THE PORCH

Thank you all for the kind compliments on my front porch in my last post.  I thought I would share it's story since it is something we are pretty proud of around here. Be prepared for a long post with lots of memories and photos. 

We purchased our tiny box house in 1979 when we were nineteen and this is the front of the house in spring of 1980. I was so skinny back then that this is me seven months pregnant. We have a neighborhood facebook page and all the "new" people are aghast that there are no trees, bushes or much of anything on the street when they see this photo. It was pretty barren. 

I need to apologize for the poor quality of a lot of these camera photos. 

We ended up with five children in seven years and couldn't afford to leave our "starter" home.  Finally the time came when we had to decide if we were going to stay here forever and make it our dream home or move. And my dream home had a front porch.  

First, zoning required a full foundation under our new porch and new 500 sq foot family room.  My contractors (husband and sons) applied for a permit and stated digging. 

This is what greeted me every night when I got home from work.  People thought we were tearing the house down. 

And here is when I began to wonder if we had made a big, expensive mistake. 

Looking better. 

Obviously I could not wait to put furniture on this porch.  The odd perspective is off because I am taking pictures of pictures in a photo album. To the right is my old lilac bush. I had it dug out and replanted. And then there were ground bees underneath and we ended up killing it with chemicals. . . 

We had spaced the posts to accommodate the matching rails. The rails were discontinued by the time we were able to purchase them. We ended up having to have custom rails. Of course. 

Worth every penny. 

Today! It took a few years for the plants to take off. Everything is a perennial and comes back (except my hanging baskets.) 

Here is the side of the house as originally constructed.

The zoning inspector did not care to inspect the electric or anything, but had a fit that we had a cement block in front of the door temporarily. My husband quickly constructed what is still know as "Mom's Personal Deck". 

Here is that side of the house today. I know the lilacs look like they are begging for water (it rained this afternoon). And the trellis seems a little lonely since Mr Merry seems to have "trimmed" my roses to the ground. 

Two years ago we planted a row of Rose O Sharon volunteers to fill in a hedge to match what is closer to the road. 

And we have some hidden gardens. The striped seat at the end is my seat on the porch and this garden is just over the rail. 

By the front yard bicycle, the fairies have developed more property. 

My porch is the porch of my dreams. The porch I always wanted. We waited a long time, saved a long time and I was smart enough, back when I was a teenager, to marry someone who would and could build it for me. 

I always say that, if I win the lottery, I will build a porch on every house on my street! 

It seems like yesterday, but we built the porch (and addition) the year our youngest graduated from high school. Somehow that was twenty years ago. It seems like yesterday!