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Hello friends! This is my very favorite time of the year – I call it Porching Season! It is the season that brings the perfect weather for being on the porch – and I love that the porching season here lasts about 6 months! I made a promise to myself during the winter that I would do better about porch sitting when it got warm! I’m not a very good sitter, so it is challenging to me! So today I’d like to welcome you to my home on the hilltop where we can sit and do some serious porching!
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Hello friends! This is my very favorite time of the year – I call it Porching Season! It is the season that brings the perfect weather for being on the porch – and I love that the porching season here lasts about 6 months! I made a promise to myself during the winter that I would do better about porch sitting when it got warm! I’m not a very good sitter, so it is challenging to me! So today I’d like to welcome you to my home on the hilltop where we can sit and do some serious porching!
Krista says: I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.
Kim Rice says: Well Dori, I have a feeling we could talk about anything and everything on those porches!! But I bet we’d be doing some hand piecing or hand quilting!! I’d probably fall asleep for a bit on that iron bed, it looks sooooo comfy!!
Then we’d of course have to have a snack and I’d beg and plead for some of your homade strawberry shortcake!!!
I can just picture it……….
Thank you for another trip to the farm!!
Hugs!
Kim
Pam says: I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!
Donna Kozak says: What beautiful porches…the only thing I want to do is have a lovely summer afternoon nap on that comfy looking bed with my cat purring beside me – pure bliss !
Michele says: I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!
Sandi King says: Dori, I would just sit and relax and admire the view from the back porch, then stroll to the other porches and try them out for a while. I wouldn’t have to talk much, just sit and look and wish I had such a porch. I live in KY and I am still waiting on my home to be done – and we want porches all the way around too, but I will settle for two long ones, front and back, covered of course and with comfortable chairs and a swing. We don’t have much of a view as we live close to neighbors, but I love to look at the night sky and watch for the planes that fly over. A glass of lemonade or iced tea would hit the spot and if you had homemade strawberry shortcake as Kim says, that would be the best way to end a day. I love porches. One of my must-haves for our home is ‘the porch’. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful life and the pictures of your home and porches. I feel like I was there for a short time as I read this blog.
Sandi King says: Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.
Irene says: Dori your porches and the views are beautiful!!
Have a great Mothers Day.
Marilyn says: Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn
Jena says: I’m a porch sitter too- in fact- I’ve set up my desk on the porch this year. A place to write,- an encouragement of you will. My laptop is here, I wish it was a typewriter, but I have to wait for that gem to be added back into my equipment list. My journal, a cup of tea or maybe a glass of evening wine with a few dogs lulling nearby. My favorite time of year and my favorite space.
Glad to meet a kindred spirit.
Jena
Shannon says: Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og
paulajean says: A lovely post! Your porch reminds me of my grandparents’ house. Spring is my favorite time of year and getting outside on our porches and patios is the main reason why.
Your Tennessee friend!
Paula
Joan says: Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.
Thank you for the invite to sit a while and enjoy your view. Your porches are lovely and I can almost hear the laughter of your grand girls enjoying the games and yummy treats on them.
Our Okanagan summers are hot and our porch has no roof only a large maple tree that shades one corner. It has a beautiful view of the lake it’s a favorite way to spend some time each day.
Enjoy your porch season.
Judy from Maine says: Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.
Cyndie Gray says: Oh my Dori, what wouldn’t we talk about…but you know what? The quiet together moments on your lovely porches would also be ever so precious ❤
Cheryl Turner says: Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner
Karen Sanford says: Hey what’s up today? I brought over this new little apron I made this week isn’t it just the cutest thing? I made out of a couple of recycled dresses I got at the local thrift store, I know, don’t they have some of the cutest finds?? It’s so pretty today and sitting on the porch is perfect with these glasses of sweet tea! Let’s just rock and enjoy!
Rebecca M. says: Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.
marylou garcia says: I love your beautiful porch. . .
Denise Ross says: I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
I just love your porches! I dream of one day having large porches like yours! Our current deck is small, uncovered, and very hot. My little guys love playing on our deck so we use an umbrella to help with the sun and heat. Just the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been talking about remodeling our deck. We would love to make it longer and wider as well as adding a roof covering. No official plans are set in stone, but I’m hoping to get started before the heat of the summer hits! Rocking chairs will also be a must for my deck when it’s finished.
Well Dori, I have a feeling we could talk about anything and everything on those porches!! But I bet we’d be doing some hand piecing or hand quilting!! I’d probably fall asleep for a bit on that iron bed, it looks sooooo comfy!!
Then we’d of course have to have a snack and I’d beg and plead for some of your homade strawberry shortcake!!!
I can just picture it……….
Thank you for another trip to the farm!!
Hugs!
Kim
I don’t care what we talked about! Just sitting and relaxing, drinking tea or coffee, becoming aquainted. Eventually conversation would drift to grandchildren I am sure! And hobbies, and collections, and sewing projects, flea markets, recipes, antiques….friends don’t need topics, it just happens!
What beautiful porches…the only thing I want to do is have a lovely summer afternoon nap on that comfy looking bed with my cat purring beside me – pure bliss !
I have always loved porches but not always had one, so your post was so enjoyable. I imagine our conversation would touch on how we got where we are, the beautiful valley below your porch, the trout stream in front of mine……..and spiders! I had to laugh about that last one because when we finally got our mountain home with porches the first thing I noticed was how prolific the spiders were; spinning and creating their own art every evening. For some reason I have many more on the front wraparound porch than the back porch. Maybe it is something to do with the wind? Anyway, we would have plenty to talk about. Enjoy your porching season!
Dori, I would just sit and relax and admire the view from the back porch, then stroll to the other porches and try them out for a while. I wouldn’t have to talk much, just sit and look and wish I had such a porch. I live in KY and I am still waiting on my home to be done – and we want porches all the way around too, but I will settle for two long ones, front and back, covered of course and with comfortable chairs and a swing. We don’t have much of a view as we live close to neighbors, but I love to look at the night sky and watch for the planes that fly over. A glass of lemonade or iced tea would hit the spot and if you had homemade strawberry shortcake as Kim says, that would be the best way to end a day. I love porches. One of my must-haves for our home is ‘the porch’. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful life and the pictures of your home and porches. I feel like I was there for a short time as I read this blog.
Dori, I also wanted to mention I love what you are using for a flower pot on the porch. I remember those pots very well, as we used one on the farm growing up, and when I lived on a pig farm and took care of the owners pigs. We didn’t have indoor plumbing at either of these places. On my family’s farm, our outhouse was inside the barn which was up the hill in back of our farmhouse and not something we would use at night, hence the pot. On the pig farm the outhouse was below the house and a ways away and no one wanted to walk to it at night either. Those were some happy days though we didn’t have much we had fun all the time. Memories are precious.
Dori your porches and the views are beautiful!!
Have a great Mothers Day.
Thank you for sharing your porch. As far as the spiders are concerned, have you tried peppermint? I read in a book concerning home remedies that spiders will stay away from peppermint. Have a great time on your lovely porches.
Marilyn
I’m a porch sitter too- in fact- I’ve set up my desk on the porch this year. A place to write,- an encouragement of you will. My laptop is here, I wish it was a typewriter, but I have to wait for that gem to be added back into my equipment list. My journal, a cup of tea or maybe a glass of evening wine with a few dogs lulling nearby. My favorite time of year and my favorite space.
Glad to meet a kindred spirit.
Jena
Dori, you are living my dream with your lovely porch! Thanks for sharing and Thanks for the tour!
~shannon
@browngirl_og
A lovely post! Your porch reminds me of my grandparents’ house. Spring is my favorite time of year and getting outside on our porches and patios is the main reason why.
Your Tennessee friend!
Paula
Porches, beautiful porches! I was raised with porches and always have had at least one my grown up life. Your’s are simple wonderful! I cleaned my front porch today, back porch tomorrow. You know, I think we would have some super conversations about everything from A to Z, especially quilts and quilting. Then just quietly enjoy the special Tennessee air. Thanks for sharing. God bless.
Thank you for the invite to sit a while and enjoy your view. Your porches are lovely and I can almost hear the laughter of your grand girls enjoying the games and yummy treats on them.
Our Okanagan summers are hot and our porch has no roof only a large maple tree that shades one corner. It has a beautiful view of the lake it’s a favorite way to spend some time each day.
Enjoy your porch season.
Sitting on a porch is just a perfect thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My farmhouse has a front porch and a back deck. Unfortunately, our house sits close to a road and I don’t like the noise of an occasional vehicle going by, but the back deck is perfect. Our property falls down in the back to a river, so sitting on the deck I feel like I’m in a tree house and listening to the river rush by makes for a perfect afternoon, book in hand, tea on the side table.
As a side note, I love when you share your house through blogs, your love for the property signs through, and that’s a wonderful thing to share.
Oh my Dori, what wouldn’t we talk about…but you know what? The quiet together moments on your lovely porches would also be ever so precious ❤
Love your porches, I like to sit on my porch early in the morning drinking my coffee , by noon it is too hot to sit on front porch. At your place we could just walk around to the other side.
Till next time
Cheryl Turner
Hey what’s up today? I brought over this new little apron I made this week isn’t it just the cutest thing? I made out of a couple of recycled dresses I got at the local thrift store, I know, don’t they have some of the cutest finds?? It’s so pretty today and sitting on the porch is perfect with these glasses of sweet tea! Let’s just rock and enjoy!
Oh, how I would love to share the view from one of those porches! They are absolutely beautiful. As to what we would talk about, I’m sure we could start with that…. the view. Then we could move on to our projects, past, present and future. Such a lovely place.
I love your beautiful porch. . .
I love your porches,Dori, they are what I hope to have some day. I have a Verandah on the back of my house and I do ,one to sit out there. I have a table setting out there and some potted plants and our bbq, but one day on my own porch I’d love to have some rocking chairs, a porch swing and a hammock and a day bed as well as my outdoor table setting and bbq. A real relax place to unwind and treasure time.
I’d chat with you about anything and everyone, your favorite plants, life, sewing and whatever else we felt like chatting about, all with home baking, I’d bring some too, and some lovely tea or coffee and later a glass of wine. There’d be no rush to our time together and we’d savor the conversation and time together.
Blessing to you and yours
Denise
Australia