Daily Home Renovation Tips

Sometimes life really does happen when you are making plans.

This week saw our renovation activities focus on spreading the word about home energy audits on various Internet forums aw well as the replacement of our gutters and eavestroughs (a new series of articles starting tomorrow!).

When we purchased our home last spring the woman told us that there was a Robin’s nest underneath the deck in the back of the kitchen (we have a walkout basement) that was used every year for the past several years by a family of robins.

Sure enough we saw the nest, but during the summer no such nesting. Likely the noise from all the renovations going on inside and outside the house. See if you can see it in the picture below. It’s in the middle of the picture.

This spring there were R0bins in the area. One of them even made its way into a picture we included in a prior article on our front garden makeover. But, then again, so were Blue Jays and Cardinals (sounds like a collection of professional baseball teams, doesn’t it? ).  We back onto a ravine and small forest so this was expected.  However, no nesting.

Then earlier this week, I saw it for the first time. A Robin actually nesting in that nest underneath the deck. Pretty cool! I took a few pictures but tried my best to stay out of the way inside our basement. See if you can make it out from the next picture.

It was pretty cool how she would bring different building materials into the existing nest to renovate it to her needs. She would place the small twig or part of a dried leaf in the nest and the snuggle (the best word I can come up with) in the nest to pat it down. It was clear to me that she was an expert on renovating homes, even if she didn’t have her own blog, ha! , or television show on the Home and Garden TV cable channel. Below is an action shot through our basement window renovating the nest.

It was also pretty cool how she flew into and out of the next. One time she missed the nest and landed on the deck support beam on the other side from where the nest was. Ooops!

So far, it’s been 5 days since we first spotted Mrs. Robin in the next. And we don’t see her there every day (one does have a life after all and can’t be just starring at the next 24 X 7). But she is definitely enjoying her stay, that is except for when we let Sandy, our family dog, out to the back to do her ‘business’. :-)  When that happens she lets us know by flying onto the top of the fence in the back yard and yelling at us to hurry of and leave.

We’ll write on how Mrs. Robin is coming along every now and again. Hopefully we are not too instrusive on her summer home. It’s just too bad for us that she’s a temporary house guest who is not paying any of the household expenses!

We’ll stay out of her way and let her do here thing. And, yes, baby Robins are born and we have pictures and videos to share. It’s really cool!

To continue with the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 2.