More than a week has slipped by without a blog post. It will never cease to amaze me how quickly time passes us by. Seconds to minutes; minutes to hours; hours to days. Gone…never to be retrieved. James said “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14) The older I get the more I understand this great truth. Though time will always remain abstract, filling it with things of importance becomes more imperative with its passing. Blogging is a small indulgence I allow myself for the simple sake of expressing myself. The past few days have been about the more needful things, some of which are even more simple.
My sweet husband had nine days off work. We did not go on a dream vacation though we would have relished in doing so. Our time was spent at home, together, in peace and harmony. A dream vacation may have been more exciting or more relaxing, but it could not have been sweeter.
Instead of a getaway to the mountains we opted to use our vacation money to buy lumber, nails and cement for a much-needed new front porch/deck. We’ve needed one for quite a while, but procrastination won out and the old front porch continued to deteriorate. Isn’t that the way procrastination goes with almost anything? It reached the point I was fearful someone would fall while using them. It was time to take action! I’m not a lot of help hauling lumber and swinging a hammer, and our carpenter son-in-law was unavailable to help. My dear husband was facing a Lone Ranger construction job with me as his Tonto. This project wasn’t looking good…then along came our pastor to the rescue! Neither of these guys are carpenters, but by putting their brawn and brains together we ended up with a sturdy front deck. I prayed for them, too, and asked a couple of my friends to join me! Our new porch is not perfect, but I am still well pleased. My rebel husband used a chain saw to cut the lumber. He has a perfectly good circular saw…go figure. 
Because we were blessed with much-needed rain EVERY day my sweet husband was home, it took three days for the building of the deck to be finished. For the same reason, clean-up remains for another day off. The old porch decking will be repurposed into a grass-free, weed-free plant platform. I’m thinking we may even be able to convert it into a “green house” for over-wintering my ornamental plants. I sure hope so, but I think my dear husband really hates it when I do a lot of thinking.
Day 1…the work has begun. (My sweetie)
Our pastor and friend…
Day 2…the new porch is coming right along…
Day 3…complete.
We still have plans of adding lattice around the bottom of the porch to keep the dogs and chickens out from under it. While the guys were tearing down the old porch, they found a couple of young snakes. My honey said they had a diamond-shaped head. Ugh…where there are small snakes you can bet big ones have been close by. The lattice-work won’t keep the snakes out, but it will hopefully help prevent our canine kids from being snake bitten.
That’s it for this time around…I need to get up and get moving. The day is wasting, and I’ve got much to do.
Until next time…
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20
You may not have gone on a dream vacation but everytime you walk out onto your new porch you will be happy and thrilled that it’s there to enjoy. Great job!! We had to put lattice underneath ours to so that Lily wouldn’t crawl under and dig holes. Rob and I tend to spend some of his vacation puttering around the house too – just enjoying each others company is sweet enough. Aren’t we the lucky ladies that we have such sweet hubbies?
O dear Nicki Lee,
I could not agree more. We are truly blessed beyond belief to have husbands who are easy companions and friends.
I would imagine our canine trio would dig under the porch, too, but the snake factor is what worries me. The lattice will look nice as an added bonus.
It has been nice just peering through the front door at my sweetie’s handiwork…very nice.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a note. You are always so welcome.
It always feels so good to finish an important project. It looks great and will be enjoyed for years. I love staying home for vacation. Comfortable bed, no packing and food that is prepared the way I like!
Brenda, you are brilliant! I knew there was a reason I enjoyed staying home for those precious vacation days. Your reasoning is, without question, right on the money! There really is “no place like home”.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a message. It’s always good to see you!
Judy
There’s a reason why I enjoy you & your blog so much. You captured my feelings about time passing (flying!) Your porch is great, I can see y’all sitting out and enjoying it in the time to come.
Hey Tammy,
It’s so good to hear from you! My granddaughter turning 18 REALLY rubbed my nose in how fast time passes… We will enjoy our porch…already are. This morning I bought a premium patio umbrella to go on it to give us some shade in this wicked summer heat.
I hope all is well with you! I hope to see you again soon. I really do miss you when so much time flies without hearing from you.
Fondly, Judy