The Gift of a Birdhouse

I got a birdhouse for my birthday.

Actually, I got 11 birdhouses for my birthday.

It was my idea and I went for it.

A lonely backyard

The view out my kitchen window is of a backyard we’ve worked hard to make it friendly.

The weathered fence around the yard and overhanging trees from my neighbor, give us a closed-in feeling.

Which is comfortable and we like it that way.

But I wanted color along the back fence for when the flowers no longer bloom around the fountain.

I thought a colorful birdhouse or two would do the trick nicely.

Why stop at two if I could have more?

I visited the local craft store where the balsa wood houses were on sale.

So I bought eleven.

A perfect gift

I’m hard to buy gifts for, so I handed out a birdhouse to my children and Adorable grandchildren.

I purchased paint, brushes, and silicone spray.

All I asked was for each of them to use their creativity and decorate a birdhouse.

They didn’t have to give me anything else.

(My husband’s gift? He got to hang them.)

The Adorable grandchildren loved the exercise.

The crafty perfect daughter-in-laws planned the projects beautifully.

My sons laughed, as did my daughter.

I got exactly what I wanted.

Turning it into a game

At lunch to celebrate my birthday, they placed the birdhouses on the table and invited me to guess who decorated each one.

That’s a tricky assignment for a mother and grandmother.

I had to make sure no one was offended by my guess.

The crafty daughter-in-law houses were easy–one included sparkling flowers glued onto the sides.

The other featured fine lines carefully placed.

Several cheeky children made it into a game.

The USC student gave me a yellow roof with her school’s initials on one side and a blue and gold roof with mine on the other.

My fellow UCLA band alumnus child painted his baby blue with UCLA band in gold script.

It got pride of place.

The three-year-old’s offering included a surprise: she painted the back wall through the entrance hole. Even her mother hadn’t noticed that.

Probably the best-decorated one, however, was my grandson who chose the church.

It had two doors that opened and inside he glued a photograph of me and him!

All I have to do is open and close the doors!

Finishing touches

I bought standard paints at the craft store for the houses and I knew they would not weather well outside.

So, I bought silicon spray and sprayed them, two coats worth, to withstand heat and rain.

We’ll see how they manage come winter.

In the meantime, I smile every time I look out the kitchen window and see bright spots of color on the back fence.

I don’t anticipate any birds moving in–and I don’t want any since a neighbor cat lurks out there.

Birdhouse yard decorations–a fun birthday gift for me.

What do you have in your yard to brighten it up?

Tweetables

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