Nutters' May Days

May began with a rash of warm sunny days that were just a bit too warm for me and not quite warm enough for my splendid husband. The evenings have begun to linger long into hours that should by all decent standards be considered "night" (though it's rarely dark enough to sleep now) and in the early days of May, when I had enough time to breathe, we frequently spent a few hours enjoying beautiful Sheffield in the evenings and on weekends. The botanical gardens are in full bloom (though this is actually a photo of the fountain).

I attempted my first Sangria one sunny day, and I. and I spent a relaxing afternoon sitting on the lawn and playing number games competitively (as we do).

The MA module on which I taught this semester took a trip to Hardwick Hall, located in nearby Derbyshire. We spent most of our time in the "new" house, which was built by Bess of Hardwick in the late sixteenth century. Bess was a rather formidable businesswoman in her day, and a colleague of mine has recently launched a very cool website on which you can read some of her correspondence.

The poles poking up at the bottom of the below photo, I am told, are supports for hops plants.

The gardens were in partial bloom, and the tulips were stunning.

Across a small road from Hardwick Hall is Bess' former house, which is not (now) quite as formidable as it presumably once was.

During May, I also took two trips to Wortley Hall, which is more modern than Hardwick but still quite lovely.  Wortley is located a bit north (by northwest) of Sheffield, and my department sponsored two "away days" there, in which we attended full days of meetings in exchange for some lovely scenery and very pleasant gardens.

For the last weekend in May, I. and I travelled back to Edinburgh for what is likely to be the last time in a very long while. While in our beloved city, we attended a Whisky Stramash with some good friends and enjoyed a picnic with members of our Leith church. We had a warm and sunny weekend yet again, and Edinburgh was beautiful, as ever.

Our good friends with whom we were staying took us for fish and chips in Queensferry for the last night of our stay. The weather was beautiful, dinner was delicious, and the company was superb.

June brings with it a new set of challenges, and a rather daunting abundance of uncertainties. As of this moment, we have about thirty more days in which we can legally live in the beautiful United Kingdom, and neither of us has any plans for the fall. In the meantime, however, I am grappling with a large stack of student essays and trying to live each of these last beatiful days to the fullest.

What a Beautiful World

The last few weeks have been filled with endings. I gave my last lecture at Sheffield, perhaps ever. I taught my last tutorial. The weather has been warm and bright and beautiful, and as the world around me has been bursting into fullest bloom, I have fought to give my students every last ounce of attention and guidance and support that I can possibly provide; I have striven to enjoy every moment (including the hours of marking); and I constantly endeavour to say goodbye even as I live these last days to the fullest.

God has been gracious. My first year out of graduate school was supposed to be hard and painful, nd I instead landed in a supportive and caring department of wonderful and open and generous scholars and colleagues. I have grown and been blessed in ways I could never have imagined. One year ago, I had barely even heard of Sheffield; now I live here, and work here, and teach here.

Our Spring has been beautiful.

The clock is ticking, and the final weeks of my job will be lost amid a sea of essays and emails and job applications and packing. It is important to me to dwell on the beautiful moments, and the peaceful ones, as the days of panic loom. Next year could easily be one of the most difficult of our lives, but God has been gracious to us thus far, and our joys are far from final.

April Showers

I began the month of April somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, flying home to see my husband after two weeks of travelling. From that auspicious beginning, I quickly regressed into a semi-stationary lump of marking madness. Most of April the month was lost in a blur of essays and abstracts, as I slogged my way through a stack of papers and other written work at a rate that, looking back, was rather painfully slow (something to improve upon if I end up teaching in the US next year).  My wonderful and patient husband spent the month cooking me meals and trying to make sure I remembered to come home from the office. (My schedule always goes wonky in the British summers, because I expect to work when it is light outside.)

This month, I. and I had the pleasure of enjoying two local experiences previously purchased from online coupon websites. We tried a local Thai restaurant (very nice) and also attended our first rugby game, where the Sheffield Tigers defeated the Leicester Lions, 15-10. We figured out many of the rules as things went along, and were served steak and ale pies at half-time. It was a beatiful sunny day (with pockets of snow on the ground).

Still no news on our plans for next year. This week is my last week of teaching (there are many weeks of exams and essays and marking to come). I. has been enjoying the warmer British weather recently, and I have been desperately trying not to overheat as I walk to work each morning; we are trying to take and enjoy each day as it comes, and so far we have been having a wonderful spring.