Tuesday, May 15th - hard to believe we're half way through May already

It's a pleasant 13' this morning but it's overcast and it has rained a little. We should have a few more showers this morning then just cloud for the afternoon but it will rise to 19' later. It was a funny day yesterday with  tiny showers once in a while. Fortunately they had disappeared by the time I went home. It was nice and warm and I was able to tackle phase two of the grass cutting. This time it was the big piece out back with the little trees. It's such a nuisance to mow around all those and it takes a long time. Tonight I'll do the lawn at the side of the house and then I'll just have some trimming to do. Then it will likely be ready to start all over again!

When I got off the lawn mower (mostly because I was just about out of gas) I started a fire in the fire pit. I had quite a large pile of branches I'd picked up in the front yard so I got those all taken care of. Once the fire was blazing, I went inside and got myself a beer and a lawn chair and sat and enjoyed the view. That's one thing about summer  that I truly enjoy - sitting by a bonfire. Fortunately there was a very tiny breeze so the smoke all went in one direction and the smoke was enough to keep the bugs away. What more can one ask for? Okay, three little kids and a bag of marshmallow would have made it perfect!

This warm weather combined with a bit of rain has made the leaves on the trees burst out. Some are quite green with new growth but others, like the Linden trees in my front yard, are slower to come. Then again, they are also later losing their leaves in the fall. But in another week or two they should all be out. Especially if we get the warm sunny weather they are predicting for the weekend - I'm cautiously optimistic they might have it right, but it's a little too early to get our hopes up just yet.