Sally's Backyard Birds

I really love some things about our yard. We have pretty trees (so lots of shade), shrubs for privacy, a beautiful lawn that our son, Sean, maintains amazingly well, and lots of birds. We also have some cool things. Bird houses, hanging planters, bird feeders and baths, furniture, wind chimes etc. So, I took some pictures of some of these things that just make me happy because they are there.

This is a hummingbird feeder Gene made. It hangs in front of the kitchen window and is visited regularly by hummingbirds as well as finches! (If you click on this picture you can see a hummingbird sitting on the plant hanger.)

I bought this shelf at one of my favorite shops, Nettie Taylors. Unfortunately, it closed. But when a new shop opened I found this old watering can there!

Our Globe Willow tree is the perfect place to hang bird houses. We don't have any tenants, but the houses are fun to look at!

I like that Kramer followed me all over the yard while I was taking photos. I spent a day trimming this hedge. Thanks to my dad for the loan of his hedger! It totally saved me!

I got my neighbor to grow some gourds for me last year. He's an amazing gardener! So, of course they grew very well. I had them in the backyard drying all winter and now I need to clean them up and make them into birdhouses! I actually bought one at Swiss Days one year and paid about $25 for it. If I can sell these, I'll be rich! HA!
More gourds...
even more gourds. I need to get busy!
When my mom died in 2002, some of my sweet neighbors gave me a plant in this planter. I love it and it always reminds me of how wonderful all of my neighbors are!

Gene built a pergola above our deck a few years ago and I find way too many things to hang on it! Most recently, our daughters, Michelle and Rachel, gave me this wind chime for my birthday! Thanks girls!

When my Aunt Rayma died I was asked if I would like some of the things around their yard...duh! Of course I would! Aunt Rayma loved antiques and she was the sweetest person ever! I treasure everything I have that she gave to me or was handed down. This is one of the three benches (the other two are covered with gourds) that Aunt Rayma and Uncle Karl had in their yard. Pretty cute huh?
Yeah, I love Kramer. He always makes us laugh and is always so happy! I should come back in my next life as a dog. Not really, cats have life easier, I'll hope to be a cat.
Doesn't this tree look amazing! I used my dad's hedgers to trim the underneath. Then I slipped and fell down the hill (I don't think anyone saw me) and I got some amazing scrapes and bruises. Kramer got a little scared by this event, but I was really OK!
OK, so I spend way to much time looking out the bathroom window. We have so many birds at the feeders! The noise they make is awesome and I LOVE IT! Sometimes we have such a variety of birds down there. One day there were the usual finch, some sparrows, doves, quail, robins and mice! Yep, the mice love feeding under the feeder too. Unfortunately, I have had to use mouse traps to clear them out a bit. We also feed some snakes under there, they help control the mouse population. What a busy place! (Click on this photo and you can actually see some of the birds that visit here.) The street sign is actually from our old house. When the city replaced the sign they brought us the old one and it makes a perfect place to hang all kinds of things!

OK, last one, for today. I have been quite the slacker about posting things on this blog, so I had to make this a bit lengthy. When my Uncle Frank died, my dad, Gene, my sister and her husband and I went to California to clean out his house and settle his estate. He was the best collector of stuff ever!! One of the things we brought home was this whirly- gig. It has some painted gold finch on one side and the words I love you on the other. When you twist it they get mixed up and spin in the wind. It's pretty cute. The change in humidity shrunk up the wood though, but nothing my amazing husband couldn't fix!