All the warmth and sunshine of the last couple of days has caused most of the snow and ice on the driveway and open fields to melt away. There's still some snow where it's been piled up from plow, thrower, shovel and wind which makes for an interesting view from the Aerie. Where the fields--mostly pasture and hay fields--are normally bordered by trees and hedgerows, drifted snow also remains so each field looks like a picture with a matted frame. In the center you've got the brown/green/gold of the field surrounded by an edge of white, drifted snow and finally the frame of the hedgerow.
Anyway, we are supposed to be quite cold tonight but then we're in for a nice beginning to a week of warm days then cold days and then...snowy days? I'm not sure there's a meteorological consensus on what the weather will be like after Monday. AccuHunch and Weather.com are in conflict as of this afternoon. That's okay. I'm not going anywhere until next Saturday's winter fitness festival at Hills Creek State Park. I hope they've got some snow left for the cross-country skiing and sledding they're supposed to have. From what I can see from the Aerie, I would have to say that that is doubtful at the moment.
I spent three hours this afternoon in the workshop cutting up some wood and banging together five birdhouses to donate as a fund raiser to the Tiadaghton Audubon Society. Very simple plans that work for wrens (what doesn't work for a wren?!), blue bird, chickadee, and many other small cavity nesters. I'll probably do another six or seven tomorrow. Now that I've got the process down pat, cutting all the boards and drilling all the holes is assembly line work. I'll make one minor change, however. The plans called for 1 1/4 inch finishing nails and that's what I used--along with some exterior glue. I think I used 1 1/4 inch dry wall screws last year and they (along with the glue) add a great deal more stability to the bird house. Once I get a dozen birdhouses done for TAS, I'll make a few more for me.
Two of the five birdhouses I put together today.The hole is 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The front height is nine inches and the front panel swings out for cleaning and is scored on the inside to help baby birds climb up to the hole. The rear board is 13 inches high while the back of the chamber is around 10 1/2 inches. The base is 4 inches by 4 1/2 inches. It was cut out of white pine and put together using finishing nails and glue.
Once they're all put together, it will be time to wipe on some boiled linseed oil. This gives the wood a golden glow while protecting against the sun and water damage pine would normally suffer. The houses I hung up outside last spring still look like they just came out of the shop.
I put up three within sight of the deck. One was occupied by a wren last summer and a second, near the used box, was filled with twigs by the same wren so as to discourage any neighbors. (I built three other bird houses of nearly the same design and donated them to TAS. All three sold at the Wellsboro street fair in June.)
4 comments:
Very cool that you are making the bird houses for an Audubon Society fundraiser. The boiled linseed oil is a good tip. I've used teak oil that is for boats on the unfinished wood in our bathroom at the cabin and it is terrific. Quite expensive though and I hated having to sand in between coats.I'm not a happy wood worker like you though. I just did it because I had to. My mom is up in your area, in Sullivan Co. PA. She says the weather has been "gastly".
is that a pack of Winstons back there?
No, gregor, the bar code belongs to the screws or the finishing nails.
I was just pullin' yer leg. I don't know how many time's I've reached for one of those blister packs of fasteners, thinking it was my smokes on the workbench. Finishing nails, coffin nails, they sort of go together when I'm wood working. I don't smoke very much any other time.
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