I've had it with awnings

It wasn't long after we moved here in 1986, that we began noticing problems with the 2 big bow windows on the front of the house. 
Some leaking from the top during blowing rains and some rot happening in the wood frames along the bottom. 
At that time my husband we didn't want to go to the expense of replacing them so my husband found a repair man who was able to replace the outer bottom trim.
Then we had awnings installed to protect and keep the wood from getting wet.
I really never liked the way they cover nearly a third of the window, blocking out the sky and light. 

Over the years we have replaced the awnings 3or 4 times.  That doesn't sound like a lot but really, they have looked bad for more of those years than they looked good.  Covered with green algae or whatever.

That's how they were looking this spring so I began my ritual of whining and complaining about them.  

Every time we'd pull into the driveway, I'd say "Look at those horrible awnings".  

Finally I had poor Lonnie worn down from it all and he said "Let's just take them down!"

So, one evening we got out the step ladder and started trying to take them off.  It was harder than I'd thought.

First, these rods had to be unscrewed and removed from the bottom part. They were there to keep the awning projecting out from the house.

After the rods are out, the awning is supposed to be able to slide out of a channel holding it at the top. We could not budge it and by this time Lonnie was bleeding in three places from trying to maneuver the step ladder among the shrubs below the window.

We couldn't leave the thing hanging down over the window so we just sliced it off with a utility knife.

 See the difference - the underside compared to the outside.  Yuck!

So this is how it looks now. One awning on and one off.

Or mostly off.  You see the scrap hanging there above the window trim.

It's a much nicer view from the inside now!

See the difference?  This is the other side with the awning still up.

So now what?   The Sasquatch is going to bring an extension ladder and help get everything down.

There is rot in the wood of the window again anyway. We'll plug the holes with wood filler  for a temporary fix while we do some shopping for windows.

We will probably end up just replacing with regular windows.  The bow windows are nice but certainly not necessary.