Stuh-pid Birds

One of the things we got to enjoy last summer was all the nesting birds and watching them feed their babies. This year the birds were just starting to nest.

I was surprised that on one of the first mornings I found a piece of egg shell.

A few days later while Roger was mowing/weedwhacking the tall grass he came across this nest.

We think they are quail eggs. After he cut the grass, we think the "parents" abandoned the nest.

A few days later Roger told me to get my camera and come outside. He lead me to this

Now let me zoom out so you see where it is

Yup, you're seeing right. The stuh-pd birds build a nest under the hood of the TRUCK.Why would they ever build a nest in a moving vehicle?

Naturally we couldn't leave them there. Wearing a pair of gloves I gently lifted the nest out of the engine and put them under the lilac bush (where the parents were hiding)

I included a few of the feathers so they might recognize their nest, but after a few days, the nest was still untouched. So sad :o(

Totally unrelated, one of the blogs I follow, Thrifty Decor Chick, is hosting a link page this week where you can share your yard. I'm looking forward to lots of ideas for our hole in the yard.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

What should we do with the hole?

The previous owners had planned on building a 2nd house right behind the main house. They had the foundation ready and it looks like the plumbing is there for it too. But for what ever reason, they never got around to putting it up. 

So now we have this HUGE 40'x60' foundation and are unsure what to do with it. We've been told that some critters have made their home under the boards and I don't want to encourage racoons, skunks, wasps or the likes to hang around that close to the house.

Part of me just wants to knock it down, fill it with soil and put up (or is it in?) some kind of deck/patio/lanai. Then again, leaving it as deep as it is gives us some other cool options. We could put in a sunken outdoor living room that would protect us from the wind...an outdoor fireplace, bread oven, outdoor kitchen, little pool....perhaps sell a kidney while I'm at it...lol

So here is the "hole":

The window to the right is a kitchen window and the window on the left is in the wood bedroom

Here is another view from the back corner

This view is from the irrigation pump - See how big it is? More that 2x's bigger than the entire house.

Here in the left part of the photo. The yellow ribbon runs around the edge of the foundation.

I'm a planner and a dreamer....The proportions are all off...but this would be kinda cool..

One can dream....

So, what would you do with it???