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Mark Twain

(love the Vivienne Westwood-esque booties!)

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Scarlett flirted with the Tarleton twins there.  Atticus lovingly dispensed his infinite wisdom to Scout and Jem on the porch, their swing gently moving in the still night.  It was a favoured place of repose for the great Mark Twain, one of my literary heroes, his witticisms slicing through the cigar smoke hanging heavily upon the wysteria scented air. What thoughts come to mind for you when you hear the word “porch”?  I would venture they are pleasant, perhaps tinged with nostalgia.  For me, as you can see, it’s a connection to the Deep South, albeit only a literary one, as I hail from much cooler climes- and therein probably lies one of the very reasons I’m so enamored of the porch, this most classic and beloved element of traditional American architecture. But who doesn’t love the front porch and all the romantic, idyllic images it evokes?  The creaking rockers, white wicker and striped awnings, the tinkling of chilled glasses of lemonade and fireflies flitting frantically here and there amongst the night blooming jasmine…heady stuff indeed.  In a world that rushes by at much too fast a pace to suit my rhythms, I find it  comforting to harken back to the days of Twain, Williams, Faulkner and Harper Lee, when a single summer felt like a lifetime.

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Slim Paley Photo

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Slim Paley Photo

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Slim Paley Photo

It was true love  when I first set eyes upon our home, so many years ago now, the front porch slightly decayed but still gracious, the gigantic oak tree standing vigil.  There’s just something about a good old-fashioned American front porch that pulls more at my heart-strings than any other part of the home.  Mention a screened porch and I’m likely to swoon-  Add rain on a corrugated metal roof – I’m in HEAVEN!

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Painting by Diane Johnson

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.Maison Couturier porch

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New Book!

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Oak Alley

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New Orleans

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Scarlet and The Tarleton Twins on the front porch at Tara

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Southern Writers

William Faulkner, Reynolds Price

Eudora Welty, William Styron

Mark Twain

Tennessee Williams, Shelby Foote

Truman Capote

Carson McCullers, Alice Walker

Harper Lee, Maya Angelou

(Please feel free to add to my list )

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Photo from “Rural Escapes- A Celebration of American Country Homes”

My Dream Porch Has:

Lots of comfortable furniture, books & magazines, a day bed, lots of throws and pillows, soft lighting, hanging lanterns, pots of flowers and ferns, candles, music, a wooden screen door, a stoop to ‘set’ on, a Scrabble game, an old coke machine, a wide wood plank floor, peeling paint, fire flies, and last but certainly not least, family and good friends!   Oh wait! I forgot the lemonade martinis!

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Slim Paley Photo

The front porch of the Inn at The Grand Canyon

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Slim Paley photo………..Walking out to the porch in Sun Valley

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I love paintings of women reading..

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Slim Paley Photo………………My wrap around porch in Sun Valley…

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Slim Paley Photo.……….Wraps around to this screened octagon (with a metal roof )

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Photo from “Rural Escapes”

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New Book!

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I love this painted wooden deck

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Birmingham News Living photo

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Lemon and Green Apple Thirst Quencher

(from SQUEEZED by Jane Lawson)

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

6 green apples. stalks removed

Mint leaves to garnish

Pour the lemon juice into a serving pitcher.  Juice the apples in a juicer.  Add the apple juice to the lemon juice and stir. Serve over ice, garnished with mint leaves.

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The Best Porch Ever

Atticus and Jem

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Thanks for stoppin’ by!.

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