Few things are as pleasurably satisfying as noodling through the gardens, front and back of our house. We do this, weather permitting, every morning after breakfast. To get our daily fix of aesthetic pleasure from viewing the architecture of the garden, its hardscape, decorative features in the shape of urns and garden statuary emphasizing the rich green of foliage. And above all, the various perennial vines, shrubs and flowering plants coming into their own.

And then there is the maturing of the sundry annuals planted in pots and urns all over the front and the back gardens, emphasizing further the immense aesthetic appeal in a mixture of sizes and shapes, textures, fragrances and floral offerings.

Yesterday my husband got around to moving the birdbath located in front of the dining room windows over to the space under the pine tree where we had pondered what could most suitably be placed there. And around it I planted some new hostas, having divided a large clump into three parts for that very purpose. We're pleased with the results.

We were finished just in time to greet the window washers who have come around annually to wash our exterior windows since we moved into this house. Sparkling bright windows to enhance visibility looking out onto the gardens.