No more turkey
Photo by Mary R. Vogt, courtesy of morgueFile
Now that Thanksgiving is over, and our national obsession with turkey has ended for another year, I thought I’d show you my collection of non-edible birds. I never set out to collect bird ornaments, but somehow I’ve acquired quite a flock. In fact, I’ve had to let some “fly away” over the years in order to de-clutter. Here are a few that still feather my nest.
I found this clay bird with a broken beak in San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico.
Wren on a metal tuteur
Bird on a glazed tile
Fat bluebird from a garden shop in Boulder
Sparrows on a garden sign found in Decatur, Georgia
Mexican chicken pot scored at a plant swap
Sundial bird
Cheeky bluebird planter—he’s the dip bowl from an old chip-and-dip set that belonged to my mother. Now it’s a succulent container.
Yellow wooden bird
You see these pseudo-Victorian iron birds everywhere these days. This one makes a great doorstop.
Minimalist wren wind chime
Another wren perches on the rim of a pot.
I don’t see any real birds right now. Good thing I have my flock to keep me company.
Another day I’ll show you a few more from my collection. What do you collect to ornament your garden or porch?
I love your bird collection! My garden collection is insect ornaments. Like yours, it started by accident, with me picking up items I liked, and I soon realized that I had plenty of little ornamental creepy-crawlies in my garden. My favorites are a bronze ladybug and a rustic painted wood grasshopper.
That sounds like a fun collection. I especially prefer wooden grasshoppers to the real thing in my own garden. —Pam
What a fun collection, Pam! Most of my ornaments are rabbit-related, but I too have a few birds. And a couple of frogs, as well. I’ve been contemplating a flamingo but so far haven’t found the right one. Just as well, probably.
It is tricky to find just the right sort of flamingo, if you don’t go for the classic, plastic, lawn version. 😉 I have a recycled-metal flamingo, which resides in the kids’ play space in the back yard. He’s very tongue-in-cheek. —Pam
I just noticed that you were using a copyright notice on your photos now. Would you tell us how you do that? I would like to find an easy way to do that myself.
Hi, Bill. I started tagging my pictures with the copyright notice after seeing one of my photos posted on another blog without attribution, link, or permission. And it wasn’t the first time photo theft had happened to me.
I use Microsoft Paint to crop my photos. It has minimal photo-editing capabilities, but it does allow you to insert text onto a photo. All you do is click the text icon, selecting the option for an invisible box, draw a box, and insert your text. You can select the color of the text from a menu at the bottom of the screen. Once the text has been placed, it becomes part of the image and cannot be altered. —Pam
What a fun collection of birds you have Pam. My favorite is the turkey, he is so funny but I liked the last little wren a lot too! Wrens are one of my favorite birds; this summer they were nesting in my hedge. What a lot of noise those small birds make! My own collection consists of real live cats to ornament my garden and home. 😉
Cats and birds don’t make the best bedfellows, do they? But I’m glad your cats don’t prevent the wrens from visiting you. —Pam
I like your bird collection, Pam. I guess I have started a collection of birdhouses. I only have two so far, but am definitely interested in getting more.
Robin, with your name, you had to be collecting birds or birdhouses, didn’t you? 🙂 —Pam
Hi Pam, I have a flock of chickens that I have collected over the years. That was one of my first postings on my blog. I can’t seem to get a link to work on a comment so I won’t even try now. I love your flock of birds. A lovely selection. I have a mexican planter like your spiky one. I like them all. It is funny how if your friends realize you are collecting items they show up from time to time.
Your chicken collection is fun and unusual. Does it indicate a desire for a real, live flock? —Pam
I like to use just pots, some of them I put plants into but I just like the look of pots. I like your birds, I’ve been collecting birds for about five years for my xmas tree decorations.
Yes, birds make great Xmas tree ornaments too. When you collect pots, do you collect all kinds or only a certain style? —Pam
What a great collection, Pam! I have a few birds, but mine are indoor ones. 🙂
Yeah, I have a few of those too. And no cages to clean. —Pam
Has anyone zapped you for a ‘meme’ lately? It’s a pleasant little exercise in proliferating blogs. Have a look at my blog (http://gardenwiseguy.blogspot.com) and decide if you’d like to keep things moving. Simple rules and a great way to see what everyone is up to…
Hi, Billy. Yes, I was tapped recently, but I let the opportunity to share pass by. I often enjoy reading these memes, and I’ve even participated in a few but not that often. Thanks for thinking of me. 🙂 —Pam
What is it about birds? You don’t mean to collect them, but somehow once you start they just, well, flock! Yours are cute, and my favorite is the wren on the tuteur!
~Angela 🙂
They do indeed just flock. Thanks for flying over for a visit, Angela. —Pam
No collections here, but I enjoyed seeing yours, Pam – the last two wrens are very cool. It’s fascinating how little information we need in the way of line and shape to make our mind recognize an image of a wren.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
That’s smart, Annie. It can be dangerous to admit to collections. Soon one can be overrun at Xmas or other gift-giving occasions. 😉 —Pam
Pam, I adore garden ornaments, especially witty ones like some of these. I haven’t started “collecting” yet,but i certainly will be on the lookout for unusual ones that strike my fancy.
That’s how it starts, Nicole. Just one or two, and then boom—suddenly you have a flock of something or other. 😉 —Pam
I collect flying pigs for the garden — they just make me laugh.
That must be a unique collection. How fun! —Pam