The Bounty under the Stairs

The new house into which my boyfriend and I have moved was built long ago. I estimate it was built somewhere around the 50's. It was built as a vacation home and has a few elements that make it not very efficient in winter, but it's quaint and warm in spirit.

The area that is lacking most for me is the kitchen. It is terribly small and there is no storage. When we arrived, there was a "pantry" (the marketing of the landlords), which was nothing more than the unused space under the stairs. It had a rickety shelf pushed to the back of the space, so it wasn't really a pantry at all. Both of us had ideas that we wanted to try our hand at canning foods to put away for the winter. Storage would definitely be a concern.

I took a trip to the lumber store and picked up a few L-brackets and about 6 one-by-four boards. The boards were relatively smooth finish and only cost $1 each. With some quick cutting, I was able to put up a series of shelves just wide enough to hold a mason jar or a soup can. I wanted the boards to be slim so we weren't knocking everything off the shelved when we turned around inside the pantry. I varied the spacing so we could stack cans or shelf tall bottles. At the back, where the space under the stairs got short, I put in a few deep shelves for cereal boxes. Concerned about vibrations from the overhead stairway possibly shaking down the goods, I squeezed a bead of almond-colored caulk along the front of each shelf. The cans will not walk past the caulk and after 4 months, not a single can has fallen. Hurray for our walk-in pantry!

The result cost less than $40 total, but has greatly increased our storage. The best part is that we have a place to put our canning next year!

Winter Pity

This year, as we approached winter and the days

got colder, a bird began to appear in a corner of our porch roof line. It arrived every evening at dusk and was gone by dawn. As it perched, it

huddled against the house and fluffed out its feathers to conserve warmth. Its huddled form inspired me to do a bit of homework to find out what it was all about.

It turns out that some birds that don't like to fly south, spend their winter bouncing from one shelter to another trying to stay warm until Spring returns. They may find a nice spot that isn't going anywhere and they will try to return to it regularly. If the winter weather worsens suddenly, their shelter may be destroyed, inadequate, or just perfect for survival. Long story short: winters are quite a gamble for birds.

To provide them with assistance, it can be a fun project to provide them with a winter roost box. This differs from a standard birdhouse. A roost box has its entry hole at the bottom, instead of the top, to allow birds to generate rising heat inside. This also prevents birds from becoming smothered at the bottom of the box if they dog-pile. It has a row of perch pegs running up both right and left interior walls so that several birds can use it at the same time, and this prevents birds from crowding into the cavity haphazardly. It is painted black and mounted so that the morning sun will warm it. The birds who use it will not nest in it because winter time is not the time when they want to build nests. They will simply use it to roost at night, and then will go about their foraging business during the day.

I decided to use up some of the scrap wood that I had laying around by making a roost box. I designed it so it was generally flat to the house. It has a sloping roof that overhangs the entry-perch. The entrance is only 2 inches across so that larger birds won't want to use it. I highlighted the entrance with a ring of white paint. Its bottom was put on last so that I can easily back out the screws to clean it or repair the interior perch pegs. Lastly, the box is mounted with a stable but simple mounting plate so I can take it down in spring, just in case a wren decides to overstay his welcome.

WELCOME WRENS AND FINCHES!