It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring

Ahh, May long weekend.  When it doesn't matter how nice it is the week before, the weather always turns out like crap.

All week the weather was sunny and beautiful, and my apple tree looked like this:

My tulips started to bloom last weekend, and over the week they thrived.  I was pretty proud of myself as I planted the bulbs last fall and I had no idea if they were going to grow or not.  

Only two of the six hostas that I planted last year seem to have survived the winter and my neglect, but as they say, two out of six ain't bad (yes I know it's "two out of three ain't bad" but just let me pretend that I at least got a passing mark).

Now after last night's wind/rain/lightning/hail storm my tulips look like this:

A little muddy and bedraggled but they're mostly fine.  And I didn't take a picture, but my apple tree has scarcely a petal left on it.  The good part is that the continuing rain gives me an excuse to stay inside and put off yard work for another week.  Or perhaps longer, as the forecast for the next week looks like this:

	Sunday May 20	Monday May 21	Tuesday May 22	Wednesday May 23	Thursday May 24	Friday May 25
Conditions  6am - 6pm
	Cloudy periods	Variable cloudiness	Cloudy with showers	Cloudy with showers	Scattered showers	Isolated showers
P.O.P.	20%	30%	80%	70%	70%	40%
High	19°C	22°C	23°C	21°C	20°C	21°C
Low	5°C	7°C	13°C	15°C	14°C	11°C
Wind	NW 15 km/h	SW 10 km/h	E 25 km/h	S 25 km/h	SW 15 km/h	N 15 km/h
24-Hr Rain	-	2-4 mm	close to 5 mm	5-10 mm	5-10 mm	less than 1 mm

My colour affection shawl is coming along well, but due to the rain and prevailing gloominess outside, this is the best picture of it that I could get.

I like the colours and the yarn is so fabulously soft and smooshy, but I keep thinking that this is more of a fall/winter wrap than a spring shawl.  I'm definitely going to finish it by the end of May, but I don't know how much I will wear it before fall sets in.  I might have to make another one with lighter weight yarn and a brighter colour combination.

This afternoon there is a knit along for the Color Affection shawl, however also due to the rain, I don't think I will be going.  As much as I want to see the colours that everyone else has chosen, I have a stronger desire to stay inside where it is warm and dry.  And besides, I have to finish packing for my annual trip out to my friend's cabin that I leave for in less than 3 hours!  It's a comfortable cabin, and we always go there for part of May long weekend, and it always rains and/or is kinda chilly so it's a great time to get knitting done.  Last year I knit an entire sock while I was there.  This year I'm hoping to get Color Affection off the needles.  Only 7 more stripes to go until I start the border, so I think it's totally doable.  If not I will finish it later in the weekend or this week sometime.  Then I can start knitting something else!  Wingspan, perhaps?