A Restful Morning in the Garden

Yesterday morning was spent in the garden. It was the first time since January that I had time to work among the roses, flower beds and the vineyard. Most days I come home from work I'm too exhausted to enjoy my yard so it's often neglected but, I'm turning over a new leaf (hee! hee!). I've decided that for my sanity I'll have to go directly from work to the backyard accompanied by a tall glass of lemonade.

The front side of the vineyard looks like a tangled mess and after yesterday's work it still looks the same. I spent the majority of the morning on the other side of the picket fence hacking down the grapevine. It was so overgrown that you couldn't find where it started and where was it's end. It had attached itself to my beloved wisteria and was weighing it down.

The darling lavender Adirondacks that sweet hubby built for me couldn't be seen through all the mess and there was no where to sit and enjoy the humming of the bees.

This little door leads to the bunny run where my bunnies once lived happily. It has now become a storage shed for everything "gardeny." My hubby used to park his lawnmower in plain sight but, now it's tucked away out of sight.

The foxglove with their sweet little freckles have begun to bloom all over the yard.
Every garden needs a fairy or two. This is Gwendolyn with her little sea shell. She stands watch over the vineyard day and night.

Hollyhock's, another one of my favorites. My mom once told me that when she was growing up in Missouri they were everywhere so I grow them for her in hopes that she might come see them. She lives in Arizona and hates the California freeways so mostly she just gets pictures of them.

You can never have enough roses.

This is the vineyard with the pink Adirondack and the pink flamingos. I keep trying to convince my hubby that my little vineyard is in need of another double Adirondack but, thus far I've been unable to get him started on it.
This pathway was completely covered with vines and impassable. I still haven't made it around the backside yet but, while I was cleaning around the base of the ladder I found a baby snake. YIKES! I live in the middle of a huge mega metropolis! THERE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SNAKES! When I first discovered it I thought it was a worm but, on closer examination I thought it was the tail of a lizard. After poking it for several minutes with my rake I thought it was strange that it was still wiggling and then I noticed the head. SNAKE!!! I hacked it to pieces with my shovel. When I told my husband about it he said, "where is it? I want to see it." "Well honey I hacked it to pieces. There's nothing left to see." He was a little horrified that I behaved so violently but my thought was "if there's a little one then there's got to be a large one!" Hopefully it's mother is in someone else's yard!

Enough about the snake...the grapes are growing nicely and hopefully this year they'll be big enough to enjoy.

This is the lovely little potting bench that sweet hubby built for me. We designed it after a headboard I once saw in a design book. I love the little Gothic influences and the color is oh so sweet! The quatrafoil in the center was used in religious architecture and represents the four gospels. The top has a tray on it so I can pot plants and any extra soil falls to the galvanized bucket below. Very clever.

By the end of the afternoon I was able to sit down and enjoy the fruits of my labor and now this morning I'm off to do some more cleaning. Then I think I'll visit some antique stores. Happy Saturday!