Summertime happiness

Everything in these pictures gives me joy.
I had long looked for two old-fashioned rocking chairs that I could paint and place on our front porch. A few months ago I spied one of these chairs in the basement of our church rectory tucked away next to the furnace. A few days ago I drove past the church and found our priest and caretaker in the basement of the church overseeing renovations. I mentioned the chair that I had noticed in the basement and our caretaker replied that there were actually two. I asked if they were used for anything and, if not, could I buy them. Our priest told me that he would sell anything (time to up our Sunday offering?) and that the chairs were only used for babysitting the furnace. So, he sold them to me for a song. Our wonderful caretaker loaded them in the van and secured them with a rope (only adding to Ben's fascination with Mr. K.)
The pillows are of my own making. I had two red pillows lying around and the material came from a lampshade from IKEA. The lampshade never fulfilled its luminary purpose but sat in a closet and got broken. But, I insisted that the fabric be kept because it was too cute to waste. So, the broken lampshade came with us on two moves and finally found its purpose yesterday. When Dave arrived home he thought that I had embroidered them myself in the Kashubian style. Little does he know about embroidery. Can you see how hard I worked at maintaining the lampshade shape? Ha! I have little patience and cutting the shades into nice even squares was not part of my plan. Consequently, I think that I created the top half of hexagons. (Impressive knowledge of geometry.) My other plans for the porch are to paint the door and the wooden stool atop which the potted impatiens are sitting.
The flowers in those boxes are just starting and will be much bigger by the end of the season.
I had great luck with coleus last year so I tried some newer, showier varieties this year. The bright greens are sweet potato vines.
The weigela was planted last year but obviously loves its placement as it has doubled in size and flowers continuously. The furry stuff in front are cosmos - I can't wait til they start to flower.
We have a lovely gate opening on to the backyard. I added the hanging baskets and am hoping that the flowers and vines fill out a little. The little green pot to the left of the gate has morning glories that will hopefully climb the fence. I also planted lots of nasturtium seeds, lupin seeds and wildflower seeds throughout the front garden. We'll see what comes of my sowing.
This little garden is my pride and joy because, when we moved here, only the irises were planted. The rest was mulch and stones. Last summer I removed the mulch and stone, added soil and put in these perennials. They have returned with a vengeance. The rose at the back is making me particularly happy as I bought it discounted and neglected to cover it throughout the winter. I am amazed that it has come back so beautifully. It does has aphids, though, and I am spraying it with a mix of water, dish soap and cooking oil.
Another view of coral bells, yarrow, catmint and phlox. I find that gardening is a great weight-loss technique. It is the only activity that I have discovered in which I become so consumed that I forget to eat. This is monumental. The down (and slightly negligent) side is that I also forget to feed other, much smaller people.
A peony that I planted last summer and amazingly decided to bloom only one year after its planting.
And my shade-loving fringed bleeding heart. Hannah calls it the broken heart and, Catholic that I am, I always think of it as the sacred heart. The rest of the garden has a new clematis waiting to prove its worth and lots of Black-Eyed Susans that have already come through for me.
Flowers make me very happy.
And, finally, I have discovered that I have another hobby besides cleaning.