The Birdhouse

Between the house and the vegetable garden was the old farmer's wife's flower garden.
There was a  long winding path between two rows of beds.

Beyond that was a long straight row with roses, interspaces with tulips

 and some easter lilies.

 

Each spring the old farmer's wife would spend several days preparing

the flower garden for the coming summer.

The edges of the beds were dug out to make clean edges, weeds were pulled,

clumps of flowers separated if necessary.

There were irises, lilies of the valley, mums, zinnias, poppies, and a clump of chives.

Each easter we had a new easter lily and it was planted along the row of roses

 to come up each year thereafter.

 

Remember the story about insect collecting a few weeks back?

In this story the butterfly net comes into play in a bit different a fashion.

About midway in the flower garden was a mound covered with sweet peas

 and a bird house on a pole in the middle of it.

 

Each year it was inhabited by a little wren who raised her family there.

A cousin and the old farmers daughter, ahem, wanted to catch the wren.

One of us would hold the net in front of the birdhouse and the other would SMACK the backside and out would shoot the bird! Right into the net.

We would reach in and pull her out. 

My cousin remembers we put it in a bird cage on the porch by the kitchen door. 

The bird flew out an opening in the cage that was designed to hold the food dish. 

My older brother and older cousin were playing catch in the front yard

and remarked on the terrified bird that went streaking past them like a bat out of hell.  

Since the birdcage was a failure we repeated the catch and release scenario many times and the bird always shot out into the net on cue. It seemed like great fun at the time.
Until the old farmer's wife caught us.... Uh OH!




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