I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot
George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Memorial Day Front Porch, 2020

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!
Today, I will be sharing not only how I decorated the Front Porch for Memorial Day but also how it looks now that I was finally able to plant all the annual flowers in my pots....

But first just a few Personal Notes......

Joe was off on Friday so I tried going to Lowe's to buy flowers for the front porch and yard on Friday morning but it was just too crowded for me....

It actually had nothing to do with the pandemic that we currently are experiencing.....

After working night shift for almost 38 years, I was so spoiled being able to go shopping when I came home from work in the mornings, when the stores first opened and I would have the whole place to myself!!

After leaving Lowe's parking lot, we did stop in at the Amish Farmer who sets up several tables in the Convenience Store parking Lot right down the road from us......

I bought tomatoes for our Memorial Day "Cook In' that we always have.....
 Fresh home churned mild cheddar cheese which is so good!!

And Banana Bread baked in an Amish Bakery.....
It is the best and you can't beat the price of 2 loaves for $6.00!!

Our son, Joey, treated us to Take Out Dinner on Friday evening......

We ordered from a local Pizza shop......

We got Sicilian Pizza......
Mozzarella Sticks and Boneless Chicken Bites......
Since Pa. is starting to open up and our County will do so next week, Joey felt that it was time for him to move back to his apartment....


On Friday, he moved all his things out and slept overnight in his apartment for the first time in about 9 weeks....

I have to admit that I was sad to see him go, more so than I was the first time he moved out over 10 years ago.....

I thoroughly enjoyed his time here with us and getting to see more of the responsible, caring young man that he has become....

He will still be coming here to eat dinner and spend some time in the evenings because even though things are opening up in our State, it is far than what "normal" was before..... 
 And since he is working from home until some time in June, it will be good for him to get out of his apartment....

He enjoyed sitting on both the front and back porch, watching all the birds we have around here....
He actually lost weight too because he was eating home cooked meals and not constantly Take Out and Fast food.....

So we will change what was "normal" before and he will spend more time here with us in the future.....

On Saturday, Joe was running out to a few stores like he always does when he is off....

He has "Ants in his Pants' syndrome.....

He volunteered to go to Lowe's since it was early and I was no where near ready .....

So I gave him a list of what flowers I wanted and how many I needed and he did a great job!!
I am still keeping the color theme of red, orange and yellow flowers in the front of the house because they do transition well in Fall.......
I made potato salad in the morning because we are having our family Memorial Day "Cook In" on Sunday as Joe will be working most of the day on Monday at Wegman's......

I planted all the flowers in the front on Saturday afternoon......
It was a bit warm and humid but then a nice rain shower came along and cooled me off as I just kept planting.....
I have had the front of our townhouse decorated for Memorial Day for close to a week now.....
I am glad that I finally got to plant my flowers since I was holding off because of the threat of Frost.....

We actually had a low temp. of 36 degrees earlier in the week.....
Before I share what I planted in this black urn, I want to tell you about a little project that I did,,,,,
This solar light is one of a set of 4 that we bought this year to replace some that no longer worked.....
I wanted to make them look a bit more " Substantial" if you will......

A trick I learned a few years back was how to "elevate" solar lights.....

These are 2 that I have out in the back yard......
You use PVC piping.....

I had 4 thicker PVC pipes.....
I decided to spray paint them black......
You take a piece of rebar and either pound it down into the ground or in this case, into a urn....
You place the PVC pipe over the rebar...

Then you remove the spike from the column of the solar light.....

You then place the solar light into the PVC pipe with the column fitting over the piece of rebar which holds it in place.....

And this is now what it looks like.....
The solar lights are taller and when the flowers that I planted in these urns grow, the solar light will still be able to be seen......

This is the one in the black urn by the porch pillar.....
And now with it plated with 1 spike, 1 red begonia, 1 yellow marigold and 2 orange marigolds.....
  The one thing that I learned over the years is not to over plant my pots.....
In this pot, I planted 2 marigolds......
  The front  door......
A wreath that I made hangs on the door.....
 I added a Star to the center of it.....
 I was thrilled to be able to decorate for Memorial Day this year because last year, I had to skip it because of knee replacement surgery.....
I really like how the new pillows and cushions that I bought at the end of last Summer look with the Patriotic decorations......
Again, since we have weeping mortar on the front of our house, I am able to hang all kinds of things on it......

On the left side of the front door.....
I made the Patriotic Basket.....
 Patriotic Stars and my light up United States Flag that I have had on the front porch since the beginning of April.....
  I also like how the new rug bought last year looks with all my Americana decorations.....
I put some faux greenery inside this lantern, using it as a vase instead.....
Hens and chicks are planted inside a clay pot that I placed inside of a Dollar Tree tin bucket.....

I topped of the Tree that stays on the porch year round with a Patriotic bow and a few flags tucked into it....
The corner of the porch......
On the table is a Garden Fairy, another lantern that I think I will add one more bunch of faux greenery to and a candle holder for Citronella votive candles......
Below, one orange marigold planted in a small clay pot inside of a Bicycle planter, a cute mosaic tiled frog and one yellow marigold planted in a clay pot.....
  I keep the glass bottom of a solar light that no longer worked and will also use it for a citronella votive candle to help keep bugs away while sitting on the front porch......
After I took the first pictures, Joe decided to put out this motion sensored owl that he recently bought at Ocean State Job Lot........
Can I tell you that the eyes light up like neon lights and the darn thing hoots when motion is picked up on the sensor!!!!!!

Yep!!!

Joe and Joey had a lot of fun with this, needless to say!!!!!
Looking down my sidewalk in front of our townhouse.......
I hung Patriotic buntings on the railing of the porch.......
I planted the square pots in front of the railing each with 2 orange and 2 yellow marigolds.......
My rusted metal Angel bird bath stands between the 2 pots......
I added a pot inside a garden stake filled with hens and chicks to each pot.....
 And also a Dollar Tree Patriotic Star pick......
I planted this black urn on this end of the porch the same way as the other one on the other side.......
I planted 4 red begonias in the rectangular planter on the side of the railing.......
  This is how the other planter on the other side of the flower bed looks but I will be sharing that in my next post......
I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated the porch for Memorial Day by simply adding a few American Flags and Patriotic signs and plaques.......
And how I planted my pots with flowers in the color theme of red, orange and yellow.......
 I will be updating you on how they are growing...

Last year, they all did really well so I hope that will be the case this Season!!!!

 In my next post,I will be sharing the flower beds in our front yard.......
But before I end this post, I want to wish you all a very Happy Memorial Day and mention the TRUE meaning of Memorial Day or Decoration Day,which it was originally called.and what my Mother continued to call it until the day she died....... .......

 Memorial Day is a Remembrance of those in the Military that gave the Ultimate Sacrifice for this Country.......
 It is NOT a Holiday to honor ALL Veteran's ........
That is Veteran's Day or Armistice Day, which honors ALL Veterans, both Living and Deceased....

Nor is it a Holiday to honor all those in our families who have passed away......

Memorial Day was set aside to ONLY remember the Fallen Soldiers of War.....

It is a Remembrance and a solemn Holiday and was never intended to be a Celebration......

The time to Celebrate is on the 4th of July, the Birthday of our Country.....
Most Americans have forgotten the difference between the 2 Holidays.....

I will leave you to ponder that, showing the front of our house lit up in the evening......
I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......


I am linking up to these parties:

SUNDAY
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Silver Pennies Sunday
Happiness is Homemade Linky Party

 MONDAY 
Inspire Me Monday
Love Your Creativity Link Party
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Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesdays Blog Hop
Party in Your PJ's
Waste Not Wednesday
Charming Homes and Gardens Wednesday Link Party

THURSDAY
Vintage Charm
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Share Your Style Thursday Link Up Party
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop 
Grace at Home Party
Encouraging Hearts and Home Party

FRIDAY
Friday Features Linky Party
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 SATURDAY
Saturday Sparks
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Best of the Weekend Party

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
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14 comments:

  1. Miss MerryMay 24, 2020 at 4:16 PM

    Your porch is lovely. Our state has opened with some guidelines (which are meaningless because no one is following them). We are having our new normal. On Friday we did a homeschool field trip to a local park that is not frequented by many. And no one was there when we arrived. The park has monuments to soldiers from the small village that served in the Civil War, WW1 WW2, Korea, and Vietnam with those who gave all marked in the stones with stars. It was very meaningful and one of the most telling remark was my 7 year old grandson who was incredulous that we still have soldiers serving overseas.

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  2. JeanieMay 25, 2020 at 11:10 PM

    Debbie, I hope ever veteran in your city saw your porch! They would feel so proud. It's so patriotic and beautlful.

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  3. Karen @ Beatrice EuphemieMay 25, 2020 at 11:35 PM

    Love your Patriotic Porch, dear Debbie! The solar light idea is great, too! I love all the wonderful details and flowers. I can't grow marigolds here - for some reason everything loves to eat them. You wouldn't think so with how pungent they are, but it's true. Even the birds like them! I look forward to seeing yours this summer. So nice that Joey is going to continue coming for dinner after staying with you all those weeks. I always feel so sad when someone has an extended visit and then has to leave. It's been a while since we've had someone stay, though. I like to shop in the 'off' hours, too, and have the store to myself. I've never liked a crowd. I guess you can tell by where I live - haha! So nice to catch up with you and see that you are making the best of things. The porch looks wonderful at night, too, and a nice place to enjoy the evening breezes. Take care -stay safe, my friend. Sending hugs xo Karen

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  4. Elizabeth at Eiffel TellsMay 26, 2020 at 6:09 PM

    Your porch was an impressive and loving tribute to those who have served your country and clearly shows your gratitude to these people. The cheese and banana bread look scrumptious! Take care and stay safe.

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  5. Julie's Creative LifestyleMay 27, 2020 at 10:19 AM

    You decorated the porch so nice with the flowers. I hope you have a nice week Debbie.

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  6. KathyMay 27, 2020 at 3:18 PM

    I always love your decorating. I am SO MUCH MORE patriotic after working at hour VA for 25 years! Hope to hit a greenhouse tomorrow. I have slugs and land snails so impatiens and begonias are standbys in my shady yard--they even like marigolds! Yech!

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    Replies
    1. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasMay 29, 2020 at 7:20 AM

      Kathy,
      Thanks so much for stopping by!!
      We live in the shadow of a VA hospital with many residents in my developments either working at the hospital or being Veterans themselves..... My Dad and all of his brothers served in WWII so my Mother always put out flags and decorated a bit for Memorial Day...My neighbor has 2 sons who were both wounded in Desert Storm so I like to pay tribute to all who served and those who lost their lives doing so....Thanks so much for stopping by!!
      Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
      Hugs,
      Debbie

      Delete
  7. annies homeMay 28, 2020 at 2:11 PM

    love your porch so patriotic and pretty thanks for sharing
    if you find time come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  8. Sandra @ Dinner at EightMay 29, 2020 at 11:32 AM

    You've been busy! It all looks great!

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  9. Louca por porcelanaMay 31, 2020 at 2:31 PM

    What agreat and beautiful tribute!Awesome!Hugs!

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  10. AnnMay 31, 2020 at 8:14 PM

    So festive, Debbie! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ's.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PamJune 4, 2020 at 9:30 AM

    Debbie, your porch is so pretty and fun! I'm always amazed at your energy and fun spirit! I've featured this today at the TFT party. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  12. French EtherealJune 9, 2020 at 5:15 PM

    Thank you for sharing the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, Debbie!! Many people get it wrong. I know this year people wanted to remember people lost to the pandemic and this, too, doesn't apply, sad as anyone who dies in our families is to us. Hope you had a good Memorial Day. Happy to feature your post now that I have more time to post for tomorrow's Share Your Style #259 (6/10/20), thank you!!! <3

    Hugs,
    Barb :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. French EtherealJune 9, 2020 at 5:15 PM

      p.s. Love how you've decorated here and it works all summer long from now through Labor Day, for me anyway!

      Delete

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