Fuchsias on Our Porch at 7:00 a.m. January 5th

Who’d a thunk it? The fuchsias in the hanging baskets on our south porch are thriving through wind, rain, and freezing temperatures! Not only thriving… blooming!

According to everything I’ve read (as well as everything we’ve done in past years) the fuchsias should come indoors when the cold weather starts. Usually, long ere now, Farmer Nyel has transported the baskets into the garage where they stay until all danger of frost is over. For whatever reasons, that chore hasn’t come to the top of the list yet this year, but against all odds the fuchsias remain their same old cheerful, colorful selves.

Nasturtiums on Our Porch in December

I credit the porch. There is something friendly about it. The chickens like to hang out there. Last summer the nasturtiums crawled out of their beds and proliferated there. Unsolicited gifts show up there waiting to be noticed. And, unless we are super diligent, in the spring the swallows build their nests over the windows or on the light fixtures. That south porch definitely has a life of its own.

I’ve known other porches like that. I’ve always thought that they reflected the character of those who live in the attached house. There are porches that collect bikes and running shoes and skateboards. Other porches (usually back ones) gather up clam guns or buckets and shovels and boots. Still others, especially the enclosed variety, have an affinity for raincoats and umbrellas and down jackets. And lots of porches I know double as tool sheds, especially during the growing months, with rakes and hoes and bags of fertilizer clotting up the passageway.

Chickens Come Calling, Almost Anytime

f I had to choose, I’d definitely side with our porch with its generous welcoming of flowers and chickens and, yes, even the swallows. I love it that when we say “our porch has a life of its own” it’s really true. Every day seems to bring a new adventure. Now, if we could only train those chickens to leave their calling cards elsewhere…