New AirBnB in Central Illinois!

The last few days we have been dreaming about–no I will say planning another home on our Middle Fork River property…and we are having some fuuuuun with it.

So I was walking around with coffee early this morning. I watered a mass of flowers up front that in the early hours was already crowded with butterflies and all kinds of pollinators. One of the growthy fennel plants had a swallowtail larva crawling and eating on it. The peewees and towees were whistling. And I thought again of how much we love sharing this river property and deep woods with our Illinois AirBnB guests. The Wren House AirBnB is full almost constantly and people rave about the easy going, quality, comfy design as well as the outdoor wonder that surrounds it.

So now we are planning another home–might be called “Owl House“–not sure. It will incorporate some of the favorite features of the Wren House like lots of cedar inside, a loft, nice complete kitchen (gas range, dish washer, microwave, full sized sink plus a washer and dryer), roomy bathroom, and a big open screened porch with hammock chairs. But it will have it own character….coming soon!

The Wren House is WARM

February Cold in Illinois

We have gone through one of our coldest spells at the Wren House along the Middle Fork River in central Illinois. Snow and snow and more snow, many subzero days and nights, wind, and frost. But all through this time the temp in the Wren House remains about the same–from time to time it goes up a bit due to sun streaming on through the south windows.

This home- your home from AirBnB— was built to stay toasty all winter and to do that efficiently. These photos show the design/construction that make it an ideal winter getaway:

Pileated Woodpecker

This morning this giant was outside the window at our home near the Wren House. The picture is not great–but this guy is so shy it is not easy to catch good photos.

Pileated Woodpeckers are big–like 12″ tall and they have a distinct call. The hammer away at old trees in the woods and leave large rectangular holes.

Birdnet.com is a great way to id birds–especially by their call.

Spring is Coming!

Yes it is winter—but day by day we get closer to those wonderful warm green days. Just this morning we heard new birds in the trees. We planted asparagus a few days ago and more garden will get started soon.