One porch is not enough

As the sun makes it’s daily arc across the sky, the comfort of a porch changes from cool and shady to being in the direct sun.   Therefore, I built a porch on each of three sides of the house, east, north and west, leaving the south for the sun room that receives the sun in the winter for passive solar heating.  With comfortable rockers and hammock swings, each porch is ready for pleasant sitting at any time of day.

The east porch has the early morning sun, but is perfect later in the day for watching birds at the feeders and supervising a dog in the fenced yard.  It is a good place to read and to share conversation with a friend.

The west porch is where I am most mornings with coffee.  Hummingbirds feed there and perch in the young maple trees between flights.  I can observe the comings and goings of my community of friends on the driveway, hear the crow of the young rooster who has just found his voice, watch the wind bend the bamboo tops and oversee my stand of hazelnut bushes. After the sun dips behind the trees, this porch is again my favorite for reading until the light fades entirely and bats have taken over the flight paths from the birds who have settled down for the night.

The porch on the north side is the entryway from the car.  Here packages and coolers tend to collect.  But a rocking chair also gives a relaxing spot when the heat of the day is too much elsewhere.  The woods are close here and the sounds of wind and birds are loudest.  A pair of Pileated woodpeckers shares the woods along with a variety of owls.  Turkey vultures nest in an abandoned building and launch their young every spring.

A small house and large porches makes for very pleasant living, cozy and spacious at the same time.  This week I reclaimed the porch railings from the morning glory vines in preparation for staining them.  Pressured washed and dry they will receive a semi-opaque stain for protection and to improve the appearance.  I read that new wood needs time to age before being treated, but perhaps 10 years was a bit long to wait.

Marianne