My sister sent this to me and I thought I should share. :D

The design is by Birdorable at birdorable.com Just do a search for Parrot Christmas and you will find quite a few beautiful designs. The Santa African Grey amd the Quaker perched on the ornament are definite wants for me. (The grey t-shirt for John and the quaker anything for me. XD) If you just do a search of Christmas you will find even more designs with other types of birds, all of them awesome. Be careful, the site can be a time sink as you look up all the different bird designs they have. XD

Have a great Holiday weekend everyone, I'll see you all on the other side.

Christmas with the Cranky

The crankiness has spread from the amazons to the others. I am not sure why, they are getting lots of yummies and fun so whats the cranky-pants stuff all about?

Echo, the most easy going of all the flock shows off his cranky with a look that says, "Back off Momma, I'm not in the mood for snuggles."

Duke here displays how he puts the "AH!" in "Bah, Humbug!" And yes, he was charging me in his ever so loving "I am going to eat you." way. (He's been taking lessons from Lou.)

Pedro who is cranky all the time normally has taken being a cranky-puss to an art from. (Pedro as you can see, kinda, is not well. The vet has no clue why, neither do we, but he is eating on his own which is an improvement from a few months ago.)

So it's going to be a Cranky Parrot Christmas over here, whee!


((Hey, Sara, "Cranky Parrot Christmas" There's a fic in that!))

Slow day

Today is going to be a long slow day. I am fighting to keep my eyes open and the birds entertained. All I want to do is lay down and sleep. The amazons are cranky and loud and Trouble wants some one on one love sponge time. It's times like this I realize there is not enough of me to go around. I need to get the outside enclosures finished so they can have something more to do.

Insomnia

Insomnia if directed can be quite useful. Since I didn't sleep last night i got some house cleaning done along with some other needed to be done chores, including mixing more bird bread since this has become a regular staple.

Todays bread is strawberry banana. Its the same basic recipe as the birdie bread. (found under the recipe tab) Cornbread mix, eggs, apple juice, as a base then add in things your bird likes. I always add the 1/2 cup pellets, just so I know they are getting as much rounded nutrition as possible. Today I added in 1/2 cup frozen veggie mix, 3 large chopped strawberries and 2 large bananas. I like this base bread recipe, it's pretty cost effective and I can add what ever is in season or on the cheap at my local farmers market. Strawberries were a steal this week.

Last week I added sweet potato, zucchini, and grated carrots because thats what was in abundance and affordable at the farmers market. Keep in mind that the apple juice is "as needed" I did not need to add any with last weeks bread because zucchini and carrot are very watery.

So this afternoon the birds will have some nice fresh bread to munch on. That should keep them happy. Maybe I'll make up some rice for them too.

Quiet

Spent the morning watching Echo tear all the toys off the play stand. Once he wore himself out I brought Duke out now he is pacing back and forth not happy that the toys have been moved.

Ah sibling rivalry, so much fun to watch.

I wish my camera was working right now.

Amazing

My Mother In Law sent me this and I thought it was so amazing that I had to share it with you guys.




It is amazing to watch as the wind ruffles the feathers, especially at the end of the video. Beautiful camera work, breathtaking.

Bad Bird Day

Just like having a bad hair day, it seems that every feathered occupant here is having an off feather day.

Duke has not stopped screaming all day, I finally had to cover him to give my migraine a rest. Kenya almost "got me" when I was feeding her. Echo let out an alert scream right on my ear as I was feeding him. Pedro is upset and yells at me every time I walk past him. In fact, the only bird that seems happy to see me today is Lou, and I am just not falling for it.

Holiday Hazards

With the holidays upon us and the festivities going into full swing and the fact that the other night I watched my neighbors house burn to the ground, I thought it prudent to make a post about the hazards to us and our pets during the holidays.

I, like most of us, decorate the house with yule tide cheer. I love putting up the tree, the garlands and all the other flotsam of the season. The day after we trimmed our tree we found one of the ornaments in the back room chewed like a great white swam threw the living room. Thank goodness it was just a cheep non-toxic reindeer that my dog decided looked quite tasty and that he did not actually eat it, or the rest of the tree...or the lights..or anything else in general.

The fact is that during the holidays we must be extra vigilant, for the safety of our pets and our family. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your holidays are full of cheer and not fear.

1. Check your fire alarms! There are more fires on the news in December then any other month. It can be caused by your holiday lights, or a space heater, or just about anything. So check your smoke detectors while your setting up your decorations, it only takes a second to do and if there is a fire they can save your life.

2. Have an escape plan! Have a plan, any plan. Think of the different exits in your home and plan ways out with the rest of your family in case of an emergency. Have a meeting place once your out so you know where everyone is and Never, EVER, go back into a burning house.

3. Keep emergency numbers on hand. Call your vet and find out what their schedules are during the holidays season. Get numbers for emergency vets they recommend. Pets can get into a number of things at this time of year, having the numbers and schedules of vets can save a lot of time when you need to find someone quickly.

4. Be vigilant. Dogs, cats and birds do not understand that the new items in the house are not for them to explore and taste. They are curious by nature and will want to check out all the new visual stimulus. Keep a watchful eye on them to be sure they don't get into trouble.

Be safe out there guys. Take care of yourselves and those you love. Have a happy yuletide season and a safe one.

The Sounds of Silence

Everyone is so relaxed and quiet today it feels like I just took a shower in someone else's house, and they don't know I am here yet. They possibly might not have even invited me. It's really quiet. Maybe their not home....

I am not sure where all the silence is coming from. My flock likes to let them selves be known. Loud and Proud! Thats my feathered buddies, so why suddenly all the quiet. Maybe they have given themselves migraines instead of me? Can birds even get migraines?

I don't know, all I know is I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. Only a fool would question something that is so rare that you assumed that it went the way of the Dodo. I am certainly not going to go ask duke to make his ear splitting alarm clock noise just so it feels like my home again. No sir. I am going to go lounge in the recliner and grab a book. See you guys tomorrow!

Insomnia and Birds

I have serious bouts of insomnia that can last for days if not weeks. When they are over I am left with a whacked out sleeping schedule that I have to slowly try and right one hour at a time.

This week has been one of those weeks. Not being able to sleep until you pass out is annoying enough for me, but it really upsets the birds. They get very loud if they can't see me during the day. Echo gets particularly stressed out and has been known to throw himself around his cage in an effort to get my attention.

So what does one do when they know at 4:30 am that at some point they are going to pass out and sleep all day? They grab a blanket and sleep in the living room.

I am in shock that it worked. Other then the Charlie Horse that woke me up and made me yelp, the house was quiet all day long. Absolutely silent, and they hadn't been fed yet. O.O I am amazed, and am planning on sleeping in the living room again if the insomnia doesn't let up tonight.

12 steps to Framing

How to frame a picture...

1. find the perfect frame and backing paper while out and about doing other things.

2. Come home remove backing and picture from frame. Making sure to carefully pry tacks as to not break glass.

3. Attach picture to backing paper and put into frame.

4. Hunt down a piece of cardboard for new backing.

5. Let husband bend tacks back into place.

6. Cringe when you hear the distinct *pop* of the glass breaking.

7. Go back to store and find another picture the same size as the last one. (there were only 3 left on the second store run, there were tons when I first bought the frame)

8. Pull out tacks on both frames to replace glass. :(

9. Find out there is no way to replace the tacks once you have the picture in.

10. Fret, worry, panic.

11. Rig something up and pray it works.

12. Attach miscellaneous gears and cogs to frame to complete Steampunk look.

So yea, it was an adventure in framing this weekend. The original pictures I took of course did not come out so I don't have any before and after shots of the project. I had to take the finished project outside to get a good picture so here it is.

Outside the background looks very blue, it isn't, it is actually a beautiful green. You can see the original picture in this post here.

The close up pictures of the corners came out blurry but you'll get the idea.

As you can see, kinda, there is a clock face with some cogs and gears in the upper right corner and some spoke-like wheels and a gear in the bottom left corner.

I really love the Victorian-esq backing paper. The darkness of it really makes the art pop in my opinion. What do you guys think?

Too Cute to Save

Zora was in a mood last night and got really cute with John. So of course I took video!



So cute the kissy faces. :P

Cristmas is in the air....

The smell of Christmas cookies, the slight chill of winter, Holiday music filling the house, Zora chewing the bread basket.....

Zora like holiday music, she sings along with it, in her scratchy peach front conure way. She also gets excited when I bake cookies. Not the making of them, the after their in the oven and smelling really good time. So today is bound to be a whole lot of fun.

Yep, it's Christmas time!

Stand off

Last week Duke and Echo met on the play stand for the first time. It went about as well as one expects these things to go. Duke was a bully but Echo held his ground. I of course was close by, a stick in one hand, just in case, and a camera in the other.

Echo displaying at Duke, the ruffled feathers to make himself look bigger more of a threat etc. The display is to let Duke know that he doesn't want him to come any closer.

"What the heck!?!"
A closer look of Echo's display

Things calming down a bit, but not for long. This is about 15 mins into the first meeting.

I put echo up soon after the last picture. They spent just a little over 15 minutes on the stand together. No actual fight but a lot of displaying on both sides. Dukes displays were much more subtle then Echo's. Duke is much older and has a bit more experience in these matters, he also tends to be much more sneaky and deliberate with what he does. Which in the end, worries me.