Our Family Life Saturdays on the Porch

Saturdays on the Porch

by Michelle

Welcome to the porch! Grab a blanket and let’s chat!

Saturdays on the porch

It’s been a while since I shared an update with you guys and I apologize for that. Time has gotten away from me lately. It always seems like once October hits the days fly by. That’s definitely been true this year. We’ve been busy trying to finish up the family room so we could finally move our furniture in, plus continuing to renovate the other house to get it ready for renting out. We’re really close to getting done, but it’s taking longer since we only have weekends to work on it. Then on days when I do have time to write a post, the internet is super slow or just out altogether. So frustrating!

We’ve also been very busy with school and getting ready for Christmas. And cleaning. And keeping up with crazy Balto. There’s never a dull moment here!

  • Balto by the door
    Every night at bedtime Balto grabs his leash and runs to the front door waiting to go outside.
  • Balto asleep

Home Update

The family room is finally finished! It took 6 months to get everything done, but it has been repaired and repainted as well as a new coat of paint on the kitchen. Plus new stain on the back deck! Of course, the insurance company didn’t pay for everything, so we ended up having to put the trim back up in the family room and paint that ourselves. And we still have to fix the scuttle hole that goes to the attic. Plus, repair the hole in the side of the deck caused by a tree limb.

But, at least we finally got to move our furniture in! Sometimes I just sit on the couch and watch the leaves fall outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes. The view from the family room windows is beautiful right now! I wish I could share it with you, but I just can’t get a good picture.

My daughter couldn’t wait to start decorating for Christmas, so she started earlier this week. I helped with a few things, but she’s done most of it so far. We’re waiting on our Christmas tree to arrive, so we can put that up in the corner and fill it up with decorations. It has always been a tradition to put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving as well as the Christmas village and nativity. The village and nativity are up, so hopefully, the tree arrives in time! My daughter hung a penguin decoration up over the mantel because she said it looked too bare. I guess that’s a hint for me to start working on a Christmas wreath!

  • family room built-ins
  • fireplace
  • Built-ins
  • Built-ins

Our other house

Work on the other house is coming along. There’s not a lot left to do, but it seems like a ton since it’s a bunch of smaller things. Since my last update, we’ve painted all 3 bedrooms, hung new doors and painted them all, put new windows in the back bedroom, repaired spots in the bedroom ceilings, repainted the foundation, and of course, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.

We’re now working on adding trim to all the bedroom doors and windows, which my husband is making himself. He took 2 days off this week and worked on repairing the ceiling in the dining room and painting the foundation while it was warm and sunny.

I haven’t taken photos of the new doors yet, but here are some photos of some of the work we’ve done so far. I won’t bore you with every room, but 2 of the bedrooms needed repairs done to the ceiling and we painted all 3 bedrooms the same color.

  • ceiling repair
  • fixed ceiling
  • new windows
  • fresh paint
  • foundation before
    Before
  • foundation before
    After

Fun Photo of the Week

My mom and I went to a craft fair last weekend and then visited the Farmer’s Market. After that, we went to a store we both loved called Willow Tree. While shopping for vintage Christmas items we came across this very unique, and quite scary-looking, Santa.

  • Scary Santa
  • Scary Santa

If you look closely, he has a note attached that explains the reason for his light bulb eyes.

It says, “I am a rare 1930s Santa Claus. Most often found in a storefront window display, I would lure customers inside with my lighted eyes. My face is buckram, as well as my hands. My eyes do light up. I’ve read where another Santa like me had blinking lights. Perhaps I did at one time. I’m so old, I can’t remember.”

Santa's note

I had to look up buckram because I wasn’t sure what that was. According to Wikipedia, “buckram is a stiff cotton (occasionally linen or horsehair) cloth with a loose weave, often muslin. The fabric is soaked in a sizing agent such as wheat starch paste, glue (such as PVA glue), or pyroxylin (gelatinized nitrocellulose, developed around 1910), then dried. When rewetted or warmed, it can be shaped to create durable firm fabric for book covers, hats, and elements of clothing.” Interesting!

I’m not sure if this 1930s Santa would lure me into the store or send me running for the hills!

Your turn!

You’d think this update would be longer since I haven’t shared one in so long! But I wanted to keep it short and sweet.

And now it’s your turn. What you have been up to recently? Are you decorating for Christmas early this year or waiting to get through Thanksgiving first? Do you have Thanksgiving plans? I look forward to hearing all about it!

Enjoy your week and I wish all my US friends a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!!

Saturdays on the Porch

Thank you for sharing!