I've not done a lot for a couple of days, apart from some dead-heading on our, "rose patio."
I think we can reasonably call it that, this year, as all twelve are in bloom and even the begonias in their plastic tub are doing their best.
It wasn't the case last year, as the roses were a poor show.
I need to do some "blowing and vaccing," of the last of the wisteria blooms, but that can wait until tomorrow.
As we move in to the hot weather, the sun for most of the day, shines straight through our lounge French windows.
Forty years ago, I made this retractable canopy over the patio doors we had at the time.
We had a re-fit at the superstore I was managing and it was decided that the totally unnecessary canopy over the fruit and veg fixture was, "surplus to requirements." It was always a job trying to keep it clean. The company shopfitting team put it in a skip. So I "recycled" it.
I only needed about a quarter of it and I gave the rest away.
I made a wooden frame, similar in design to the hood of a baby's pram. It was four "U shaped" bits of 2"x1" hinged at the corners, so with two pull cords, attached to the front of the bottom frame and threaded through eyes in the top frame I could pull it u,p so the front was flush with the wall above the window.
I got the white tape and studs necessary, from a local blind making workshop.
It looked quite professional, though I say it myself.
The scalloped edge, was of course on the original canopy.
This is an even earlier photo, we still had the "damp window box" of a fish pond, I built on the patio, which was the crazy terrazzo, I laid in the mid-seventies, before I ripped it all up and replaced it with crazy York stone in the eighties.
Of course, the canopy had to go when I built the pergola.
However, the wisteria affords some protection as now the blooms have gone we've got the thick foliage, which shield that end of the room from some of the sun.
