Back "Porch" Living!

Remember I told you HERE last week that our handyman "Billy" was working on a major project on our back deck...Well, work he has done all week/weekend long, and today I think the "project" is finally finished!

This is a "before picture" of our deck, before anything was done. We had this deck built last summer before we moved into our house so we would have a back entrance into the house and also have a place to sit and watch the activities on "Still Waters Pond".

 

And we certainly have enjoyed it. You've seen many pictures throughout the year of the geese, herons, sunsets, etc. But what you haven't probably noticed is that the afternoon sun gets extremely bright on our back deck, as it faces west.  And the backside of our house gets extremely hot from the hot sun beating down on it all afternoon, with no shade to break the sun's rays. We end up having to close our blinds for most of the afternoon, which spoils the whole purpose for living on the pond in the first place.

Our electric bill this summer was much higher than we anticipated, and we think it is because of the constant radiant heat bearing down on the house, causing the air conditioning to run constantly. Yes, we do live in Florida, so that is par for the course. But enough is enough!

And so, when we met "Billy" the handyman and he said that he could build us a roof over our deck, we decided to take him up on it, and this would be an "Anniversary Gift" to each other and to our house, since we just had our 51st wedding anniversary and we also celebrated our one year anniversary of living here in this house!

Here is Billy and one of his sons, who came to help "Pops" do the job.

They worked diligently in the blistering sun all weekend long to get this job done.

It was exciting to see the difference it made already as each panel of the metal roof was added. I was sitting inside in my little den looking out the window and could feel the difference right away...

We did leave one section open at this end so that we can use our BBQ grill on the deck and not have to worry about burning the roof down!

And here is the finished roof! Complete with two ceiling fans w/lights!  

And now I can stand under the shade and look out at the pond! 

And this is looking out from our living room through the glass doors, which now we don't have to cover in the middle of the day!  There may be times when the glare is too bright off the pond and we may still have to close the blinds for a little while, but we can tell a difference in the heat against the windows and the wall already!! Hooray!! Mission Accomplished!

I will post more pictures when we finish  setting up our deck , I mean porch furniture and adding some homey, comfy touches. (I think by adding the roof we can now call it a "porch" instead of a deck,  right? I like the sound of a "porch" so much better.)  We are debating also about painting or staining, but that will come later on. In the meantime, we are just rejoicing in having this wonderful shady spot...and can't wait for fall so we can really enjoy it!  (the heat and humidity are still a bit too high to spend too much time out there right now, but fall is coming!)

Thinking about the sun and the shade reminds me of these verses from Psalm 121

5.  "The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6.  The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

7.  The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8.  The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

from this time forth, and even forevermore."

Good Night my friends!

Sweet Dreams!