Porch, Patio and Plants!

Today , along with all my regular weekly blogger parties, I am joining Rhondi for a Porch Party!!

Please visit Rhondi and everyone else who are sharing their porches, patios and decks today by clicking HERE

If you missed my post on the Pittsburgh Team Chair and the Puck Case that I made for Joe for Father's Day, Please click HERE




Our Front Porch is what you see when you walk up to the front of our townhouse, which we bought in 1978.......

I just want to let you know that this will be a long post as I will be showing you my Back Patio also......

Back to my Front Porch......

As I mentioned and many of you know , I live in a townhouse, a row of 10 homes.

You are greeted by 2 pots of impatiens which I may add have really taken off this past week......


You can see the Welcome Mat is out......


The milk can was a $5.00 yard sale find many years ago...
Yes, I have been meaning to give it a nicer paint job.....
It is on the LIST!!!

My To Do List keeps getting longer though instead of shorter.....



I always hang one of the wreaths that I have made on my Front Door.
You can see , I am anticipating the 4th of July!

And here is my Front Porch......

Since I was a child, I have dreamed of a large Queen Anne Victorian with a wrap around Front Porch......

And now back to the reality of my life.....

I have had many different types of chairs on this porch over the 32 years that we have lived here and since it is not a covered porch, I always need something that will hold up in the elements.
This set was a Flea Market find.......
The chairs do dry fast with all the rain we have had.

I am still looking for something different , haven't found it yet and this will do until I do.....

I have a Battenburg Lace VINYL tablecloth on the table.....

The elements, remember......

I am planning on making some pillows using water resistant fabric.......

It is on the LIST!!!

My Flower Box......


All my Flowers are doing well so far with all the rain we have been having.....


Looking down toward my neighbors.....



My little flower bed under my Living Room window....

Yep, there is a big white gutter extension running through the flower bed...

It has rained so heavily that it floods the flower bed and overflows the mulch onto the sidewalk so Joe bought an extension.

It sort of reminds me of a slinky and could they make them any bigger or what????


Petunias.....




My Flea Market find fountain....


Looking down at my neighbor's yard....


My rusty birdbath fills with some pretty stones......


My lantern is on a timer that comes on at dusk and off at dawn....

Yes, that is faux ivy wrapped around it....


And now , let's take a walk through the house and out to the back yard.......

These pics were taken from the back of my small yard looking at the back of our townhouse....


In the evening, after getting the sun all day long, there is lovely shade in the back...

The backs of our row of homes were painted dark brown which draws the sun so several years ago, I painted the back of my house a beige color.....

You can see the brown to the right....


When we had the awning put on the back, we did not extend it to the end of our property because if we needed to get up on the roof, there had to be an opening for the ladder.

So that is why I have been able to put so many pots in this corner where they get sunshine and rain water....



" Born to garden, forced to work", That's me!

Most of my plant stands have come from yard sales and flea markets.....


A bird cage and some silk flowers on the wrought iron table.....


Impatiens.....


You may remember that I bought this medallion at a thrift Shop for $3.00.....


The plant stand was painted yellow last year.....


The back door....


The chair was another yard sale find and was painted yellow last year also.....



I hung a faux garland.....

See the mail man wind chimes.......

Most of you know that Joe is a mail man......



I plant my own hanging baskets.....


Which are filling in nicely....


You may have noticed that some of the candles are the Flameless ones. They are perfect for outside as they never blow out and cast a nice glow at night!!!

I have been working the past few nights so i will take pics at night when I am off.....

A plant stand from last season painted yellow......


So there is my little back patio.....


I do have something up my sleeve in regards to the concrete .......

I may be dabbling with a bit of paint.......

It is on the LIST!!

I so love the reflection of the back of the house in my gazing ball.....

And now for my Cottage Garden update.....

I bought a few more plants.....


The red leafed one I was able to separate into 2 plants . It is supposed to have red flowers from July to September....

The little plant is a shasta daisy for $1.00!


I trimmed a lot of the bottom branches of this tree so we could walk under it without crouching down......

It also allows more sun into this side of the yard.....

Plants are starting to fill out and spread......

My cone flowers are starting to open up....


Impatiens are thriving in this old sprinkling can......

I switched out this old garden medallion with the one you saw in pics before and placed this one up in the corner to mask the ladder a bit.......

And that is my tour of my front porch, back patio and an update on my little Cottage Garden......

I am also joining these parties:

Bloomin' Tuesday

Tabletop Tuesday

WOW Us Wednesday, this week Summer Porch and Deck party

Outdoor Wednesday

Cottage Flora Thursday

Home Sweet Home Friday

Fertilizer Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Pink Saturday

Seasonal Sunday

My Shabby StreamSide Studio Vintage Video

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit today!!

Hugs,
Debbie