A bit of Garden Work and a new Summer Coffee Table Centerpiece

I do love to putter around on Saturday morning.  Today I was outside at 6 am.  I cut down a full wheelbarrow load of  dead iris like these:

Here is the same area after they were cut down  (right side near the bird bath):

AND from the path in the other direction:

There is not much blooming right now.  On the other side of the Arbor Gardens,  where  most of the allium heads are going to seed,

I did spot a couple of the later blooming Allium Christophii. Here is one of them:

We have had a lot of rain in the past two days.  DH made this lovely peony centerpiece on the front porch, but it did not last very long in the rain:

So this morning I dumped it and cut down some of the peonies that  the rain knocked down to the ground and remade the bouquet.

This one should last through the weekend.

I could have done a lot more work in the gardens today, but the mosquitoes were terrible, so I came inside and ironed two pairs of new gold buffalo checked curtains that I bought  for the family room.  You can see one pair from the dining room:

DH helped me put them up just to see if I wanted to keep them. I am happy with this purchase.  I still need to buy some ring hooks and then hem them as they are about 6 inches too long. This afternoon  I ordered a third pair for the living room. I will show you more of them once I get everything finished.

I decided the living room coffee  table needed a summer centerpiece.  A quick trip to the basement yielded some shells and white candles.  In less than five minutes  I had this:

Looks summery to me and it was very easy.  It also cost nothing since I had everything on hand...gotta love that!