They're dropping like flies

We have a problem and I need your help to solve it.

These are our front porch steps. Yes, they are covered in gross pollen but thats the least of my worries.

See how the terra cotta tile is not everywhere? It once was. I am sure it was beautiful back in 1954 when our house was built. Leaving grouted tile exposed to the elements for 50+ years in a spot that doesn't get much sun = drainage issues =
One by one, they are dropping like flies. Right after we moved in we lost one, then another, then another. I save the whole tiles thinking once the weather warmed up I could use some heavy duty outdoor adhesive and fix it right up.
But now, piles like this one show up on a regular basis.

What to do? I love the tiled look, I would even do it again if I could find the exact same tiles...

because they are on the landing of our covered front porch. Those tiles are in great shape. Just covered in gross pollen at the moment.

So, as I see it, here are my options. Paint or re-tile the whole dang thing (landing and all). I am pretty sure I won't be able to find the exact same tile and I know mismatched tile will probably look worse than what it looks like right now.

Painting without ripping out the tile on the landing is what I am leaning towards. It's quick, cheap and durable. Worst case scenario, I can tile over it. Should I go grey? red? black? taupe? pink? neon yellow?

Here's a picture of the front of the house for inspiration. (Taken back when the front porch had all of it's tiles.... )

HALP!

Outdoor Farm Table

I am so very late in sharing this... It's cold in most parts of the country already and here I am talking about patio furniture.

Eric and I built a farm table with (modified) plans from Knock Off Wood back in May. Remember this post about inspiration for our extra large patio way back when? Well, I am finally getting around to showing you the finished product.
Gorgeous huh? This was our second piece of furniture made from plans on Knock Off Wood and though this is considered a "beginner" piece we modified it a bit after our first attempt was not so pretty.

We changed a few things right off the bat. I wanted to have a full apron all the way around the table and the legs tucked behind the apron in the corners instead of having the legs built into the apron corners. We also changed the legs from cut wood pieces to spindle legs. This was our inspiration photo.
See, we started out making the frame to go underneath first and then planned to lay that on top of the "top" of the table. The frame was basically a large rectangle (the apron) and then small horizontal supports where we would fasten the planked top into. Well... you see, our frame turned out not so "sqaure" as in it was wonky. FAIL. See this next photo - we have it lined up the best that it can be on one end of the top of the table and as you can tell on the other end... it wasn't happening.
ok, grunt and move on to plan B. We either had wonky boards or our cuts and line up was not so straight (the latter is most likely the case). We took apart all the boards and decided that we would screw the apron and support to the top as we went, making any necessary adjustments or cuts.MUCH BETTER. See how there is now equal distance from the apron to the edge of the table all the way down? We also added "corner pieces" to help keep it square and supported. We thought we were smooth sailing... I had picked up some turned table legs at either the orange or blue big box stores - I can't remember which one and we attached them in the corner with some brackets for support.
and then we turned the table over proclaiming it was finally time to sand and finish this baby. Do you see what I see? Reminds me of that dinosaur movie from Disney where the T-Rex says, "I have a big head and little arms" except this goes, "I have a big top and little legs".



Ooops, we hadn't thought about that. Not only did it look silly but setting a cup of coffee on this thing let alone the table dancing I had planned was out of the question.

Off came the legs and I went on the hunt for something more substantial. I searched high and low to no avail when I finally found some porch posts at Shinola in Greenville, SC. I bought 2 that were about 8' long each and then cut 'em down to size. Here they are attached to the table. They came in this grey/blue paint color that was just perfectly "antiqued".
I also grabbed a few finials from Lowes to make it look more finished - they just happened to be the perfect circumference to screw onto the bottom of the freshly cut porch posts - now legs. Finally, we started finishing the piece.
We stained the top planks and I mixed a custom paint color for the legs and apron in a mason jar. Finally we topped the whole thing off with Helmsman^® Spar Urethane.
This stuff is marine grade so it should hold up well. We've been pleased with the results so far though we did have a few "blisters" in the finish when it got really hot. We attributed it to moisture in the wood expanding - it should be fixed by next summer as the wood will have dried out and we plan on sanding and resealing before next spring.

Voila! Our rustic farmhouse patio table.
Phew, sorry for the super long post. We LOVE this table, it is so well suited for our decor vibe and also the size of the patio. It comfortably seats 8 and is super sturdy without being ridiculously heavy. The best part is that we built it ourselves for around $175 (including the finishing materials). If I had purchased an outdoor table this big metal or wood I would have spent at least 5 times that.

So we saved on the table and splurged on the chairs but that story did not have a happy ending... I'll share the deets with you soon.