It's better in the south!

A few years ago, we vacationed in the Outer Banks.  Our journey home had us meandering through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia where I fell in love with the porch ceilings painted blue and vowed to paint mine one day.  In fact, I have asked for a painted porch ceiling as my birthday/Mother's Day/Christmas gift several times to no avail.

The blue ceilings are rumored to keep bugs away which is always a good thing around here.  We grow mosquitos that are big enough to carry off a newborn!  I did a little digging around and found out that long ago, the blue ceilings DID keep bugs at a minimum.  However, it was probably due more to the fact that the milk-based paint used to paint the ceiling contained lye (read:  poison) and had little to do with the actual color. 

I also discovered that the blue paint was called "Haint Blue" because southerners believed it chased spirits away.  I suppose they used it just like the candles buring on a Christmas tree...anything to keep the roaming spirits at bay.

Now that I actually have some time off from work, I set to work a couple of days ago to get my blue porch ceiling.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  There is an added sense of serenity back there...and I'm always glad to get an extra measure of that.