Today it is breezy up by the Lake. I awoke to the usual Summer Sounds, lawns being tended and mowed.Sprinklers on and children giggling. My Neighbor hammering and a Bassatt in the background yodeling.
I am going to sit on my front porch and try to finish the Mosaic Shelf that I have been working on all summer. I am making a shelf for my kitchen, actually it is more counter space, if I set it under the Big Window just right. It has glass marbles, buttons, and broken dishes.
My Front Porch is my Oasis, it is where I write, paint, read,listen to music, talk on the cellphone. It is an old Victorian porch, with peeling paint and big french doors that creak. I have been collecting furniture all summer on Sunday nights when people toss old Wicker and Adirnondacks to the Curb, I lovingly drag them home and paint them.I buy Mistake paint at the Hardware store and I mix it and slap in on the wood.It is all the colors that I love , West Coast colors, of sand and surf, and sunsets and wind. I have rockers and a big old table. I have an old soft faded seagreen cotten weave rug.I have an old teddy that sits on the old faded green wicker loveseat.I have a flag that I leave out all year. And I have windchimes that tinkle lightly. And I have a big old Brass Hurricane Lamp for the eves. And there is the wonderful Vintage bike. There is railingbox with purple petunias and pansies....There is pots of petunias leading up to the porch on the steps. In the garden beneath the porch there is a Birdbath made out of an old Lamp and a china nacho platter, and a mirror. There are strung beads hanging from a branch , the mirror and the beads draw butterflies.The porch has had many visitors, chipmunks, squirrels, and birds, and even a racoon that likes to sleep on the loveseat ( and wash his paws in the birdbath.)There is a battered old Lilac that I am trying to save, it still smells wonderful. There are more petunias, and morning glories, and HollyLocks, hanging in the trees.by the porch.....And when I sit on the porch I am in Heaven....
Do you have a porch, a special place to go....What makes it special ?....What makes it an Oasis ?
*U2 Beautiful Day on the Link.The painting is by Janet Kruskamp and is called Summer Front Porch. Her art and other great works are on sale at www.art.com.*
** thank Dk for reminding me that porches matter...**
20 comments:
ohhh your porch sounds like paradise.
Hi e4e. First, thank you for your visit and comment at Politics Plus. I have added you to my blogroll.
I live in a tiny apt. in downtown Portland, so all my special places exist between my ears.
The Tomcat....feed your soul- there is plenty here...music and art, and more ...enjoy and make yourself at home....I love your blog...( BTW I love Portland....miss the NW...)
aarlene: paradise is where we find it...I just wanted to share a piece of mine..
Thanks for the kind welcome, and I look forward to visiting each other frequently. :-)
Sounds like your porch is the best place to be for serenity.
I don't have that special place as of yet in my home. I moved into my new home October of last year and I've been somewhat busy trying to get it to the point that I can enjoy it. See: HOME
I would love a Oasis here Enigma4ever, but I just don't have it as of yet.
Thank you for this. I LOVE your porch... the many things & animals (human & other) that have made their way to your special haven!
Ours is at least 110-degrees on summer afternoons, sun beating down hard & dry. I'll trade you some cactus for that old teddy (assuming you mean bear)?
The mosiac project sounds very interesting. I haven't seen the kitchen yet that couldn't use more counter space. ~~ D.K.
Can I come to your porch for vacation this year?
Poobah: you can come to my porch anytime...
DK: nope , can't trade my cactus- poor little Ricky Raccoon would have no one to snuggle with on the loveseat- and he can't snuggle a cactus- but thanks for the offer- I did find a cactus in my attic though- and that too has now found it's way to the porch.....( who knows how long it had been there...) The Mosaic project is great- and I went to Mary's Blog ( Get it Yourself- I think it is called- anyways- she has a Mosaic Blog- so I confess I got ideas there...)I also was in a really foul mood during the Libby Get Off Effin Scott Free week- and I did "accidentally" break some dishes- ( felt much better)....But when so frustated and angry- have to make something postive out of that energy....
Let's Talk: Okay I saw you place ( VERY nice) , you have ALL the bones , the potential for a great porch- you have a Hill, and you are up and it looks big enough....go for it...( by scrounging around on Sunday nights and hitting yard sales I have spent a grand total of $25.00 - oh, not counting the bike- another $30.00). You can do it...start by finding a really great Rocker....and a bird feeder...and then the rest will just come to you ;->
Larry: It is serenity...and peace...and hope...and without it, my head would surely burst...it is where I start my day....and end it...
Tomcat: anytime..anytime...and Hey the Surgical Finds in the post below has won my heart forever- you made me laugh my ass off....
ooooops DK, I meant I can't trade my Teddy,...not the cactus.....
No, I don't have a porch, but as lovely as you make it sound I think I'll build one. But I guess my porch is my bed. I do all my collage work on lap boards.
This was a very nice piece, Enigma. I think front porches are another Americana piece that in many newer neighborhoods were diminished or vanished and that's a real, real shame. They gave us more sense of community. You met your neighbors.
I know outside of Portland, OR there's one of those new "self-contained" communities and I was excited to see the reemergence of porches. I hope to revisit/walk that neighborhood on my next trip to the Northwest.
Our house has a very small front porch that makes sitting out on the back patio much better. But we miss so much back there. There are no passing neighbors or neighborhood activity going on in our backyard.
That makes us wear a path to the side gate next to Sam the Dog to see what he's wagging his tail about as he's looking out front!
If the father of our country, George Washington, had he way, we'd all be growing hemp, everywhere around our houses, in open public places for COMMUNITY 'USE'. He saw it as a break from the tobacco barons of Europe. Instead today we pay these 'people' for the pleasure of slow-death and rape of natural recourses, while keeping meticulous lawns and wasted space as far as the eye can see. Don't get me started on jailed people and business/job opportunities., on and on and...
Don't get me wrong, I like front porches too...PEACE!
Enigma4Ever
Your porch sounds very much like heaven on earth. Cozy and filled with little things that delight the eye and heart... it must be huge, though to hold all that you describe. bet it would be a great place to watch kites flying on a Sunday afternoon...
I don't really have a porch, here or the many other places i've lived. I do, however, have decks. When we lived in NM, my daughter and I built this one, over about a week of hard work. This is where we sit outside all year long (once we clear it of snow anyway) and read, drinking something cold or hot... a glass or mug of appropriate temperature regulating beverage.. or just watch clouds and moonrises over the formations (called hoodoos) up the hill to the east and sunsets out over the valley and the mountains to the west. On a full moon night, when the sun is setting and moon is rising, it's enough to give a person whiplash... unless you wait til the moon is fully risen and then all you have to do is lean back and look straight up...
all your porches are to belong to us...
and if it would not be too much trouble, Enigma4Ever, i'd really appreciate it i could launch a revolution from your porch, or at least use it for inspirations (so many images... so few fingers...) as you have inpired me by just being who you are...
and D.K. thank you too for your inspirational image of all those flags
=-=-=-=-=
the call - WE the People II
come all of you people, who live in oppression, take heed of the words you hear day after day
come all of you people, who have all the power, we march to the house that's been taken away
without our permission and given to they that sell freedoms for greed and derision
then hate us and mock us for our simple ways
come off of your porches and walk to the corner, see others like you nearly torn into pieces
by soulless and heartless and clandestine shadows that cower as we stand now to sweep them away.
come down to the town hall or church yard or quay, come out to the court house or plaza or ball park
we stand in the light of a coming new day.
come out from your angers and tears and depression, take hold of your own rights, your own lives, your freedom
don't give them away to those that abuse you and treat you to old lies and open subversions
and hope we won't wake up and who fear their reflections in eyes that now say:
its now time to live out the truths you portray.
Come out of our houses, our shacks and our mansions, our sisters and brothers and children all one
come out to the streets in our hundreds of thousands and walk to the house that's been taken away
to plant our desires for honor and justice, our flags and our banners and all of them say: No More!
We're here to dismantle your engines of war.
come now, We the People, who live in oppression, take heed of the words you hear day after day
come now, We the People, who have all the power, we march to the house that's been taken away.
without our permission and given to they that sell freedoms for greed and derision
then hate us and mock us for our simple ways.
-=-=-=-=-=-
into the light of truth - We the People III
iam only one small voice, asking a question
iam only taking one small step, onto the path of truth
iam only one flickering light, looking for happiness
iam only one tired old heart, unbeaten yet broken
iam only one
you and i are only two subdued voices, getting to know each other
you and i are taking two faltering steps, forward and backward, tentatively
you and i are only two intermitent flashes of light, looking for hope
you and i are only two broken hearts, remending in stages
you and i are only two
this porch holds one small group, singing our lives in soft voices
this porch holds our dancing, our shuffling steps to faint music
this porch holds shadows at bay, from the lanterns we hang at the corners
this porch holds joyous hearts, beating strongly in rythyms of purpose
this is our porch
these streets throng with querulous voices, raised in alarm
these streets throng with milling crowds stepping out into the urgency of action
these streets throng with torches of indignation and vision, seeking its expression
these streets throng with thousands of valiant and brave hearts, pounding with unity
these streets belong to us
We the People of this country are raising our voices and shouting: No More!
We the People of this country are shaking the ground with our numbers, marching forward in our Pursuit of Happiness
We the People of this country are burning out the last refuges of lies and deceit with the light of truth
We the People of this country are bursting through, our hearts booming with proud Life and reclaimed Liberty
We the People of this great and tattered Nation.
these were written this morning...
Namaste
amazing aballo: power to the people. we cannot be so tattered as to not see where the true power has always lain. the revolution lives.
front porches, decks, balconies, patios, courtyards ... all become extensions of yourself, if not yet, then in time. ~~ D.K.
.
OT ~ Here's one for ya E: Modern hobos still ride on
Please don't laugh it off, e4e. You might want to share it someday. ;-)
You paint quite the picture of your porch. I am a big fan of peeling paint, french doors and porches.Sounds like the perfect spot for everything!
Tomcat: I ain't laughing- I got plenty of chairs, I will share my porch anytime...( I might have to kick the raccoon off the loveseat though;->
Anony: Be sure to scroll back to June I wrote a post about Hobos in late June that might interest you....
DK; Right on...power to the people...
ABallofLight: Now friend- I have to say, you are so full of gifts and wonder finds and Writing- you really really need to think about getting a Blog- you could put all of this wonderful stuff on it- comeon...you have the tech skills- and you are a wonderful writer- think about it....we would all come hang on your "porch" there....thank you again for all the gifts...namaste.
Anony #1: Please know that I definently don't have a manicured lawn or even well kept, and this post was more about the importance of porches- or just having some kind of oasis, or refuge. I am not into curb appeal or any crap like that....Now as for your concerns about Hemp- and tobacco- one of my great great aunts was a Hemp farm down south- and her family did lost their farm- it became a forced tobacco farm ( I think it was early 1900's- don't have all the details), but anyways- hell, I would be fine with converting some of those Tobacco farms back to Hemp- it is a crop that cleans soil and has many uses...I am a bit confused how we went from talking about porches to hemp...sorry you kind of lost me...Anyways I hope that you have some kind of special spot...zone...a retreat.,..that is all I was saying...
oooops Dada: thank you so much for your kind words and your visit here- and I guess you know I put you on the Monday Blog roundup....
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