Decks and Roses

My husband's work on the deck and back steps is coming along nicely. I think he's done such a great job on this project. He's staining the boards as he goes. The rails were going up today along with the floor boards. The dogs were out enjoying the sun, notice Ginger relaxing nearby. She didn't seem to care that sawdust was flying. And the sound of the saw and assembly work were no big deal.


The little dogs were enjoying their time out in the sun today. Earlier this morning it was bright and sunny and quite warm. They just love to soak up the sun. I call this one "Squinty Sparky".


And here's "Squinty Sugar" to match. She seems the least thrilled with the noise and commotion of deck building. Sugar constantly indicated her desire to go back indoors.


I looked out the window this morning to find lots of blossoms on my Prairie Rose bush. They look just gorgeous with a delicate pink shade and a light floral scent. I love seeing them all blooming right now.


And so do the bees. This big bumblebee was a delight to watch. I mean that in a funny way, I had to start laughing at it. Poor thing, the wind was blowing the rose branches around and with its poor coordination it had a lot a trouble aiming and landing on its little rose petal 'heliopads'. Numerous times it seemed to almost fall right off. Here I was able to get a shot of it hanging on for dear life while trying to gather pollen. There were two bumblebees working their way through these blossoms.


A bit later another type of bee came swooping in on the roses. It was very accurate about landing and more methodical about pollen gathering. But it didn't stay long on each flower. I think the bumblebees managed to gather much of the pollen beforehand.


Another look at the roses, here's three in a grouping. Such a pretty flower.

I have a few machine embroidery designs of prairie roses digitized by Sue Box. Check out her website, SueBox.com for some very nice designs. Seeing these blossoms makes me want to get out those designs and stitch up a few things. Sue Box calls them Briar Roses in her Golden Classic Collection, but they're the same flower.


I am very pleased with the growth of my honeysuckle vine this year. I was afraid I might have killed it last year with the lack of rain and my neglect to routinely water it. Apparently it was working more under the soil putting down roots because it came out in full force this year. One little trumpet flower has opened so far. I just love the smell of honeysuckle!