a few pumpkins and cabbages on a Halloween front porch

With last year Halloween being cancelled,it is my first year decoration our new front porch for trick or treat:

and I had a good time!

I started with setting up my pennant from last year:

Then added some decorative cabbages in lovely shade of purply green

in the wood pumpkin I built a few years ago:

still good after all these years!

The crows took back their places on the porch,

on top of ladder and pumpkins

Our big pumpkin has not been carved yet,

Miss C. is doing it this weekend,

I am not sure what she will do,

but last year one was awesome:

Elmo on fire, very fitting for the pandemic!

Happy Halloween!

fall front porch

Today is the first day of fall!And with how cold it has been for the past few days,it is hard to believe it is not October already....But it is the perfect time to enjoy our new front porch,and I had fun adding some seasonal touches:

with pretty colorful mums,

pillows, trow blanket and pumpkins.

And for the first time, we have a doormat!

When I bought that one at Michaels, I did not think about size,

just how pretty it was...

and now I know why people layer doormats,

they are too small for the doorways!

I am still searching a few extra pumpkins,

the colorful pepper plant is a fun and different addition,

which gave the opportunity to get a new pot/planter,

my latest addiction.

For the pillows, I just borrowed them from inside,

I am still quite a fan of my fox pillow.

I did get something quite fun from Scotland to keep me warm:

a blanket from the Tartan Blanket Company.

I purchased it from Amazon but it came from there:

The colors are perfect for my fall decor,

and I already tried it,

it is quite warm.

My ultimate fall accessory?Bosco of course!I will not recount the amount of effortsto get to that pic....It was totally worth it,such a good dog!

Happy Fall!

Front yard overall, part two

We left off last time just after the masons have finished all the stone work:

looking very nice, ready for the carpenters!

We were looking for a simple front porch, very square, like the house. Because of the timing, we were not sure it would get finished as our state started to shut down. Our contractor decided to keep working as all the work was outside.

With the columns, it really started to take shape.

But then there was a long time waiting for the inspector,

and finally the under roof was installed!

And the magic of paint finished it all off:

As the grass started to grow, we made a new house number, brought in a rocking chair from the back yard...

and started planting some plants and flowers

in the new bed between the driveway and the walkway.

We put more plants and added gravel, perfect for lavender.

We purchased a set of new chairs for the porch,

perfect for 2 people, and just the right size for the space.

So are we done?

Well almost, the driveway needs to be redone,

(actually just finished!)

and I would like to get new light for the porch,

more specifically get another light on the other side,

which requires an electrician to enter the house,

and I am not ready for that.

Happy Day!

Front yard overall, part one

Last time, I shared our new front porch,

well here is how it all came to be ....
But first we need to look back to the house in 2011:

Good house but not very interesting from the outside.
The first thing we changed was the front door, it was not closing properly. we had to replace it with a custom door as it is very wide, great for moving furniture!
A couple years later, the two huge windows that are in the stair case,  went from single pane 1960 windows to double pane windows, no more rain inside from condensation!

The house remained this way for a few years, not beautiful but very comfortable. You can see scars just above the front/large window where a porch or something must have been.
Finally last year we had the house repainted, we thought about doing ourselves, but felt overwhelmed.

Tall ladder and roof are not my friends! The crew we hired did a great job, and were able to work uninterrupted, probably the only week of summer without rain!

The color is SW Oyster Bay .
From the pictures, you cannot tell but the retaining wall was rotten, and started to fall over, it was time to do something.
Finally this year, in late February, we started the front yard overall! We hired the same contractor/mason that did  our back patio 6 years ago.

The first part is always a little scary and ugly!

We were the envy of the neighborhood!

Once the dirt was removed, they built some forms

and it started to look less scary...

Once the concrete was poured,

they started building walls and covering all the concrete with blue stones.

Coming home every night after work was a treat,

always looking better....

and until the masons were done:

(the driveway still needed to be redone)

Next up: building of the front porch.

Happy day!