I would think that a carpenter should be able to make everything look right with three pieces of 1x6 and a piece of whatever they are using to make the ceiling on your porch. Here's what I would suggest. First, cut a piece of 1x6 the length of your bumpout minus about 6 to 8 inches. Then cut two more pieces of 1x6 the length of those four support braces minus however much "dentil molding" you want showing and minus the thickness of a piece of 1x6. Now, cut four notches along one edge of the long piece of 1x6 so that the four support braces will fit INTO the notches. Put the three boards together like so: Attach this structure to the bottom of the bumpout and tight against the house so that just the ends of the support braces stick out. Small L-brackets attached to the "inside" edges of the boards ahead of time will make it easier to attach the structure to the bottom of the bumpout. (Sorry but my drawing skills on PAINT aren't good enough to show the L-brackets but it should be obvious where they will need to go.) Now, cut a piece of the material that was used on your porch ceiling so that it will fit INSIDE the structure. Attach this to the the bottoms of the supports so that they are hidden except for the parts that stick out thru the notches. Now, the only portions of the supports that you'll be able to see will be the ends and, once everything is painted white, they should look like the dentils you have on the front of the house. Because the entire structure is tucked UNDER the bumpout by 3 to 4 inches on all sides, all of the screw/nail holes will be protected from weather. Thus no flashing should be needed. Just caulk good where the structure butts up against the bottom of the bumpout and around the notches...mostly to keep bugs from crawing inside and using the hollow spaces as places to nest. If you house is sided with Hardie, they should be able to do this with 1x5 Hardie trim boards instead of 1x6 wood although cutting the notches without splitting the fiber-cement will take a sharp saw and somebody with a little bit of real skill in working with Hardie. Good luck.

Our Siberian Husky 'Shaman' had some lumps on his side under the long hair which we were told by the vet they were 'probably fatty tumors...(?lipoid tumors)like humans get & not to worry'. Later it turns out they were malignant & he had to be euthanized in the late stages.... felt so betrayed & also guilty for not getting more info. Years ago we had both a German Shepherd & Doberman females that had been neutered as youngsters & both developed breast cancer as older adults which we were told the neutering would prevent. Another healthy young Shepherd was found dead by our back door one morning some years ago of that twisted bowel syndrome ... we have had many mixed breed dogs... but mainly purebred German Shepherds... for 30 some years & I mourn the loss of each one as they age & pass on from so many of these problems ... like their human owners I guess! Wish I knew how to send some photos of them to this site as I have hundreds I bet taken of them all in a huge album full of happy memories of them all!

Thank you, everyone! I do think it's scale (warning: very last photo will be an icky picture of my scrapings—this is as close as I could get, floral :T ). They came off like flakes with little weight, actually, with the nudge of a plastic knife. I immediately sprayed both the inside of its shell and where it had been attached to the tree in case crawlers were coming out in a frenzy from either. Litterbuggy, to provide more info (that pics alone can't provide!): We will try the chopstick! We had previously been sticking a finger in / using a meter. The potting mix isn't typical peat moss + perlite; it's fast-draining succulent mix with perlite. Does this look coarse enough? We live in Orange County so it's desert-dry; I mist it some mornings. Our temperature stays around 78°F with the AC off while we're gone. Air doesn't move much. And our tap water is indeed pretty hard. Still have little budding green shoots on nearly every stem. Most leaf stems are still upright; only some droop, especially this one trunk stem: My two top concerns now... I'm now worried every little brown speck on the trunk is scale... Should I be? The tops of each trunk/stem are dark; since every one was that way (and has been for a while), it didn't occur to me that might be unhealthy. Is that of great concern? Gross photo alert. It's so dark you can't really see much...

I call bullsh*t on the tile, unless he makes no real effort. I suspect he is just hoping you won’t insist on getting it corrected. And I feel for him, I do. Contractors don‘t have an easy life these days But they had to have seen that lump. Or certainly should have. They should never have installed it unless you approved it. If you feel charitable, ask him what labor costs will be to swap it out and then — if it sounds reasonable — offer to split it with him.