Out in the backyard last evening before dusk turned seriously to the deep dark of night I was suddenly startled to realize that the first of the peony shrubs, one that was growing just behind the bird bath had gone into full bloom. The flowers are many-layered-fluffy and a deep pastel pink, the only one of the four different peonies in the backyard to have a divine fragrance. It was too dark for photographs, but I made up for it this morning.

 

 

A cool morning with a light breeze, heavy overnight rain had burdened the heavy peony heads, weighting them with rainwater, leaving drops glittering like pearls on the petals. Rain is so essential for hard-working plants to produce their flowers. The rose bushes in the backyard are working diligently to catch up with the peonies but they're slowly blooming too. The tall shrub rose at the front of the house, one of two, is also now in its first full bloom of summer.

 

Today is another busy day, mostly because we had to jam things into orderly time to make a 2:00 p.m. appointment at the groomers' for Jackie and Jillie. Their curly black coats have become somewhat unruly and it was time for their summer cuts. Because of the time element we moved our ravine hike up considerably by several hours. The heavy overnight rain had left us with cool yet humid air and heavily overcast skies. We assumed we'd see no sun today.

 

So off we went with Jackie and Jillie to the ravine. The forest had been truly parched, and for the last several weeks, despite occasional bursts of light rain, cracks had begun to appear on the forest floor. As a measure of how dry the forest was, despite that heavy rain through the early morning hours, the creek wasn't flooded with rainwater; the thirsty forest had lapped it all up to restore a semblance of balance. This will go a long way to helping all the flowering soft-fruit shrubs produce their summer fruit, from Elderberry trees to raspberry and blackberry canes.

 

When we left the puppies at the groomers' we went on to do our weekly grocery shopping. Now that we've returned to shopping for groceries at the supermarket in mid-afternoon rather than early morning as we did throughout the pandemic, we've had to re-accustom ourselves to sharing space with a much larger number of other shoppers -- along with the occasional shelving void of specific products. It seems that although the panic of the coronavirus has hugely subsided, lagging delivery schedules remain a problem.

 

Back at home again, getting everything put away, preparing a vegetable salad for the puppies and washing their collars, harnesses and bedding, I threw in a few light tee-shirts of my own to see if a good wash would remove the stains that occurred when I wore for the first time a pair of soft, light tights. I wear tights when I do the morning household chores, and with them light tee-shirts. I had noticed the tee-shirts this week had gained large dark smudges.

 

I finally realized that the tights which I wore for the first time, were bleeding colour. They're black, made in China, and I think I bought them at a New Hampshire general store last fall, the last vacation we took. I'd never had a piece of clothing with such unstable colour dye before, but I really liked the soft feel of the tights and thought I'd wash them in the laundry sink to see if they could be freed of the propensity to stain. 

 

No such luck. After I had washed the puppies' halters and collars, it was the turn of the tights. I put them through three hot-water soapy hand washes and three rinses. Each time a residue of fine, black fibre clung to the porcelain sides of the sink and had to be scrubbed away. It wasn't just that the wash and rinse waters became ebony-black with dye, but each time that residue also appeared. I had to scrub the porcelain each time to rid it of the stubborn black stains. So that answered the question of whether the tights were salvageable. And speaks volumes of the quality and consumer-reliability of products sourced from China.