Old Grain Scoop with Make Do Welded Spike Adaptation sampler with house and alphabets chip-carved wood are in excellent

chip-carved wood are in excellent shape

but presume it dates from the first half of the 20th century

sitting on a bench and watching this woman who has surely made a daily habit of coming to feed these birds

Just a charming little friend

Old Grain Scoop with Make Do Welded Spike Adaptation sampler with house and alphabets chip-carved wood are in excellentI'm always happy to find objects, and tools especially, that were altered by someone along the way for a specific purpose, as was clearly the case with this old scoop, to which a series of sharp spikes were welded, transforming it into a singular and much more aggressive sort of object! I believe the scoop itself was made for grain, but, as if found it coated in soot, am thinking the spikes may have been added for stoking and scooping out a fireplace?