Staying on task with junk...oh look a bird!

Well, as usual I haven't "actively" been working on repairing or redesigning any junk until this week. I generally get going on it after the 4th of July and after spending a delightful extra few days at the lake with kids, sibs, and good friends...I decided it's about time to get some dirt under my fingernails.

So I took a few days extra off work and my teenage son and I set out for the barn to see what trouble we could get in to.

 

Of course in our barn there are no longer cows or horses :( mulling around, but there's always still a multitude of animal activity to be found.  (Like the time I was out there late at night---all alone---and heard a ruffling unfamiliar sound coming from under a pile of solemn junk.  Then one, and soon another, salamanders gandered their way across the barn floor and out the door without giving notice to the fact I was there.  I was just thankful they weren't black and white with a fluffy tail!!  They proceeded to do this at about the same time every evening for a good week or so.  I was on the verge of naming them!)

However, this time was a bit different.   Throughout the day, I noticed not one, but 4 very young birds randomly appear on the grass near the door of the barn.  Unfortunately the dogs spied the first one and well, yeah.

So the moment I saw the second baby bird, my son and I immediately scooped  it up and put it temporarily in the safety of a bucket until the dogs would be in for night.  We dug it some worms, which it ate, and within a short time we had scooped up a total of three little fluffball birds.  All the while Mama (or Papa) Cedar Waxwing watched and chirped from the rafters...even scooping down into the bucket to feed the babies.

It was apparant they had taken flight a bit too early and we feared that putting them back in the nest would result in them venturing out again.  So at the end of the day we put them gently down on the floor of the barn and hoped for the best.

Morning came and there they still were.  Huddled together in the grass near the barn.  Not a favorable place when there's dogs around!  We scooped them up once again (A little more challenging this time, since they were on to our tricks.) and we placed them around the back of the barn inside a fenced area.

My son, who would usually rather be hunting than pulling nails and carrying projects around for me, actually admitted watching the baby birds and their situation was quite an interesting change from his usual interaction with the feathered kind.

All the while the Mama (or Papa) Cedar Waxwing had not given up on the babies...keeping them close in sight, feeding them, and singing to them as if to coax them to try harder at flight and get to a safer place than the ground.

I was relieved tonight to see they are still all there, and sitting atop a fence post.  I left them a treat of grapes and watermelon.  The stool has been waiting for it's turn at being given a fresh and junky look...so will have to wait a bit longer.

And the weathered wood all around me here has inspired a few project treatments.  I can't wait to show you the wood table top I'm "aging" to have this very same time worn appeal!

 So my son and I got a bit off task with the junk projects, but that's the great thing about being a junker.  We appreciate staying in tune with the nature and raw elements around us, using them to inspire and feed our creativity!