Porch and Berries... and Larry's home!

Larry made it home.  He drove his Dad's 1981 Ford towing a trailer from Tucson to Mansfield in only 4 days!  Had minimal trouble, hit some heavy rains in Memphis, but other than that it was a good drive.  Without a radio or me to listen to, it was kind of a quiet drive.  Well, if you disregard the rattling from the front differential which had to be removed.  Oh well, only needed that part if he had to 4-wheel it, which was unlikely on the freeway system other than perhaps Oklahoma...LOL

I'm glad he's back and he's pleased with the progress the contractor made while he was gone.  We now have the floor of the porch done and we're waiting on the trusses to do the roof.  Here are a few pics...

Porch under construction.  It's going to be very sturdy, they

did a lot of framing for it.  It is 8' deep and 42' wide!!

The porch is the length of the house portion.  The open 

part is the side of the garage.

Found lots of berry bushes on the property.  Talking to the

neighbors, they are not edible for us but the wildlife love them.

These are only about 1/2" diameter and a very pretty red.

They are called "choke cherries".

These are some sort of raspberry looking fruit, but also

they are not good for people, very sour.  But the deer,

bear and all other critters love them.  Bear!?!  that's

what they said.  I guess there are a few black bears

around, gotta watch out for them!

As you can see, there are LOTS of these bushes and they

are all big bushes!

Finishing up the floor of the porch!

It doesn't look that big in this picture, but standing on it, it seems

huge!  It's going to look great with the pillars and a

couple of rocking chairs, maybe a swing chair.

Ready for the pillars and chairs!!!  We chose our colors for the

roof and the siding and trim today.  Too much fun!!!  More

pictures of progress to come.