{"id":2785,"date":"2014-06-06T19:38:56","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T19:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/?p=2785"},"modified":"2014-06-06T19:58:21","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T19:58:21","slug":"it-all-started-with-a-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/?p=2785","title":{"rendered":"It All Started With a Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several months or years ago, I’m not sure, time goes by so quickly, I saw this picture in a magazine. \u00a0I think it was Country Living or Southern Living.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN7826\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I fell in love with the porch on this house. \u00a0The stone pillars, the railings, the metal roof. \u00a0We already have a metal roof on our house which we love so this just looked like something that would go with our house.<\/p>\n

I filed the picture away for future reference. \u00a0At that time, a new porch wasn’t even on our agenda. \u00a0Then one day David said our old porch was pulling the walls outward in our living room, causing cracks in the wall and it was going to have to go. \u00a0“How soon?” I asked. \u00a0“Sooner rather than later,” he replied. \u00a0So began our adventure into porch building.<\/p>\n

We called our favorite contractor, Claude Wright Jr. and asked him to give us an estimate on adding a porch and on replacing more of our old windows. \u00a0We got the estimate, I almost passed out and then we invited him over to talk.<\/p>\n

He, David and I sat around our dining room table discussing what needed to be done. \u00a0” Maybe we could save some money by not having the pillars across the front,” David suggested. \u00a0My heart sunk clear to my feet. \u00a0The pillars are what I loved about the picture in the first place. \u00a0“No,” I said. \u00a0“Those pillars have been a dream of mine for a long time.” \u00a0 After some more discussion, we decided to bite the bullet and go for it. \u00a0After all, we will probably live in this house for the rest of our lives if we are blessed. \u00a0I’m not planning any moves, anyway.<\/p>\n

Thinking I had lots of time to move the flowers in front of our old porch, David then asked, “How soon can you start?” \u00a0 “Next week,” Claude said. \u00a0Yikes. \u00a0I had just a few days to move a lot of flowers. \u00a0So we said go for it and the fun began.<\/p>\n

David and I spent a couple of days digging up and replanting dozens of flowers. \u00a0He measured how far out the new porch would come so that we would be sure to get the flowers all out of the way. \u00a0I have a little magnolia tree I have been babying for a couple of years and this is the first year it had blooms on it. \u00a0I put a fence around it. \u00a0I cringed for that little tree the entire building process, but the builders were very careful about working around it even though they had to squeeze around it at times.<\/p>\n

Soon it was going like gang busters. \u00a0The old porch was torn down. \u00a0My house was dusty. \u00a0The new porch went up. My house got dustier. Then we had a roof, railings, a new tongue and groove floor, wide steps and finally the stone pillars. Hey, so I didn’t dust for a few weeks. \u00a0The men worked together like clock work. \u00a0They each knew their job and did it quickly and efficiently. \u00a0Wiring was done. \u00a0We even got a couple of extra outlets put in while the walls were open. \u00a0Men came to install new gutters. \u00a0It was a busy time around the old Craig house. \u00a0I had to watch what I was wearing because I never knew when a man would be working right outside a window. \u00a0Reminds me of a show I use to watch, The Gilmore Girls, where Lorelie Gilmore was having some construction work done on her house and one day she came out of the shower stark naked and found a construction guy standing in the hallway. \u00a0I did not want that happening to me.<\/p>\n

It took about a month, but the work was finally all completed. \u00a0The dust settled. It’s still settling. \u00a0I could not wait to start landscaping. I had been purchasing perennials here and there wherever I went and had them waiting to go in the ground. \u00a0I spent the next few days staining the floor and steps, planting the perennials, replanting some of the flowers I had had to move, decorating the porch, and hanging new hanging baskets.<\/p>\n

Want to see the finished project? \u00a0You don’t? \u00a0I’m sorry, I am going to show it to you anyway.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8040\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First you are welcomed by my little chicken welcome sign.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8039\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Come up the wide steps. \u00a0See the walk David put in all by himself? \u00a0He planned it and he did all the work. \u00a0I love it. \u00a0He’s quite a man. \u00a0Flower beds on either side. \u00a0On the left use to be grass. \u00a0I got rid of more grass. \u00a0Yay. \u00a0I hate to mow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSCN8045\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David’s and my rockers. \u00a0His is the one with padding. \u00a0I don’t need padding.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8046\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David used left over lumber and built this little table to put our drinks upon. \u00a0It’s really heavy. \u00a0Took us both to carry it up here.\u00a0I stained it the same color as the railings.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8014\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I put a table and chairs on the porch so we could eat outside. \u00a0Have we ate outside yet? \u00a0Nope.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8015\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I brought this little chair and pillow that were in the grandchildren’s Adirondack room down and put it in the corner. \u00a0So, we don’t really have a cabin. \u00a0I can pretend.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8016\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s a porch without some flowers?<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8041\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSCN8044\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I placed humming bird feeders all around. \u00a0The little rascals sometimes zoom right over our heads as they fly through the porch.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8035\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSCN8036\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David placed our fountain in front of the porch so we could sit and listen to it gurgle and splash. \u00a0The birds like to drink from it also. \u00a0We saw one like this in Nashville years ago, but when we went to buy one, no one had any so I went on the internet and found this one. \u00a0We have been using it for years. \u00a0It looks like stone, but it isn’t. \u00a0We have had people go up and touch it thinking it was stone. \u00a0Our grandchildren, when they were little, ,liked to slap their hand on the fountain and make a splash. \u00a0Where did those little ones go?<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8033\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We bought this wind spinner online. \u00a0When it spins it looks like a rainbow.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8032\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David built this bench from a leftover piece of the old porch and some cement blocks and I painted it.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN7901\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We hung our not glass, stained glass window in our new front window.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8038\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSCN8029\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I planted annuals in a piece of the old porch.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8027\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This use to be one of our dining room chairs that had seen better days. \u00a0I painted it lavender and set it in the garden.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8031\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So this is the ta-da moment. \u00a0The porch I had dreamed of and kept that picture for. \u00a0It’s everything and more that I could ever want. \u00a0David and I spend a lot of time sitting out here and talking and watching the world go by. \u00a0Why don’t you join us?<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8013\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSCN8012\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s almost impossible for me to write a blog and not include flowers. \u00a0I can’t remember what the yellow one is called, but the lavender one is called speedwell. \u00a0Kind of looks like salvia to me.<\/p>\n

Summer is reading time(although I read all the time). \u00a0But, anyway, I have a couple of books that I would recommend for reading \u00a0For my Christian friends out there and those who would like to know more about the Christ I serve there is this book by Max Lucado.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8025\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s a wonderful book about Jesus. \u00a0There is a description of Jesus that I have never heard about before. \u00a0I don’t know where Mr. Lucado got the information, but read the book and see how he describes Jesus’ appearance.<\/p>\n

\"DSCN8026\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s a wonderful series on Netflix called All Creatures Great and Small. \u00a0It is based on books by this author, James Herriot. \u00a0This book is about some of the dogs he treated in his veterinary practice and their wild, wacky and sometimes odd owners. I have laughed out loud at some of his stories. \u00a0All true, with names changed to protect the innocent.<\/p>\n

Hope you are having a wonderful summer. \u00a0Take some time to smell the flowers and read a book.\u00a0Enjoy it. \u00a0It will be gone before you know it. \u00a0Bye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several months or years ago, I’m not sure, time goes by so quickly, I saw this picture in a magazine. \u00a0I think it was Country Living or Southern Living. I fell in love with the porch on this house. \u00a0The stone pillars, the railings, the metal roof. \u00a0We already have a metal roof on our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,27,15,13,22,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-im-reading","category-construction","category-faith-and-religion","category-gardening","category-home-decor","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2785"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2789,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions\/2789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}