Porch Rehab (Sorrow Turns to Joy)

It all started with a little rotting wood and peeling paint.

The ol' porch needed a little TLC.

Out came the power washer.

That mighty machine pasted paint chips on the windows, screens, bricks, flowers.....

Oops?  Didn't our mothers warn us of the dangers of power washers?

 

To say that we were discouraged was an understatement.

Then the shutters came down.  They needed a fresh coat of paint also.  Sigh.....

Sanding and scraping became our favorite past time.

 

It takes a village or at least a very large family.

And then the monsoon season hit.

We sang, sloshed and waddled through two weeks of rain.

We were saved kept from our project.

The porch sat there glaringly reminding us of the semi-disaster at hand.

Could someone please help me?

His brave smile is really a SOS.

Calling all personnel.

All able-bodied four-year-olds report to duty!

No help is turned away.

The rains subsided and the paint went on gang busters.

We chose Olympic Rescue IT to restore our wood.

It has a grainy texture which helps to fill in the "wounds."

A side benefit is no more slippery surface when it is wet.

 

We're happy with this color which replaced a shade of gray.

(The pictures don't capture this creamy greenish tan.)

It was a flurry of group effort.

Thank God for our many hands that make work light!

Now we can face the screens.

This project went something like...

Home ownership is overrated.

They (Mantids) Grew Up!

Earlier this spring Michael hatched a large batch of praying mantises and released them throughout the yard.  A few of these predators staked their claim in the flower beds. We have watched them grow all summer.  One of them is particularly aggressive to us and actually comes after us if we get too close! 

We enjoy observing all kinds of insects

but it is especially fun to have some good bugs in the yard!

 Here is what they looked like in May.

Sprucing up the Porch

This spring we decided our swing needed some fresh color. 

Grace and J.P. were happy to help give it a good scrub.

We chose a soft yellow spray paint to give things a splash of color.

Ed and Dominic had it done and hanging in short order.

These were the old pillows that have some yellow stripes!

Next came planters for the front porch. 

We decided on some large terra cotta ones we could paint the same color as the swing. 

This proved to be more affordable than the colored pots we found at the store.

They turned out great and make me smile each time I see them.

Next we took a look at the back deck and lack of planters.  It is a large space so I thought a small cluster of containers would be manageable for watering and upkeep.  The previous home owners had left a large black cauldron pot and we had a couple old ones from our previous home. 

Sooooo....more yellow paint and voila!  I love them!

Thank you Dominic!

Mantid Mania

Michael has always been our bug collector extraordinaire.  His birthday is in early May and most years he requests some sort of insect gift.  We have a collection of insect books, bug catchers, battery operated bug suckers, bug tweezers, a bug projector.....we've hatched butterflies, lady bugs, earth worms and this year praying mantises.  He received two praying mantis egg cases from Amazon that he placed in the Insect Lore butterfly pavilion. 

We were waiting patiently as they sat in a sunny window.  Then just a few days ago one of the children suggested hanging the pavilion on the screen porch as we were having some really hot days. And to our delight we came down in the morning to at least a hundred tiny praying mantis babies.  Three weeks from when we received them in the mail.

The care of so many hungry little mouths is daunting, so it was decided to release all but a few so they could get busy being predators to our "bad" bugs.

 Michael lovingly released the little mantises all around the yard hoping to give them all a good start in life.

The remaining preying mantises will be fed a variety of bugs, some raw hamburger and hopefully we can secure their favorite snack, aphids. 

The End.

But wait......we had a surprise the next morning!  Thank goodness we kept both egg cases in the pavilion because one of the cases had NOT hatched yet!

This hatching was larger than the first it seemed.

More than a hundred little fellas!

They come out hungry!

This little one looked me right in the eyes.

Notice the little hand wanting to help!

Michael released them one by one.

J.P. wanted in on the action but big brother thought he might squish them.

Thankfully a consolation prize was found in the bushes!

The ugliest toad we've ever seen!

The End!