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.