For the birds

My neighbor has spent several years transforming her yard into a beautiful combination of blooming beds and little spots for the birds. When she got a pair of dogs she had her husband build a fence in one corner to create a "bird sanctuary.' In the spring and summer their place is the spot to be for seeing birds!

For Christmas I made her this little sign.


I drilled holes and made a ribbon hanger, cut the image from a magazine with a craft knife, used a pair of real feathers. (I did not do anything to any of the sweet little birds around here. However, the same cannot be said for my cat. Actually I think this bird lived because all I did find was a little pouf of feathers and I'm sure she would have left me something considerably more disgusting had she actually killed it.)

And because my printer is perpetually out of ink I hand wrote the words and flourishes.

When I delivered it I asked if she'd mind of I did a "tour of her yard" for my blog. She asked me why I was showing her ugly winter yard rather than...well the pretty blooming one, haha! But despite the lack of flowers it still looks lovely.

Just around the corner of the house you can see her fenced area in the corner with the lovely arbor entrance - and the reason for the fence! That is either Sissy or Sally - I can't tell them apart.


She even has it marked! :)

She has a flower watering fairy too - I need one of those about July.

There are all kinds of bird houses - some on fence posts, some on tall poles.

And they have several fountains which run all the time during summer. The birds LOVE them. I love how the base of this one is going to be covered in greenery one day.

You can see one of the tall bird houses peeking over the top of this fountain.

I like how this one is in a naturally diveted rock.

She is also a painter and she and her husband converted their garage into a painting class/studio so she can work and teach.

It has so much more room than her old studio - now she can hang her work gallery style!

And over the cement floor? It's the peel-and-stick "wood"! Isn't it fabulous?!

Thanks for coming on the tour with me!