It's raining.

The storms moved in around 8pm last night. We've got a few more passing showers coming through this morning. By noon, it will all clear out and the high will be back to normal, about 69 degrees. Everything is bright green now as I look out the windows.

Yesterday, the driveway was starting to look a little fuzzy. The oak trees are dropping their tassels. The gutters will need to be cleaned again next week.



The Confederate Jasmine on the chimney trellis is flushing with new growth.



Peonies are budding. This one should be red, possibly Felix Crousse. It was purchased at a steep discount without tags, but we'd only had the one variety in the store last summer when I found it stuffed in between hostas and ferns.



I also spotted my first iris bloom. I thought it was a leaf at first, resting on some Sweet Williams by the perennial bed arbor. I'll see if it's open completely this morning once I'm dressed and outside.



It's 57 degrees. The next few days should see temperatures back in the normal ranges of 70s/40s. After that, we head right back to the 80s. The scattered seeds of last week should begin germinating now that they've gotten some rain. Winter is over. I declare it. There will not be another frost. But you never know.



After the first cup of coffee - There are parts of the yard still dry. There wasn't even enough rain to refill the birdbath. But what did get rain looks great. The soil in the perennial bed is damp. The iris is nearly open.



There's a single rose blooming by the basement door. Yes, it's a knockout.



Green.



It's chilly at 55 degrees. The clouds are rolling by, but nothing is falling except the oak tassels. I'll be surprised if any rain makes it to the ground between now and noon.