Nancy, I keep their compartment doors shut until I see them sitting on top of the house each year. They make it very easy for me because they arrive almost the same day of the month every year. Then I open the doors and they set up housekeeping and I don't think any birds we have will bother them then. They are pretty feisty. But you don't want to let some other bird get into their house and set up houskeeping before they do. Then when they say goodbye and leave I clean out their compartments and shut the doors again until the next year. This year hubby and I left for 2 weeks before they left. The day we returned we were out by the pond and they flew down around us twittering, very obviously saying goodbye. The next day they were gone. It was as though they were waiting for our return to leave. I haven't had any problems so far... We are planning to put up more houses for them next year. Glenda

Paul--your 'Love Pat' is beautifuf!! I love the way it angles and is so open! Alexa--I'm so glad I finally got an 'Aristocrat' this year and your pic. confirms it to be a good choice!!! Thanks everyone for posting your pics.--I hope there are more favorites coming, and you're allowed to change your minds as others move to the top of your list, daily!!

Xc60, I am so jealous of your drawer cabinets! I planned on 2 drawer bases, but had to sacrifice the smaller 24" one for the microwave drawer, although I do have a nice, big drawer beneath it. And having the microwave drawer was definitely worth the trade off, solved several problems and I love it. The only drawback to the microwave drawer is it is expensive. I do have a 30" 3 drawer base and I love it! I really wish that my 33" base cabinet was a drawer base also and I am seriously considering ordering 2 drawers for the 15" base cabinet that is next to my range. I keep my smaller pots and pans in there and drawers would be so much nicer!

Hi Pat. Thanks for the kind words in the other posting. Here are my thoughts on bird feeding. You can’t wrong with straight black oil sunflower seed. For years I only fed BOSS and suet (and suet nuggets), and I attracted a lot of birds with those two things. Both options are affordable and easy to find. For anyone new to bird feeding, I would tell them to skip mixes and buy straight BOSS. In my early days of feeding, I did buy the mixes, but I had a lot of waste under the feeders because the birds sifted through the “filler” and mostly went for the BOSS. So I like to buy straight BOSS now. It wasn’t until the last couple months that I really started adding a lot of new feed options (and this is because I started reading books and learned how much more the birds will eat). I started feeding Nyjer/thistle, safflower, peanuts, almonds, pecans, hulled sunflower chips/hearts (just means no shell), cracked corn, mealworms, millet, and treats (like nut & seed logs, specialty suet blocks, etc). I even bought some blackberries the other day on sale and have the in the freezer now. I’ll get them out later when food is really scarce. If you buy store bought mixes, avoid the ones that say “milo” especially if milo is listed as the first or second ingredient… Those are usually the cheaper brands with lots of “filler” aka “milo”… And be sure to read what the mixes include, it’s important to know that whatever is listed first means the bag contains the most of that particular item. Millet is fine to feed. I just bought a bag of millet at my local feed store. I buy in bulk and wait for sales. My local feed store sells everything I need, but sometimes I order mixes and peanuts online because it’s cheaper. My favorite online stores are DrsFoster&Smith and FleetFarm.com Here’s what I’m currently using in my feeders- Tube feeders contain 90% BOSS with 10% premium nut mix Thistle tube feeder - 100% thistle (birds go crazy at this feeder) Hopper style feeder – one contains only safflower (I wanted to know if they would eat it, and they are). Another hopper contains 90% BOSS with cracked corn and nuts mixed in. (My fav feeder) – Droll Yankees - Dorothy’s Cardinal Bird Feeder – http://drollyankees.com/product/dorothys-cardinal-bird-feeder/ (Found it on sale at Walmart for $25) it’s an open/fly thru style feeder – and every morning I put out my premium mix in this. I have two suet feeders.. I have a seed log feeder and I just put out a treat called “nutsie” http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/pine-tree-farms-nutsie-classic-seed-log-40-oz-/0000000214011 I also have a mini open feeder that contains 100% thistle I have a couple ground feeders too with stuff for the doves and ground feeders. My husband says I've gone nuts with the birds... hahaha But I remind him, he was the one who told me years ago that "once you start feeding them, you can't stop" hahaha so I tell him I can't stop since he told me that :)