Bougainvillea Bonus

Rick has still been battling with his bronchitis and sinus infection, so we have been lying low the last couple of days.  Finally he called the doctor yesterday and got into their office before the weekend.  The Physician's Assistant gave him another prescription since she said that even a virus should not have lasted for six weeks.  I hope that the new medication helps him feel better quickly.

The white spots on the leaves were not what we
expected them to be!

We noticed on Wednesday that the Ti plant in the corner garden had some white spots on it, so Rick took some pictures of it, and yesterday we returned to the nursery to ask what was happening to our new plant.  The good part of buying plants at a nursery is that they have a one-year guarantee, so if it does not survive the summer, we can get a replacement.

We showed the picture to Anna at the nursery, and she called in Dave for some expert advice.  He took one look at the pictures and said, "Sunburn."  Go figure.  Only in Florida can a plant get a sunburn!  Dave said that the leaves were sunburned, but as they fall off and new ones grow, the plant will adapt to the amount of sunlight in that location and be fine.  Ha!  At least I did not have to buy some plant sunscreen for the silly thing.

While we were at the nursery, we picked up two deep pink bougainvillea to fill in the gap in the back fence. The day was windy and cool with a forecast of a very chilly evening, so we decided to just protect the plants in the garage for the night with plans for planting today.

The trellises fill in the "gap" on either side of the oak tree.

The day dawned with temperatures in the low 50s; therefore, we did not rush outside to work in the yard.  Instead, we ventured to our home-away-from-home: Lowe's.  What day would be complete without a visit to either Lowe's or Home Depot?  We picked up a vinyl trellis on which the bougainvillea could climb. Being forewarned by others that the wimpy staples used to hold the trellis together would fail in the first wind, we also bought screws so we could rebuild the structure into something with longevity.  Sixteen screws later, we had a sturdy trellis.  Then we cut it in half.

The trellis leans into rather than away from the tree.

We purposely had purchased a fan trellis with the idea that we could split it and reverse the sides so the trellis would lean into our tree rather than away from it.  Once the trellis was "planted" and secured to the fence with more screws, we were ready for the flowers.

The bougainvillea adds color to the shady place
next to the fence.

 

When the flowers start to climb the trellis, the colors
will be spectacular.

Bougainvillea are the perfect plant for this space.  The flower will send out long branches that will climb the trellis, the tree, and the fence.  Additionally, bougainvillea bloom all year long, so we always will have color in that area.  Finally, bougainvillea have nasty thorns to keep any animals that want to climb through or under the gap in the fence out of our yard.

The flowers are gorgeous.

Gladys got flowers for the spring.

The massive roots of the live oak tree posed a few spacial problems, but in the end the flowers were nestled next to the tree with room to branch out and to grow upwards.  We both pray that they will adapt well and thrive in that area.  If they do, we will have a wonderful visually stimulating splash of color to enjoy all year long.  Like any woman, Gladys loves flowers.

Stoned

Getting stoned is probably what it would take to make my back feel better, but since I do not indulge in that sort of thing, I will have to settle for a couple of Advil.  What DID get stoned today was all of the flower gardens around our house.

Anna from the nursery called yesterday to tell us that Dave would be delivering the two tons of red cedar bark landscape stones at 9:00 a.m. today.  He arrived on time, and soon we were looking at a pile of red stones in our driveway.  Thankfully, we asked him to dump them near the garage rather than at the end of the driveway.  That both gave us room to park our car back in the driveway, and  allowed us to just shovel some of the stones into the front garden.  Actually, having them located there also made wheelbarrowing them to the back yard easier.

Rick starts to tackle our pile of stones.

When the rock first arrived, both Rick and I thought, "Boy, that sure does not look like 4000 pounds of stone."  However, after moving it all around, we believe that the load was accurate! We also were not sure that we ordered enough, but in the end, we had to find places in the gardens to use what was left.

I had my doubts that we would be able to get all of it moved today.  Silly me.  I should know by now that if he did not drop dead of a heart attack, Rick would not rest until everything was in its place.

Hopefully, the stones will keep the weeds out
and the moisture in the gardens.

We did the front garden first, using just shovels to distribute the stones.  That made getting them around the plants fairly easy since trying to rake these stones anywhere was impossible.  The stones are heavy, not like lava rock.  These stones will not blow away which is what we wanted because then we can use a leaf blower to clean debris out of the gardens.

The stones in this garden should solve the
problem of dirt splashing up on the fence when it rains.

After the front garden was filled, we moved to the back yard and filled in the corner garden and then the Florida room garden.

Here, too, the stones should prevent dirt from
splashing up on the house.  Since this area is
in the shade most of the day, no grass would grow
here anyway.

We still had quite a bit left over, so we filled in around the mailbox.  We took a quick trip to Steve and Chris' house to borrow their tamper.  Then back home, a bit of tamping, a lot of adding stone where we still felt we could put some down, and still more tamping.

The red rock will protect the mailbox post
from weed-whacker damage.

Finally, we hooked up the hose and gave everything a heavy hosing down.  The small sandy bits of stone and dust settled in, and the rest of the stone turned a brilliant cedar red.

The whole job took us until 1:00 p.m.  I am glad that it is finished so we can spend tomorrow as a true day of rest. We earned it.

Fabric, Panels, and Critters

We spent the morning today getting the gardens ready for our red cedar bark landscape rock that will be delivered at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.

The landscape fabric that we put down was putzy, but it went well.  I even remembered where I had stored the landscape fabric stakes that we purchased over two years ago!

Landscape fabric lines the Florida room garden awaiting the
red cedar bark rock.  The rock will look like red mulch, but it
will not rot (and need to be replaced each year).

The corner garden will look much better with the landscape
rock, and now mud won't splash up on the fence when it rains.

Hopefully, the rock on top of the fabric will prevent
the dirt from saying around in the front yard.

Once the fabric was in place, Rick started to set up what tools and equipment he needed in the back yard to install more panels under our fence where the yard sloped down.  Meanwhile, I went out to the mailbox to remove the old mulch that I put in last year.  Under the mulch, I found that the landscape fabric from last year was a bit ragged, so I pulled and replaced that also.

Interestingly enough, when I roughed up the soil, I found all of the rooted bulbs from the daylilies that I had planted last year.  I took the bulbs and replanted them against the fence in the back yard.  If they grow, great.  If not, they were "found" plants that I did not ever expect to see again.  We'll see if anything appears.

We think since everything dies in the hot, front
"garden" by the mailbox, we just might leave this
just filled with the red rock.

When I finished with the front, I went back to help Rick with the fence panels.  He had three panels set and ready to be installed.  We noticed the last two days that something -- probably the armadillo that we suspected had been in our yard in the past -- had been burrowing under the fence. He installed the first two panels with no problem.  Then things got interesting...

A bit of history: our neighbors to the north have two huge camphor trees in their back yard.  Plus, when they purchased the house, the back yard was very overgrown.  Probably half of the yard is covered with ferns, vines, bushes, trees, and other vegetation. A broken, overgrown pond sits in the midst of this foliage.

Rick had to go onto their property to put dirt on one side of the panels that we were installing.  As I mentioned, the first two panels were fine.  With the third one, I was in our yard putting dirt around our side of the panel.  Rick was in the neighbor's yard.  He was busily working away at adding dirt to the panel when he noticed an approximately 12 inch hole was dug under the concrete edge of the old pond.  As he worked toward the end of the board -- approaching the hole-- he suddenly heard a low "gr-r-r-r-r-r-r" coming from the vicinity of the hole.  Rick did not stay around to see what was growling at him.  He said he almost jumped right over the fence!  Instead, though, he just set a new land speed record getting back to our side of the fence.

The north fence now has panels under it.  Rick says that
if his armadillo friend burrows under these additional panels,
he will put in about a three-foot deep slab of concrete to prevent
further visits.

Armadillos are nasty little creatures.  While they are nocturnal and generally will shy away from activity and people, if they are disturbed (like woken up in the middle of their morning nap!), they will attack.  Additionally, armadillos are one of the few species that is capable of transmitting leprosy to humans. So Rick was wise to high-tail it out of the neighbor's yard.

At any rate, by noon we were finished with the landscape fabric and with the fence panels.  Tomorrow we will spend the morning getting the red cedar bark rock into place.  Then our gardens will be complete.

Gladys is far from finished, but at least the neighbors are starting to notice that she is getting some pretty new colorful bushes to perk up her front yard.

Gardens Galore

For the last two days, we have been working to plant some more of our gardens.  We have been to Eden Nursery every day for the past three days, so while they are happy to see us (or rather our charge card!), I am growing a bit tired of visiting them each day.  However, the woman at the nursery is always friendly and very helpful.

The setting sun casts a pink glow to the house, but the flowers
now look balanced.

Two days ago, we planned our garden under the Florida room windows and we finished the planting of the garden in the front.  When we originally planted the garden, we came up two plants short.  We had to return to the nursery to pick up two more Duranta (the little yellow bush-like plants in the front) to finish the front row of the garden.  Now the garden looks more balanced.  It still needs landscape fabric and stone; that will come this weekend.

As they grow, these plants will fill this area well.

Yesterday we returned to the nursery and bought one more Lemon/ Lime plant for the new garden in the back yard, one Dracaena, two Gold Dust Croons, and two Bush Daisies. We bought some insect spray for the Gardenia tree in the corner garden. We also picked up some paver stone to go under the pavers that will define the Florida room garden.

The "rough-in" of the Florida room garden shows where the
garden eventually will grow.

Yesterday we also laid out the pavers to outline the Florida room garden.  We were too tired at the end of the day to start any digging in that.  Rick DID go out after dinner and sprayed the Gardenia tree so that we could plant the flowers under it this morning.

Today we started with the corner garden.  Since most of the dirt in that garden was sifted and transported from the front yard, the hole digging for the plants was not too difficult.  A few small roots from the Gardenia tree were the only obstacles.  We think it looks balanced and colorful against the white fence.  Again, landscape fabric and stone will complete the look this weekend.

The completed corner garden offers color and
two bouquets of Bush Daisies.

The Florida room garden took more time to do since we had uneven ground and only one row of pavers to get everything level.  Rick worked most of the morning with the transit, his level, a string line, and lots of effort to get everything level and straight.

Rick makes sure the pavers outlining the garden are level.

After lunch, we transplanted the lemon/lime and Dracaenas from the garden behind the garage to the Florida room garden.  I had read that to transplant a large flower or small bush, the best thing to do was to dig up as much of the root as possible and place the plant on a flat garbage bag.  Then pick up the bag and take it to the pre-dug hole. Sliding the plant into place with all of the dirt becomes easy at that point.

The Florida garden dresses up Gladys' back yard.

We successfully planted the new lemon/lime in the middle and then worked from both ends of the garden inward.  The result is a bright, colorful garden that we will enjoy for years.

I miss not being able to see the lemon/lime plants from the Florida room north door and window, but that garden will soon disappear when we get a patio poured in that area.  I look forward to having a large patio to use as we continue to improve the landscape in Gladys' back yard.

Board, not Bored

When we sit around the house, we get bored, so we try to keep busy.  We kept busy today by adding boards to our fence so we would not be bored.

The first gap is filled with fence board.  By using the
same material, we do not have to worry about
the board rotting or fading in the sun.

On Saturday we took the dirt that we removed from the front garden and put it along the south side fence.  We packed it high to close the gap under the fence, and in doing so too much of the mound of dirt slid down beyond our fence line on our neighbor's property.  Apparently the neighbor lady complained about it to her husband.  We learned that after we had said that we would change the situation today, so we actually were not reacting to the complaint.

Three sections are completed with one to go.

This morning Rick went up to the rafters in the garage and pulled down the extra fence boards we had left over when we completed the fence.  We used those boards to wedge under the existing fence, anchoring them in only by digging a trench and supporting them on both sides with dirt.  We are supposed to get severe thunderstorms and up to an inch of rain tonight, so we will have to see how our handiwork stands up to the weather.

The completed sections enclose our yard so we can eventually
get the yard level and the grass in presentable condition.

For now, the results look fairly good.  The gap under the fence is closed, we are able to add dirt to our yard in order to make it more level, and no dirt is sliding down onto the neighbor's property.

This afternoon we got prices for stone for our flower gardens.  The prices are steep, but we want to finish the front garden before we go North for the summer.  We also purchased two more plants for the front garden.  We will put those in after the rain ceases tomorrow, and then we will be able to add the landscape fabric and eventually the stone.

Slowly but surely, we are changing the landscaping around Gladys.  It will not all be finished this year, but at least we have made a good start.

Acres and Aches

The title of this blog references both what seems like the amount of dirt we moved today and the present feeling in our bodies.  Oh, and exhaustion could be added to that list also.

Yesterday we visited our favorite nursery in the area and purchased nine plants for the front garden.  Since we have decided not to do the pavers this year, we knew that we would have to do something with the large mud patches we have in the front yard.  Adding flowers, landscape fabric, and some colorful stone seemed like a good idea.

We brought the plants home, arranged them in the garden, and then began to work on the preparation.  We knew that we would have to remove at least two inches of top soil to make room for the stone we want to add in the end.  Since we got a late start, we did not get very far last night.  The plants stayed in their pots in the back yard for the evening.

String marks the location and level of the 2x4
boards that outline the future sidewalk area.

This morning we started about 8:30, donning sweatshirts since the sunny day also brought us a fairly stiff wind.  Rick wanted to define the front edge of the sidewalk area, so a trip to Lowe's for three 10 foot 2x4s was in order.  When we got home, the first "moving of earth" commenced. Two string lines guided our efforts as Rick put in the boards.  Now, at least, we will know where we can plant grass and where we need to put in paver stone once we get to that phase of our front yard make-over.  For now, we have a defined space.

Once all the boards were in, Rick trimmed the
stakes and then I put all of the dirt back around
the boards.

Once the boards were in, Rick started to work on digging out the flower garden while I replaced the dirt removed to accommodate the 2x4s.

Removing the top soil in the flower garden sounds much easier than it really was.  This is the garden that once held the palm tree, and its roots were still very apparent.  Additionally, this front garden seems to have been a dump site when the house was built because in addition to the stones and palm seeds, we also found bricks, chunks of pink and white bathroom tiles, and a very rusty old paint can opener.  You will be happy to know that the style of paint can openers has not changed since 1960.  One cannot improve on perfection, apparently.

We removed more wheelbarrows full of dirt than I care to count.  Each time Rick filled it, he wheeled it to where we needed dirt, and I sat and sifted out the rocks, roots, seeds, and building materials.  What was left was good sifted dirt; sadly, the wind helped us distribute it all over the yard.  We were able, though, to fill in some low spots in the front yard and to add more dirt around the fence in the back yard.  I also filled our garbage can with bags of debris.

The little garden does not need to bloom to
be colorful.

The digging took all morning.  After lunch, we finished the excavation and then actually were able to bring the plants back to the garden.  Palm tree roots fought us a couple of times, and we discovered even more building materials, but in the end we prevailed.  The middle front plant is slightly out of place due to the roots; we will have to decide tomorrow if we want to move it over a bit.

Gladys got some new flowers to dress her up for Spring.

The plants look very small right now, but we know they will grow.  In the back row I have two Ti plants with four Mammy Crotons in the middle.  The front row has three little bushes with yellow leaves.  I am too tired to remember the name of them.  I only know that the garden is larger than we thought it was, so we have to return to the nursery on Monday to get either two more of those plants or something else to fill in the far corners in the front row.

With time, the crotons will grow and fill in the area under the windows.  It may take a few years, but I hope that in the end we will have a colorful garden that adds a little beauty to Gladys' yard.

"See, I bought you flowers for Valentine's Day," Rick said.  "I even planted them for you."  What a guy!

Hidden Obstacles

Back in the 1940's, radio listeners were thrilled to hear the words, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  The Shadow knows!" because what followed was one of the most popular radio programs of the times.  My thought as Rick and I ventured out to the front yard this morning was, "Who knows what lurks under the ground at our feet?"

We were standing where we had our old bottle brush tree removed, and we knew that the company who took down the tree did not do a good job of removing the roots.  Why do we care?  Well, just to the right of where the bottle brush tree was growing, we want to plant a palm tree next year.  If we did not take the time to get out the roots, we would not be able to plant the tree next year.

When we had the tree removed, the workers started to grind out the stump. They ground down only a couple of inches when sparks flew from the hole.  The worker had hit a metal rod of some kind, so he refused to go any further.  (Later investigation -- after the tree removal people had left -- revealed that the metal actually was a buried two-foot piece of re-rod that for some strange reason ended up entangled in the tree roots.) So what we were left with is a whole lot of stump just below the surface of the ground.

The excavated root is about eight inches across.

Since today dawned sunny and in the high 60's with a slight breeze, this was a beautiful day to work outside.  We knew that one part of the stump was showing above the ground, so he started to dig that part out first.

The root curves back toward the main part
of the trunk and root ball of the tree.

As he followed the root, it lead both downward and back to the left where the main stump had been.  Once most of the dirt was cleared away, Rick took the SawsAll and started to cut out the roots.  The first cut went fine, but halfway through the second cut, the saw blade broke.

This root turned out to be a blade eater!

Off to Lowe's he went while I stayed home and continued to "excavate" our arboreal dig. I found more roots the further I went.

Chunks of trunk lie next to their original position.

I should have known the dig would go well.
The sun was in the right place when I took this
pictures, so the sunlight seems to be streaming
right to the hole. The work was blessed from above!

When Rick came home, we went through three more blades just to get the worst of the roots out.  The main trunk part is now below ground enough where we can plant grass above it, and the area that we want to plant the palm tree is somewhat cleared.

Anyone who drove past the house this afternoon
would never know what was removed from the
dirt patch left from all of our work.

I don't know if we will have to dig deeper in order to plant the palm next year, but for now we are just going to let nature take its course and hope that the roots start to rot out before we try to plant the palms in the fall.

Visitors and Vacations

Stephanie's visit with us continued on Monday when we went to St. Petersburg.  We bought tickets to the Dale Chihuly Museum and to the Morean Art Center and Hot Shop (glassblowing studio).  While the weather was a bit brisk and cool, we had no problems being comfortable throughout the day.

The Chihuly Museum contains Dale Chihuly's glass creations.  Stephanie and Rick tried to see a Chihuly exhibit when they were in Seattle a few years ago, but Stephanie became ill, so they were unable to make the trip.  Rick and I had been to the Chihuly in the past, but this was the first time for Stephanie to see a collection of his works.  She is familiar with his work, though, since Mayo Clinic has a gigantic Chihuly chandelier hanging in one of its buildings on the Rochester Mayo campus.

While some of the pieces have changed, many of them were the same.  Below are some examples of what we saw:

This display of glass "flowers" covers an entire wall.  The
lighting in the Museum makes these works come alive.

Chihuly is known for his elaborate, free-form
chandeliers.  This one is over six feet long, and
my iPhone camera does not begin to do it justice.

Chihuly's idea of a flower is amazing when one
considers this is all made of glass.

This shows just one end of a room-sized "undersea
garden" of forms and shapes that spans one end
of the rainbow to the other.  In person, it is breath-taking.

Chihuly's works all start with his "sketches" of
what he envisions.  I love this one, but do not have
the over $3000 price tag to bring it home and frame it!

Once we left the Chihuly exhibit, we went on to the Morean Art Center.  Their exhibit was a Mentor/Student exhibit showing the works of some of the Center teachers' works and their students' works.  While the exhibits were interesting, we did not see anything that would fit into the decor of either of our houses... to say nothing of not finding anything within my price range!  Overall, for the price of the admission, we were very disappointed in the Art Center.  The pieces were not exceptional, the whole Center was not terribly clean or well organized, and the restrooms were filthy. I certainly would not return.

The Hot Shop put on an interesting demonstration of glass blowing.  We spent an enjoyable hour watching an apprentice and his mentor creating a vase; of course, since we could not wait the two days for it to totally cool, we were not able to see what the final colors would look like on the finished piece.

Once again, we found a couple of interesting pieces in the gift shop, but nothing we wanted to spend the money on to bring home.  Stephanie did find an interesting pair of triangular earrings which reflected a burgundy color depending on how the earrings caught the light.  I am happy that she found a usable memento of the trip.

Rick and Stephanie pose in the Dali Museum
gardens along the shores of Tampa Bay.

On Tuesday we returned to St. Petersburg and took Stephanie to the Dali Museum.  The Dali was holding a Dali/ Disney exhibit which contained a display of the collaborative work that Dali and Walt Disney did to produce a short film. Sadly, Dali took too long to complete his "Fantasia-like" artwork and Disney eventually dropped the film's production.  Neither man saw the film completed during their lives.  The exhibit also paralleled how the two men, born only two years apart, were able to channel their imaginations in different ways.  The displays were very educational but not the Mickey Mouse/ Donald Duck type of display that many people who brought children expected to see.  If felt sorry for the kids, but I was happy that our "kid" was old enough to appreciate what the exhibit was trying to show.

Today started early as we took Stephanie to the airport.  She just called to tell us that her flight went well and that she arrived chilled but safe in Minnesota.  We had a good time while she was here; we enjoyed her company and took time from out schedule to enjoy a little vacation with her.

We have made some decisions on future projects, but I will wait until later to write about our next adventures.

Winter Blooms (Sort of...)

Today started out cold and windy, but at least the sun was shining.  Since this is supposed to be the driest day for the next two or three, after some shopping this morning, we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens to walk off our Jason's Deli lunches.

The Gardens were not crowded at all, so we had a good time seeing what blooms in Florida in February.  This year, of course, we have had unusually cold weather, so not as much was in bloom now as in previous years.  We did, however, find some special moments.

One of the first sights we saw was the Anhinga bird.  This bird is clumsy on the ground, but it is a skilled flyer and spends much of its time swimming through ponds.  The Anhinga's main diet is amphibious: freshwater fish, frogs, water snakes, and leeches.  After it is done spearing its dinner with its long beak, the Anhinga will find a log or stone near or in the pond on which to perch and dry its wings. The pitch black bird blends in well in the dark waters, so it can be a stealthy fisherman.

The weird Anhinga bird stands on a log in the
middle of the pond and dries its tail and wings
in the wind and sun.

We found other beautiful flowers just starting to bloom near some of the other pools and ponds in the park.

Sometimes the leaves of a plant are more
brilliantly colored than the flowers themselves.

This flower was so bright that it looked fake.  Who says that God does not have a wonderful paintbox with which to brighten even the most dreary winter day.

The contrast of colors makes these flowers unreal.

The Garden has some breathtakingly beautiful landscapes and ponds.

This scene is so serene.  I may actually enlarge
and frame this one for our house.

The roses were just starting to bloom.  Although they did not have much of a scent, they matched Stephanie's coat quite well.

Roses are a welcome sight in winter.

The Wedding Garden had topiaries of both a bear climbing out of the garden, and of Cupid with his arrow.

The mushy love of the Wedding Garden must
be too much for this little bear cub.  He is trying
to escape the garden over the wall.

Cupid aims his arrow behind us as we enjoy the sunshine.

The Gardens were a great place to get a little exercise, to soak in some Vitamin D from the sun, and to spend a great Sunday afternoon together.

Decisions, Decisions

Our next project has the be the front sidewalk and gardens for our house.  If we do not do something soon, the neighbors will probably run us out of the neighborhood!

Gladys' front approach needs some serious attention.

Since we had the trees removed, Gladys really looks pretty shabby.  Yes, we have dressed her up with new doors and windows, an widened and tiled porch, double doors, and window shutters, but the walkway to the front door is still patio blocks on a dirt path.  Furthermore, the future front garden where the palm tree used to grow is nothing but a pile of mud which is starting to sprout weeds.

Rick and I took a walk out front today to make some final measurements and decisions regarding the space.  We originally thought about adding a paver porch area one step down from the tiled porch which would lead into a paver walkway.

Today I posed the question: Would we be better off cementing in the whole area from the front of the porch and then adding tile to match the existing porch tile?  Water is still a concern, and if we raised the whole area, we would elevate it all so no rain in the front yard would flow back down toward the house.

Rick outlined where an extended cement porch would be
located if we decided to do that instead of adding pavers
all the way to the wall and existing porch.

We looked at the area from all angles and decided to stay with our original plans of a lowered paver porch area and pavers all the way out to the driveway.  What directed us to that conclusion?

First, economics.  If we poured a cement slab, waited for it to dry, and then added tile on top, we would have the expense of at least 40 bags of concrete and all of the tile and tiling supplies.  On top of that, we also still would have to buy the pavers and base material for the rest of the sidewalk. The concrete/ tile route would take much more time and planning than digging out the area for the new lowered paver area and walkway. We probably will not start this project until Rick is feeling better and until at least the end of next week. The longer we wait, however, the more chance we have of hitting warmer and wetter weather.

Secondly, water.  Yes, a raised concrete then tiled porch all of the way to the front of the house would add a barrier to water from the front yard, but then we would have to be super careful that the solid porch was definitely tilted at enough of an angle to keep rainwater from standing or washing back toward the double doors.  If we just add the pavers one step down from the existing porch, we still will have a raised porch "lip" to keep rainwater away from the covered porch.

If a paver sidewalk abruptly ended at the
tiled porch, the area would seem chopped up rather
than having a natural flow to the front doors.

Thirdly, aesthetics.  If we extended the tiled porch all of the way to the front of the house, we would definitely have three distinct areas: the tiled porch, the paver walkway, and the flower garden.  We would have a definite end to the sidewalk that stepped up to the porch.  The transition from the driveway to the front doors would not be a smooth, inviting path.  With the paver sidewalk and lower porch area in front of the tiled porch, a person's eye (and thus, body) is drawn to the house and led to the front porch and doors.  The transition is more inviting to guests.

Finally, symmetry.  We want to extend the paver walkway idea to the north side of the driveway, providing a paver sidewalk that leads through the north fence gate and into the back yard.  Having the same pavers all the way through will enhance the curb appeal and give Gladys a more balanced look.

Stephanie is coming for a visit at the end of this week, so we do not want to start this messy project until after her visit.  Rick also needs a little time to recover from a sinus infection and asthmatic bronchitis that has had him down and out for the last couple of weeks. However, the medication is helping, and he should be ready to tackle the next project in another week or so.

We thought long and hard about this decision, but in the end we agree that pavers will be our best choice to make Gladys presentable to the neighbors again.  And obviously, some nice landscaping once the pavers are in place certainly will help!