I made this "birdhouse" about 10 years ago. I didn't do any research and made the hole in the wrong place, his hat top. Birds didn't like it, but the wasps sure did. It had become badly weathered, cracked and looked like a loss. It fell from its mounting and busted some of it. With time on my hands, I restored it. My daughter really liked it, not so much as a birdhouse, but a wooden caricature. He is about 18" high. You can see the yellow plug I put in the bird hole in his hat. It does NOT represent any ethnic group, I think he resembles one of Jeff Dunham's puppets, Sweet Daddy Ray

I can see why birds might have avoided it!

Cool piece of sculpture Ron.

We have had a couple of bird houses for many years collecting dust and they have never been outside. 

This one we bought  the first time we went through the red wood forest in about 1965. Used to be a few curio shops along the routes either in Oregon or northern California  and maybe still is.

The builder spent a few hours on this one.. and is mostly red wood. and the next one a neighbor who had an oil field business gave us this one..His business was clearing pads where new wells was to be drilled. My wife mentioned to his wife, good friends, I was having trouble trying to clear the 4 acres of mesquites where the go cart track and mini golf was going to be. by the time I was only half way through clearing the land new mesquites had already sprouted and was a foot or so tall and this kept me stalled there....re doing the re does. I happened to do things all by myself and  and I was using diesel on the freshly cut shoots but wasn't making any head way.... Well one day I looked up and here come about five or six big pieces of equipment, road graders, front end leaders and things like that. In about an hour or so that 4 acres was clear. Amazing what someone can do with the right equipment..  any way, we ended up giving this family a water front lot with a two story cabin I had been building on in my spare time and it was just barely dried in  with concrete foundation with no doors installed  but it did have the windows installed.... They both retired there and both died there a few years apart. It happened to be on a lake north of Brownwood, Tx. I think this bird house was given to us in about 1881

 It looks like they used cedar shingles for the exterior..

  If any one has never driven through the red wood forests then you are missing a great adventure... After that first time any time we went to Las Vegas or that direction the red woods was always included, like one time we were in Knoxville,Tennessee for a go- cart convention and I told wife the route home had to include the redwoods.. She said a little out of the way and I just shrugged my shoulders and said nothing....and we ended up in Cresent City, Calif... We did buy all those pieces of drift wood that has been in the way ever since on another trip out there but that was years earlier before the track was ever thought of...

Crescent City is about the only place I'd care to live in CA. We used to make it a point to stop there on the way to visit Phyl's brother near Medford OR. And, you are right about the Redwood Forests. Them's some BIIIG trees, for sure. 

When I was a kid I saw in a National Geographic (?) a picture of a car driving through a tunnel in one of the redwoods. It’s been on my bucket list ever since to see them.

  When we came back from Viet Nam, two of my friends and I got a car and decided to see the US. When we got to the Sequoia National park it was nearly dark and the worlds biggest tree didn't look so big. I wanted a picture and we camped till the next day for a good picture in the sun. The next day we got a BIG surprise. The tree we saw was NOT the General Sherman, as they named the tree. When saw the real biggest tree, the only thing I could think of to. say was "HOLY --IT!!

We ran out of fun money at Kit Carson Co, and just had enough for bologna sandwiches and gas to get us home. That trip was the best thing ever for our rehab 

Folks I have one more drive you all should take before you can say you seen America... I always thought one could see a museum better looking at books but the nature type scenery one needs to get out and smell the roses to appreciate it more...We were headed towards Glacier National Park from the west and had never been in that area so as we were driving down the highway my wife said, this area has lots of extra things added to this map and it says this drive will be one remembered more than most and it says it is called, highway to the gods, oh boy,,,and I promise you will never forget that day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I thought it was a little odd that on the map we were using it said no motor homes and nothing over 20 foot long I think it said..also bicycles have the right of way??? Well it was a great paved highway so I looked at my wife and she nodded her approval so we kept going down that highway or I should say going up that highway for we had already checked it on the map and it would come out by way of the part of Colo. we wanted to see. I do remember we went through a town called Kelispell before we started the straight up climb. ....folks this highway does not even have any thing along the edge of the highway to keep a vehicle from falling off the face of the earth. No guard rails because there is no land just off the edge of the pavement to put the post in to hold the metal rails.... It is straight down and I told her I keep hearing chinese music and it must be coming from down in those gullys somewhere . I had to keep telling my wife it was safe for I said there were big machines that had to have made this road and even though all but one could have went over the edge and fallen into china but honey just think of it this way,,, at least one bull dozer had to have made it to the top so some one could lay this nice smooth pavement...But you always plan these drives over the mountains that you are always driving against the mountain where that side of the road is safer and you manage to have me over on the falling off side of the road.....with no guard RAILS

 

 

And no matter what I say you will never believe me until you go down that road.....

Edited April 4, 20206 yr by Smallpatch

@Smallpatch, remember the white line at the edge? Wife drove our 250 on that road. I looked out one time only and, couldn't see that line. It was a beautiful drive, I'm told. Probably would've appreciated it more if I'd have kept my eyes open. 

Gene I do remember and when parts of the white line was gone it meant that part could not be replaced because nothing was left to put black top or white line on. . It was all straight down for a few miles..It was nice and sunny the day we went over that road but I got to wondering if it had been raining I wondered if anyone was smart enough to stay away from there..  rocks and boulders likes to change places when it gets slick and then when I saw the tour busses just for that area and all were open top models I ask wife if she thought they furnished crash helmets for the flying rocks...

   And didn't I just read in the news a good sized earth quake just happened in the last couple of days in that state ??? but I bet that road is closed in the winter???

59 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

but I bet that road is closed in the winter???

That's a sure bet, Jesse. We met a couple who lived close to the east entrance. They said the snow was above their eaves the prior winter. They were carvers and said winter was their time to build up stock for the next summer's tourists. No problems with social distancing for them these days, I'd guess. 

IF I drove that road, my wife would have been screaming all the way, that is If I could drive it myself. 

Here's a birdhouse that has never seen the outdoors, except for taking photos. Purchased at a charity auction that WOOD magazine had  back when they had their woodworking forums. I was made by one of the turners on that forum.