By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Expert woodworking and hand-painted designs mark the post-retirement plan for an Apollo Beach couple, who tap into their respective talents to build and decorate homes and feeders for birds.

Diane Wilson, with a birdhouse feeder at the Birdhouse Showcase at Winthrop in December
It started as many great ideas do, in a quiet moment and on a whim.
“We were watching something on television that sparked a related interest,” said Ken Wilson, to which his wife, Diane, responded, “and you were bored and driving me crazy because you didn’t have anything to do, so I told you to make me a birdhouse.”
Out in the garage roughly five years ago, the then newly retired Ken Wilson did just that, putting to use the talents he’s honed over the decades, including during his five years as a woodshop teacher, including three at East Bay High in Gibsonton, and two at what was then Mann Junior High School in Brandon. His love for woodworking endured throughout his 39-year career as a postal worker.

Creative work at the Birdhouse Showcase exhibit space at Winthrop in December
Once Wilson built his first post-retirement birdhouse, he turned to his wife to paint the finished wood product, only she had never tried her hand at painting artwork before. “I was wondering, ‘Could she paint?’ ” he said. “And then she did, and she got better and better and better.”
“I try really hard,” Diane Wilson said. “I don’t even think I have an innate talent.”
Countering that assessment were the colorful birdhouses and feeders in view Dec. 9 in Riverview at the Birdhouse Showcase exhibit space the Wilsons operated at the Winthrop Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Market. What started with products on three poles to display at craft fairs and markets has grown into a nine-pole enterprise, Ken Wilson said.
“My husband uses quality material, and then we spray them with a marine grade spray to protect the finish,” Diane Wilson said. “People have actually come back to say the painting is still good on the birdhouse, even after two years of being outside.”

Merchandise for sale at the Birdhouse Showcase exhibit at Winthrop
The bird feeders feature four rows of drainage to prevent clogs from rain-washed seeds. The birdhouses feature two galvanized screws at the bottom, which allow the owner to drop the nest out at the end of the season and to clean the interior. A newer design allows for a side panel lift, negating the need for unscrewing.
That the Wilsons work well together as a birdhouse team should come as no surprise. They met at work, at the same post office station, only to bump into each other again after Diane Wilson, set to retire this month, transferred to another station. That fateful meeting, she said, occurred “in the plumbing section at Home Depot.”
Looking back from where they are today, it was never certain the Wilsons would be so committed to a birdhouse post-retirement career. “I don’t know what you thought,” Diane Wilson said, to her husband. “You just kept making them.”

Linda Chion Kenney photos
Ken and Diane Wilson, at their Birdhouse Showcase space at the 2024 Winthrop Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Market
“We figured maybe we can sell these things,” Ken Wilson added. “I bought a table saw and started working in the garage.”
Now, as Ken Wilson put it, they’re “making money to buy stuff for the house, kids and the grandkids,” as they deepen their love of creation. But as with any new business, the growing pains had to be endured.
“It wasn’t all that great in the beginning, but now it’s great and I love it,” Ken Wilson said. With a nod to his wife’s deepening artistic talents, he added, “some of this stuff is outstanding.”
For more information, email birdhouseshowcase@yahoo.com/ or text Ken Wilson at 813-579-0858.