A funky birdhouse, kid DIY style

My son and I are still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our summer.

We were both in a real funk today. We just didn't know what to do with ourselves. We tried a walk to the store, then spent some time in the pool, but we were flat out bored.

I have my son helping me on a DIY project, but without the right tools on hand, I had to temporarily hault progress. So, we stared at each other and debated what to do with the long haul ahead. I thought maybe day trips, maybe short new camping excursions... but my heart just really desired to... build.

Then I suggested we build that bird house he's been begging me to do with him forever.

So we head into the mess mayhem I call a garage. I started him off with the main body, but his own quirky artistic personality quickly competed with my own and we bonked heads. I finally gave up and left him to his own devices.

And this is what I found later on. It earned a place of honor in the birdhouse garden.

Check out the tall skinny one on the left!

What?!? He revamped the roof!

And added a base. This boy is onto something!!!

Well... that did it. I knew there was great potential to be had with this little endeavor. REAL birdhouses covered in delicious authentic junk of course! So I think I know what our next project needs to be.

See this amazing thing? It's from my brother. I brought it home from my mom's estate sale. I needed more riff raff standing around like a hole in the head, but oh my gosh... this would be soooo wonderful in the garage for our tools and funky bits of this and that! For our birdhouse factory you know.

Uh.. yeah. My poor starving artist son was forced to work in THIS chaotic mess.

Enough! Two artists are chomping at the bit for a REAL workshop. Maybe I should read my own silly workshop seminar on this again for encouragement. :)

We're now officially on a mission. Birdhouses must be built you know!

Curious what's on our list of DIY's to come?

Build a clothes closet system.
Revamp the garage/workshop
Build a  junk computer table (20% done)
Finish painting/building my sidetable for my bedroom.
Paint that desk in the garage ( my dad's ) and get it workin' in the boy's room.
Two palette footstools.
Patio table creation.

And... more cool birdhouses. Who has time to camp! I think we're officially motivated. :)

How about your kiddos? 

Are they inspiring builders/artists/DIYers? 

Do you involve them in the build of your DIY projects too?

Funky bird homes

What is it about birdhouses?

Why do we love them so and gravitate towards collecting them?

They look great grouped together on posts, ladders,

and even buried in oceans of lush greenery.

Needing actual trees for birdhouses is a notion from the past. They can be anywhere.

All it took here is having a white post, hugged by a beautiful clematis. This is my next door neighbor's birdhouse sanctuary in their front yard and it is heavenly!

Birds are so hip, they even have the perfect tone of aqua for their eggs. :)

As many of you that follow FJI  know, things aren't generally done normally around these parts. And even bird homes fall into that category. We had a nest that was in quite an unusual spot. And it allowed the best viewing opportunity EVER.

 Have you figured out where this nest is residing yet?

I had been power washing the patio and the outside of the BBQ, when I noticed some straw sticking out from under the lid. Puzzled, I opened it and found...

 ... this. Needless to say, we hadn't done much BBQing this year yet.

Nope. Not even close.

It was a rare occasion we peeked inside, for we didn't wish to disturb our new tenants. When the eggs finally hatched, every time we would  walk onto the patio, we were greeted with loads of young chatter. :)

But here's the kicker. When it was flight day and they finally vacated the premises for good, my son ran out to the BBQ and announced, "THEY'RE GONE! WE CAN BBQ! Let's get STEAK!"

"Cool! Just close it for now and we'll clean it out tomorrow."

Yeah well, a week or so passed when we came back to this little project and were finally ready to clean the BBQ out.

Know what else came back?

You guessed it. They're back. We appear to run a new bird rental suite business.

With the pay being, I don't have to BBQ!

Mr. Steak Eatin' Guy is none too pleased though.

When are birds done with this sort of thing anyway? Just wondering.

Ever have an odd area you've found a nest?

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Thank-you for your continued entries! 
The next "Gitter Done!" date announcement coming soon.
Link entry still open for biz. :)

The Birdie Hotel - addition to the birdhouse garden

I made a little addition to my bird house garden today. I call this one, The Birdie Hotel.


Thanks to friends Geraldine and Hank, I'm now the proud owner of that old rustic ladder! Cool! And naturally, I ran home and put it right to work within minutes. Thanks guys! I love it! And so will the birds.

I love evening sun photos.

It was just such a beautiful day out today, I couldn't resist snapping a couple shots of the mountain view out back. My property is fortunate to be backed onto a city owned park, so my yard appears much larger than it is. It's a great place to kick a soccerball if you desire abit more space. There is a little creek that runs along the taller grass.

This willow sits right behind my house. It's truely as glorious as it looks. A single rope swing with a loop for one's foot is attached to a branch. I'd so love it if it had a seat swing for the not so adventurous. (that would be me!)

Here's hoping you enjoyed sunshine in your neighbourhood today too!

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Kimba at A Soft Place To Land is having a Garden Party - June 15 2009 edition! Go check out other gardens in the making!