94-year-old wood...

I know the photo is blurry, but I have been shaking and that is not going to pass any time soon.  I just wanted to record my lovely finally-finished-restoring back porch floor.

In my opinion, 94-year-old wood should be honored and respected, not neglected and forgotten.

Right???

I thought to celebrate by inviting my neighbor over for dinner to try the Spicy Dr Pepper Pulled Pork tacos on the homemade Texas Flour Tortillas.  She had a seminar today and so was not working this evening as per usual.  I am exceedingly tickled to report that my neighbor practically swooned in delight and she SHOVED her tacos into her mouth.  After nearly dying of ecstasy over the Double Chocolate Dr Pepper Cake, she practically crawled out the front door to collapse on her couch before the food coma set in.  Nice to be able to make someone else so happy for a change.

For me, the cockles of my heart were warmed exceedingly when she waxed poetically at the sight of the back porch.  She's lived next door to this house for 21 years now and knew just bad the porch had gotten as the owner prior to the flipper grew older and more ill, unable to tend to so much in the yard and the house.

When the professing-Christian-but-rather-crooked contractor was working on the kitchen last summer, he would make such a mess on the back porch.  He spilled primer and paint and adhesive and grout out there.  I talked with him many times about not wanting to mar or mark up the floor any more than it already was.  His response was to yell at me about not telling him what to do (even though the contract had a daily clean-up clause) and ridicule me about thinking the porch floor was ever going to be anything but trash.  I almost wish he could see it so he could eat his words.  Almost.  Thinking of that time is very distressing still.

I admit that I keep going to the back door and peaking out to admire the end result.  Shamelessly.  A beautiful outcome for less than $40 of supplies ... really only about $30 since half the gallon of sealer is left over for the next time I need to do one of the porches.  Well, that and lots and lots and lots of labor and aching on my part.

I just adore old wood ... savor the sight of it no matter the state of it.