January 2009 - Hobbies

This month, I want to talk about hobbies. You know, those things that people think look like a lot of fun at the time, but after they spend too much money on too much stuff, and it doesn’t look like fun any more, they move on to something else.

I have a hobby that doesn’t cost a lot of money, is fun, and I do it all year round. It is called "feeding the birds." I have been feeding the birds for years and enjoying every minute of it.

My husband built me a bird feeder, but if you don’t have that option, you can make your own using any clean plastic container. A three-pound oleo container works very well. Put five or six small holes in the bottom to let the water run out. Put a hole in one side about one-third of the way down from the rim and another across from it. Run a sturdy string through each hole and tie a knot on the outside, fill it half full of bird seed, and hang it in a tree.

You can use a clean milk jug, with the lid left on, and cut a hole in the side (about the size of an opening on a coffee mug) halfway up the jug. Tie a sturdy sting on the handle and hang it in a tree.

Birdseed can be bought locally at the dollar stores or Food-land. You can also feed the birds pieces of bread, raisins and peanuts without shells. An old mop or broom handle, sunk partly in the ground with a nail or two in it, will hold one-half of an orange. Just push the orange onto the nail, fruit side out. Hang pine cones rolled in peanut butter, oatmeal and birdseed on other nails.

Make your own suet feed by placing a string in a paper cup with one end hanging over the side. Fill the cup with bacon grease, bird seed, and bits of bread and fruit. Keep the cup in the freezer and keep adding to it until it is full. Don’t use oil because it doesn’t freeze. When the cup is full, cut the cup from the suet and use the string to hang the suet in a tree.

By the way, my birdbath is a satellite dish on a post. Everything can be used for something.

I hope that this month’s column helps others enjoy the hobby that I love. Since it is February and heart month, do something for your heart--help a friend or neighbor.