Friday Foto Friends: Just a Country Porch Will Do...UPDATED 8-24-2017

Hello Friday Foto Friends!  I didn't have any new pictures to share this week, 

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: 

Since I wrote this last night we had some "Breaking News" early this morning...PUN intended:

Around 6:30 a.m. our son was getting ready for work and heard a crashing, tearing sound at the end of our back courtyard.  You know, the area where we recently put up a brand new fence? 

Well, it was still kind of dark, so it was difficult to see what was going on...but after waking up my hubby, the two fearless warriors stepped out into the yard to see what was the matter. Apparently they scared the intruder away...but upon further inspection it was quite obvious that we had a bear trying to tear his way into our courtyard:

 It is not quite yet understood if this was an attempted "kidnapping" of the little girl in the garden...

 Or merely an attempt of a hungry bear to snatch a few paws full of bird seed and run:

Upon further investigation of our security wildlife camera we found pictures of this character hanging around the watering hole earlier this week:

So we are on high alert for the would-be kidnapper/birdseed thief...and have taken extra precautions to prevent such a terrible crime from happening again. 

(Note to birds: Bird Feeder will be removed from garden until further notice)

We now return you to your previously scheduled programming:

(Written last night 8/24/17)

So thought I'd go back in time and share one of my favorite old posts, originally written in 2013, updated again in 2015, and now brought up to date again for 2017.  As I write this it is really too hot to sit out on the porch, but hopefully fall will come early and we'll be able to enjoy this lovely place again!

How many of you would love a porch like this?????   ( Original Post 5/17/2013:)

No, this isn't a picture of my front porch..yet...but it is a picture of what I'd love to have for a front porch someday!   (copied from Pinterest)


This was our porch in the fall of 2012

This was the  porch at Christmas  2012:

Looking out from the porch in winter (we live in Florida...)  2013

And this was our porch in the spring of 2013:

And THIS is ONE of the inhabitants of our porch in spring!  Isn't he charming?

He started to show us his "colors", note the red throaty look peeping out from under his chin...He thinks we want to get cozy with him...or he may think we want to fight...

On  5/17/2013 I wrote the following with the picture below:  Someday I hope to add on to our porch to stretch it out to cover the front door and level up the floor, so it will be very similar to the porch shown at the top of the page:       

(Our porch in 2013)

When we first moved to this house in 2012, there was no porch at all: 

No Porch, no flowers or shrubs...and lots of bright, hot sun in the afternoon (western exposure)  Thank the Lord for those sycamore trees in the summertime...but they are bare all winter...
and it still gets pretty hot out there!

I wrote in May of 2013:  "So, as you can see, we HAVE made some progress in the 1 &1/2 years since we moved to our "Camp in the Woods" house in 2012.  I figure if we can add a section of porch per year, by the time we live here 5 years, we should have a porch all the way across the front!  That would be my dream porch...but I'll settle for a porch across the front door and maybe the two living room windows. It doesn't have to be fancy...just a country porch will do..."

Why am I telling you all of this?  Well, I guess I wanted to share my little "dream porch" with you.  You already heard about my little "dream cabin" that I want to build someday...

Why?  My real dream is to have the kind of place where people love to sit a spell and visit...you know what I mean...a rocking chair and a swing on the porch...just sit back, relax, watch the birds, bears, and lizards...and ENJOY being together...like the good old days. 

I suppose this isn't the first time I've told you about this front porch idea.  Click on this link for more thoughts on this topic and some pictures of some of the wildlife viewed from the front porch:  "Life Is So Much Better from a Front Porch"   

It's that time of year when life IS so much better viewed from a front porch...I find it difficult to come back inside each evening...but the porch is where I often get the inspiration I need to come back inside and write to you...so here I am!  (UPDATE: I originally wrote this in May of 2013...yes, spring, fall, and winter are the best times to sit on our front porch. Summer is just too hot...so I am looking forward to fall now as I write this in late August 2017)

I hope you will come sit on my front porch with me again sometime.  The best time of day is early in the morning when the birds are just waking up, and then in the early evening, as the sun goes down behind the trees and the birds sing their last songs of the day as they gather in their food for the night and settle back into their little nests hidden among the trees surrounding us.

Afterthoughts:  Where do YOU like to go to relax in the early mornings, evenings, or during the day if you are home?  Or, if you work, do you have a special place where you can take a mini-vacation break to rest for a few minutes away from the computer, phone and busy-ness of the day?  If you don't have such a place in your life now, look for one...create a space just for you and your mate, friends, neighbors, or you alone...a place to reflect, rest, and re-create...and listen to the sounds of God's world around you. Ahhhhh....just breathe!  (that was a "Calgon take me away" moment, created just for you and me.)
Blessings to you today....

NOW FOR THE UPDATE, 8/24/2017:

This picture of the front of our house was taken in 2015..quite a difference!

In the early months of 2015 we finally added this section of the front porch...and today I can say that my dreams of a large country porch are finally coming true!

(Pictures taken in February of 2015, hence the trees are bare)

I wrote this in February, 2015: "And just a couple of hours ago, all these chairs were filled with happy people, sitting and talking and laughing and enjoying a warm, sunny February afternoon in Florida!  I neglected to take any pictures while our friends were here...but that's okay...the echos of laughter still remain in my heart and memory...and I wanted to write about it before it slipped away.  I don't think it will soon dissipate in my mind...it was such a glorious time of sweet fellowship with dear friends who have been with us throughout the years during good times and hard times....the kind of friends who love unconditionally...and bring hugs and smiles and food and willing hands to help in time of need...the very best kind of friends to have.  It was very fitting that they should be the first to celebrate our new porch with us."

Now I hope someday YOU will come and sit a spell with us too!

Click on picture to go to "Ben's Country Woodshop", Creator of these signs

Y'all Come!

This picture was taken this evening, 8/24/17...looks a little messy right now, but just as soon as it cools down I hope to be spending a lot more time out here again.
Sure wish you'd come and sit a spell!

We could have tea time together!!

Don't worry, we'll make sure the bears aren't invited to our tea-party!!

Okay, now hop on over to Deb's front porch at Breathing In Grace and check out what our other Friday Foto Friends are sharing!  Have a blessed a glorious day!