"and Other Assorted Retirement Activities"--the Birdhouse Project
Those of you who regularly engage in craft-y type activities--and I count a fair number of you among my friends and acquaintances and you know who are you--will probably sigh as you read this, saying, "She is making a damn big deal out of nothing."
Isn't that what retirement is all about?
Actually I'm writing about this because the Birdhouse Project began a couple years ago as I was pulling out of the parking lot at KDWA radio in Hastings. When I was working, each month I was on air host Mo McNeary; we talked all things Community Education and made each other laugh. One of the best gigs of the prior job. Driving away, I saw a couple painted birdhouses hung on the side of a garage and thought to myself, "That's pretty cool. I have a storage garage with an unadorned side. That's something I could do when I retire!"
So I'm pretty darned proud of myself that a) I remembered this was something I wanted to do when I retired and 2) I'm actually doing it.
Preliminary planning involved asking my son-in-law to make the birdhouses. He has discovered that he very much enjoys woodworking and is quite good at it (see @remastroed on Instagram). Then it dawned on me that perhaps making birdhouses out of scrap wood for me is not the best use of his time. Subsequently I turned to your friend and mine, the Google, although it would have been great to have Alexa Silver and ask Juanita to find me some birdhouses I could paint (see blog post Sex and the City for details). Lo and behold, the Google turned up one of my favorite stores to get lost in and end up buying stuff you never thought you would want/need/use--no, not Target but Michaels!
Next step--considering the colors to pain the birdhouses. In what will not be a surprise to many, I decided to go with Caribbean/Floridian colors versus North Woods colors. I finally put the stop at Michaels on a daily route, since I never have and still don't like to make a trip out to buy something unless I have other things to do as well. You could ask my kids which is the parent who will go to the store for one item for you and their answer will not be Mom. This, I believe I inherited from my mother who would not, for most of the tea in China, stop on her way home from work to pick up something for you even if she was driving right past the store where it was located.
I digress.
Michaels had a nice selection of wooden birdhouses, ready to be painted. Hitting the paint aisle, I recognized that it had probably been since Girl Scouts that I painted wood--possibly popsicle sticks glued together to make a trivet. (Does anyone do this anymore?) Fortunately for me, Michaels efficiently provided instructions as to what type of paint would be best for whatever project you were engaging in. I then bought a 3 pack of the middle priced brushes, figuring that the cheapest might fall apart and painting birdhouses did not require the most expensive ones
Yesterday afternoon I completed the first birdhouse. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get the other 4 finished, and then, with help from the Spousal Unit, hang them on the garage. Rest assured I will post a picture when that happens.
Wow, retirement. What a concept.
Cooking: Not the New York Times
In honor of Father's Day, allow me to share a cocktail recipe with you that is perfect for brunch.
Mary's Morning Margarita
,
Isn't that what retirement is all about?
Actually I'm writing about this because the Birdhouse Project began a couple years ago as I was pulling out of the parking lot at KDWA radio in Hastings. When I was working, each month I was on air host Mo McNeary; we talked all things Community Education and made each other laugh. One of the best gigs of the prior job. Driving away, I saw a couple painted birdhouses hung on the side of a garage and thought to myself, "That's pretty cool. I have a storage garage with an unadorned side. That's something I could do when I retire!"
So I'm pretty darned proud of myself that a) I remembered this was something I wanted to do when I retired and 2) I'm actually doing it.
Preliminary planning involved asking my son-in-law to make the birdhouses. He has discovered that he very much enjoys woodworking and is quite good at it (see @remastroed on Instagram). Then it dawned on me that perhaps making birdhouses out of scrap wood for me is not the best use of his time. Subsequently I turned to your friend and mine, the Google, although it would have been great to have Alexa Silver and ask Juanita to find me some birdhouses I could paint (see blog post Sex and the City for details). Lo and behold, the Google turned up one of my favorite stores to get lost in and end up buying stuff you never thought you would want/need/use--no, not Target but Michaels!
Next step--considering the colors to pain the birdhouses. In what will not be a surprise to many, I decided to go with Caribbean/Floridian colors versus North Woods colors. I finally put the stop at Michaels on a daily route, since I never have and still don't like to make a trip out to buy something unless I have other things to do as well. You could ask my kids which is the parent who will go to the store for one item for you and their answer will not be Mom. This, I believe I inherited from my mother who would not, for most of the tea in China, stop on her way home from work to pick up something for you even if she was driving right past the store where it was located.
I digress.
Michaels had a nice selection of wooden birdhouses, ready to be painted. Hitting the paint aisle, I recognized that it had probably been since Girl Scouts that I painted wood--possibly popsicle sticks glued together to make a trivet. (Does anyone do this anymore?) Fortunately for me, Michaels efficiently provided instructions as to what type of paint would be best for whatever project you were engaging in. I then bought a 3 pack of the middle priced brushes, figuring that the cheapest might fall apart and painting birdhouses did not require the most expensive ones
Yesterday afternoon I completed the first birdhouse. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get the other 4 finished, and then, with help from the Spousal Unit, hang them on the garage. Rest assured I will post a picture when that happens.
Wow, retirement. What a concept.
Cooking: Not the New York Times
In honor of Father's Day, allow me to share a cocktail recipe with you that is perfect for brunch.
Mary's Morning Margarita
- a mixture of grapefruit and orange juice to your preference. Fresh squeezed is best and challenging to find in the Midwest, but when in Florida, this becomes mandatory.
- a splash of Margarita mix, again to your preference. My preference is Tres Agave Organic.
- a little bit of Tequila--remember this is a morning Margarita and you have a whole day in front of you.
- stir, garnish with a lime, serve over ice and enjoy.
What happens to the Mary's Morning Margarita as the day progresses? It then becomes just Mary's Margarita. Increasingly less juice and more tequila. I also add some tonic to give it just a little fizziness and, in all honesty, to keep from getting too drunk too fast because while I like tequila, it doesn't always like me :).
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