All Serene

I beleive the wind and rain abated soon after midnight.  I wasn't conscious of hearing either whenever I roused slightly during the night.  Morning dawned beautifully clear and sunny and I was up early.

It was cool, a good time to make a fire in the fireplace to take away the sense of chill and damp.

M. did some online research today re the frequency of tornados which have actually touched down in Adair County---only 15 recorded since 1933.

This should be reassuring news for daughter G.

We appreciate the inquiries for our safety.

M. and G. announced they had a very restful night in their make-shift beds in the basement family room--it is very quiet down there, and of course dark.

G. woke to see Teasel peering down at her from the staircase above.  [G. and Teasel are finding their way into a relationshp--wary on Teasel's part as she has not in the past liked G.]

J. is battling the head cold which I enjoyed last week, so he slept in this morning.

G. and I took the car and headed to the Catholic Charity shop which opens early and closes at noon.

We had a good rummage which produced among other things, 2 pair of dressy trousers for G.--tags still on, brands that are very pricey when purchased in a department store.

The County Library is along the street from the charity shop, so I took G. there to get a library card.

I'm less than impressed with the library selection of books, but they do have inter-library loan service.

Our next stop was at a local furniture store.  We looked at the pretties, but agreed that we are both happier with "found furniture" for the most part--treasures which can be refinished and repurposed.

Our last stop before getting the inevitable groceries at Wal Mart was at the

recently opened Good Will Store.

I found a dainty blouse made with all the tucks, tiny ruffles of lace and inserts such as I used to make for myself and for G. and her cousins back when the Gunne Sax label was all the rage.

We came home to find that J. and M. had given up on us and gone out for a buffet lunch.

The weather was so wonderful that we quickly ate leftover chicken/vegetable soup, stripped all the beds and pegged linens out to billow in the wind.

During this wet spring we're glad for J.'s garden plan of leaving strips of mown grass between the planting rows.  Although the soil is wet, we can scrape out a trench with the hoe and tuck in seeds.  I planted 1/2 # of green beans late this afternoon and J. put in a short row of sweet corn.

The cucumber and melon seeds are up, as well as the Swiss chard we planted last week.

Many of my tomato plants are out-growing the head room in the cold frame.  We're hoping that by late tomorrow it might be dry enough to set them out.  I have smaller seedlings waiting their turn for the cold frame.

J. took me round to see that he had staked up a Double Knock-Out rose which had been leaning and staked and tied up the two huge pink peonies.

I grieve when these lovely seasonal flowers get hit by rain at blossom time.

A peaceful bucolic scene--the view down Big Creek valley late this afternoon.

Rain-battered but still lovely--rosa rugosa Blanc Double de Coubert.

Rosa rugosa Hansa.

This clump of aquilegia is just coming into bloom.

We made a trip to South Fork on Tuesday, to introduce M. and G. to the cluster of Mennonite shops in the area.  I bought this dianthus at the greenhouse there--it is called Strawberry Parfait.

Speaking of strawberries: M. called us just before supper to look out the window at grandson D. who was carefully inspecting the progress of J.'s ripening berries!