A Lazy Sunday At Home

I'd planned to drive up to the farm on Sunday but predictions of heavy rains kept me home for the weekend. I needed a rest, so decided I'd spend the day doing nothing - no gym, no hiking, no touring, no lawn mowing - just hanging around. I let the dogs out into the back and was thrilled to see little Winky sitting among all the Miniature Roses and Rose of Sharon. It made a nice picture and launched me into my day of rest:

Another shot of Seamus and Clover with the flowers. The other dogs were out on the lawn doing their doggy things:

And then we all came indoors. Minutes later I found Clover snuggled up with Bramble on a dog pillow:

Daphne was snoozing nearby:

Seamus sprawled his considerable bulk across the floor (he seldom uses his dog pillows) and his buddy, Fergus joined him:

Winky was happy on an area rug:

Wally chose the coolness of a tile floor near the washer and dryer:

Rocky curled up and purred at the bottom of the carpeted cat tree:

Snoozey, who mostly stays on the floor, lived up to his name beneath a small table:

Georgette kept to herself at the top of the stairs, resting happily on her covered litter box. She was still happy to throw me a paw as I passed by, though:

Draco enjoyed the softness of a double layer of rugs at the foot of the rocking chair. This was truly a day of rest, both for me and for my pets:

A Happy, Abundant Growing Season

We had a terribly wet spring and a hot, muggy summer so far, though we seem now to be settling into some more normal, pleasant August weather. But apparently it's been a grand growing season because everything looks good. Take, for instance, my tomato vines which are burying me alive in big, juicy, ripe red fruit:

The miniature roses are blooming again and the Rose Of Sharon bushes are producing flowers on their new growth after I cut them all down to within 18" of the ground this spring:

I have a double purple Rose of Sharon out behind my kitchen. This was supposed to be a specialty "Bluebird" variety, but it used to have one side of each color. Eventually the expensive Bluebird side died out. I'm guessing that the Bluebird was grafted onto the hardier root stock of the double purple. Well, I like this one too:

The big, single purples are doing just fine and blossoming profusely:

And they sure are pretty:

Here's a close-up of the double purple:

A pink:

And a white. The spring rains and July heat may have seemed excessive to me, but apparently the plants loved the weather: