The Workshop: It’s a small house in Norwich

While building an outdoor storage unit and compost bin recently I also continued work on a unique birdhouse that is patterned after my family home (circa 1955 - 68 for me, my formative years) in Norwich, Ontario.


["Should I add a TV aerial?"]

I applied linseed oil yesterday, then attached six windows and the front door, all the while wondering if I should add the porch roof, the bathroom’s double window unit and a TV aerial for the sake of realism.


["Should I add a porch roof?"]

After all, at age six, I added several gray hairs to my mother’s head after climbing out the second-floor bathroom window, shinny-ing down the aerial and hitchhiking 5 miles to Burgessville to visit my bestest buddy Danny Bucholtz.


["Should I add the bathroom windows?"

I was six. Didn’t tell my mom what I was up to (or down to). Danny’s mother made a significant phone call - as far as my hinder part were concerned - shortly after I showed up at her door.

Yes, I should at least add the aerial. The birds could perch on it. Might help with reception.


["Family home, from 1955 - 2003 approx., Norwich": photo GH]

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PS The one piece of faded plywood (front left on birdhouse) comes from one of my dad’s old white-paint birdhouses, one I found in bits a few weeks ago at the foot of a steel post he hammered into the ground in the 1990s. He’s gone now but I think he would have liked my idea of using rescued lumber to build birdhouses in my spare time.

If I add an aerial, I’ll use metal bits and learn how to use a blow torch and solder. Just listen for the sirens!

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