Roosting

I was cleaning out the front side garden one day when I discovered a bird's nest in the middle of the obelisk, which is covered with Sweet Autumn clematis.  The next day I saw three eggs.  A few days later there was Mama Cardinal on top of them.  Look for the orange beak below.

See her red tail feathers in the middle?

I don't want to disturb her but she's throwing off my clean-up schedule.  I should have already fertilized the roses.  Oh well.  It beats the baby raccoons, skunks and woodchucks of last year.

At least the back yard looks kind of okay.  I spent about four hours fertilizing seven roses, nine hydrangeas, and a clematis, rhododendron, azalea and daylily.  Also watered, cleaned up, pruned and weeded.  I could barely walk afterwards!

I Have a Porch!

Now I have to prime and paint, clean the posts, repaint what got trashed and have Home Depot figure out why my new porch roof leaked, wrecking the ceiling.

Oh, and we have to figure out the railings, skirt and leveling the granite slab.  And when I say "we" I mean Ken, the contractor.

I love the decking; its Douglas Fir tongue and groove.  Ken says to stain it because it's pretty.  I can appreciate that but I've always had a vision of gray painted flooring.  What to do?  Please give me your opinion.  I've even considered using a stain to avoid peeling.  Booma the paint guy said I'd still have to prime if I used a stain.  

I miss my wisteria.  Here's a neighbor's:

And this is what I look at across the street:

Looks like it was a very good year. I don't see any trace of mine. All my bulbs disappeared as well, save for a grape hyacinth, a daffodil that didn't bloom and a small patch of Dutch iris.

Give me ideas about the flooring, OK?  I have to finish it before Ken can install the railings.