Saturday, February 14, 2015

A Glimpse of Spring


It's been unseasonably warm here in Northern Arizona. We're supposed to be in the low 50s, but we've had temperatures in the high 60s and sometimes even up to 70 degrees.

While, it's a nice break from the bitter cold we had last month, which was around 30 degrees during the day, I kinda like my seasons to be what they are. 

It is winter after all.

Well, at least according to the calendar.

Despite my grumpiness about the sudden heat wave, I've caught a little bit of Spring fever and purchased a few flowers. Since it's been prettied up a bit, I thought I'd show you around the turret and the front porch.

I also painted my front door not too long ago.


I don't have any pictures of the before, but can you guess what color it was?

Yup, brown.

I could tell it was red before they painted it, so I went with that.

It's good luck, and it also reminds me of my grandma Bonnie's red front door :)


I'm amazed that it still has the original hardware.


The screen door was replaced sometime in the 1950s, but it's pretty cute and it lets me open the door to let fresh air in, without having a parade of bugs.



I really need to paint the trim around the door outside and the screen, but I'm having another block on what color.


White?

Yellow?

Leave it as is?

What do you think?






A little humor ;)


I hung the temperature gauge here, so I could see what it was like outside without opening the door, which is nice when it's actually cold.

And yes, the mail is delivered right to my porch.

Pretty neat, huh?


My great grandmother's plant stand.


It's home to Fern.

I didn't name him.

The tag said, "I am Fern", so who am I to change his name?


I used to get fresh eggs delivered, so I bought this vintage cooler, and that way if I wasn't home the eggs wouldn't spoil.

Unfortunately, he stopped coming one day, so now it holds extra firewood until I can find someone else that delivers.




My mom gave me this angel for Christmas one year.

It's supposed to protect the house from evil.


The view out into the front yard...


The dogs love to sit out on the porch with me, so that's why I have the doggy gate up. I plan on replacing it for a metal one at some point, but this works for now.


When I went to buy Fern, I couldn't pass up these pansies.






The full view of the front porch:


Here's my little 1940s dinette set that used to be on my screened in porch at the old house. I spray painted it yellow and fixed the ripped up seats with new oil cloth.

Can you see Bubba?

He loves to sit there everyday and bark at the people walking by.

He's so tough ;)


The lower portion of the porch will be filled with pots full of herbs and flowers, as soon as it's really Spring and not "pretend Spring", but for now it just has one lonely birdbath.


My mom didn't want it anymore, because she didn't think it was big enough.

This seems to be an ongoing problem with her.

First the Panini maker and now this.

Anyway, I thought it was darling, so I brought it home.




I found this bird feeder at a local store and I love that it matches the dinette set :)




The full view.


It's just a glimpse of Spring, but it's enough to cheer up the porch for now.

I hope all of you are having a beautiful Valentine's Day, no matter what the weather is like where you live :)

xo
rue

52 comments:

  1. I love your wonderful old door...the hardware is beautiful. So fun to have the scrolled guard on the screen, too. I am looking forward to planting pansies, but it was -2 this morning, so think it will be awhile!

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  2. Love your red door and that hardware. They sure don't make things to last like that anymore! Pansies to me are a sure sign that spring is coming. Unfortunately for us we are to get another 20 inches of snow tomorrow....on the mounds and mounds we already have! sigh it will be awhile before I can enjoy spring again. Can you tell I'm not a fan of winter?
    Have a great Valentine's day
    Jeannette

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    Replies
    1. Send your winter to me!! ;)

      I hope you had a great Valentine's Day, Jeannette.

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  3. I'm smitten! Love the 50s screen door, your red door, the yellow vintage table, your new flowers, bird feeder, and all of the details. This is the most charming porch in the universe. It's cloudy and grim here today, but I just noticed that my lavender hasn't died (it all came from a grocery store mark down). I dug up everything --it was all dead from the Polar Blast anyway--and planted it last spring. Looking forward to playing in the dirt. Thanks for the wonderful tour. Happy Valentine's Day!

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    1. Awwwww....... thank you, Michael, that truly means a lot coming from you :)

      xoxo

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  4. Everything is so sweet and inviting. Your roof reminds me of those wonderful thatched roofs on cottages that are sprinkled around Carmel, Ca. Positively enchanting! :)

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    1. I forgot to add that I used to live in Pebble Beach, so I know exactly what you mean about those cottages :)

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  5. Your blog has now become a favorite weekly routine. It always put a smile on my face and slows me down so I can appreciate the small joyful things in life. In this post, the yellow bird feeder caught my eye, it is so bright, cute and cheery. The cross from your mother is also special. Happy Valentine's day! Genevieve
    BTW, your dog barf burritos were wonderful!

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    1. You are so sweet, Genevieve. It means a lot that you said that :)

      I'm glad you liked them!

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  6. Loved seeing your little touches of spring, even if it is early in your area. Here in the northeast we are bracing for our next winter storm so your little fern and happy pansies made my day!

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    1. I'm so glad, Diva! I hope you're fairing well in the snow.

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  7. I enjoy your blog so much! Love the red door and especially the screen door as well as your sweet porch with the yellow table and yellow bird(s) feeder! Love Arizona!

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  8. Happy Valentine's Day to you, Rue! Oh, I love your red door and the hardware is lovely. When we moved up here, I couldn't wait to paint the front door red. It was a yucky dark blue. I love your little porch and every little nook and cranny is so charming! Give little Bubba a kiss for me. Bubba is what my little granddaughter calls my hubby! It's his nickname and she picked up on it and we love it.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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    1. Thank you, Shelia :)

      I'll most definitely give Bubba a kiss from you. How funny that it's your husband's nickname! I think it's precious that your granddaughter calls him that.

      xo

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  9. The weather here is -40 tonight. It makes me laugh when you say 30 degrees is 'bitter cold'!

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    1. -40?! Good God..... I can't even imagine that, Sue. Please stay warm!

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  10. I so enjoyed the tour and touch of Spring. Absolutely charming.

    I think the trim would look great in the green paint.

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  11. The weather sure is unpredictable this winter. We are still in Florida, and currently running the heater!

    As for the lovely door, my vote is for green, with yellow a close second.

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    1. Running the heater in Florida? That's something I never thought I'd hear LOL

      Thanks for your vote, Doreen :)

      Delete
  12. Love your red door...so cheery! I'm anxious to see how you landscape the front area...spring can't come soon enough. Fern needs more friends! ;)

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    1. Thank you, Donnamae :)

      I agree with Fern needing a few friends, but not too many or no one will be able to get to the door LOL

      Delete
  13. Love the red door! I think I would either go with green like the windows or white. I am in love with that charming screen door and your yellow patio set...so cute! Love the bird feeder and bath as well. Such a cozy and cheery porch. I am ready for spring here in Florida. It's been low thirties the past couple nights and tonight as well and I am over it! Can't wait to see your porch in spring. Have a lovely evening and Sunday.

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    1. Thank you, Vicky!

      I cannot believe the weather you folks down there are having. So odd! I hope it warms up for you soon :)

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  14. I love your house, your porch, your door, your screen door, your yard. I just love it all!
    Brenda

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  15. I would gladly trade weather with you right now...it's going down to -10 tonight (-30 with the wind chill factor). I'm sitting here in a long-sleeved shirt, a thick hoodie, socks and slippers and I'm still shivering. I even turned the thermostat up a degree. No matter. I love the charming details of your house and your yellow dinette set and bird feeder. I vote for painting the trim around the door white. Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day!

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    1. Brrrr....... I hope you stay warm, Melanie. I've been in cold like that and it's no fun.

      Thank you and I hope you had a great Valentine's as well :)

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  16. It's so nice to see flowers and greenery - we're still dealing with several feet of snow piled around the house. Your patio is so welcoming and friendly! I vote for matching red trim as I think it would give more visual impact to that awesome door. I'd leave the screen door cream or light yellow though for the wonderful contrast.

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    1. I see what you mean about the trim and the door. I think you've given me an idea of what I want to do.

      I hope you stay warm :)

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  17. Love your porch! What we have is barely big enough to call a porch ( I had a huge porch at the last house - I still miss it) We have had some spring like days here too but it is supposed to turn cold again. We didn't have a screen door so we bought a storm door in the closest thing to red I could find (cranberry) then painted the front door to match so it wouldn't scream 'storm door' from the street but yours is so cute, I would probably go with whatever the trim on the house is painted. I am super jealous of your beautiful wood floors!
    Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.

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    1. I remember your porch, Tina. It always looked beautiful in the Spring :)

      I hope you had a lovely Valentine's as well :)

      xo

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  18. We always have a red door. Every house we bought we have painted the front door red. Your porch is so charming. I love the table and chairs...

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  19. Hi Rue, I just love a red door and painted mine red too nearly 10 years ago and still love it.
    Your porch and yard is so charming. One could spend a lot of time out there enjoying the day.
    Great accents you've added and the pansies and Fern are so pretty.
    Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day.
    Hugs, CM

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    1. I never would have figured you for a red door, Celestina! How wonderful :)

      Thank you and I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day as well.

      xo

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  20. Hi, Rue! Every time you show pictures of your home, I understand more and more why you fell in love with it! If I had the opportunity to move away from Indiana (and had no way to ever move to England), northern Arizona would probably be where I would go. I was born and raised in El Paso and while I won't ever live in El Paso again (no relatives there anymore), I do miss the desert. I also want as close to 4 seasons that can get. For now, I'll just be happy with the peek of desert that I can get from your blog!
    I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. We had blizzard warnings and white-out conditions. Today it's a balmy -10. Good thing I don't need groceries, because we'd starve!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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    1. Hi Deb :)

      I understand what you mean about England. If I didn't love living here so much and I didn't have to worry about family, I might have moved there myself. This is about as close as I'll ever get.

      You know, I don't really live in the desert though. I'm up in the mountains ;)

      I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's as well and please stay safe and warm!

      xo

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  21. Sweet! I vote green for the door trim! I love that the house has so many original details. Always loved that dinette set. Bubba is so cute and spoiled.

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    1. Spoiled is right! LOL

      Thanks for the vote, Nikki!

      xoxo

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  22. I love your red door! And that beautiful stone walkway and porch. And I can just see Bubba out there barking, thinking that he's the size of a doberman. My 8 lb. long haired black dachshund knows he could take on any size dog or any bad guy.

    I'm kind of like Cozy Little House's Brenda above--I love it all! Your house is enchanting!

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    1. He really does think he's a massive animal, Dewena. Well, until he hides behind momma when something scares him ;) I'm sure your Dachshund is just as tough.

      And thank you :)

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  23. I love a red front door--I am thinking of having my yellow oak door re stained in a red hue. The storm door remnds me of the one my Mother had in Brooklyn for over 60 years! Your yellow bird feeder is so darling. I think painting the storm door yellow would make it pop and match your yellow accents.

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    1. If you do it, I hope you'll share pictures, Pat ;)

      Thank you!

      xo

      Delete
  24. I am so jealous of your weather as we get buried by 6 inches of snow today. Looks so pretty! And I love the sign outside the front door, I need one :)

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    1. I found it on Etsy. I think there was a few of them :)

      Stay warm, Jessica!

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  25. It is such a lovely entry to your lovely home!! xx

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  26. Love your front door, Rue! Love the cottagey-ness of it. As far as the door trim, what about painting the outside of the screen door (or the whole screen door) green and leaving the door trim and (inside of the door) the color of the house?

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