i live just outside of Durango Colorado and i have gambel oak brush outside the door. The acorn woodpeckers like the small acorns and pinyon nuts but also carry off corn and sunflower seeds. The Lewis Woodpeckers don't come often but i got a photo of a male this week. The flickers come through in the fall and spring back and forth to the mountains, and the downeys come in the snow storms of winter. I had a pair of scrub jays nest in the oak brush this year and they had 2 young ones whoi are regular visiters. Since we got a few snow showers i have dozens of Juncos and finches and sparrows daily.

I was very fortunate that it did very little damage, fell away from the house and only one trunk was resting against the roof, and it did no damage to the house. I will watch the perennials that are in that side of this bed to see if any of them will require moving. I haven't been able to get my helper in that bed since this incident because it has been too wet, and we will be getting more rain the remainder of this week.....................so hopefully, the creeping jenny won't be too bad by the time we can get in it. Thanks, Marti, it will get better as the season progresses. I love this bed as it is the first thing I see when I look out the window when I am at the computer.

It looks like there are rings scribed into the back posts at the top and bottom of the back slats. This is the way a chairmaker would mark where the slats go. This is usually the sign of a handmade chair. Shakers did this; so did other craftsmen. You should have an antiques dealer look at them. Are there pegs in the back of the posts to keep the slats in place? That would also be a good sign. The finials and feet are nicely turned and graceful; is there wear to the bottom of the feet? However, I'm curious about the lead paint thing. I don't see any paint on the chair seats. Lead was added to make whites really white and to provide better color opacity. What I think I see is the protective varnish on the rush beginning to flake off. Have you bought a lead test kit (available at HD and Lowe's and other hardware/paint stores) and checked to see if there really is lead paint? So, if the seats are actually painted with lead paint, they can be re-rushed and the problem removed. That would certainly be less expensive than buying new chairs.

Pretty basic shaker styling....not sure if they are old though. But they can only get better to get rid of the pink and the vinyl seats!