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Today when I was coming home from the gym I decided to take a photo of the signs at the bottom of our driveway, with the heather just starting to bloom. The “E Komo Mai” sign was custom made for me by a woodworker friend of mine, and I just love it. I gave him the design and he handcrafted the rest of it.

The smaller sign is from the National Wildlife Federation. In order for our place to be a certified Wildlife Habitat, I had to fill out a number of pages to make sure we qualified for a registry number.

I had to document what plants, shrubs, and trees were available for food and shelter, the kinds and number of feeders we have (think LOTS!), whether or not we provided water, and what our land was made up of (forest, pasture, etc.).

I’ve done this for every place we’ve lived during the past twenty+ years, and to me it’s pretty exciting to get the document officially recognizing our place on the National Registry, which I put in a frame. They also send me the outdoor sign you see in the photo.

Most of all, I love providing food, water, and shelter for my feathered friends. In return, they come visit my garden and allow me to take some pretty wonderful photos of them.