Our Place of Retreat.

Throughout our crazy journey of demolition, we have found a place that we LOVE...our back yard. Moving from the land of humidity in Fort Smith, we didn't fully appreciate how much we would love our covered back porch. It is the place that we find ourselves when all is chaos and we need a quiet break. It is a great place to cool off in the shade on a hot day's work. It is a sanctuary!

We are so fortunate to have not only a covered back patio, but also a huge pecan tree that gives tons of shade. It is a beautiful place to sit and read my Bible with a cup of coffee in the mornings while the doves are out cooing. I wish you could all enjoy that with me. While most of the work on the outside of the house is limited to next year, we do have a few things we get to do soon.

We plan on giving the back gate some TLC with a little paint and planting trumpet vine on the wall the gate is on to give a little appeal. We also plan on placing an arbor in front of the gate and training the vine to grow above it. In the land where "the wind comes sweeping down the plain" is so much more real than in Oklahoma (we hadn't really understood what real wind was until we moved here and experienced the occasional dust storm), we are so grateful to have a cinderblock fence. We just want to hide it a bit! We are also grateful that our new dog Zeke will have a good, fenced-in backyard where he can be safe!

In addition, we plan on greening up the grass (already on the way to that!), painting the iron supports on the back porch, and planting a white jasmine vine to cover the iron and bring some of the garden to the patio. A ceiling fan will be added to the porch to give breeze on the hot summer days when there is none. We have great flower beds already in place, but that is at the bottom of our priority list right now. We are so grateful that God gave us this place of retreat and sanctuary where I can get my mind together while our house is torn apart!