It’s been a hot summer in our neck of the woods.  We’ve spent way too much of it huddled around the air conditioning for comfort, hardly daring to set foot outside–lest we cook ourselves.  At long last the heat wave ended, and we’ve been able to go out and look around.  While the heat kept our grass short, I saw a few things that had suffered from neglect.  Our front porch was one of them, landing a top spot on the to-do list this week.

Sadly, until I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, this was what greeted our guests:

It was obviously a much more comfortable spot for spiders than humans.  

They were definitely spending more time out here than we were.  Until we made it look like this:So, how did I transform this neglected spot with a little elbow grease and $30? [Read more...]