Over the last year or so, M and I have really gotten into the bird feeding business. As long as I’ve been an adult and lived on my own, I’ve had a bird feeder, but keeping it filled has been an issue for me.
I’ll start off with the best of intentions, but (especially when the kids were living at home) it seemed as though keeping the people who lived in the house fed took all my thought processes. I didn’t have any brain power to spare for the birds.
Ever since M has been “retired” and is now home all day, he’s taken on the chore of keeping the feeders filled. If I notice that they’re empty, I tell him that Mrs. Cardinal would like a word with him and he knows that’s the signal to get out there and fill them up.
What can I tell you? It makes him laugh.
Unfortunately, our feeders have also been infiltrated by the dreaded grey squirrel. If you’re one of those people that believe “squirrels need to be fed too!” just keep that thought to yourself. As far as I’m concerned, they’re tree rats, with long fluffy tails.
Our acrobatic neighborhood squirrels have mastered hanging upside-down from the trees and raiding the feeders – and costing me a mint in birdseed! So I went baffle shopping to see what I could do to stop them.
I found a couple of interesting ideas on some bird websites and got what we needed. I was at work yesterday and M decided to install them. When I got home, the baffles were on the feeders – the labels were still on them and the equipment that came with them to attach them to the pole was still hanging from the edge of the baffle. M had just placed the baffle on top of the feeder and left it there.
Sigh.
We went out together and fixed everything – which was fine. But I’m having to come up with a skill set that I’ve never had or used in my life. For the entire 36 years M and I have been together, he’s been the “handy” one. If the washer stopped working or the a/c broke down, nine times out of ten he could fix it without us having to “call the man.”
Now, he struggles to find basic tools in the garage and when our a/c went out last week he had no idea where to begin to look for the problem.
I’m okay with basic tools – hammer, screwdriver, pliers – but power saws scare me. Maybe I need to find a “Basic Home Repair for Middle-Aged Women” course. It would certainly help!
I agree, squirrels are rats with fluffy tails. They’re destructive little devils. My husband can do a lot of things around the house, but we have to call a repairman for lots of things. He thought “we” could replace the rollers in the dryer, but after watching how to do that on YouTube I decided the $200 repair bill was a lot cheaper than a divorce lawyer.
You are a wonder woman! You do more than any one I know! You are strong, beautiful, thoughtful and a real credit to the meaning of wife, in sickness and in health! GOD BLESS you, L! We love and appreciate you!