The weather is still doing wild flip-flops as spring rolls on towards summer. There was a freak storm last week that dumped several inches of snow on the areas to the north and east of us. Children there spent their spring break making snowmen while blooming azaleas bowed under a heavy frosting of snow. Fortunately, there was only cold rain here, soaking my tomatoes but not doing any damage to the garden.

The weather forecasters still crowed with delight over the new event for their record books, quickly mentioning that it had caught them by surprise and then going on to their special features on the event. It wasn't exactly a weather disaster, but it was unusual enough to merit extra air time for them as they predicted the return of warm temperatures again.

That much they got right, with the highs nudging 80 degrees F and the nights in the balmy 60's. The cats are thrilled and are once again the mighty outdoor hunters stalking their prey in the night. The day brings the aerial swoops of enraged mockingbirds defending their nests from the cats' unwanted attentions. The yearly war is in full swing again.

The garden is doing quite well with a good supply of spinach now and more vegetables growing well. The weeds are also growing quite well. Baby and Rapunzel are well stuffed with weeds to spark the digestion of their groaning loads, now stabilizing in size and nicely browned. The first tumbler load of compost of the season should be ready soon.

The garden's spring clothing is turning to a more summertime green as its spring freshness yields to the persistently warming temperatures and sunshine. The tree canopies are thick and casting shade over beds formerly enjoying bright light, wrapping the garden in the first modest veils of summer drapery. The areas of the shrubbery which got fully pruned last year still have patches of sunlight between the bushes, making it all the more apparent that the rest of the pruning would be of considerable benefit to the plants now in shade for part of the day.

As usual, the delay is the press of tasks on my organizer. I'm still running behind from the onrush of gardening planting dates, hoeing weeds out of reserved beds and planting seeds as time and the weather permits. The garden is largely filled with plants of some sort, and there should be more greens joining the spinach on its way to the kitchen soon.

The broccoli and cabbage plants have grown about eight inches tall and are now the tempting target of white cabbage butterflies. I keep trying to sic the cats on them but so far they are fluttering around largely unscathed, unlike the plants with new bites taken out of their leaves daily. The cats are too busy hunting feathered prey to bother much with these marauding insect bandits.

The crafting tasks are still moving along, though, with the sweater box project finished and mailed to Guideposts magazine. I've been knitting patches in different patterns out of the leftover yarn, trying to decide whether to make a colorful afghan or throw caution to the wind on a long patchwork vest. The dilemma arises out of my uncomfortable realization that I'm no spring chicken anymore.

The spring clothing catalogs are coming in droves, tempting me with lovely clothes on young models that could almost be my granddaughters. I look at the pretties on these dewy nymphs and swat at the persistent thought that I'm too old to wear something like that. It wasn't so bad when it was the belly-baring tops and low cut jeans, since I never favored such sunburn specials. Now it is the clothing that is reasonably modest that sometimes provokes the reaction.

I'm wavering between making that vest out of a spirit of rebellion against time and convention on the one hand, and being sensible and making a pretty afghan that would drape gracefully over the end of my bed to pamper the cats with its softness on the other. I keep spreading the finished patches out and arranging them in new patterns to gauge their effect, then adding more patches with chocolate brown and navy backgrounds to tone the overall pattern down. The main colors are some soft pastels mixed with some brighter shades to tie the patches together with shared colors.

I really need the vest more than I need another afghan, but I don't want to end up with something that makes me look like I'm really, really ready for the home. I'm not sure if this is a mid-life crisis or an early temper-tantrum from my second childhood. I need to make a lot more patches before I can decide either of these issues, and there are a lot of weeds to pull and compost practically shrieking for my attention first.