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birdhouses 3 (Rachel Parsons Gilliam/rparsons@winchestersun.com / October 5, 2012) |
Twenty-three blue and white birdhouses hang from trees and the carport at Frank Farmer’s home on Estes Drive.
Farmer has been collecting birdhouses for years and he realized last winter that many of them were falling into disrepair. Rather than getting rid of them, Farmer instead decided to refurbish them all.
“I just wanted to see what I could do,” Farmer said.
Some of the birdhouses have been in his collection for nearly 50 years, and the repairs were no small undertaking.
“They were all getting old and coming apart. They needed scraping and caulking and things of that nature,” Farmer said.
As an avid Kentucky basketball fan, when Farmer decided to make his birdhouses match, there was only one choice for color combination.
“I had to tear each one apart and reroof some,” Farmer said. “In the past, I’ve just worked on one or two. This time I did them all and rearranged them.”
Now that the project is complete, Farmer said he doesn’t anticipate adding any more to his collection, focusing instead on maintaining what he has.
“I¿get all kinds of birds. The squirrels come with them and they all have a ball, especially in the winter time,” Farmer said.
The length of time needed to repair the birdhouses varied with each one, depending on how badly damaged they were, but Farmer said he is glad he completed the project. He was even inspired to paint a matching blue and white bench to sit under a tree for his wife, Mary.
“I just always liked birds,” Farmer said. “Liked to watch them, liked to have them around.”
Several different types of birds have visited the Farmer home, including sparrows, finches, robins, blue jays, cardinals, blackbirds, wrens, bluebirds and woodpeckers. Cardinals are most prevalent in the winter, Farmer said.
“They all get in there together and eat together. Once in awhile, I’ll see a wild rabbit in there,” Farmer said.
