Color Added!!

Enclosed in this post are a couple of pictures of the plain bird houses and butterfly houses projects from a few months ago. The larger bird house on the left is only about 1/3 of the way done. I haven't decided what I'd like to put on this one, and until I do, it will just sit and wait.
However, I decided to go a bit "whimsical" with the bird bank and just couldn't put my brush down when it came to the butterfly house. Of our 8 acres there is a very small area where the butterflies congregate, but the variety of colors on these amazing creatures is inspiring.
There has also been a huge movement in our area to try to bring back the bluebird. At the moment I am looking to find a good set of plans to make several to put on our acreage. If any of you have found plans that will build a shelter for bluebirds that withstands temperatures down to -30 degrees, please send them my way - won't you?
Thanks much!

It is December 8 and this past weekend, we had our first "official" snowfall. In my backyard I have 7" of snow and I've made certain that the three bird feeders on my back deck always have bird seed in them. My kitchen sink is strategically placed below a window with a direct line to see these feathered creatures come to feed. I also have a reference book of bird photos which sits near the window sill so that I can identify each winged "diner".


Later on in the season, when we start eating grapefruit (to beef up our Vitamin C intake), I take the emptied rinds and fill them with a combination of bacon fat and bird seed. The birds love it and it helps boost their layer of "insulation" through the really cold months of January and February.


While I was browsing through the wood section of my favorite craft store I came upon unfinished wooden bird houses and a butterfly box that were on clearance. I snatched these up in a hurry and decided that over Christmas break I would paint these and get them ready for next Spring. I bought a book several years ago and took my cue from some of the suggestions in it. The book is entitled, "Quaint Birdhouses You Can Paint and Decorate", by Dorothy Egan. The author presents several different ideas on how to paint your birdhouses. There are birdhouse "libraries", "churches", a "Post Office" and a restaurant - just to name a few.


As much as I love winter, when the mercury dips below -10 degrees and the wind chill is enough to freeze a foot of ice, I'll leave the outdoor stuff to the ice fisherman in their little huts on the Mississippi. This is when I get out all the craft projects I've been collecting over the year and get "busy".