This spring has been a wild one here in central Indiana; the average temperature in March was the same as January! April finally gave us some really nice spring days, but we had a lot of cold weather too. The gardens are late, and a frost in early May killed a lot of bedding plants set out with optimism that the 80+ degree days were here to stay. I waited until this week to put out my flowers, new hostas, vegetable plants and blueberries, and thought I was safe, but…

Hostas Before

Hostas After

The temps hit 88 on Wednesday, giving me cause for concern about the two mama’s due with babies. One was particularly hot and enjoyed a nice cool down with the garden hose, and then dinner in front of the fan. By sunset, a cold front was moving through, and with it, storms. We were in town having dinner, where we only had rain and lightening. Upon returning home, our “hill” was clothed in ground fog and the road was covered in tree leaves! By the time we reached our house, the road was covered with over an inch of hail! The alarm had gone off on Fred’s car, but it was not damaged. However, my hostas were ruined! I have not looked at the blueberry plants that I put in just the night before, but I am sure they are cut to pieces.

Here are two photos of my gorgeous Frances Williams hosta; I’ve had a fit finding the right place for this plant, and this year it seemed to be in hosta heaven…until the hail hit and ripped it to shreds! I am just sick about it!

The only saving grace is that my mama llamas are happily outside eating in the cool air, and nothing could have compared to the piles of icy hail that they can enjoy all evening! After checking for damage and downed trees, we left the pasture as all the llamas were walking around taking in the strange “summer snow.” They are truly as curious about this as we are!

After the hail and a brief respite from the rain, the main front moved through and a close ligtening strike damaged our network to YW West. Fred was downstairs near the main networking hubs, and saw a spark fly from one of the boards, so we knew we had damage. Toes, our big Maine Coon Cat, was uncharacteristically spooked by the weather. No amount of comforting him would shrink those large pupils, and it was not until the last storm passed that he calmed down!