Trim That Hedge, Suck in That Gut

It takes an awful lot to make me mow the lawn on a hot, sunny summer weekday afternoon/early evening like I did today; that something is the upcoming Buffalo Garden Walk.
While Val and I and our house are not one of the houses directly listed on the walk, being in the Elmwood Village on the West Side of Buffalo in the middle of the event brings a lot of people walking around here to begin with, and Norwood Avenue, the street we live on, has increased its actual participation yearly, and three houses on our block are on this year's walk, including that of Eileen Graetz, who lives diagonally across the street and shared a photo exhibit with Val at the College Street Gallery earlier this year.
So yes, the lawn was mowed through the sweat today, and we will be trimming, watering and sweeping to get ready for the many visitors and inquisitive eyes who will be in our neighborhood this weekend. So, what is the best growing feature of our yard? Hmm, I'd have to say that it would be the colorful trumpet vine that has grown all the way from the ground up the left front side of our house and actually reached the crown. Only one of our two large hydrangeas has bloomed this year, and our escargot begonia has been laboring the last year or two.
Regardless, come on out to the Buffalo Garden Walk this weekend; we'll be here for much of it,