A birthday wish fulfilled (or in process to be fulfilled)

As Tina mentioned in the comments from yesterday's post, today was my birthday (and it was Tina's, too).

When asked what I really wanted to do on my birthday, I said I wanted to overhaul our front porch. The porch had become rather neglected and unkempt-looking over the past couple of years. It was an eyesore. I had been thinking for a couple of months what I would like done here and made a list of what I wanted/needed to get it done. 

Just a warning, this won't be a budget makeover. This is my only birthday gift. I have tried to avoid overspending, but I did spend. My hope is that we'll have a lovely place to sit on summer evenings, chatting with neighbors as they walk past. I'll take you along with me for this project. It won't be a one day and I'm done sort of job, but will take several days, maybe a week or two to get it finished.

Here is today's start.

During the day, my daughters went to Home Depot and Value Village with me in search of some of the things on my list. After coming home from shopping, my daughters and I had a lovely lunch on the patio then got to work.

Here's the sad before picture. I'm so embarrassed to even show it to you, as it demonstrates my neglect in keeping things looking orderly and nice. Neither the bench nor the chair are suitable for actual sitting. My husband will take a look at both and see if they can be repaired. The stone was covered in moss and has been too slippery on rainy days to allow anyone to step on it. The wall pots have been ravaged by squirrels. The cushion is faded. And the whole space looks cluttered.

After dragging everything off of the porch, I got out a spade and began scraping the large patches of moss. One daughter came behind me and scooped up the loose moss to add to the compost. We got out the power washer and all took turns cleaning off the stone. This in itself made such a difference in the appearance of this area. It never ceases to amaze me how simply cleaning something can add so much improvement to that thing's appearance. 

Once the porch was washed, I added a new doormat. (The one in the before photo is our Christmas door mat -- oops!) Both daughters helped me plant these new hanging baskets. So far we've put begonias into the baskets. I'd also like to find a trailing plant to add to each.

A couple of new lanterns will add ambiance to our summer evenings. These are LED candles that can be turned on/off or set on a timer with a remote.

Next up is some seating. My husband came home as we were finishing with the cleaning. After we put all of our work tools away, he helped me assemble part of the new seating. I'll show you more tomorrow.

One of the activities I love most is sprucing up our living areas. It brings me so much joy in all stages, from the planning, to the actual work, and finally to the enjoyment of a refreshed space. To spend an entire day immersed in one of these projects with my family alongside is my dream day. I love my family for taking part in my dream today. This is a birthday wish fulfilled. I hope you all had a wonderful day, today, too!