In Bloom

Wow, more than one entry in a week, it’ll probably snow now. Honestly, that joke is in poor taste given the recent flooding, tornados & hail storm we’ve endured. The day of the hail storm my husband was driving home from work & encountered golf ball size hail stones & saw more than one funnel cloud. I have the insurance adjuster’s report & estimate to prove it. In fact the plant he contracts for lost power & its cooling tower collapsed the week after the hail storm when a tornado hit. When they went to work the next day, they were sent home. We didn’t know if my husband would have a job. Thankfully jobs were not lost & nobody was hurt during the storm.

The day of the big hail storm, the kids & I watched the craziness from our covered porch. I took some photos & video, as you can see. My son was frightened but I tried to reassure him, although my efforts paled in comparison to the grape sized stones that hurtled to the ground & our downspouts could barely keep up with the precipitation. The sound was deafening. The damage to our house was minimal & I had luckily moved most of my potted plants to safety. A few were still in the line of fire so I lost five plants—including my Mother’s Day gift from my son & my son’s two nasturtiums. He was very upset but I directed his attention to his sunflowers & rose that were safe. It’s frustrating because he was so excited to watch his seeds germinate & eventually flower & the nasturtiums even came in an Elmo seed packet…

Actually garden - wise everything seems to have recovered well, although I had to cut a few plants back. It is aggravating to see hard work go unrewarded, but we lucked out compared to many other people so I won’t complain. Four of my six remaining rose bushes are budding out, so within weeks I should have a number of roses in bloom. The mosquitoes have become a nuisance at our house however, due to the brief heat wave that followed our downpours. Although the heat probably accounts for the sudden invigoration of my roses, I have to put up with the biting blighters. There must have been some in the house last night, because my son awoke with a number of bites this morning. I was concerned because he scratched himself up as a result & of course considering the threat of West Nile…..but not all mosquitoes carry the disease.

I’ve been negligent with my blog again, but at least I’ve been productive in other areas. I matted & framed my entries for the Trianon show, which will save me a bundle. I borrowed a mat cutter from a friend & am now in search of a deal so I can purchase my own. I hope to get a few more projects completed, including a baby sweater for a friend. I had the sweater 45% complete but have to rip it back because the baby was almost 10 pounds at birth. The sweater wouldn’t fit for very long! I’ve also been reading like mad, including The Da Vinci Code, The Secret History, The Little Friend & a few others.

I need to organize myself to get the fall newsletter for the Art Club underway. I’ve started a bare bones version so I need to flesh it out. With Life Drawing ending on the 28th I hope to mat/frame one or two pieces for the Stampede show & work on a sculpture for the Centennial show on Tuesday evenings. Remember the days when summer meant vacation?