Porch Week 2

Wow!  These guys mean business.  Only two weeks in and !BAM! we've got a porch.  Of course, Madden thinks it's her stage, Jack thinks it's his blasting-off platform, Khaki thinks it's her house and Hays thinks it's an obstacle to the port-a-potty.  But, we all know that it is really Mommy & Daddy's place to hide.

I can't wait to see what happens this week.

It Begins

Today the building of the back porch commenced!    Mainly, they dug big holes for the "footers" of the porch, put the header along the wall, put lumber in our yard and, Jack is the most excited about this, delivered a Porta-Potty.  He's such a boy!

Tom has been dreaming of a screened porch for 

as long as I've known him.  If you haven't figured it out by now, we are trying to re-create Seaside on our little corner of Earth.  That side of the house is nothing but sun.  I don't mind watching the kids play on the swing set and all, but can I at least be in some shade?  We are also hoping that the porch will act as a segue to the outside world for Hays.  She's my indoor girl.  She doesn't like to sweat, exercise or leave air-conditioning in the summer.   The porch will let her be "outside" without being "outside", if you catch my meaning.

They are saying 90 days for the porch to be finished.  I hope this is an inflated estimate.  I mean, there is no insulation, no drywall.  It's basically a deck with a roof.  We hope by end of May, we'll be sitting pretty in the shade.

The Big Kahuna Falls...At Last!

At last..the huge, dead (and I mean DEAD) tree has been cut down. Tom has held out hope that this tree would rebound. But, by July, he agrees...it's probably not going to come back. This tree was planted (along with 2 others) when the house was built (about 1950).

The neighborhood in which we live has very mature trees. Moving from suburbia, this was a very attractive feature for us. Even so, our house only had the one large tree. All of the other massive trees on our 3/4 acre lot, had died and had been replaced...with a Bradford pear!! Are you serious?! Yes, let's replace a beautiful, civil war era maple with a tree that resembles a lollipop. Whatev.

The one large tree died last summer, even though Tom says it was this spring. Along with the one large tree, the only other "large-like" trees decided to fold up camp, as well. So, they were all chopped down. Tom and I were so depressed!! Our house looked like new construction. It was so WIDE open in the front yard. So, what do you do when you are depressed, ladies? Go shopping!! We bought FIVE new trees. Two elm, 1 Bald Cypress, an "October Glory" Maple and a drought-resistant River Birch for the side. What a difference a day makes! Our front yard looks like a park now.

My neighbor said, "Buying a tree is the most unselfish thing a person can do." I was thinking, you know, about the environment and all and she was like, "Oh, no, I meant that you probably won't be around to see it in it's full glory. The next homeowners will be." Thanks for keeping it real, Ginger.