This is what a typical Birdie Breakfast looks like around here. Going clockwise from the left, that’s Simon’s breakfast, Kazoo’s breakfast and Oboe’s breakfast. By suppertime, Simon’s breakfast dish will be empty, Kazoo’s breakfast dish will be half-empty, and Oboe’s breakfast dish will be upside down on the floor of
Continue readingTag: birds
knitnut.net: Prisoners in my basement
I spent all day Friday as a prisoner in my own basement. My tub and shower were being replaced with a Bathfitter acrylic surround, and there were some smelly chemicals involved. Birds are extremely vulnerable to chemical toxins, which can cause their delicate little lungs to hemorrhage, so I wanted
Continue readingknitnut.net: The Macbook, the Geek, and the birds
I took my Macbook into Best Buy the other night because it was making funny noises and the three-year warranty hadn’t run out yet. Apple calls their technicians Geniuses. Best Buy calls their technicians Geeks. I guess there are good Geniuses and evil geniuses, just as there are good Geeks
Continue readingknitnut.net: A little scattered
I’ve been a little scattered lately. I arrived home from work on Monday to the sound of Kazoo cackling in the dark. The whole time I was taking my boots and jacket and stuff off, she kept saying “Hello,” and laughing, and I kept saying hello and laughing back. As
Continue readingknitnut.net: The high cost of loving an animal
Oboe at the Vet's I know there are people out there wondering why anyone would spend twelve hundred bucks to save the life of a bird that could be replaced for $75. It’s a reasonable question. Reasonable enough, in fact, that I asked it of myself several times last week.
Continue readingknitnut.net: Welcome home, Oboe
We brought Oboe home from the hospital last night. There hadn’t been any improvement since Friday, but no deterioration either. Poor little guy. Life’s tough right now. But so is Oboe; he’s a feisty little bird. (Although you wouldn’t know it to look at him right now. His personality has
Continue readingknitnut.net: Oboe’s in the hospital
Oboe’s luck ran out tonight. Duncan finally caught him. We took him to the vet and they admitted him. He needs pain meds, antibiotics, tube feeding, x-rays, and I forget what else. He might have a broken wing. He’s got rattling sounds in his airways. His breathing is rapid. He’s
Continue readingknitnut.net: A new toy
We have a new toy at our house! For my birthday, my son gave me a gift certificate for my favourite pet store, Critter Jungle, which just happened to be having a sale on these Zoomax perches.
It required moving all the furniture around to make room for it, since it needed some aerial real estate […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: We’re all adjusting
Apparently it’s not cheating if you cheat at Nanowrimo. It’s called Being a Rebel. They even have Rebel badges and everything. Rebels are creating all kinds of books at Nanowrimo, including cook books, memoirs, short story collections, haiku collections, and more. I even saw that one person is doing the first draft of her thesis […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: I got a job!
I got a job! I start on Monday! I’ll be working four days a week for a non-profit housing organization I already know and like, with people I already know and like. It’s just for a few months, but it’s great for now. I’m excited, though a bit apprehensive because it’s been so long since […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Duncan and the Diabolical Genius
Sometimes Duncan seems like his perfectly normal old self, hopping in the car to go for a ride to the donut shop, catching a mouse or having a 17-hour nap punctuated by occasional stretches, yawns and visits to the food bowl. But then he’ll wake up and decide he cannot rest until he catches Oboe […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Mostly good news
The morning after I wrote that last post about all the things my birds have destroyed, I was sitting on the couch with my laptop on my lap, and Simon was standing behind it playing peekaboo with me. He’d poke his head over the top and I’d say peekaboo and he’d look all pleased with […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Parrots: Winged toddlers who never grow up
A lot of people get rid of their parrots once they realize what they’ve gotten themselves into. Even if they’ve done their research, it’s one thing to read about it and quite another to live it.
Parrots are like winged toddlers who never grow up.
Here are some of the things my parrots have accomplished so far. […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: A whole bunch of stuff
The Baseline Cowboys raised $300 in empties and spare change for Christie Lake Kids on Wednesday! Rumour has it they’ve also volunteered to help out with Christie Lake’s cooking program. It seems everybody who meets the Baseline Cowboys has something to say about how likable they are.
Here’s a photo of them sitting in the […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Love trumps freedom
Logan is practically blind now from the diabetes or the insulin, I’m not sure which, so he moves very slowly. After returning from a walk one day last week, he was taking a long time to step through the back door. As a result, Oboe, the winged speed demon, managed to slip outside. Suddenly the […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: What’s grey and red and eats ears?
Oboe and Simon on the boing
In my experience, parrots are very well-behaved and sweet when you first get them. They don’t want to do anything that might upset you, because they don’t trust you. They don’t know what you’re capable of. So they sit quietly and observe you. For months.
If you’re smart, you’ll […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Jazz Fest, Bird University, and Spontaneous Combustion
I took an unscheduled break from blogging while making room in my life for the Jazz Festival. I saw the following concerts: k.d. lang, Pink Martini, Chick Corea, Bela Fleck, and Daniel Lanois. I thought they were all good.
The Jazz Festival is an entirely different creature than the Blues Festival or the Folk Festival. […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: Talking to little girls
This morning my friend Grace shared a link to an article by Lisa Bloom called How to Talk to Little Girls.
In it, Ms. Bloom acknowledges her first instinct when meeting little girls is to tell them how cute they are, since they generally are awfully cute. But she doesn’t allow herself to do that, […]
Continue readingknitnut.net: My lovebird proposed to me
We had perfect weather here in Ottawa yesterday, which only happens about once every 42 years. It was sunny and warm, not hot, with a cool breeze, and the humidity was only 45%.
In the early evening we went for a walk: Logan the Dog out in front, then GC, me, and Oboe the Lovebird […]
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