A wrest of nens!

Last Saturday my friend, Kim, came over and we went to Leo's shop and built a couple of wren houses but the most fun was junking them up, Bruce thought we were nuts but we loved them.

We would never win any awards in woodworking but decided the wrens wouldn't be so critical.

I had an old porch post I rescued from the chicken house that Bruce was going to demolish and wanted to use it. Most of the time I muddle through stuff by myself but this would involve cutting and drilling metal so enlisted Bruce's help. He fashioned two angle irons at the bottom to sink into the ground so I didn't have to bury the post and leveled off the top so the bird house sat more or less level. I was excited to have it done and promptly took it home to set it up.

I actually did a little more decorating, I found some wooden letters in Leo's shop so used the 'F' for French and 2 - 'V's' to make a 'W' for Wrens, French Wrens. That way the other birds knew who the house was for. I lost most of my grapes this winter so cut the vines and screwed them on all four sides of the post for Heavenly Blue morning glories to climb on. I planted the morning glories and some fall asters to finish the job.

I love it and wondered how long it would be before I had tenants.

As it ended up, not long at all! The next day I was firing up the grill when I heard some excited twittering and a pair of wrens were checking out the new digs!

"Why honey, it's a brand new house, just what we've been looking for!!"

"It's even licensed by the Department of Agriculture, State of Iowa. This is an upscale neighborhood!"

"I'll check out the interior."

"Quite nice and roomy too! See what you think, honey."

"You are right, it is licensed by the Dept of Ag, State of Iowa. The wrens down the block don't have one!"

"Well, I approve but you better get building, I'm feeling very full these days."

Her mate listened and promptly began to haul building material in, but putting a long stick in a little hole took some finesse.

"Hmmmm, can't go straight in....."

".....maybe if I tilt a little to the side....."

"....dang it, dropped the stick but luckily it landed on the platform, the house builder thought of everything."

"Got it!"

"Whoa! Watch, honey, while I get this bad boy inside!"

"I'm the Man!!"

And so the building went on, non-stop, all day except for a short siesta after dinner. This morning bright and early, they were in and out. For the first time, I saw both birds in the house at the same time and I can only imagine the conversation, "I told you I wanted the couch against the east wall!! You never listen to me!"

If you are wondering about the title, long ago, when I lived at Whiting, I had a nest of wrens build in the tree right off my deck. I was so excited that when I went to work, I blurted out to Lori, "I have a Wrest of Nens!!" She looked at me, I looked at her, we both fell to the floor laughing uncontrollably.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to set me off.