The way things will be until tomorrow. It’s unbelievably cold out there with high winds. The wind chill is down in the twenties. In May. Tonight there is a freeze warning, though I don’t know why there wasn’t one last night, as our temp went down to at least 32, more likely 31. The water in the bird bath is frozen. The only thing this day has got going for it at the moment is that it’s quite sunny out there. That helps a bit. Who knows what will happen tonight? We brought everything in and then I covered a few potted plants, like the geraniums in the barrels and the hollyhock in the zinc barrel right outside the kitchen door.

First I tried covering the geraniums with a sheet but it got so wet in the rain that I worried it would freeze and impact the plants. So I ran out there and covered the plants with two of the  gardening totes that I use around here. I covered the hollyhock with a metal planter. I’m not even sure if I should take them off during the day because it’s so windy. I’ll wait and see.

Even the doves came inside!

One thing: there was no snow on the ground when I woke up at 6. That’s good news. But I’ve seen photos from friends north of me and there was definitely snow on their plants.

The worst of it will be today and tonight, but nighttime temps are going down to the mid to low thirties every night until Thursday. Insane.

I’m already a week behind sowing seeds and I sure won’t be able to sow anything until the ground warms up a bit. The catalpa shows no sign of leaves yet. It’s always the last tree to leaf out. I checked out our catalpas up in the woods, as well as our neighbor’s catalpa and they’re all behind. Will the peonies bloom late for the first time since we moved here 15 years ago? The lilacs are late, too. Let me remind you that a week ago, it reached 80 degrees.

I’ve never seen a spring like this one.

Ah well, enough of that for now. We’ve done all we can do. I feel the most for those who have already planted vegetables and truly have tender plants in the ground that are in danger. No one wants to lose seedlings. And farmers can’t afford to lose a crop. It’s much more dire for them, so I’m praying there is no damage and that steps can be taken to cover the plants.

All in all, a continuation of what has been a surreal year.

Gosh, what else? Not much, as this has been consuming us for the past 24 hours. I’m still reading Love in a Cold Climate  and I’m starting in on the letters of the Mitford sisters. After that, I might reread some Robertson Davies, one of my favorite writers ever. He was a Canadian writer and I got hooked on his writing in the late seventies. I can’t remember how I discovered him, but I read everything he wrote as well as two new novels that were published during that time. I long ago lost track of my copies, darn it, but I did buy a used copy of The Cornish Trilogy  and The Lyre of Orpheus  a few years ago when I realized I missed his presence on my shelves. I think I found them at The Strand in NYC. I’m going to replenish my Robertson Davies library. If you are not familiar with him, you should google his name. He looks positively Dickensian and he was brilliant. It feels as if the Universe is telling me to reread him. I find I’ve been thinking a lot about him, looking over to my right at the books on the shelf, and just a week ago, I read a post from a fellow bookstagrammer about him. All signs point to Robertson Davies.

But first, the Mitfords.

I started the puzzle. It’s hard, but not nearly as hard as the one I scrapped. And it’s beautiful.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.