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It's May and it's hot. From one day to the next, like a switch, it's hard to imagine ever wearing or needing to wear a sweater.

At night, with the ceiling fan blowing against the perspiration on my skin it's cooling enough, and I find myself finally drifting to sleep.  Only to wake up with the morning light, warm and thirsty, to feel the heat come into the bedroom through the open French doors, like a giant's heated breath.

I overfill the teapot in the morning, so I can put the leftover tea in the fridge for iced tea later.  If I'm going to cook, it's got to be done in the early morning; otherwise we'll put it on the grill. Salad season has arrived.

In the garden, Tom starts the drip system early, to water the vegetables.  All the seeds we planted three weeks ago have morphed and baby plants are poking their little heads through the dirt.  Hope they survive the sun! 

The cherry tomato plant in the pot outside the kitchen door is filled with clusters of fruit. Most are green, but many are beginning to turn orange.  With this sunshine, I am seven days away from a quart of ripe cherry tomatoes!

Going barefoot outside, means walking very fast on the sun baked stones near the pool, stopping to savor the cooler stones on the side shaded by the cypress.  The water temperature is 82.

Time to dig out the flip-flops and the rest of the summer kit from the downstairs closets!  Wish I could remember where I put the masks and swim fins.

In the afternoon, sitting in a chair on the shaded terrace, catching the afternoon breeze, it's possible to read a book. But not for long, as I find my eyes tend to droop and a little doze seems like a good idea.

The hay field next door was mowed last Friday.  Today they've come to bale it.  It smells like summer.