Friday, February 4, 2011

Porch shots, continued...

Remember my friend, Bob-the-Builder???

He was tearing down our side porch. The one the possum visits regularly.

This possum:

Charming, right???

Sigh.

So here's how the porch looked during tear-down:

That's Bob. Most of him.

And two insurgent children are heading his way.


A tiny helper. Note the porch post behind her, with the rotted bottom? Rain. Wet wood.

Carpenter ants. I will not, WILL NOT post a picture of them. I hate carpenter ants.

Ahh.... MUCH NICER!!!

Note the spindles. New posts. Bob even gated the entry for us, to keep little ones IN.
Always a good thing.

That gorgeous swing?  I ordered that from 
Sandy's Place 
Riverside Drive

 (Route 19), Wellsville, NY... 

We can fit FIVE 
little kids on that swing.
Three grownups.

I love that swing.

And the beginnings of a garden.

The very cool planter with arms covers the original house well, circa 155 years ago.

I bought it on a research trip to Allegany County, also at Sandy's Place just north of Wellsville. Love her shop.

Rare medieval southern cowboy princess sighting.
Note the flowers.
Progress.

How can anyone NOT love that face???
Talk about panache.
Chutzpah.
Oh my stars.
Adorable.

11 comments:

  1. Ruthy, the new porch looks lovely. The swing is great.

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  2. Keli, good morning, sweet thang! And look at you up late, you West Coaster, you!

    It's coming, isn't it? It's painted now, I did that over the fall while Bob worked on our front porch that faces the road. Yes. Two country porches. Right there is enough reason to love this old place, ants, snakes and all.

    And THANK YOU for the lovely package I opened yesterday! I was gone last night or I'd have e-mailed you properly. What a hoot, a coffee note pad! Whining pays off, LOL! And footies.

    Bless you.

    Bless you many times over for your thoughtfulness.

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  3. I LOVE that porch & the front porch. They look beautiful & I'm so happy that you finally have the time to get them renovated. Bob did a great job with them. I love porch swings. I need a porch at my house so I can have a swing. I should have Bob build me a porch! :)

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  4. I'm sure the possum is THRILLED that you are building him a mansion. I bet he holds possum parties all summer long. Wonder how many possums will fit on that swing?

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  5. Kav, good point. We first met Pete's great-great grandparents when we moved in here. they were of noble birth, but our current possums do not seem blue-blooded. They think nothing of low-down cat food thievery, and two years ago one of them crawled onto the BARBECUE GRILL and licked it clean.

    Eeeeeuuuuuuuwwwwwww..............

    Luckily I don't believe many germs survive 450 degrees.

    And we're all still alive.

    And actually the possums became a litmus test for girlfriends. If they could handle walking from the side door to the driveway without screaming too loudly, we let them stay around.

    Of course the kids love the critters.

    Oy vay.

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  6. Ruthy,
    Lovely porch & flowers.
    But the medieval cowgirl princess was the best of all.
    Oh my - I love dress up.
    Down here in TN, I just caught sight today of a knight princess faery, weilding a light saber. Her pink wings glittered in the faint sunlight.
    It was pretty awesome

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  7. That is the cutest knight princess faery I've seen in a long, long time. And every astute princess knows to carry her light saber with her wherever she goes. Because you NEVER KNOW what might befall your path!

    I find that princesses of all ilks like to gather on the porch swing and eat popsicles and ice cream bars and talk of very cool science things like boys.

    Ridiculous creatures, those princesses.

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  8. Hi Ruth:

    I think the possum should work his way into one of your stories. It’s just something you don’t expect.

    Also, I think the princess should certainly be on one of your covers. Just send the art department a photo.

    What I’d really like to see is how your porch looks like after a snowstorm. That’s the true test!

    Vince

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  9. Love the porch, Ruthy! I'm trying to get a remodeling project going. I want a mud room and an office on the back of the house, bridged together by a porch similar to yours.

    Pray! lol

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  10. Ah, Vince. Snow. Ever-present. Dear heavens, what a write-home winter this has been! I'll try and take a snow pic. If it's a Nor'easter, the porch gets drifted on half. Pretty funny.

    The cat does not find it all that amusing.

    Will work the possum into something. He/she is just too colloquial to forget. ;)

    Pam, that would look great! And an office... SWEET, GIRLFRIEND!!! I don't dare go in my office now that it's clean...

    Oh, oh, have to show people. Maybe this weekend. My family is amazed and somewhat chagrined that I showed the before pictures.

    Really??? REALLY??? I thought it was pretty darn real of me.

    And maybe a little disgusting. I kind of miss the dead bug corpses. It was almost like desecrating a monument to their lost lives.

    However I quickly got over that when I glimpsed FLOOR underneath.

    Kind of like Columbus spying land. Very exciting!

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  11. Very nice, what a lovely porch,,.. also the swing Outdoor Swing bring is providing a cozy area for relaxation. Indeed, there is a sense of peace that can be felt when using these chairs. Sitting down on them, homeowners like you can be instantly comforted by merely swinging them back and forth.

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