Now that the baby robins have fledged and flown off with their parents from their nest that had been established under the deck in our backyard where my husband also stores garden furniture over the winter months, he was finally able to retrieve furniture he hadn't yet put into place. So our venerable old wrought-iron love bench is back on the porch and smaller wrought-iron armchairs placed where they can be useful to us sitting in the garden, finally.

For the summer months my husband also temporarily takes down several of the full-length stained glass windows in the library. So that the windows can be swung open and provide a good breeze going through the house. Some of the stained glass windows he installed elsewhere in the house can be swivelled open to allow the windows to be opened, but not the library ones.

Now that they're no longer in place until late fall, we can look down into the garden at the front of the house; part of it, in any event, that portion that is closest to the house. It gives us a different perspective and we find it extremely attractive to see the plants from above, and the dazzling colours of the blooming perennials and annuals in their pots.

The day lilies are now beginning their bloom, now that the roses are spent, and the bright orange they offer to the eye is charming. The sunflowers have achieved impressive height and they too are on the cusp of blooming sunny yellow. And the Stella do'oro lilies are also in full bloom, a choice attraction that will keep on blooming in the sun throughout the rest of the summer.

To say we're pleased with the garden represents a vast understatement.  It fulfills in us a need to be confronted with the beauty of nature whenever we glance outside the house. Even Jack and Jill seem to be curious when they're in the library, about looking down onto the garden; perhaps they aren't immune to the sense of wonderment that overcomes us at times when observing the unfurling of nature's beauty.