Thank you everyone!... Jan.. I just got through with my deck and fence. I cleaned it first using Oxy Clean and some outdoor bleach on the stubborn areas. The stain/sealer is Deckscapes from Sherwin Williams. The color is called Cider Mill. It is an oil based product and I love how it went on. I brushed it on by hand, every square inch of it including the fence. I tried using a sprayer and it didn't spray out nice and even. It was honestly easier to brush then use the sprayer. It took me 9 gallons total for the whole job. I have some pictures of the deck, I'll post them here so you can see the bigger picture. I researched deck products for about a week and Deckscapes had good reviews is why I went with it. It is a semi-transparent stain to let the woodgrain show thru. After all that cleaning I did not want the wood to gray again, it will if you don't use a semi-transparent stain. I'll post the other pictures soon as I can find them..Debbie

I bought for my DS savings bonds, like his biological father's parents did for my engagement ring. DS cashed his in and I went with him to purchase have the diamond set into an engagement ring. Marriages did not work out for both, so now I have it in a pendant that I wear often. Mine is not a biggie, but I love it.

My dad's mom was from a farm in Minnesota. They raised horses. Several kids all together in one bed in the upstairs room. She loved the country and her home with the stream running through the pastures. My dad's dad lost his parents young. His dad was a tailor. Both their parents had come over from Sweden. My grandfather especially never forgot that his parents came over to escape religious persecution for being Baptists. Both grandparents always celebrated their Swedish heritage. My grandmother spoke Swedish with all her brothers and sisters. At the end of her life, when she had memory loss, she said she wanted to go back to be with the Swedes ( Minnesota ). They had things from Sweden all over the house and my grandma always had blue and gold curtains and fabrics for slipcovers. They asked me to make them a big Dala horse with the house numbers on it for the gate. I remember the two Victorian portraits of my grandfathers parents over the Victorian organ that was in the family room. We loved to play that organ as kids. Grandfather also had the china and a writing desk from his family when they came to America in the 1800s. Grandma always loved gardening and had a flower garden everywhere they lived. They started out in Minnesota, moved to Maryland, Indiana, and then out to California. The happiest day my Grandma had according to my dad was when her brothers and sister came over during WWII and they were all together again. Both brothers were in the army then and my grandpa worked as a radar specialist and sometimes flew in the large bombers. My grandmas brothers helped my grandpa build the first house they had in So.CA My grandma had a big garden then and it was packed full of flowers. I was a toddler then but I still remember all the flowers and the hand poured cement walks. Grandpa also built a little pass through door in the wall from the kitchen into the family room so grandma wouldn't have to go around. She always loved to bake. Later, they moved out to Riverside county. They had a bigger property and grew all kinds of fruit trees and grapes and every kind of vegetables. Grandma canned them all even though she had a market right down the road. She had all kind of little figurines and things for the kids to play with in the yard. We liked to make out little farms with the toy animals and give them rides in the old wagon she used to move plants around in. Grandpa had a room he added on to the garage where he had his electronics equipment. After the war, he was involved with the space missions. He loved radios, anything electric and my dad got him an Apple computer when they were first available. He was on the cutting edge of technology even into his nineties. I remember dad said he could fix anything. He was always going over to a neighbors house to help with electical or plumbing or carpentry. That's what neighbors were supposed to do. He had a woodshop in the garage and he built all our garage cabinetry and shelving and all our kitchen cabinets and a big kitchen island. He removed all the kitchen cabinets from their last home and replaced them with custom ones. If his body hadn't worn out, he'd still be doing it. Grandma always had pets. She loved them and I don't remember a time when she ever scolded them ( or us) . My sister said that grandma could make a good dog out of a bad one. She never was sophisticated and had an 8th grade little schoolhouse education but she had a kind heart and would always be there for a friend or neighbor in need. Her three kids all went to college but she never boasted about it. Any kind of flattery embarassed her in fact. She loved crafts and had a little room full of scraps and buttons and trims where she would sew. We spent hours in that room going through it all just for fun and on holidays she let us make valentines and ornaments and all kinds of Christmas decorations. We got together every Sunday for dinner and afterwards watched Lawerence Welk, Wild Kingdom, and Disney. I remember my cousins came over too and especially during the holidays. Two of my cousins moved to Virginia but they came to spend the summer with grandma in CA. She loved Virginia too and sometimes she lived there with my aunt for a month in the summer. After my grandpa passed away, she moved to my aunt's in Virginia and saw my cousins and their kids all the time. She loved kids and babies and all kinds of animals. She loved the seasons in Virginia and sent me pictures and fall leaves.

There are a lot of unescapable elements here...wind ..dust...heat?...plus the monochromatic colors from Mother nature....it seems like a nice enclosed sunroom makes more sense than an outdoor space...and adding color wherever you can would be pleasing in contrast to the surroundings..pale but colorful trims...curtains...lattice in any garden area ..even a fountain...would create the feel of a little oasis...if there is any shade offered by the big trees behind the house...i might consider locating the sun porch on the shady side...even moving the entrance if that is possible ...to be in the shade