For Those Dutch Birds

     Sometimes I just forget about stuff.   This bird house has been floating around the shop or the wood scrap pile or the back of the garage for years.   Vanessa (my daughter-in-law) bought this on Pam's dad's auction (I'm guessing about six years ago) and asked if I would patch it up. Back then it did not have a coat of dust on it like it did in this picture.  

     Now sometimes it would be easier to just pitch the old and build a new, but in this case it came from grandpa's place and it should be repaired.  

     The base had split, the house had come apart on one side, and you can see what was left of the windmill part that used to spin around at the top.

    I started out by blowing the dust off.  (Now I probably have bird lice running around the shop.)   Next I built a new propeller for the top.

   The walls were only 1/4 of an inch thick and were nailed together.  Mostly likely by a real hammer - not an air gun.  (Little pin nails - real craftsmanship.)   I cleaned out the old nails from the break and used epoxy glue to bind the walls back together.  
 


        I must say that for as old as the wood has to be, the wood itself was in good shape.

        Since the bottom was cracked I looked until I found some quarter inch thick scrap boards and glued them together.    I ended up with a base that was about 8 inches square.

        I trimmed off the sides of the new base to match the sides of the original base.



      I glued the base that I had just built to the bottom of the house.    I'm thinking (I'm hoping) that this new base will help hold everything in place.

     Once the glue dried I went ahead and stained the base and the propeller to match the rest of the house.   It was not a dead on match, but it was the best I could do with the stains that I had on hand.

   There it is:   Grandpa's old windmill bird house.    This spring Vanessa will have to hang it up in some tree and see if any birds from the Netherlands stop in for a stay.

  I know it looks like a patched up job, but you have to realize that it took me six years to do this project.

  (Jeez,  I'm done, but I feel kind of itchy in spots - Mites?)

  
   A side note:   I was asked to build some toys for a fund raiser coming up in February.    I did have an extra helicopter left over from this year's Christmas projects.   So I quickly built another little truck to throw in the mix.    We will see if they sell or if they even get a bid.

    (Is this what retirement is all about?  Building bird houses and toys?    I guess.)