Front Porch Work

 The morning glories are finishing up their run for the year and yes, I know they are weeds, but they are just so pretty. This one crawled up one of the columns on the porch and I can only see it when I go outside. Which with the 36°F we've been having in the morning will not be for much longer.

I've been wanting to work on the front of the porch for a long time. The tenants were out of town for two weeks and that would have been a great time to do the front porch. No need to worry about letting them in or out and hopefully no one stepping on it while it was still wet. But I didn't get to it. The other thing to ponder is how to remove the paint from the granite block there under the door. It looks terrible. 

 

I tried some of the orange remover and Goo-Gone and they sort of helped but didn't get all of it. It also left some grey patches on the granite. There must be some other way to clean this stuff. I'll have to make a trip to the Home Depot. I probably also need filters for the heater anyway. 

 

After trying to remove the paint I started sanding the wood to prep for the staining. I should have done this back in April when the porch was finished. Now I had to sand out the stains and sun burns and some of the weathering that had already happened. But I was successful.  

 

 

When you spend time with something, that's when you really get to know it - as I taped up the edge of the wall so that I could patch that paint, I found proof that Andrew did lower the pitch of the porch by about an inch. So, Daddy, when you come again, you won't have to work on such a giant step to get in.

 

And there is the finished (first) portion. Now at least everyone (tenants, me, mail carrier, Obama stumpers) can all step on the porch. I'm pretty happy with it. Now I just have to do the rest of it! Sigh. I'll get there but it might take a while.  

 

My dad asked me on the phone tonight if I had painted the columns and I realized I haven't posted about that. Yes, I did paint the columns along with the back steps. The thing is, all of the porch needs a fresh coat of paint. But that is a lower priority... and it will be easier when all the plants are dead and I cut cut them down. 

When I got cold last weekend I picked all of the tomatoes, green and red.

 

I have miles of tomatoes and there are only so many fried green ones a person can eat - no matter how yummy. Many of them have turned red and I made more tomato sauce last night.