The Bird Sanctuary

When we moved into the house, the ceiling corner of this room was one of the worst evidences of the water damage that happened in the house when it was vacant.

A hole that we knew birds were living in, and so we knew the first thing we had to do was seal it up. Which immediately crushed my dreams of living like Cinderella and having birds help me get dressed every morning, but I was told that was unlikely, and I should give up on my dreams.

We screwed and taped a piece of plastic up when we moved in, and here’s where we take it down to find all the terrifying things within!

Because we knew we’d be dealing with debris and insulation and bird poo, we used masks and glasses (as one should). I tied my hair up and had a headband in. Truth be told, we should’ve also been in long sleeves and pants (I had on jeans, at least).

It had been over nine years since we’ve seen this.

We kept passing the drill back and forth to get all the screws while the other one held the plastic. Also, second shout out to BRUCE.

Peek-a-boo!

Almost down!

Opened up!

Going spelunking! There are a bunch of old slate tiles up here! And poop. All the poop.

 

Second tour.

Uncovered and opened.

Supervisors got to supervise. And like all management, they think that rules don’t apply to them and they don’t need masks or protection. Always above the law.

We started clearing and cutting things away so we could get as much debris out before we sealed it up.

Gross. Full insulation and nesting materials and pounds of bird poop. Pounds.

As we were going this, we made a pact : after we were done, the debris went straight outside. We both went to take immediate showers (thank goodness we have more than one), and our clothes went straight into the wash from the hamper, so nothing stayed on the ground.

But look at this egg that survived!

Next up? Repairing the walls. Which I am hoping will be done by 2025.