added in the peach from the doodler shawl as well. I am currently using 6 colors rather than 5, but the peach color will be pretty limited in the end. There’s just not much of it there, so I’ll only be able to use it enough to tie it in to a colorful shawl, but it will be more of a pop of peach rather than a theme.

In any case, I did enjoy the beginning of the joji mystery knit along. I’ve realized that if I have the yarn in stash and it’s not technically earmarked for something else, I find a mystery knit pretty much irresistible.

So, we had Miss Butterfly’s choir concert last night. Mr. Ink was running late, so as soon as he got home we had to hop in the car and get her over to the high school. I told him we’d better take the honda seeing as storms were rolling through, and it would be way better to make sure the new car stayed in the garage. We got halfway to the school when the tornado sirens began. At that point, it was easier just to go to the school, so that’s what we did. The sirens were back off by the time we got there, so Mr. Ink said “At this point, I’d better drop you two off, head back home and get everything outside in, sounds like it may hit soon.” So, we went inside so Miss Butterfly could get situated, and Mr. Ink headed home, moved all the unplanted trees, flower pots, and hanging baskets inside as well as secured the garbage can and the outdoor furniture.

I spent the 45 minutes prior to show time knitting and talking to a mother of one of Miss Butterfly’s friends tell me the harrowing tale of her teen son’s new very old truck, and attempting to get it up and running. Old trucks that young teens can afford generally have a whole host of problems, so it was a long story, but was also quite entertaining.  It was great knitting listening.

When Mr. Ink left the house to come back to the concert, it still hadn’t rained. But, in the short time it took to drive over, that storm hit, and it hit hard. Between the parking lot and the entrance, he’d gotten completely and utterly soaked. Dripping so hard he could barely see. He said “I could really use a tissue!” Well, I rarely carry a purse, and when I do, it’s for keeping my knitting, so I didn’t have one. I mentioned he might wander off to find a bathroom with paper towels, and he did wander off only to find the bathrooms all locked. I assure you he was not the only person who attended who was soaked to the skin and dripping. And with the AC blasting due to the 94F weather we’d had most of the day, those people were quite chilled as well.

It had lightened up by the time we got out of the concert, and we were able to get home and assess any potential damage. We had one weeping redbud put in this year, the wind took the top of that one off. It’s now a stick in the ground with 2 leaves at the top, no branches. Quite disappointing. But it’ll likely survive.

Still no water problems in the problematic area in the basement. I don’t know why this still surprises me, but it does. We continued to have storms all night long, but nothing severe like the initial one.

Tonight we’ve got a bike ride planned. But, we’ve also the potential for severe weather. So, we are playing it by ear! Would be great to get a ride in though!