A Patriotic Porch & A Refreshing Drink for Summer Gatherings

Welcome to the 435th Metamorphosis Monday!

Hope you’ve had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Mine was busy, but fun!

This weekend I finally took time to reattach the covers over the swing chains.

 

I had taken them off this spring to wash once the pollen attack was over, and had just never gotten around to putting them back on. It requires climbing a tall step ladder which always yields a different view of the porch . lol

 

The screened porch has seen a small transformation for the weekend. Actually, I think I’ll leave it this for a while and enjoy the red, white and blue additions.

 

 

I kept the decorations for this patriotic weekend simple, adding just a few things here and there like the large “flag” star on the wall near the swing.

 

 

The star came from Garden Ridge several years ago. Garden Ridge is now called At Home, I believe.

 

 

My plans for the rest of the day involve spending a lot of time in this chair reading and watching the birds. The crows are overrunning my bird feeders lately, hogging all the seed and scaring away the other birds. Anyone else having issues with that lately?

 

I pulled out my DIY wood flag and hung it above the porch hutch.

Screened Porch Decorated for Memorial Day

 

I never did antique or “age” it, but I noticed it’s starting to antique itself. Some of the sap in the wood is beginning to naturally bleed through. I like how it looks, so I’m not going to re-paint those areas.

 

If you would like to make this flag for your upcoming 4th of July decorating, you’ll find a detailed tutorial here: Make a Wood Flag for Patriotic Holidays. It’s super easy to make, just takes a bit of time.

I noticed after I took this picture, the flag is not centered over the hutch. When the porch floors were re-polyed last summer, the hutch didn’t get put back in quite the same spot. I need to unload a few dishes and slide it over a bit. But not today. lol

Do you see those areas on the flag that are naturally starting to darken? Wonder how the flag will look in a few years.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever used this tray in a post before. I purchased it during a sale at Williams-Sonoma several years ago. Flag dinnerware is by Warren Kimble and the pattern is called, Colonial.

 

Remember the Peach Bellini I shared from Trader Joe’s last summer? When I stopped by TJs recently to buy some for this summer, I didn’t see it anywhere. I still have one bottle left from last year, hopefully it’s still good.

 

But I did find this: Grapefruit Pompelini. Ummm, I guess Trader Joe’s gets in a different “wine specialty” drink each summer. I purchased two bottles and opened one a few days ago. It’s good, very refreshing! I think I prefer it over the Peach Bellini. It’s not as sweet as the Peach Bellini, it has just the right amount of tartness and sweetness combined. I can definitely recommend it for hot summer days. It would be great to have on hand for last minute get-togethers this summer.

I started out with blue wine glasses, these were a find in Dollar Tree one year.

 

Just for fun I switched over to these funny “redneck” wine glasses. They are always a conversation starter and good for a lot of laughs. 🙂  You’ll find them available here: Red-neck Wine Glasses. Flatware is also by Warren Kimble in the Colonial pattern.

 

Enjoy the rest of this long weekend, dear Friends!

Pssst: I post almost daily to Instagram. Follow Between Naps on the Porch on Instagram here: Between Naps On The Porch.

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Comments

  1. Susan, your porch looks perfect for any holiday with just enough red, white, and blue! Enjoy sitting in that chair and reading…that is my kind of day! Thanks for the party!

  2. Your porch looks great for the start of summer, Susan – very inviting, and just the right amount of Americana! Okay, those redneck wine glasses are a hilarious! The grapefruit Bellini sounds good. I’m taking it easy today – paying dearly for planting containers on Saturday and lugging furniture from an estate sale yesterday. I’ll be in a chair in my sunroom, reading all afternoon. Enjoy yours, and thanks for having us!

    • lol They are a hoot! I need to do that, been putting it off. Sounds like you found something interesting yesterday! Makes me want to visit A Classy Flea sometime soon. Enjoy your afternoon, Rita!

  3. I’d love to spend the day reading and watching bird on your lovely porch. Of course, I’d be distracted by your pretty décor. Thank you for hosting. Laurie

    • Thanks, Laurie! The crows are about to put me over the edge. lol At least they think twice about taking over the feeders when I’m sitting on the porch. Have a wonderful week! Hope you are relaxing today!

  4. Happy Memorial Day Susan, love your patriotic touches on the porch! I hope you can also squeeze in a nap on your porch today. 😉

    • Ohh, that would be nice! How’s your garden bench holding up, Mary? Mine are still looking good. They get dusty and need a wiping down occasionally, but I’ve been really happy with them, so far.

  5. I love your porch! So light and airy! Your bamboo floor lamp with the little bird finial is just gorgeous! Enjoy your day!

    • Thanks so much, Andrea! That lamp and another table lamp on the porch, came from Plow and Hearth online. They are designed for porches and have really held up well in the weather. Have a wonderful week!

  6. Just perfect touches of red/white/blue–for today, Flag Day, the 4th and Labor Day. And love how the flag is self-aging! Can you leave it up all summer to continue the process? How do you not have a mob of friends who “just happen to be in the neighborhood?!”

    • I think I will do that, I really do like seeing it there. It’s normally hanging in the garage where I see it each time I come home. I love it there when it’s not on the porch.
      lol I would be fine with that! Remember the days when you could do that, just stop by someone’s home and they would be genuinely glad you stopped by. No one does that any more. We’ve all gotten too busy, I suppose.

  7. Thanks so much for the party!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

  8. Nancy Bailey says

    Love seeing your summer porch with its Americana theme. Any decor in red, white and blue makes my heart beat faster. However, it practically stopped when I got to the picture featuring the red-neck wine glasses. It wasn’t the glasses – it was the red, white and blue forks. Oh, be still my heart…. wherever did you find those?

  9. Sandi Lee says

    Porch looks fabulous and I would leave it up thru July 4. Nothing wrong with enjoying it for a month. Aldi’s has peach bellini this week.

  10. Love the porch–just the right combo.

    Thinking today of those who gave their all for our country. Did you know that the Poppy tradition was started by a Georgia lady, Moina Michael from Walton County?–the aunt of a life-long friend of mine.

    The history can be found on Wikipedia:
    Main article: Remembrance poppy

    In 1915, following the Second Battle of Ypres, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a physician with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, wrote the poem, “In Flanders Fields”. Its opening lines refer to the fields of poppies that grew among the soldiers’ graves in Flanders.

    In 1918, inspired by the poem, YWCA worker Moina Michael attended a YWCA Overseas War Secretaries’ conference wearing a silk poppy pinned to her coat and distributed over two dozen more to others present. In 1920, the National American Legion adopted it as their official symbol of remembrance.

    On another note, I have seen more crows than usual here in my neighborhood–they are following me, for any time I am out, I see crows everywhere! Did you know they can recognize your face and communicate that to their crow buddies–so I heard.

    Have a lovely day all.

    • I saw a video about that a few years ago, can’t remember where, may have been on Youtube. They supposedly can remember a human face for up to two full years! They’ve done studies to determine that. They are scary smart!
      That’s so interesting about the poppy! I didn’t know about that. Thanks for sharing that info, Shelia!

  11. Loving all the patriotic touches! Thanks for hosting.

  12. Enjoyed your post. At our house in CA, it’s blue jays that are chasing all the birds away. No baby birds this year either. I’ve heard they raid the nests and eat the eggs. Help!

  13. I hope you have gotten alot of reading and relaxing done today! Thanks for hosting, Susan!!!

    • Thanks, Pinky! I have to make myself sit down and relax sometimes…always feel like I need to be doing something around here. lol

  14. Happy Memorial Day, Susan! My sunroom is like your porch with just a touch of patriotic decor. We usually try to have a July 4th party and then I deck it all out. I have those plates and love them, too. Your porch looks just fabulous! We are getting a Trader Joe’s soon here in Memphis and I can’t wait to try some of your Bellini drinks!

    • You will love Trader Joe’s, Martha! They have flowers at reasonable prices and their pine garland is really priced well at Christmastime. So many fun foods to try, too. I love going there!

      • Yes, I’m excited, Susan! Also, I want to thank you for your responses to my comments. I follow a couple of other blogs, but you are the only one who regularly responds to comments. That is just one of the reasons this is my premier blog. Not to mention that I love everything you post! How I love BNOTP. Thanks for all you do!

        • Thanks so much, Martha! I do try, but I’m always worried that I’ll miss a question in a comment since I often check comments via my phone when I’m away from my desk or home. So if I ever miss one, it’s definitely not intentional. 🙂

  15. My husband has a little hand held BB gun that looks like a pistol. Just shooting it in the air scares them.

    • Margaret Robinson says

      I thought of using a BB gun and then I realized what a lot of hassle – beginning with 1. They’re illegal here in California, 2. The spent “shot” of BB is left somewhere and if not in a bird, it becomes something that can be eaten and is, by other animals. The animal welfare places in CA stand together with this issue. Besides, if a police officer gets into the action it can cost a lot of $$$ to have learned a lesson. 3. If you hit anything belonging to a neighbor, you have to payoff the fix.

      Suppose they’re many other reasons, but this were first, so went with them for writing purposes.

    • I’ve been wondering if I could buy something that makes a noise like that, but doesn’t actually shoot anything. They are beyond annoying to hear and they clean out all my feeders in one day. I finally brought all the feeders in yesterday. They left after that and I put them back out a few hours later. So far they haven’t been back. I’m sure it’s just a temporary reprieve but it sure has been wonderful!
      Yesterday, I hung a Halloween crow I have upside down from a feeder and that put some of them off. One or two still tried to eat though before I gave up and brought them in.
      I hope they will stay gone for a while.

  16. Happy Memorial Day Susan! Your porch is red white & blue ready for summer!

  17. I mostly relate to your wooden flag…*sigh* Everything looks VERY festive!! franki

  18. Great post Susan and thanks for the wonderful party so many interesting posts.

    Love your table and porch, everything looks terrific.

    Enjoy your week.
    Mary

  19. Nancy Elizabeth says

    I like to see the good ole red white and blue. I remember when you did the redo on the pretty green hutch. I really like that color green on the hutch and the chair cushion, plus the great matching stripe cushion.

    Have a great weekend what is left of it.

  20. Thank you for your simple, tasteful patriotic additions. While I do so love the decorated-to-the-hilt vignettes, I have two jobs (my own doing, so don’t feel sorry for me!), And I simply don’t have time for all the bells and whistles. Your porch scene is lovely and calming, and most importantly, something I can duplicate!

  21. Susan, I always feel like sitting in that swing and relaxing on your porch. I do think it’s my favorite porch in Blogland. ‘-)
    I’m slowing pulling out the red, white, and blue. I leave it out all summer, so I do it slowly adding touches here and there. So far all I’ve done is bring out the patriotic pillows for one of my guest rooms and a chaise on one of the porches. More this week!

    • Thanks, Sarah! I like that idea, adding a little slowly as the season progresses. Keeps it fresh, doing that. That’s kinda the way I put things up after a holiday like Christmas, a little each day. Not so overwhelming that way…and eases you into the next season.

  22. Lovely place to relax!

  23. We have lots of those trays left. If it’s the same one it’s called Raven Wood Serving Tray. They have a glass bottom. I think I can just get some good craft paint and paint a flag on the bottom. I love getting ideas from you to be able to get more use out of something I like but am not sure about. With a flag it could last all summer long into Labor Day and again for Veterans Day.

    Also I’d love you to do a tour of your house with pics from the porch into those open doors. Of course, without giving up too much privacy.

  24. You have crows, I have starlings – and they not only eat all the bird food, when that’s gone, they come up on my deck and eat the dry cat food that I provide for my neighborhood community cats. It’s not that I object to the cat food that they eat, but they come in groups and leave bird p**p every where. When the fields are planted, they will rob seeds from the farmers, but until then they are a mess.
    Also, I love your flag star. Some people object to the design of our flag being used for anything but an actual flag, but I think it shows love and respect, not disrespect. Your porch is so cozy and inviting.

    • Thanks, Pat! I think so, too. We love our traditional flag and it’s lovely celebrated and loved in more artsy ways, as well. Definitely no disrespect, just a love for this country. ♥

  25. Cynthia Raines says

    Nice job Susan ~ always love seeing your porch and the red, white and blue top it off! Glad you took time today to relax. We’ve had a very busy 4 days and it’s been a great way to kick start summer, but I’m ready for a rest on the front porch swing tomorrow. 🙂

  26. Your porch looks so inviting! Do you use a special treated fabric for the pillows, or do you spray them?

    • No, that would probably be a good idea, though. I purchased the big green seat cushions for the swing and settee from Pier 1 around 8-9 years ago. They have held up really well. I’m sure they have faded a little, but I decided long ago that I wasn’t going to worry too much about the cushions. I don’t mind a bit of weathering, just gives the porch a relaxed, well-loved and used look. I just vacuum off all the cushions a few times in the spring to get the pollen off of them, then occasionally during the summer if they get dusty. I leave them out all winter, too. The only thing I bring in are the two Ikea pillows on the swing, the rest stay out all year.

  27. Susan, your porch looks wonderful! As always.

    I had to post on the crows — we have them too, here in DFW Texas, first time in 20 years! My neighbor has feeders for the regulars: jays, cardinals, robins, wrens; and I keep a birdbath/fountain fresh for them in the backyard. But the crows, two of them, have taken up residence in our neighborhood this year and scare away the smaller birds. They’re as large as black cats!!

    On a happier note, we have bluebirds nesting in our backyard for the first time! I’ve only seen them on your blog, so I’m thrilled to have these newbies this year. So pretty and sweet!
    Love your blog, Susan — hope you’re doing well.

    • Ugh, that sounds like my crows. Some of the ones coming to my feeder are as big as cat as you mentioned! They can wipe out two entire blocks of suet (which my birds love year around) in just 1-2 days!

      That’s wonderful about the bluebirds! They are such sweet, gentle birds, I love them! You may want to pick up some dried meal worms for them, although they love the fresh ones even more! 🙂
      They can’t crack a sunflower shell, they don’t have the right type beak for that, but if you buy the sunflower seeds that are already shelled, they love those. At my birding store, those are called, “No Mess” seed because there’s no shell to fall on the ground. They also like to nimble on peanut bits, but meal worms are their fave. They will take mouth-fulls back to the nest for the babies. I love to watch them splash around and take birdbaths in my birdbath on the deck. So cute!

  28. Your porch is so lovely. We are thinking about screening in part of our porch. We can’t sit out there at night the way it is. Yours looks so comfortable. Thank you for hosting the party.

  29. Molly D Brown says

    I would love the name of the house plates displayed in your green hutch.
    Also the store where they might still be available.
    I love your blog so very much. Especially in times like these.

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