Deck and Yard Update

I really enjoy my backyard. It's not fancy, but gives a sense of privacy, and comfort. I don't know what these flowers are called but I love them. They're pretty perennials that bloom just as everything else seems to be gone from the scorching heat. If anyone knows their name, I would be interested to know. The first year I lived here I pulled them out as weeds, not realizing they were flowers - just slower coming to bloom.
The garden is producing lots of squash and tomatoes!Ken, working on deck.He let me do a little of the painting.In the process of fixing my back deck, the floor was repaired, smoothed, sanded and treated for the long-term.
Who would have guessed that ugly, weather-worn deck had this kind of potential. It seemed a shame to paint it after that but apparently the varnish won't hold up under weather like the paint will and we had already stained the benches, roof and posts (we as in Ken - he said if I bought the materials, he'd do the labor. I did a tiny bit of painting so I can say I contributed something).The painted deck. Stairs were rebuilt because they were rotting from the underside. Ken used a composite material like Trex for this. Wish we could afford to redo both front and back decks with that material! No maintenance is wonderful.Now I can work on training the vines back up the posts. I have wisteria, trumpet and hibiscus.
The swingset got a facelift earlier and Ken restrung the swing itself so it's just like new! My tree is big enough to actually give shade too.We still have a second segment of deck that needs to be redone but the former residents had a hot tub there so we need to do some rebuilding first. Oh, the joys of home ownership. Seriously, there is lots of joy here!