Textures of Home

I love the textures of our home. Leather, rope, stone, chippy wood, smooth glass, painted wood, soft quilts, rusty signs, crocheted edging, and more. I was inspired by Linda  to see our home through textures. My annoying little camera and I took a quick trip around the house and captured some textures (it was, however, in the evening and the lack of lighting was a definite challenge, okay, my crappy little camera is the real challenge.) A photographer I am not, but I did enjoy seeing our home through different 'eyes'.

We've been very busy the last few weeks. Painting the stairway walls, our dining room, entry and hall, family room and the two storey wall in the family room and kitchen. I have taken a break from painting while I decide how to finish a centre wall that includes our fireplace/tv area/kitchen wall. Well, not really a break. In the meantime we are helping a nephew install our 14x20 foot paver patio in the backyard. Can I say that I. LOVE. STONE. Brussels Block from Unilock to be exact. A long awaited project but so worth the wait. The only thing keeping me from sneaking out in the middle of the night to check on my new patio is wondering if the neighbours would think I am crazy. But I guess if they are up at that time, peering into our yard, then who would be the crazy one?!!!!

Our summer porch entry

Welcome to our home!

I love our little front porch! It provides a sheltered spot for our family and guests to enter our home, a great spot to sit and a fun space to decorate seasonally. This is the main entry to our home. We do not have access from the garage and only patio doors in our backyard so it gets tons of use by our rambunctious boys and our guests. But it is such a great little spot that it deserves the attention. I know I am late in joining but I would like to link this to Nester's Price My Space Party. Stop by Nesting Place to see the other great spaces http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/

(It took me this long to figure out how to use Photobucket to add the numbers and blogger wasn't letting me load pics and then move them. I had to delete them all and reload them in reverse order. Very frustrating!)

We have a builder home in a great neighbourhood but large porches are not at all common. Most homes have an even smaller porch or unsheltered steps out front because most homes here, ranging from 1500 sqft to 4200 sqft have the garages out front. The porch is one of the reasons we chose our model. ~~Now let's Price My Space~~
#1 Little Wicker Table, yard sale $3
#2 Chairs with back and seat cushions included (sold from a damaged set), Wal-Mart $23 each
#3 Pillows, BouClair Home, sale $5 each
#4 Terra Cotta plant pot, yard sale, 50 cents
#5 Votive holders and party lite candles, yard sale, $2
Total for this picture below: $61.50

#6 Wrought Iron Plant stand, free from one of my SIL

#7 2 Black pots, Fortino's Grocery Store, $10 each

#8 Angel, I painted white, my mom got from a yardsale and gave to me

Total this Picture: $20

#9 Copper coloured rectangular plant holder, local flower shop, $35
Total this picture $35

Grand total for my summer porch: $116.50 (Canadian funds)

The chairs and plants were about the only things I bought this year, the rest are things I had previously bought or had given to me and re-used on the porch.

White impatiens and ivy.

A six pack of white Geraniums. I'm on the lookout for a better side table to hold a cup of tea and a magazine. That little wicker piece will probably move to a new spot.

A great little spot to sit and visit or relax. Stop by and I'll make you a nice cup of tea or a cold drink.

Storms, lightning and a computer glitch

For the last few days we have had lots of heavy, heavy downpours, lightning and high winds- usually twice per day. During one storm on Monday we attempted to shut our one year old computer off as the storm approached, but I guess we were not quick enough. Something happened to our hard drive and we are in the process of getting it fixed. It is very interesting how our family has become so used to having internet at our fingertips, at our whim- to check a lacrosse score, a 4-H meeting time and location that was delivered by e-mail, the landscaping bin rental places nearby etc. Information that we are so used to accessing easily and quickly has to be found a different way.
Both hubby and I grumbled a bit about the inconvenience. He missed his lacrosse updates and I missed stopping by my favourite blogs. We sat down and turned the t.v. on (something I rarely do) only to see the mudslides in Taiwan and that put everything into perspective very quickly.