With our bird feeders out the back door and the neighbor’s hay field beyond, there is a lot of wildlife to see. We kept our binoculars handy, sitting on the window ledge until Linda came up with the idea for a small shelf mounted in a perfect spot next to the back door. Made from white ash, I decided to dress it up with some carvings, including a sparrow and a cardinal. One coat of white paint lets the grain show through in a kind of whitewashed effect.