Happy Wednesday!

The rains that moved in this morning made our house temporarily dark inside. Mommy had to turn the lamps on in the formal living room to brighten up the place, as you can see above. Mommy also did a little dusting around the house this morning so while she had all the bison figurines off the top of the piano for cleaning, I decided to sit up there. I love that is nice and high and I can look over the entire room!

Above is a close-up of me on top of the piano in the formal living room.

When Mommy was ready to put the cleaned bison figurines back on top of the piano, I was told to get off. So, I crawled under the love seat and pouted for a while.

Mommy's freshly cleaned bison figurine collection back on top of the piano again.

Above is the view from the family room looking toward the formal living room. The two rooms are open to each other.

With everything back in its place, Mommy decided to go outside and see what Daddy was doing since it stopped raining and the sun came out again. At this time, I decided to get back on the piano, but since the top was now taken over again with bison figurines, I kept myself to the piano bench this time.

Me on the piano bench relaxing in the photo above and listening to Mommy telling me she would be right back in the photo below ...

While outside, Mommy took some photos of Daddy working in the backyard. He is still designing the garden area out back. In this photo he is standing in front of the garden shed. Above you can see that he is wearing that new straw hat I got him for Father's Day. It will keep the top of his head from being sunburned in the blazing heat and sun of the summer months.

Above is a close-up photo of Daddy in the backyard snapped by Mommy before he gets busy doing more garden work.

As you can see by the photo the Clematis vines planted behind the arbor are beginning to grow. Clematis has been called "queen of the climbers", and it's a must-have vine. The species have graceful nodding flowers and the large-blooming hybrids come in a variety of colors and flower types from single and ruffled to double. The kind Daddy planted behind the arbor in our backyard will have beautiful white flowers on it, and is expected to grow between 20 to 30 feet tall, according to the nursery where the plants were purchased.

The mini-vineyard Daddy planted in the backyard is also continuing to grow. The vines Daddy planted in the backyard are Niagara grape vines and they are the preferred vine for short season regions. It is also the plant of choice for grape lovers in colder locations. This vine will treat Daddy and Mommy to large full clusters of medium to large green gold berries. They are allegedly supposed to be sweet and juicy with a strong flavor. They are supposed to ripen very early in season, and the bold textured deep green foliage turns bright in the fall. In addition, the dominant trunk and branches will give winter interest. Daddy and Mommy eventually hope to use the grapes to make jams and things, and perhaps to experiment with a little wine making of their own. Daddy hopes to expand the mini-vineyard in our backyard by adding two more rows of vines next year.

Above you can see that Daddy garden he is adding to our backyard remains under construction, but is progressing nicely. He is currently adding wire fencing around the garden area, and building raised beds to hold vegetables. Eventually the entire garden will be lined with evenly spaced raised beds and stone walkways between the raised beds. And, next year Daddy hopes to plant roses along the wire fencing to add both a splash of color and camouflage a bit of the wire. The wire, of course, is idea for keeping rabbits and such out of the garden area. Daddy was also able to salvage some antique metal gates for the garden fence he is building. The antique metal gates were originally located on the more than a century old farm that Mommy grew up on. The original fence they belonged to on the farm was torn down several years ago.

In addition to working on the garden area, Daddy also did a little bit of weeding along one our patios. You can also see in this photo that the Four O'Clocks that Mommy planted along the patio are sprouting up nicely, and rose bush is also beginning to bloom.

Have a great day!!! Until next time ... Robert