On the Porch: Before

I started painting my porch 3 years ago and stopped when my mother passed followed by my father. Spring break is here and a good time to get it done before it's too hot to paint because the porch heats up in summer. It's too much work to move everything to another room everything will go to one side and when I'm finished put it back in place and do the other side.

When I show this again it will be arranged. I promise myself that.

Going to paint the planter also.

Burned all the wood except enough in the fire place for one fire on a cool night before summer. No more snow. I'll drag the bags of calcium chloride to the basement and bricks back to the yard.

The easiest way to take them to the back yard all at one time. No, the bag didn't break.

Can you imagine scraping most of the porch? I can't but I have to scrape some of it before I paint, then mop.

Moving everything to the other side. I'll start on the window first. Scrape and wash down the area because paint won't stick well to a dirty surface and it may affect the finish. I apply 2 coats of paint with Behr paint with primer, pure white. Although it's less work so you don't have to prime then paint, I don't think I'll buy the primer with the paint again because the finish seems to have less sheen when dry.

Tedious work on the windows, pane by pane. Hope I don't have to do this again any time soon although I love to paint it would be nice to be doing something else today like looking at cherry blossom trees and walking by the water. The trees will soon be finished blooming. But then others will put on a show.

What happened? That's how it looks on any given day, lol.

I have a scrapper but found that a wire brush worked better.

Wire brush

Resting

For the floor, porch and patio paint.

Have to get some more brushes. I like 1/2" brushes for the windows. Thought there were some in the house. Sometimes I leave wet brushes in a plastic bag if I'm going to paint again the next day. Unfortunately sometimes I forget and have to put them in paint cleaner if I wait too many days in between.

Have to order 3 springs for my chair to fix it. I knew one was broken but not 3 until I moved it.

Also going to stain it. My Joy who passed in 2014 loved to scratch on one leg of the chair.

I don't tape a lot when I paint or always use an edger. With an old house, I do a lot of painting and have gotten used to being careful. Every now and then a drop of paint will fall but not often. Always keep a bucket  of water and cloth because with water based paint you can just wipe it up. If it dries, it's easier to scrape up. It's different with oil paint though you need a solvent like turpentine.

One little peeling area to paint. I painted this before my mother passed and it's done well.

My helper has arrived. She's upset because her seat has been removed. Okay it's Miracle Grow soil! All the other soils were too heavy and I didn't want to drive to the nursery for Pro Mix or some other type. I need to use the huge bag of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite in my basement and make my own mix. That was the plan when I bought it but it hasn't happened yet.

I like bamboo rugs for the porch. Either this one or a darker one will go down.

A little progress.

Going to caulk.

Can move this back to it's space on Thursday after I put another coat of paint on the other half of the floor. Never thought I'd make it to the floor.

There's a drain in the floor. Someone in the life time of this house gardened also and had a drain for watering their plants. They'd be happy to know someone is still gardening on the porch and trying to maintain this old house. I think I'm the 3rd owner. The owners before me was a married couple and before them was an older married couple probably the original owners. This row of houses was built in the 40's, for people who worked in factories in this area. The neighborhood has few factories now.

I like the color I picked although I thought it was darker like the spot they put on the can after mixing in the store. I wanted dark brown but I'm not painting it over.  It's a nice change though. That red brick color was on the floor when I moved here over 20 years ago. It's done well to last that long. A lot of people do blue or gray floors but I like earth/neutral tones.Took days to pry the top off the paint can that sat on my porch through heat and cold until I used it. Still have to paint the white wood attached to the brick post and a little more touch up. It look better doesn't it? Nice not to have to hire a painter. I love home repairs. It's rewarding to look at the finished work and know I did it for so much less money than hiring someone. But I'll have to pay for some roofing work, stucco repair, and painting the outside of the porch this summer. You have to maintain a house or it'll fall apart. Some people never want to own a house due to all the maintenance but if I couldn't garden, or sit in the yard or porch, that would be a problem. I did live in an apartment when I first moved from my parents home. I loved my apartment near the Wissahickon and in a wooded setting at the time. They later turned it into parking. How horrible.

Would rather be planting summer bulbs, they're ready. Have to finish the porch first at least the painting. Then put everything back into place and  make new cushions for the chairs after I get bulbs started in pots. Foxtail liles, and dahlia will go in the ground. Finally, relax, have a cup of coffee,  or should it be iced tea; enjoy the birds, and smell the flowers.

Flowering ferns from the flower show. Wonder if they'll do anything the first year? Lets see. They should already be in the ground. My fern in the yard has already started to come up.

Narcissus started out with a yellow center and is now white. It's also nicely scented. That was a nice surprise.

The tulips I forced actually did well. Can't wait till fall to force more bulbs. Spring bulbs made my winter and has been the best part of last season. Fall bulb catalogues have already started to arrive. I'll enjoy spring for a while although the weather is feeling like summer. Tomorrow, in the 80's.