Believe it or not, I’ve never had a bird bath in my backyard. I live on a lake, and there’s plenty of water-based action, so I never really bothered. A few months ago, though, I wrote a post about bird bath tips, and since then, I’ve really wanted to add one to my yard. I had difficulty finding one I really liked, until a trip to Ohio to visit family last summer. There, in a small shop, I spotted a gorgeous cement bird bath top shaped like a butterfly. The ridges in the butterfly make perfect perches for the birds while they bathe or drink, and the depth was just right. I knew this bird bath was the one I wanted. The problem? I lived 1200 miles away, and the bird bath was heavy - not something I could really pack into my suitcase for the flight home. And in the months that followed, I never managed to find anything even remotely like it in a store in or around Tampa.
So I was incredibly pleased when a large wooden crate was delivered to my door last week. It was from my dad, who was with me when we found the bird bath, and who knew how much I wanted it. Sure enough, he’d gone back to the shop and gotten me the bird bath. He then built a special crate to ship it safely and sent it off to make my Christmas very merry. All I had to do was buy a simple cement stand to hold it up, and set it up in my garden!
I can’t wait to watch the songbirds visit this very thoughtful Christmas gift. And amusingly enough, my Christmas package to my dad arrived at his house about the same day as his arrived here… it’s a heated bird bath for his Ohio back porch, where the winter birds can escape the cold and snow for drinks and baths all season long.
What was your favorite Christmas gift? Did you get a great new bird feeder? That gardening tool you’ve been craving? Some beautiful butterfly jewelry? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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What a special Dad you have! Nice birdbath.