We took a walk this evening after getting back from Pymatuning State Park.  I took some pictures of the wonderful houses on a 2-block area near the cemetery.  I would have taken more but I don’t like taking pictures of people’s houses when they are out on their porches or in their yards.  I’ll take more soon.

We just haven’t used our second-story sleeping porch much. Recently we got rid of the extra furniture that was, more or less, being stored in there. A fairly new TV, beanbag chair, stacks of books. Now there is all kinds of room. I still have a ceiling-high bookcase, a work desk for my artist-painting supplies, a rocking chair and an antique wicker chair and the papasan.

I made screens for 6 of the 8 windows in the room. There were only storm windows on the outside before. As you can tell by the picture, the glass windows are just taken out and leaning in front of their original spots. During the summer we keep them off. Rain doesn’t come in because of the low overhang of the roof. It’s perfect to go out there during a thunderstorm.

I’m out there all the time now. It’s so relaxing to hear the birds chirping and to feel the breeze. It is just like being outside. Before air condition people used to really sleep out there.

I think come fall I’m going to add a waist-high shelf across the front. I have acquired a few too many “patio” plants that can’t be left outside during our cold winters. I’ll move them all into the sleeping porch and use it like a sun room. It isn’t heated but it is insulated. I’ll put a small, portable electric, oil-filled heater in the space to help it stay at about 50 degrees. My plants would love that.

I’m also eye-balling the space for the summer as a place to put a potted milkweed plant and perhaps some flowering potted flowers and let that be a butterfly room for when my Monarchs come out of their pupas. How neat that would be!

This picture shows not quite half of the sleeping porch. The screens I made made such a difference in there.

I visited the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park last week. It had a beautiful display of antique furniture. Pictures were allowed. However you couldn’t use a tripod or flash. RATS! That means I got some blurry pictures. At least you can get an idea of the workmanship of these beautiful pieces.

Most of the slide show I have pictures of the piece and the following picture will be of the description. Sorry for the out-of-focus descriptions but you can still read most of it. Click on the Greene and Greene light picture below and it will take you to a slideshow stored on my website. Then click on the first thumbnail to get a full-sized picture and from there you can just click “next” above the current photo.

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CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW 

I’m still waiting for the second drip kit to arrive (they goofed the order) but I did get the deck all decked out with tan drip lines to all the flower pots. I have misters on the Boston Ferns and when I turned it on I could swear I heard the ferns thank me. This is just wonderful that I don’t have to hand water all the potted plants. I ran out of the micro hose, though, they never give you enough. I ordered more and when it arrives I may just add a bunch more flower pots to the deck. It is so easy to add more drippers. In the evening the flowers smell so good!

I boiled some water and put the water in a thermos to keep it warm and dipped the end of the 1/4 -inch line in it to help make putting the T’s and drippers on much easier. But still I got blisters on my fingers from pushing them in.

I forgot to buy a 9V battery for the battery-operated timer for the drip line so I took the one from one of the smoke detectors. I’ll have to run to the store tomorrow and get some more. I set the timer for the length of watering and to come on once every day. It works great.

I will put the second drip kit on the front porch to water the hanging baskets. We’ll be landscaping a 4ft section in the front soon and I plan on several potted plants there for the summer. In the winter it is the area where all the snow goes so I don’t want anything permanent planted there.

I think I’ll have to take all the drip line down when winter comes. I’m not sure how good it would hold up in our cold winters. That will be extra work as I have the line running up over and down the pergola. I’ll ask around and see if I can find out if that kind of hose can be left outside for the winter. Maybe the local greenhouses can tell me. I sure hope I don’t have to do this every spring.

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