4.11.11

 

I have to start this post by saying that I certainly do have the most accomodating husband.  I come up with an idea, no matter how cockamamie, and he figures out how to make it work. 

This is the view from my kitchen window. 

Let's look a little closer, shall we?

 

I don't recall where I first saw this done (old porch post with birdhouse on top) but I know that I've wanted to do it for a long time. 

I didn't want to lose any of the height of the porch posts.  Not knowing the ways of post construction I wasn't sure how that was going to work.  But not to worry – Rick knew exactly how to install them. 

Here's a little mosaic of the process.  Now since the posts were slightly different sizes (one was from the days when a 4 x 4 was actually 4" by 4") one of them had to be modified a bit so the bracket (which is made to fit a modern 4 x 4 which is about 3.5" x 3.5"). 

The larger of the posts had to be chisled away a little bit in order for the bracket to fit. 

He also had to reinforce the bottom of one of the posts since it was splitting.  Nothing a little wood glue and some carefully placed screws couldn't take care of.

 

The braces in the bottom right picture were removed after the concrete set. 

One birdhouse I've had for a number of years.  It is actually a bird feeder/bird house (the attic is the living quarters).  I got it for a song because one of the finials on the top was snapped off.  I had Rick snap the other one off and put two sparkly glass cupboard knobs on top.  Rick also had the idea to put decorative brackets underneath it to give it a little more visual weight.   

I painted the roofs of both a slate color.  One had a blue roof and the other had plain, unfinished wood. 

Now I just need to wait for some birds to move in.