One of the new homes for the bluebirds
Hard time of year to be indoors. Suddenly, it is so nice out there. And suddenly, all the projects that need to be done are no longer safely hidden beneath their blanket of white. Plenty to do. How quickly we forget what it feels like to have time on our hands as we do in winter.
While working on the road down by the Little Cabin, I noticed a bluebird flying about the outside of the cabin. I wonder if I am too late… I had forgotten to do what our friend Gene had done and put the bluebird boxes up before the cabin. First things first, he had said, and he was right. At his place, they moved right in and kept him company as he built his cabin.
So in the afternoon while waiting for Bob to return (taking yet another animal to the vet… but that’s another story…) to work together on one of the big projects, I headed out to The Shop. The Great Outdoors. Our “shop” is anywhere we want., outside Not so great when it’s raining or snowing, but otherwise, can’t beat the view, and theirs always plenty of fresh air.
A good time to build bluebird boxes! I suppose, like planting trees, there is never really a bad time, and the sooner we just get out there and get it done, the better, right? I took a look at the design Gene had used to build two for us. Both are around our cabin on the coyote fence, and both have housed bluebirds. I didn’t need more proof than that to know his design works. Thus, I based my design off of his. More or less. I’m no architect, of course, so please excuse the drawing, but I think you’ll get the idea:
Blue print for a bluebird box
Got out the tools and materials, and figured if I was going to go through the process, might as well make a few. I made four. Really easy, only took about an hour for the whole lot. I’ve made some really slick ones in the past, with tin roofing, sanded and painted sides, but I kept these ones simple. Those other ones were fun to look at for the human eye, but I don’t think the bluebirds much cared about the high gloss finish. Nothing fancy here, and as you all know, a house doesn’t have to be fancy to be a good home…
I used scrap one-by boards, which happened to be six inches wide. Five inch width would have worked just as well, I think. I cut all the pieces for all four houses out on the ground and laid them out like an assembly line. Then got down in the dirt with my little hammer and nailed them together. I used a 1 ½ inch auger bit for the hole, and drilled a smaller hole beneath in which I stuck a small branch for a perch. Finally, I drilled holes top and bottom center for hanging, and with big nails and hammer in my tool belt, headed down our new road to pu up the boxes on the cedar posts of the fence line. Boxes were hung facing away from the wind.
An afternoon building project
I was just finishing up when Bob returned home with FrankenKitty…
To be continued.
