Sorry if you were expecting to see Willa’s dress completed and listed on Ebay. It didn’t happen and it’s all my hubby’s fault. Well, not entirely… he only wanted to do one and I wanted to do all 3… you’ll see what I mean in a minute.
We have this 1892 house that we bought about 12 years ago and when I tell you it’s an ongoing project…that’s quite the understatement!! I think we could work 5 days a week for 10 years and still not be done with all that has to be finished. We do things when we can, and today was “can” time!
The project for today were “the posts” holding up our sunburst porch roof on the back side of our house. To put it bluntly, they were rotting…NO, they were rotten. The post on the end wasn’t even touching the concrete floor. Yikes!! It was past time to get this project completed.
[If you click on any picture it will enlarge.]
I picked up the bottom of the post and had my hubby cut it off about 8 inches up, so I could show you what it looked like on the inside. I think it was sort of just dangling on the end of the porch I think…Yikes again!!
We’ve had the new “decorative” treated posts for a few years… but never seemed to find the time to get this project done. I primed the posts to get us started.
In the end, it really didn’t take as long as I thought it would. That’s why we ended up doing all 3 posts and not just the one on the end, like my hubby wanted to do. We sort of got “in the groove” and just kept going. Now it’s all done and it looks wonderful… :o)
My hubby had to jack up the porch roof and used a 4×4 beam to hold it up and out of the way while we notched and fit the new post in place. It was a little creepy seeing the jack hoist up the porch roof so easily. It went pretty well and took us about 4 hours to complete. The posts have 2 coats of primer and tomorrow I’ll get some white exterior paint to finish painting them a final coat or two.
The old posts were just 4×4 square posts but these new ones were like a lathed post and had a little bit of “pretty-ness” to them. I like them very much and see them right outside my kitchen window so I’ll get to enjoy looking at them a lot! When I get them painted, and the inside roof of the porch cleaned off, I’ll take another picture to show you.
I found an old picture of the back side of our house, from 2008, so you can see what it looks like from a distance. These are the old posts, and the old windows. My hubby and I have put in all new windows since then.
When we finished with that, I made cupcakes to take to Bithar and Jean’s little girl, Deborah. She’s turning 4 on Wednesday. I also found the sweetest little baby doll and decided to get it for her. We had them over for lunch 2 Sunday’s ago and I spied Deborah looking into my sewing room at my dolly shelf! :o) It was precious!
Well, that’s been my day… not so much about dolls, but sometimes it’s not! Maybe tomorrow…
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a wonderful, useful, productive day! I love that you can see your new posts from your kitchen. This will change your life almost as much as the sewing room has. It’s not only prettier, it’s one more completed job, which is so encouraging. OK, almost complete — you get to spend today painting, but the porch looks wonderful and the weather seems good — now if Kristoffer would just come admire your work — and bring dinner….
I didn’t get to say Happy Birthday to Rebecca yesterday. Please say it for me, even late.
HI Marilyn,
My new porch posts really are wonderful to look at. The old ones were so icky looking, peeling paint, splintery, and just square… Who wants square when they can have “curvy?”
It’s rainy today and the humidity is high, so George said we should wait…
We didn’t get that dinner from Kristoffer… but we are going out with him on Sunday for his birthday…(Rebecca’s too…) I’ll tell Rebecca you wished her a happy birthday.
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I feel like I just went over to visit with you, Jeanne! I had always wondered about this house you were renovating, and now I see what it looks like! It is a very charming, warm and folksy house, just like the owners! The new posts are just beautiful, and add to the look of the house. Your surroundings are like a park! Is that a cobblestone sidewalk leading away from the porch? So pretty!
That little doll made me smile! So cute and the cupcakes look so temptingly delicious! Wish I was there!
Thanks Linda,
I’ll have to find some newer pictures of my house, but this one showed the back porch the best. It’s a cottage style house and when we bought it, there were pretty flowers blooming everywhere. By the time we closed on it, the weeds we up to the gutters…it didn’t even look like the same place. We tamed it down a bit and now it’s more manageable.
I thought the little doll was adorable too. I hope she loves it. The cupcakes were good…there were 4 left and we split them. :o)
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
“The weeds were up to the gutters.” That made me laugh. It happened to me too, which didn’t seem so funny. I kept my parents’ yard looking good until the day the new owner took over. My sisters kept the inside spotless too. The buyer came for a final look while one sister was saying good-bye, and she let him in. He said, “I should have known this place would look perfect when I took over.” That was the last day that was true, too.
Life is always happening…thanks for sharing your great updates on your porch and fun times with your friends. Enjoy this lovely weather!
Blessings.
HI Becky,
Yes, life IS always happening… around here…pretty often! I’m glad you enjoyed seeing my
new porch posts… not quite as exciting as looking at Emerson, I’m sure, but thanks for reading anyway!
You have a nice day too!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a wonderful, productive day you had. I’m left to second everything Marilyn and Linda said. What a lovely house you have and the yard is beautiful. It’s great that you work together to do the renovations. A lot of work but worth it.
I think I see little metal “stilts” under the posts to keep them up off the concrete. I had the carpenters put them underneath the ones on my patio after I painted the posts with some kind of “keep termites away” stuff. Can’t remember how I knew that. They did all the real work. So nice to have the new posts with pretty turnings.
The little doll is adorable. You are so thoughtful. Happy birthday to Deborah.
HI Susette,
You would think with all the stuff we’ve done, there would have been lots of disagreements, but so far, it’s been smooth sailing… I want to paint the ceiling in our living room white, and he likes the wood… but he’s slowly warming up to the idea that a white ceiling would make things look brighter in here. The wood is kind of orangish now…
Our little “stilts” are hard molded plastic, but I remember seeing copper ones when we bought the posts. They were prettier, but we opted for the plastic ones. The old posts didn’t have anything under them…I’m sure that’s why they started rotting…
I am going to take Deborah’s doll and cupcakes over to them in a little while… I hope she likes them.
Thanks Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a fabulous project! Your home is just lovely and that porch must be wonderful sitting out there, especially enjoying the new posts. After all the hard work, it’s always so rewarding to sit back and enjoy the renovation or repair and be proud of it. You and George are so talented and you both work so well together.
My husband and I have enjoyed fixing up and repairing things at our son’s new house. I have spent a lot of time there cleaning and painting while my husband has done a lot of mechanical chores. Teaching our son about landscaping upkeep has been fun too. This is his first home and he is thrilled with making it his very own place.
I AM SHOUTING THIS………..KOHL’S HAS LEA ????????? I thought they just had the Wellie Wishers!! Good grief I hardly ever go there but I sure will now. I had no idea Kohl’s carried Lea!! Do they have others beside Lea????? I know where I’m going today!!!
That baby doll is precious. Those cupcakes look so good.
Paula, Kohl’s has Lea and the Wellie Wishers only, but they do have some clothes and accessories for them. Like I mentioned earlier, I bought Lea and her beautiful Celebration Dress, the ruffled, white one. The prices are the same as AG, but if you go you don’t pay shipping like you do online, you can pick them out in person and you get Kohl’s Rewards when you buy them. Gook luck with your shopping trip!
HI Linda,
Yes, you made all the best points for buying from Kohl’s! I hope Paula finds one she likes.. who could resist if you were a doll collector. I’m not ( ha!)
Blessings, Jeanne
HI Paula,
We are loving the looks of our new porch posts! Wish we had done it sooner…it’s so nice! It was rainy here today and very humid so my hubby thought it best not to paint. He said with 2 coats of primer on them, they’ll be okay for a while.
I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear that Kohl’s has Lea…. yes, they do and I bet by now you’ve already spied her out, and maybe picked up one… Our store had plenty of them, with lots of her accessories too. I think Lea is the only one they are carrying. Maybe if Kohl’s gets a lot of business from her, they’ll carry more… that would be nice. It’s so fun to look at the dolls in person.
Thanks Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
Nothing like a little dry rot eh? Good choice on the decorative posts. Now, your porch ceiling needs to be painted Robin’s egg blue. I think that is the color they used to paint them. White is good too.
We too just replaced a couple of deck posts for the upper deck. One was just sort of swinging. And we almost have all of the flat areas stained. Looks so nice and protects the redwood. Still have rails and well other stuff. Have 2 to 3 days of clear weather in the 70’s to finish. All of our patio furniture is piled on the finished area waiting to return to the other end of the deck and be under cover. I think we have 800 sq feet of deck or there abouts.
I bet Deborah is going to love dolly and cupcakes. You’re spoiling her!
Robin’s egg blue. Painting the ceiling would be a lot of work, and if it only needs a little cleaning, now is not the time to paint. But if it did need repainting, that would be so pretty, summer or winter. It’s something to think about.
HI Marilyn,
The ceiling of the porch really only needs to be cleaned off… so I’ll put off the Robin’s Egg blue idea until it does need painting… I’m not sure George would go for that…I’ll have to ask him sometime…
Thanks Marilyn,
blessings, Jeanne
HI Joy,
Decorative is SO much better than just square, isn’t it? We love the new look… it was really time to get the old posts out…
Actually Robin’s Egg blue sounds very pretty but when it’s all sprayed and cleaned off it’s very pretty just all white. I’m not sure my hubby would go for blue… but he might! He sprays a mist of Clorox on the wood and the planks turn bright white… then we let it dry and sweep off the cobwebs!
It sounds like you are up to your eyeballs in staining your deck… I hope you enjoy it when it’s all done…
Thank you Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
If you Google robin’s egg blue porch ceiling, you will find why it is so popular as well as I think the 2nd one Pinterest as well as Images. I like the pale blues the best. I’m sure there are also lots of pics of white wood ceilings too. We’re debating painting a wood beam ceiling white. It seems dark I think right now. But, to paint the wood is such a decision. This is a 60’s house, not antique.
HI Joy,
Oh, believe me, I’ve looked at hundreds of pictures of painted plank ceilings… I know how to do it, but it’s just such a big job. My living room and dining room share the same ceiling, so it’s a big area to do.
And as far as the Robin’s Egg blue… I LOVE that color. I have some paint almost that color that I’m going to use for my buffet…one of these days!
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne