It's been about three weeks since Rita the Wren's babies flew off, look here if you'd like a refresher. Today I decided we needed to reclaim our recycling bin and I got a great look at the instinctual ingenuity Rita must have possessed to build such a structure.
From the top, to the average predator, or passing human, this just looks like a tumbled bunch of garden debris. Most would simply pass by without even looking.
Aahh, but if you bend over, you find that there is a carefully constructed rounded opening,
with an equal perfectly rounded "den" where Rita tended to her eggs, then hatchlings and finally her fledglings.
How incredible that it all took place in such a small area right under our (and many neighborhood cats') noses.
For now, I've put Rita's masterpiece on the bench on my front porch, but I wonder what I can do with it long term.
In the meantime, I have my own empty nest while The Maven is gone adventuring for the summer. Her room needs a redo very badly. Even though she lives in an apartment while going to school here, she still needs an updated room to crash in when she's home. The last time we did anything major to it, she was about 8 or 9.
We painted the walls lilac and stamped flowers around the windows and doors.
It's dated, small and very "used".
And doesn't have the personality it did, when The Maven lived in it permanently. Those dressers were my parents. They got them as part of a bedroom suite when they got married in 1943. They've been all over since then and ended up in our house after their last time with my parents in a nursing home. Needless to say they were well used and loved for so many years, but now need a little TLC.
They are made of pecan and are structurally in excellent shape. I feel that stripping them, sanding, and restaining is what I will do. I've been looking at some very talented bloggers who are so good at painting and revitalizing furniture, so I haven't quite made up my mind.
Anyway, this room and it's contents will be one of my summer projects. I knew that if I posted about it here, it would keep me motivated to tackle this project.
Why is it Rita could do everything she needed to do with very little space and no frills and we feel the need to fill our "nests" with stuff? But wait, if you look very carefully, you can see that Rita did all her decorating and collecting on the outside of her house.
She was quite the collector, wasn't she?
2 comments:
It is amazing how birds build their nests, I have seen some where they use wet mud to glue the twigs together it gives them strenth and symetry.
Go ahead with your proyect It would take something big to fill in the empty nest feeling. Need a "good" sander call 407 275 5976
lots of lessons to learn from God's creatures...as for the Maven's room. Won't it be nice for her to have a grown up place to stay when she is there?
You have your hands full for your project just clearing away her things- take care with those.
Can't wait to see your progress and what the outcome of the dressers will be.
I've got some empty nest rebuilding to do also. You're smart to post pictures...I'm not so committed. (sigh)
I hope to get to all of it someday!
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