Finally!

Warmer temperatures finally arrived and, after Mother's Day, we are (supposedly) past the danger of frost so I've brought some of my plants back from the office and placed them on the deck, hoping that they'll remember their former glory.

Chiquita, the Chihuahua, is loving the sun and the heat, and all she's missing is a pair of Wayfarers and a pink bikini to be quite in her element.

The first Farmer's Market of the year was last Saturday and I bought fresh rhubarb from an Amish farmer (who always has the best vegetables) and made my first fresh rhubarb pie of the season.

In the backyard, the trees have exploded in green and the flowers are in full bloom, including my favorite late spring bloomer, the bleeding hearts.

This wondrous bush is also in full bloom and I don't remember seeing it last summer, or even the summer before, so perhaps the alternatively wet and warm conditions have helped it burst into show.

It's interesting that this backyard has so many purple flowers since the color of my small college on the hill is purple and while I'm not sure of what the first two plants are, the last one, a lilac tree, is also in fullest bloom and the perfume that it emits is simply glorious.

Even the hostas look like they're unfurling into giants.

Of course, the advent of late spring always brings with it the concomitant bugs, which don't add anything positive in my book (although I do understand their biological purpose) so there's lots of checking of the dogs and cats for ticks and lots of evicting all kinds of flying and other critters that want to invade our home.

At school, classes are finally over and the semester officially ended today. I am buried in grading (have about 200 pieces of student writing, of varying lengths, to grade between now and May 24), which doesn't contribute to being in good humor, especially since I swore to myself that I wasn't going to do this to myself again. But I'm trying to take it in stride and work relentlessly to get it all done well and on time, especially given that I am on leave next year so I won't have to worry about having déjà vu all over again.