Project weekend so far!
Friday was a very busy day after Steve and Brenton left. The cutting table got a very good cleaning and then moved into the sitting room. Pretty uneventful but this task was on my list to do. The organizing and arranging of my knitting needles and crochet hooks came next. I know this doesn’t seem like it should be a priority but the yarn bag had some yarn peeping out of the top that was just perfect to use in the bottom of the vase I had chosen to use. Besides, I had brought up the knitting needles and they kept falling off the ironing board. I was barefooted and decided if the needles and hooks were safely tucked in the vase w/ yarn in the bottom there was less opportunity of putting a DPN in the bottom of my foot! I just love the way my needles look in their crystal vase lined with a “cheap” ball of yarn! My crochet hooks are now arranged in a favorite flowerpot, yarn in the bottom. This clay flower pot has been painted white with little birdhouses going around the bottom. Now it is growing inspiration for my future projects!
I got the bed and the dresser moved. The dresser was so heavy I had to remove the drawers from it to get it moved across the room! Then I tackled the bed. Wicker chair has been moved out of the bed room. Oh, my, what treasure under the bed! I found 3 storage bins of fat quarters under the bed! This alone has my fingers starting to itch and my mental design wall working!
After fondling the fabric for a short while, drinking some ice tea, I sorted through the first two piles of books. Yes, 2-foot stacks of books. I’m an avid book person. I love them and don’t feel that anyone can ever have too many. Most of these books are inventory from the quilt shop so I’m going to list them on eBay after I decide which ones NEED to go into my personal library. After refilling the ice tea glass, I settled down with my laptop to start getting the sell books listed into eBay’s Turbo Lister software so I can get them on eBay this week.
Some of my sewing supplies are now in their new home but most of the fabric stash is still waiting on my in the plastic drawer bins in the garage. I know my sweet hubby will be so glad I purchased some bookshelves for the new fabric closet! The freshly washed fabric stash that is in the guestroom is now piled in the crib waiting to be pressed and folded.
Now for the evening, I’m heading downstairs to the recliner to work on a couple of my knitting projects while I watch a movie!
Addendum:
The movie I watched tonight was The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith. I really enjoyed it so much! Will is able to portray a very realistic father in this film while adding his own touch of humor throughout the film. My daughter warned me to have the box of tissues while watching. While I didn’t shed enough tears to grab the tissues, my heart strings were tugged throughout the 2 hours. Maybe knitting while I watched saved my tissues for another time. I worked on my new ipod with lanyard and a kimono jacket during the evening. What a great way to end my big work day!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Project weekend!
Steve and Brenton went to PromiseKeepers this weekend! This is a great time for them as father & son but I am getting the weekend to myself! Although I still have regular aviary care and bird clients coming in this weekend, I feel like I have the weekend off!
So this weekend, I’m planning on tackling a project I’ve wanted to work on for a while. Finally, I’m working on my guestroom/sewing space! I know I won’t get it all done this weekend but I’m hoping to get a good start anyway. Our guestroom is actually two rooms; one is a “T” shaped room and the other is a small sitting room in front of the “t” shaped room. We have to go through the sitting room to get to the actual bedroom. I have already got my embroidery machine and my sewing machine setup in the sitting room but I would like to move my cutting table in there and move some of the existing furniture out.
Here’s my TUIT list for the weekend:
· Move bed & dresser
· Sort/toss sewing supplies & fabrics
· Clean cutting table
· Move cutting table to sitting room
· Move wicker chair out of room
· Make display arrangements for knitting needles & crochet hooks
· Sort through books to keep and to sell on eBay
In addition to all this work, I plan to do some major stitching! I have 5 knitting projects in progress, 2 quilts, and a Christening gown for my newest granddaughter. I feel movie watching coming on! Look out on Demand movies ~ here I come!
Oh, when the men are away, the woman of the house will play!
So this weekend, I’m planning on tackling a project I’ve wanted to work on for a while. Finally, I’m working on my guestroom/sewing space! I know I won’t get it all done this weekend but I’m hoping to get a good start anyway. Our guestroom is actually two rooms; one is a “T” shaped room and the other is a small sitting room in front of the “t” shaped room. We have to go through the sitting room to get to the actual bedroom. I have already got my embroidery machine and my sewing machine setup in the sitting room but I would like to move my cutting table in there and move some of the existing furniture out.
Here’s my TUIT list for the weekend:
· Move bed & dresser
· Sort/toss sewing supplies & fabrics
· Clean cutting table
· Move cutting table to sitting room
· Move wicker chair out of room
· Make display arrangements for knitting needles & crochet hooks
· Sort through books to keep and to sell on eBay
In addition to all this work, I plan to do some major stitching! I have 5 knitting projects in progress, 2 quilts, and a Christening gown for my newest granddaughter. I feel movie watching coming on! Look out on Demand movies ~ here I come!
Oh, when the men are away, the woman of the house will play!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
cleaning, podcasts and wet floors!
Good grief! Have I mentioned that I’m not sleeping through the night? Mind you, I sleep very soundly when I sleep but the first part of the night, I just can’t go to sleep unless I’m trying to watch one of my favorite TV shows or reading in the recliner. After I finally go to sleep, I sleep hard until about 2:30 am, then I’m wide awake again! Nope, no hot flashes or anything like that. Usually I’m a little chilly ‘cause my dear hubby steals the sheet! After a little midnight stroll to the bathroom for a drink of water, I can slip right back into dreamland, except I don’t dream. Then I’ll sleep until about 5:30, only to repeat the process… stroll, drink of water, and back to dreamland, where I still don’t dream. I finally gave up and got up to begin the day.
Today was to be a cleaning day…. Well, it was a cleaning day, actually more than I bargained for. I plugged in my trusty ipod with newly downloaded podcasts so I could listen while I clean. I love my ipod and I love podcasts even more! I digress….
I began with the nursery cages. They tend to get more than a little grungy because the weaning babies tend to have food fights with their soft weaning food. At least the cages look like that is what happened in them. Remember the movie Animal House? Now you get the picture.
I pulled perches out of the cages, sprayed them with Clorox solution, and started running the hot soapy water in the sink to soak them. (Remember I’m listening to my ipod.) Then I started pulling the cage liner paper out of the trays and scraping the dried food and poop off the liners. Somehow, my birds always miss the liner paper but hit the side of the cage tray. After pulling papers and scraping 8 cage trays, I gathered them up to take them to the sink for a good scrubbing. My kitchen floor was covered in water! I had gotten so engrossed with the podcast, I left the sink faucet on and forgotten it! there was now water standing all over my kitchen!
I was not planning to do any mopping but hey, the floor was wet! Now it is sparkling clean. I can cross that job off my TUIT list and grab a few extra minutes for stitchin’ on Saturday.
Today was to be a cleaning day…. Well, it was a cleaning day, actually more than I bargained for. I plugged in my trusty ipod with newly downloaded podcasts so I could listen while I clean. I love my ipod and I love podcasts even more! I digress….
I began with the nursery cages. They tend to get more than a little grungy because the weaning babies tend to have food fights with their soft weaning food. At least the cages look like that is what happened in them. Remember the movie Animal House? Now you get the picture.
I pulled perches out of the cages, sprayed them with Clorox solution, and started running the hot soapy water in the sink to soak them. (Remember I’m listening to my ipod.) Then I started pulling the cage liner paper out of the trays and scraping the dried food and poop off the liners. Somehow, my birds always miss the liner paper but hit the side of the cage tray. After pulling papers and scraping 8 cage trays, I gathered them up to take them to the sink for a good scrubbing. My kitchen floor was covered in water! I had gotten so engrossed with the podcast, I left the sink faucet on and forgotten it! there was now water standing all over my kitchen!
I was not planning to do any mopping but hey, the floor was wet! Now it is sparkling clean. I can cross that job off my TUIT list and grab a few extra minutes for stitchin’ on Saturday.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Favorite shop & my stitching projects
I found out this week that one of my favorite quilt/yarn shops is closing its doors. What a sad day! It seems that the owner is retiring but didn’t want to sell the shop so she is selling out and closing the doors! What a great loss! This shop is a favorite place to visit when I visit my parents. My mom has even picked up yarn for me during sales and kept it for me until I got to her house, then of course, I would NEED to go back to the shop for some unknown supplies.
This week, I’ve gone from not having anything on my knitting needles to having two projects on the needles and 4 new books and yarn for projects ordered! What a fun week! I can hardly wait for all this to arrive at my door. I’ll have 6 projects on the needles by next week!
My dear hubby and dear 2nd son are going on a father/son trip next weekend. I’m trying to get caught up on all aviary and housework so I can do the basic bird care and knit, quilt, and embroider the whole weekend! I’m having a stitching retreat all by myself! I may even set up the embroidery machine and sewing machine in the den so I can watch movies while I stitch until I can’t see straight. At which time, I will go to bed only to get up and stitch again the next day! I’ll stock up on plenty of frozen dinners so there will be no cooking either! Can you tell I’m excited? I thought about inviting a friend or two down for this stitch-in but truthfully, I think the time alone will be wonderful! Sorry, girls…..
This week, I’ve been working on my continental style knitting skills. I’ve been trying to work the socks for my dad in this manner. I still feel that I’m slower than molasses on a very cold January morning but I’m starting to feel less awkward with the process. My left hand seems to be doing most of the work and so it gets rather tired. Thankfully, I have a 2nd project on the needles –the sweater sampler by Jacqueline Fee. This sampler is, from her book, The Sweater Workshop, is supposed to teach all the elements of making a sweater but can’t be worn when it is complete. Since it doesn’t take as much yarn as a real sweater, I’m hoping to learn a lot with very little expense. I bought Wal-mart yarn for this exercise and will use some scrap yarn for the contrasting color that is called for later in the pattern. I’m knitting this English style so my hands get a little rest after the sock continental knitting session.
On the quilt frame, I have two quilts one in the piecing stage; the other is ready for sandwiching. One of these is for Steve’s nephew and the other one is for Brenton, our 2nd son, who graduated this year. I will be working diligently on it to try to finish it before he leaves for college in august. Hopefully both of these quilts will be new patterns for Prim-tiks by the first of the year.
Since I had set 5 new patterns this year as my design goal I really need to get busy and make every project I do count! In other words, I need to bust a move!
This week, I’ve gone from not having anything on my knitting needles to having two projects on the needles and 4 new books and yarn for projects ordered! What a fun week! I can hardly wait for all this to arrive at my door. I’ll have 6 projects on the needles by next week!
My dear hubby and dear 2nd son are going on a father/son trip next weekend. I’m trying to get caught up on all aviary and housework so I can do the basic bird care and knit, quilt, and embroider the whole weekend! I’m having a stitching retreat all by myself! I may even set up the embroidery machine and sewing machine in the den so I can watch movies while I stitch until I can’t see straight. At which time, I will go to bed only to get up and stitch again the next day! I’ll stock up on plenty of frozen dinners so there will be no cooking either! Can you tell I’m excited? I thought about inviting a friend or two down for this stitch-in but truthfully, I think the time alone will be wonderful! Sorry, girls…..
This week, I’ve been working on my continental style knitting skills. I’ve been trying to work the socks for my dad in this manner. I still feel that I’m slower than molasses on a very cold January morning but I’m starting to feel less awkward with the process. My left hand seems to be doing most of the work and so it gets rather tired. Thankfully, I have a 2nd project on the needles –the sweater sampler by Jacqueline Fee. This sampler is, from her book, The Sweater Workshop, is supposed to teach all the elements of making a sweater but can’t be worn when it is complete. Since it doesn’t take as much yarn as a real sweater, I’m hoping to learn a lot with very little expense. I bought Wal-mart yarn for this exercise and will use some scrap yarn for the contrasting color that is called for later in the pattern. I’m knitting this English style so my hands get a little rest after the sock continental knitting session.
On the quilt frame, I have two quilts one in the piecing stage; the other is ready for sandwiching. One of these is for Steve’s nephew and the other one is for Brenton, our 2nd son, who graduated this year. I will be working diligently on it to try to finish it before he leaves for college in august. Hopefully both of these quilts will be new patterns for Prim-tiks by the first of the year.
Since I had set 5 new patterns this year as my design goal I really need to get busy and make every project I do count! In other words, I need to bust a move!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Today is just a small collection of musings so forgive me that I’m not on just one particular topic. Actually, when I started this blog, it was my intention to cover all aspects of life for me in Thomaston, including topics on aviculture, fiber art, kids, grandkids, and just plain daily life in each post. Most of the time, my posts have only touched on one topic each time. So today, I’m rambling on....
The birds seem to be quite happy with our current setup. The little bird aviary is almost arranged so that when I make the feed and nestbox rounds that I’m going in a circle. This seems to make my round more time efficient. At the very least, my rounds seem to go more smoothly. The large birds are still spread out all over the place so I tend to have to walk our 3 acres twice a day to care for them. Of course, this has me moving and walking twice a day in addition to my daily exercise regime. Guess that isn’t such a bad thing. I’m not entirely pleased to have my nursery divided between my laundry room (neonate babies) and my breakfast room for weaning babies. Oh, and I have a large cage for larger weaning babies in the den. This keeps me pretty busy with daily housework to keep the health department from condemning us. This brings me to my organization projects.
First of all, I’ve been working on the organization of my home, the aviary, and setting up a special place for my creative space. I think life does go in a complete circle. When we moved into this house, my studio/office was where the little bird aviary is now, completely away from the house. I spent a very cold winter and a very hot summer the first year down there, so I moved my office/studio to our guestroom upstairs. At that point, the studio building became a storage area for retail merchandise. Once the grandchildren started coming, we moved me back to the studio/office building so the guestroom could house visiting family members. We added a woodstove to heat the building and a window a/c, so the retail merchandise and a small classroom area occupied the main floor and my creative space was setup in the attic. After struggling for over 2 years, my dear husband and I decided to close the retail side of my quilting/fiber art business and expand the aviary. So we sold off most of the merchandise and packed up the rest so my studio/office building could house our little birds. My sewing equipment then went back to the guest room and my office/desk has moved from the breakfast room to the den in the last year. I guess you could say I occupy a large percentage of the place but still have no space that is uniquely my own. My sewing space has to stay fairly put together and straight since our guestroom must be ready for kids and grandkids to visit at any time.
I’ve been trying for four years to get us unpacked and organized so life could just flow along. Yes, four years. During those four years, I’ve tried flylady, David Allen, and various other systems. None of them seem to work just right for me. It seems I am right-brained as well as left-handed. So my idea of being organized is not a type-A person's at all. I want everything that I use daily out where I can see it. I do keep a calendar as well as my day runner is my absolute brain. But my dear hubby and I are both packrats! That is the part that just drives me nuts. If I could get through the clutter of things, aka junk, I think I would breathe easier. Steve is not the only stacker in this house but the stacks of stuff never seem to bother him. I can take it for just a certain amount of time and then my little read-headed stack blows. So I’ve sorting/tossing and driving Steve insane right now. He never knows where his boots are going to be -- the bedroom closet is my goal. Steve has taken to going through the trash bin before he takes it down to the road for weekly pickup --- I might have put something valuable, like the dog, in there.
The stitching side of my life has been sorely neglected lately. While I finally have both my embroidery machine and my sewing machine setup, the basic fabric, threads, and embellishment stashes are still stacked all over the guest room. Not only does this make it a little difficult to design or have the basic S.E.X. session, I can only hope I have no overnight guests anytime soon.
About 6 pm, it all stopped and we both had the antsy pants. We took a very long walk around the duck pond across the road. I had our supper simmering in the crock-pot so it was a very nice, unhurried walk.
I did put a pair of green wool socks on my needles yesterday while DH & I watched numerous movies. It was a perfect day for staying home, popping popcorn, movies, and knitting. It, slowly and gently, rained most of the day. I finally figured out how to get 2 socks on 2 circular needles! Woohoo! When the first sock is finished, both of them will be finished! No more 2nd sock syndrome for me!
The birds seem to be quite happy with our current setup. The little bird aviary is almost arranged so that when I make the feed and nestbox rounds that I’m going in a circle. This seems to make my round more time efficient. At the very least, my rounds seem to go more smoothly. The large birds are still spread out all over the place so I tend to have to walk our 3 acres twice a day to care for them. Of course, this has me moving and walking twice a day in addition to my daily exercise regime. Guess that isn’t such a bad thing. I’m not entirely pleased to have my nursery divided between my laundry room (neonate babies) and my breakfast room for weaning babies. Oh, and I have a large cage for larger weaning babies in the den. This keeps me pretty busy with daily housework to keep the health department from condemning us. This brings me to my organization projects.
First of all, I’ve been working on the organization of my home, the aviary, and setting up a special place for my creative space. I think life does go in a complete circle. When we moved into this house, my studio/office was where the little bird aviary is now, completely away from the house. I spent a very cold winter and a very hot summer the first year down there, so I moved my office/studio to our guestroom upstairs. At that point, the studio building became a storage area for retail merchandise. Once the grandchildren started coming, we moved me back to the studio/office building so the guestroom could house visiting family members. We added a woodstove to heat the building and a window a/c, so the retail merchandise and a small classroom area occupied the main floor and my creative space was setup in the attic. After struggling for over 2 years, my dear husband and I decided to close the retail side of my quilting/fiber art business and expand the aviary. So we sold off most of the merchandise and packed up the rest so my studio/office building could house our little birds. My sewing equipment then went back to the guest room and my office/desk has moved from the breakfast room to the den in the last year. I guess you could say I occupy a large percentage of the place but still have no space that is uniquely my own. My sewing space has to stay fairly put together and straight since our guestroom must be ready for kids and grandkids to visit at any time.
I’ve been trying for four years to get us unpacked and organized so life could just flow along. Yes, four years. During those four years, I’ve tried flylady, David Allen, and various other systems. None of them seem to work just right for me. It seems I am right-brained as well as left-handed. So my idea of being organized is not a type-A person's at all. I want everything that I use daily out where I can see it. I do keep a calendar as well as my day runner is my absolute brain. But my dear hubby and I are both packrats! That is the part that just drives me nuts. If I could get through the clutter of things, aka junk, I think I would breathe easier. Steve is not the only stacker in this house but the stacks of stuff never seem to bother him. I can take it for just a certain amount of time and then my little read-headed stack blows. So I’ve sorting/tossing and driving Steve insane right now. He never knows where his boots are going to be -- the bedroom closet is my goal. Steve has taken to going through the trash bin before he takes it down to the road for weekly pickup --- I might have put something valuable, like the dog, in there.
The stitching side of my life has been sorely neglected lately. While I finally have both my embroidery machine and my sewing machine setup, the basic fabric, threads, and embellishment stashes are still stacked all over the guest room. Not only does this make it a little difficult to design or have the basic S.E.X. session, I can only hope I have no overnight guests anytime soon.
About 6 pm, it all stopped and we both had the antsy pants. We took a very long walk around the duck pond across the road. I had our supper simmering in the crock-pot so it was a very nice, unhurried walk.
I did put a pair of green wool socks on my needles yesterday while DH & I watched numerous movies. It was a perfect day for staying home, popping popcorn, movies, and knitting. It, slowly and gently, rained most of the day. I finally figured out how to get 2 socks on 2 circular needles! Woohoo! When the first sock is finished, both of them will be finished! No more 2nd sock syndrome for me!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th of July -- red, white, and blue! i guess it would be unAmerican not to love red, white, and blue together. there is just something exciting and comforting about those colors together. i know, exciting and comforting at the same time is like saying hearing rock 'n' roll will put a baby to sleep. But to see those colors flying in our flag just is comforting while the sense of pride in being an American is exciting! no matter what political party you belong too, no matter what religion, what ethnic culture you embrace, there is a kinship for our fellow American brothers and sisters everytime the Red, white, & blue is flying over head.
I've been so busy this summer. this is my summer of getting everything sorted, tossed, and organized. i know I've been talking about getting organized since i began this blog, but I'm truly starting to see some progress being made. I've condensed my daily tuit list down to three "tasks" besides the normal daily routine. it is inspiring to see my list completely crossed off by the end of each day. while I'm busy every day the stress of a 10 task tuit list, in addition to aviary, home, and office daily stuff, has lifted! I'm not baking for the peach stand this summer and can't believe what a relief it is not to have 12 loaves of bread to make every day! Steve brought in 5 baskets of peaches Sunday evening just for us to eat and freeze. i think I'll bake a peach cobbler today. what a pleasure it is to have the freedom to choose how to spend our summer in this great country of ours!
have a great day!
I've been so busy this summer. this is my summer of getting everything sorted, tossed, and organized. i know I've been talking about getting organized since i began this blog, but I'm truly starting to see some progress being made. I've condensed my daily tuit list down to three "tasks" besides the normal daily routine. it is inspiring to see my list completely crossed off by the end of each day. while I'm busy every day the stress of a 10 task tuit list, in addition to aviary, home, and office daily stuff, has lifted! I'm not baking for the peach stand this summer and can't believe what a relief it is not to have 12 loaves of bread to make every day! Steve brought in 5 baskets of peaches Sunday evening just for us to eat and freeze. i think I'll bake a peach cobbler today. what a pleasure it is to have the freedom to choose how to spend our summer in this great country of ours!
have a great day!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Eclectus baby hatching today!
well, today promises to be very exciting here in the nursery for us. our long awaited first Eclectus baby is in the process of hatching right now. this baby is from our pair that we bought as babies, raised and petted on them for 4 years. We set them up and then started the watch and wait period. Poppie, our hen, got busy almost immediately laying two clear eggs. Solomon got the protective and feeding her part right but not the vital fertilizing at that point. after two more clear egg clutches, we finally got one fertile egg. Poppie incubated it but we had a terrible cold snap and we lost the baby. to make a long story short, we have been through 12 months of her laying, candling eggs, experimenting and figuring out what was going to give us babies and not just eggs.
this time, i pulled the first egg and put it under a cockatiel pair that was laying and i knew would incubate any egg. since tiels only take 19-21 days to hatch their babies, i knew i would have to move this egg in the 10 days of incubation. that made the egg 20 days old. i only had 10 days of incubating and turning the egg until hatch day.
Yesterday was the calendar day. i watched the egg all day after placing it in a small container lined with paper towels and soft tissue for the coming baby. Steve and i checked the egg about 11 pm last night before bed. there were a couple of small pip marks on the egg but no real holes.
6:30 am: since Steve has to be up early for Bible study @ 6:45 am, Thursday mornings, he checked on baby ekkie before i did. he came upstairs to wake me since he only saw a very small pip hole. i got up to go check on things, pulling out my incubation and hatching book as i went to the incubator. Candling the egg revealed a very active and busy chick inside. when i whistled the baby answered me so no worries at this point. Egg was securely back in incubator to continue his/her work. i took a short video of the beginning of the process and think i will continue to film throughout the morning. I'll post the video on my website later. http://www.patchworkparrot.com/
8:30 am: baby is really pipping now. he has worked about 3/4 around the large end of the shell and is starting to push it open a bit. he is still chirping when we talk or whistle. Steve is home from Bible study and taking a peek. Tears are in both our eyes! the miracle of birth! i pray that this small miracle never dims in its awesomeness when my 1000th egg hatches! I've hatched several babies in the incubator prior to this one and we have had numerous parent hatched babies; however, this baby is our baby from two of our babies! it's very special to us!
10:30 am: Baby has made a larger crack and is pushing steadily at the large end of the shell to open it. i believe he might be out of the shell by noon.
this time, i pulled the first egg and put it under a cockatiel pair that was laying and i knew would incubate any egg. since tiels only take 19-21 days to hatch their babies, i knew i would have to move this egg in the 10 days of incubation. that made the egg 20 days old. i only had 10 days of incubating and turning the egg until hatch day.
Yesterday was the calendar day. i watched the egg all day after placing it in a small container lined with paper towels and soft tissue for the coming baby. Steve and i checked the egg about 11 pm last night before bed. there were a couple of small pip marks on the egg but no real holes.
6:30 am: since Steve has to be up early for Bible study @ 6:45 am, Thursday mornings, he checked on baby ekkie before i did. he came upstairs to wake me since he only saw a very small pip hole. i got up to go check on things, pulling out my incubation and hatching book as i went to the incubator. Candling the egg revealed a very active and busy chick inside. when i whistled the baby answered me so no worries at this point. Egg was securely back in incubator to continue his/her work. i took a short video of the beginning of the process and think i will continue to film throughout the morning. I'll post the video on my website later. http://www.patchworkparrot.com/
8:30 am: baby is really pipping now. he has worked about 3/4 around the large end of the shell and is starting to push it open a bit. he is still chirping when we talk or whistle. Steve is home from Bible study and taking a peek. Tears are in both our eyes! the miracle of birth! i pray that this small miracle never dims in its awesomeness when my 1000th egg hatches! I've hatched several babies in the incubator prior to this one and we have had numerous parent hatched babies; however, this baby is our baby from two of our babies! it's very special to us!
10:30 am: Baby has made a larger crack and is pushing steadily at the large end of the shell to open it. i believe he might be out of the shell by noon.
Monday, April 09, 2007
why do i do what i do?
A couple of days ago, my little grandson got in trouble. He burst into tears and cried, "No body understands my case!" I know exactly what he means! I’m still trying to make my mom understand why I am the way I am. Someone told me once that since I was a Pisces, I was a free spirit. If I believed that certain phases of the moon could really make each of us have a certain personality, then I might just use that every time one of my actions came out of left field. My mom says I have a restless spirit. I really am not restless, but I am a free spirit. Mark Twain might have been writing about me when he wrote:
“She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.”
My mom says it is her curse that I took after my father's side of the family with my love of animals and raising them. My daddy instilled a certain attitude in me that even though I was a "girl" I could do anything I wanted to do -- that includes raising animals, shoveling out a bird barn, carrying 40 lb bags of feed, and still worrying about if my makeup is fresh enough to go to town. I'm not quite refined but hey, I'm not unrefined either! I love wine, no beer please. I love art work but neon signs do nothing for me unless they are Disney World! I would love to travel Europe but again, Disney World is almost as exciting to me as traipsing through the castles of Austria. I'm a blue jean kind of gal but enjoy dressing up sometimes in dresses with pumps. My husband actually holds the door for me no matter what I have on. So what makes one refined or unrefined? I can't imagine being dressed to the nines all day everyday would give me the same feeling that it does now when we are going somewhere special. I love the anticipation of the hot shower, putting my makeup on just so, dressing in something feminine and even a little sexy. Work days are just that... work days. As such, jeans, tees or sweaters, boots or crocs are so much more practical in the aviary than pumps.
I do what I do for my career because it feels right to me. It's casual, rewarding and creative. I can wear jeans and boots at our aviary even when customers come to call because technically, I’m a farmer.
It’s so rewarding to raise those little dinosaur babies into big, beautiful, healthy, well-adjusted pets to give someone a life-time of pleasure. How many people can make that claim? When I raise a bird for someone to take home, I’ve raised them a life-long companion. Most birds will live 15 to 80 years, depending on the species.
It’s so creative. I get to write about my experiences, educational articles for new bird breeders; I get to show my birds in competition, and I am photographer extraordinaire (not quite, but don’t tell the birds). I also lay awake at night dreaming up a new design for nestboxes, cages, and toys. Poor hubby has a very long honey-do list.
“She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.”
My mom says it is her curse that I took after my father's side of the family with my love of animals and raising them. My daddy instilled a certain attitude in me that even though I was a "girl" I could do anything I wanted to do -- that includes raising animals, shoveling out a bird barn, carrying 40 lb bags of feed, and still worrying about if my makeup is fresh enough to go to town. I'm not quite refined but hey, I'm not unrefined either! I love wine, no beer please. I love art work but neon signs do nothing for me unless they are Disney World! I would love to travel Europe but again, Disney World is almost as exciting to me as traipsing through the castles of Austria. I'm a blue jean kind of gal but enjoy dressing up sometimes in dresses with pumps. My husband actually holds the door for me no matter what I have on. So what makes one refined or unrefined? I can't imagine being dressed to the nines all day everyday would give me the same feeling that it does now when we are going somewhere special. I love the anticipation of the hot shower, putting my makeup on just so, dressing in something feminine and even a little sexy. Work days are just that... work days. As such, jeans, tees or sweaters, boots or crocs are so much more practical in the aviary than pumps.
I do what I do for my career because it feels right to me. It's casual, rewarding and creative. I can wear jeans and boots at our aviary even when customers come to call because technically, I’m a farmer.
It’s so rewarding to raise those little dinosaur babies into big, beautiful, healthy, well-adjusted pets to give someone a life-time of pleasure. How many people can make that claim? When I raise a bird for someone to take home, I’ve raised them a life-long companion. Most birds will live 15 to 80 years, depending on the species.
It’s so creative. I get to write about my experiences, educational articles for new bird breeders; I get to show my birds in competition, and I am photographer extraordinaire (not quite, but don’t tell the birds). I also lay awake at night dreaming up a new design for nestboxes, cages, and toys. Poor hubby has a very long honey-do list.
Ah, well, forgive the rambling today... I was musing and got a little lost in the thought....
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Spring has Sprung!
Spring is in the air! The UPS man just brought my new rosebushes! What? I have a column due? It can’t be due yet; I just sent you one. That was four weeks ago? Hmmmm… but the weather is gorgeous outside! My daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths are blooming; this box of roses just came today. The temperature is supposed to be 74 with the sun shining! Isn’t there someway for me to just work outside today then tomorrow when it is supposed to rain, I can write the column? The printer is waiting on my column? I’m holding the whole press?
Have you ever heard parrots sing in the spring? Actually, it really isn’t singing like a canary, but they yell at the top of their lungs rejoicing on a beautiful sunshiny day like today. I love to sit in the Adirondack chair by the pond and watch them play with the new toys I got them last month at the bird fair. Oh, you don’t want an article about the birds playing? This column is for a quilting magazine, not a bird magazine. Ok…..
Spring is in the air! I know I already said it, but I’m hoping all of you north of the Mason-Dixon Line will start believing me. General Lee (our southern groundhog) didn’t see his shadow so I know spring is in the air! General Lee is never wrong!
What does General Lee have to do with quilting you ask? Well, his coat is a luscious brown. Have you noticed that brown and pink are back in vogue this year? In fact, brown with any other hot color is definitely the in thing this year!
Just as the seasons come back around so does vogueness. The first documented time for brown and pink in quilts and fabrics is the 1870s. Brown didn’t just fade away for over 100 years. It resurfaced again with rusty tones in around 1885.
Patchwork, appliqué, redwork, crazy quilting, wholecloth quilts all tend to make their appearances in a new exciting form every 15 or 20 years. My ears just perk up when someone starts asking how a designer ever came up with this new technique, then they kind of drop when the designer starts describing how she did it. Usually, the technique is not new at all, but a revised or updated version of a very old technique or pattern.
Various tools from our husbands’ workshops or even our kitchens have also inspired various quilt tool manufacturers as well. Just think if the local pizzeria hadn’t used that pizza cutter in front of a quilter, we might never have had rotary cutters!
If the local architect’s wife hadn’t been a quilter, we might not have ever had acrylic rulers to use with our rotary cutters. Architects have some of the neatest measuring and drafting tools imaginable! What is old becomes new again!
What? You still want that quilting column? Well, now that I have daydreamed the afternoon away with suppositions about what will be in vogue next year, I better get to writing!
Have you ever heard parrots sing in the spring? Actually, it really isn’t singing like a canary, but they yell at the top of their lungs rejoicing on a beautiful sunshiny day like today. I love to sit in the Adirondack chair by the pond and watch them play with the new toys I got them last month at the bird fair. Oh, you don’t want an article about the birds playing? This column is for a quilting magazine, not a bird magazine. Ok…..
Spring is in the air! I know I already said it, but I’m hoping all of you north of the Mason-Dixon Line will start believing me. General Lee (our southern groundhog) didn’t see his shadow so I know spring is in the air! General Lee is never wrong!
What does General Lee have to do with quilting you ask? Well, his coat is a luscious brown. Have you noticed that brown and pink are back in vogue this year? In fact, brown with any other hot color is definitely the in thing this year!
Just as the seasons come back around so does vogueness. The first documented time for brown and pink in quilts and fabrics is the 1870s. Brown didn’t just fade away for over 100 years. It resurfaced again with rusty tones in around 1885.
Patchwork, appliqué, redwork, crazy quilting, wholecloth quilts all tend to make their appearances in a new exciting form every 15 or 20 years. My ears just perk up when someone starts asking how a designer ever came up with this new technique, then they kind of drop when the designer starts describing how she did it. Usually, the technique is not new at all, but a revised or updated version of a very old technique or pattern.
Various tools from our husbands’ workshops or even our kitchens have also inspired various quilt tool manufacturers as well. Just think if the local pizzeria hadn’t used that pizza cutter in front of a quilter, we might never have had rotary cutters!
If the local architect’s wife hadn’t been a quilter, we might not have ever had acrylic rulers to use with our rotary cutters. Architects have some of the neatest measuring and drafting tools imaginable! What is old becomes new again!
What? You still want that quilting column? Well, now that I have daydreamed the afternoon away with suppositions about what will be in vogue next year, I better get to writing!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Casper the Friendly Cat
Today, I received sad news. My long-time companion, Casper the cat, is starting the downhill slide. He is almost 16 years old and absolutely one of the sweetest, most docile cats I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. Casper came to live with me when he was about 4 years old. His previous owner was tired of him. He was neutered and declawed when I adopted him, so I’ve always felt very protective of him. This was also the reason he had never spent any time outside in his previous home.
Not long after Casper moved in, he discovered our back deck. Casper is very dignified and maybe just a little snooty. But he loved sitting out on the back deck soaking in the sun. After he gained some confidence in the safety of the deck, he started strolling the perimeter of our small fenced backyard. Soon after that, he discovered the front porch. He loves our porch swing!
Casper has been my protector in his own quiet way. When my dear hubby, Steve, and I were dating, Casper gave Steve the ultimate, “are you going to stick around?” test. Steve had put his suitcase in the guestroom. We were going out that night so he had brought dress clothes. Not used to being around cats, Steve left his suitcase open. Casper decided to inspect it. Apparently, he didn’t like what he found whether it was Steve’s taste in clothes and shoes, we will never know. Casper sprinkled Steve’s shirt and just flooded his shoes! I knew Steve loved me at that point, he didn’t kill Casper and he didn’t leave without ever seeing us again. After four years, Steve and Casper are great pals. They watch TV in the recliner together several nights a week.
Casper’s meow and paw are his way of letting me know he needs something. He will touch my leg with his paw very gently and then proceed to speak. I swear this cat is talking to me in sentences. He says what he needs and then just sits down and stares at me with those big blue eyes. He knows I’ll stop whatever I’m doing to make sure he either has food or milk in his bowl or let him outside for his daily stroll around the borders of our yard.
I know I’m rambling on and after all, to some people, Casper is just a big old furry white cat, but he has been my friend for many years. He has seen me through some very lonely times. He has been through a couple of dogs’ lives with us, watched the bird business grow, “helped” in my romance with Steve, moved to three new homes, and seen the children leave home. He is comfortable today and eating well. I am praying that he gains some of his previous weight back. He had lost 7 pounds between vet visits this time. Right now, he is sitting on the top step at the back door foyer overseeing the Christmas decorating and bathing himself. This is the first bath I’ve seen him do in a couple of weeks so I have a glimmer of hope that he will not only see this Christmas but maybe a couple more.
Growing old is hard on all of us, but it is especially hard to watch a dear friend and family member, not only enter the twilight years, but know that his final light is shining.
When you cross to the rainbow bridge, please wait for us! We love you, Casper!
Not long after Casper moved in, he discovered our back deck. Casper is very dignified and maybe just a little snooty. But he loved sitting out on the back deck soaking in the sun. After he gained some confidence in the safety of the deck, he started strolling the perimeter of our small fenced backyard. Soon after that, he discovered the front porch. He loves our porch swing!
Casper has been my protector in his own quiet way. When my dear hubby, Steve, and I were dating, Casper gave Steve the ultimate, “are you going to stick around?” test. Steve had put his suitcase in the guestroom. We were going out that night so he had brought dress clothes. Not used to being around cats, Steve left his suitcase open. Casper decided to inspect it. Apparently, he didn’t like what he found whether it was Steve’s taste in clothes and shoes, we will never know. Casper sprinkled Steve’s shirt and just flooded his shoes! I knew Steve loved me at that point, he didn’t kill Casper and he didn’t leave without ever seeing us again. After four years, Steve and Casper are great pals. They watch TV in the recliner together several nights a week.
Casper’s meow and paw are his way of letting me know he needs something. He will touch my leg with his paw very gently and then proceed to speak. I swear this cat is talking to me in sentences. He says what he needs and then just sits down and stares at me with those big blue eyes. He knows I’ll stop whatever I’m doing to make sure he either has food or milk in his bowl or let him outside for his daily stroll around the borders of our yard.
I know I’m rambling on and after all, to some people, Casper is just a big old furry white cat, but he has been my friend for many years. He has seen me through some very lonely times. He has been through a couple of dogs’ lives with us, watched the bird business grow, “helped” in my romance with Steve, moved to three new homes, and seen the children leave home. He is comfortable today and eating well. I am praying that he gains some of his previous weight back. He had lost 7 pounds between vet visits this time. Right now, he is sitting on the top step at the back door foyer overseeing the Christmas decorating and bathing himself. This is the first bath I’ve seen him do in a couple of weeks so I have a glimmer of hope that he will not only see this Christmas but maybe a couple more.
Growing old is hard on all of us, but it is especially hard to watch a dear friend and family member, not only enter the twilight years, but know that his final light is shining.
When you cross to the rainbow bridge, please wait for us! We love you, Casper!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Doors open and doors
Doors open and doors close. Some doors close gently and others just slam right in one’s face, smashing the old fingers in the process. My retail quilting business has just such a door. It has taken on several personas through the years, but mostly it has been a revolving door. I’ve come in and gone out of it several times for various reasons, but now the revolving door has finally closed on the retail quilting side of Patchwork Parrot.
Closing the quilt shop is so hard. Quilting and retail has been a part of my life for 25 years. Gosh, time flies! I’ve seen lots of changes and even more new techniques. It’s so inspiring to have sales reps visit with all the new fabrics coming in the next season. The preview books from the two major publishers are always like a big box of chocolates! The quilters I’ve met during the quilt show/guild meetings where we have setup tables and rooms are just the greatest.
My life has changed a lot in the last four years. The bird business has grown; the designing has increased as well. The hardest thing for me is to set something free that I love. I tend to hang on till I choke the life out of the things I love. After all, whatever coming around the next bend is scary as all get out! But like a wild bird, I’m letting the retail business go free so I can pursue and explore all the exciting and new opportunities that seem to be comin’ round the mountain! I think I’ll meet Mr. Opportunity in a pair of red jammies!
Closing the quilt shop is so hard. Quilting and retail has been a part of my life for 25 years. Gosh, time flies! I’ve seen lots of changes and even more new techniques. It’s so inspiring to have sales reps visit with all the new fabrics coming in the next season. The preview books from the two major publishers are always like a big box of chocolates! The quilters I’ve met during the quilt show/guild meetings where we have setup tables and rooms are just the greatest.
My life has changed a lot in the last four years. The bird business has grown; the designing has increased as well. The hardest thing for me is to set something free that I love. I tend to hang on till I choke the life out of the things I love. After all, whatever coming around the next bend is scary as all get out! But like a wild bird, I’m letting the retail business go free so I can pursue and explore all the exciting and new opportunities that seem to be comin’ round the mountain! I think I’ll meet Mr. Opportunity in a pair of red jammies!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Two for One
Measure twice, cut once? Errr…… read directions first!
Finally, I got the studio unpacked and organized enough to actually get to do some cutting and stitching! This was the optimum time to get my nephew’s graduation quilts done! Sam is only a junior in college now–this quilt is for his high school graduation! Yikes! Time flies! Well, with new babies, I have three years to do their baby quilt, so surely I have until the graduate declares his major to complete the graduation quilt, right?
Anyway….I started cutting and stitching strips last Wednesday. Great progress has been made in that yesterday the final strips were sewn together and ready for subcutting into 2” and 5” units. The design for this quilt is a simple rail fence block with several 9-patch blocks thrown in for flavor. I was so excited about getting to the subcutting of this quilt! Yay! The colors were coming into play beautifully! All strips pressed and stacked neatly on the cutting table –ready, set, go! I began to cut the 2” units happily! What pretty units!
After my granddaughter left for the day, I trotted back down the path to the studio for more cutting. I wanted to have all the cutting down by supper so that this afternoon, I could begin sewing up the quilt top! After spending quite a while cutting, my dear husband came down to the studio to chat. All of a sudden, I recovered from my happy cutting trance and realized that I only needed 25 2” units but I had cut over 100! All my beautiful strips and I only had enough left to cut 64 5” units and I needed 112! GULP!
Thankfully, I have enough of each of the batiks to re-cut the strips and make the rest of the 5” units. In fact, the silver lining to this saga is that I will have enough to actually piece two quilts instead of one. So the die has been cast…my niece who just graduated this past spring is getting a quilt that is very similar to her brother’s graduation quilt!
Finally, I got the studio unpacked and organized enough to actually get to do some cutting and stitching! This was the optimum time to get my nephew’s graduation quilts done! Sam is only a junior in college now–this quilt is for his high school graduation! Yikes! Time flies! Well, with new babies, I have three years to do their baby quilt, so surely I have until the graduate declares his major to complete the graduation quilt, right?
Anyway….I started cutting and stitching strips last Wednesday. Great progress has been made in that yesterday the final strips were sewn together and ready for subcutting into 2” and 5” units. The design for this quilt is a simple rail fence block with several 9-patch blocks thrown in for flavor. I was so excited about getting to the subcutting of this quilt! Yay! The colors were coming into play beautifully! All strips pressed and stacked neatly on the cutting table –ready, set, go! I began to cut the 2” units happily! What pretty units!
After my granddaughter left for the day, I trotted back down the path to the studio for more cutting. I wanted to have all the cutting down by supper so that this afternoon, I could begin sewing up the quilt top! After spending quite a while cutting, my dear husband came down to the studio to chat. All of a sudden, I recovered from my happy cutting trance and realized that I only needed 25 2” units but I had cut over 100! All my beautiful strips and I only had enough left to cut 64 5” units and I needed 112! GULP!
Thankfully, I have enough of each of the batiks to re-cut the strips and make the rest of the 5” units. In fact, the silver lining to this saga is that I will have enough to actually piece two quilts instead of one. So the die has been cast…my niece who just graduated this past spring is getting a quilt that is very similar to her brother’s graduation quilt!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Avian Emergency and After life Care
My dh and i were talking about what to do in case of a tornado this morning. We live in rural central Georgia with lots of sweetgum and pine trees around our home and aviary. We do not have a basement so that isn't an option for us. Most of my birds are in an outside aviary so trees and bad weather are a very real danger for them. An evacuation plan to move or secure the birds is very needed. This is likened to the home and school fire drills for our children. We need to know exactly what we are going to do to make our birds safe during a storm, whether it is a hurricane or tornado. I know that realistically, we cannot actually perform a storm drill; however, i do think we need to prepare for storms by having a written plan and checklist.
When we are in a hurry and worried is not the time to try to remember what supplies and our intentions to protect our birds. A written plan and checklist will provide us with a calm, clear plan of action to depend on when our thoughts are flooded with panic.
Most of us are required through our individual state licensure bureau to keep a bird log. Place your checklist and plan in your bird log. This will make it easy to find during the initial hurry and scurry of preparing to move the birds.
Put together an avian medical box for your birds. In situations like this, you will likely have a blood feather that requires your attention.
During the stormie season for your area, keep enough food bagged in gallon bags for several days so you can grab it and go. Cycle this food periodically to keep it fresh or freeze it.
Walk through your plan several times a year so that it is not new to you when you grab your bird log and initiate the evacuation and securing procedures.
Another dark subject to consider is the after our life care of your bird(s). If you are in our situation, our children are not interested in avian culture at this point in their lives. They have all said to make sure we have the "disposal" of the birds taken care of in our will or there will be a giant feather garage sale if something happens to the two of us.
I think this is a personal choice for each of us and all of us are unique. Our birds have different personalities, some pleasant, some not so friendly; some of us are breeders, some of us have just pets. Please take some time to consider who will take care of your birds in case of your death or illness.
Donate the birds to an avian santuary in your will.
State in your will a friend who will inherit your birds
Write up a care plan for your birds so that anyone can step in and care for them on a short term basis.
Include:
brand of food
supplier information and phone number
description of bird's personality
picture of each bird attached to above description
recipes for homemade foods and directions on how often to give it
Setup a care trust for said friend to help with costs after you are gone. This could be done with a certain amount of cash from your life insurance policy.
Talk with other breeders about setting up a care co-op in case of long term illness. Put it in writing so your family will know who to contact -- names, phone numbers, addresses.
When we are in a hurry and worried is not the time to try to remember what supplies and our intentions to protect our birds. A written plan and checklist will provide us with a calm, clear plan of action to depend on when our thoughts are flooded with panic.
Most of us are required through our individual state licensure bureau to keep a bird log. Place your checklist and plan in your bird log. This will make it easy to find during the initial hurry and scurry of preparing to move the birds.
Put together an avian medical box for your birds. In situations like this, you will likely have a blood feather that requires your attention.
During the stormie season for your area, keep enough food bagged in gallon bags for several days so you can grab it and go. Cycle this food periodically to keep it fresh or freeze it.
Walk through your plan several times a year so that it is not new to you when you grab your bird log and initiate the evacuation and securing procedures.
Another dark subject to consider is the after our life care of your bird(s). If you are in our situation, our children are not interested in avian culture at this point in their lives. They have all said to make sure we have the "disposal" of the birds taken care of in our will or there will be a giant feather garage sale if something happens to the two of us.
I think this is a personal choice for each of us and all of us are unique. Our birds have different personalities, some pleasant, some not so friendly; some of us are breeders, some of us have just pets. Please take some time to consider who will take care of your birds in case of your death or illness.
Donate the birds to an avian santuary in your will.
State in your will a friend who will inherit your birds
Write up a care plan for your birds so that anyone can step in and care for them on a short term basis.
Include:
brand of food
supplier information and phone number
description of bird's personality
picture of each bird attached to above description
recipes for homemade foods and directions on how often to give it
Setup a care trust for said friend to help with costs after you are gone. This could be done with a certain amount of cash from your life insurance policy.
Talk with other breeders about setting up a care co-op in case of long term illness. Put it in writing so your family will know who to contact -- names, phone numbers, addresses.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Spring & Summer have Sprung on me!
Gosh, the spring and summer just seem to fly by! It has been three months since I blogged! So much has been happening, I really don’t know where to start so I’ll try to summarize in this blog today and maybe expand on some particular events later.
First and foremost, I’ve been babysitting my granddaughter during the work week. When I first agreed to do this my thoughts were I’ve raised two children, have a teenager stepson, this six-month old adorable creature is going to be a piece of cake! Why, she and her grandmommie Lala are going to just have a fine old time! I’ll just introduce her into the world of art, writing, and gardening at a very young age. NOT!
She hates sitting in the stroller or the jumpy seat for very long. The floor is tolerated better but not more than half an hour at a time. My work time is now limited to nap times which mean that I’m only getting in about 4 hours of work every day and that includes housework. My house, studio, and aviary are in shambles! Maddie, on the other hand, is thriving! She is the cutest thing in the world and she loves Lala. I’m hoping that eventually, she will also love my work and gardening.
Three weeks ago, I went to Raleigh, NC, for my first bird show and competition. It was so exciting! I even won a pair of the cutest spectacle parrotlets you have ever seen! I need to get them setup with a nestbox but they are so cute in my breakfast room that I haven’t wanted to move them out to the aviary just yet.
Peach season is in full swing now too! This means I’m baking and canning for the next 3 months! I sell my jellies, pickles, and peach bread at the peach stand, so daily cooking and baking have to now be worked into the schedule on top of designing, writing, and just trying to have creative time. Remember, all this is now being done during nap time.
I really haven’t figured out how I did it when my children were small. There were two of them! I look at my daughter with Connor, age 2, in amazement! She is a wonder! Her house sparkles, Connor is happy and well adjusted, and she has makeup on! How does she do that? I think I’ve gotten too old to handle it all, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything…. The dust bunnies will just have to keep residing under the sofa and chairs. I’ll get the mopping done as soon as I shovel the dust off the TV. But when Maddie is sitting and playing in the middle of the floor with her toys and smiles up at me, I know that everything else will wait until naptime.
First and foremost, I’ve been babysitting my granddaughter during the work week. When I first agreed to do this my thoughts were I’ve raised two children, have a teenager stepson, this six-month old adorable creature is going to be a piece of cake! Why, she and her grandmommie Lala are going to just have a fine old time! I’ll just introduce her into the world of art, writing, and gardening at a very young age. NOT!
She hates sitting in the stroller or the jumpy seat for very long. The floor is tolerated better but not more than half an hour at a time. My work time is now limited to nap times which mean that I’m only getting in about 4 hours of work every day and that includes housework. My house, studio, and aviary are in shambles! Maddie, on the other hand, is thriving! She is the cutest thing in the world and she loves Lala. I’m hoping that eventually, she will also love my work and gardening.
Three weeks ago, I went to Raleigh, NC, for my first bird show and competition. It was so exciting! I even won a pair of the cutest spectacle parrotlets you have ever seen! I need to get them setup with a nestbox but they are so cute in my breakfast room that I haven’t wanted to move them out to the aviary just yet.
Peach season is in full swing now too! This means I’m baking and canning for the next 3 months! I sell my jellies, pickles, and peach bread at the peach stand, so daily cooking and baking have to now be worked into the schedule on top of designing, writing, and just trying to have creative time. Remember, all this is now being done during nap time.
I really haven’t figured out how I did it when my children were small. There were two of them! I look at my daughter with Connor, age 2, in amazement! She is a wonder! Her house sparkles, Connor is happy and well adjusted, and she has makeup on! How does she do that? I think I’ve gotten too old to handle it all, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything…. The dust bunnies will just have to keep residing under the sofa and chairs. I’ll get the mopping done as soon as I shovel the dust off the TV. But when Maddie is sitting and playing in the middle of the floor with her toys and smiles up at me, I know that everything else will wait until naptime.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Organization Asset or Liability?
Organization –an Asset or Liability?
Hmmm… I’ve been trying to organize my home and my life so that I will have more time for creative work. However, the more organized I strive to be, the less time I seem to have for creativity. Is there something wrong with this picture? Is being organized really going to be a time-saving asset for my creativity or is it really a time-eating liability? Should I just throw in the towel, a dirty one at that, and forget having a sparkling clean home that is ready for company at any moment so that I can go to the studio and create my art?
I grew up amongst immaculate housekeepers. The women on one side of my family worked outside the home, kept an immaculate house and managed a delicious meal every night after work. These women cleaned their homes, planted a garden, and canned on the weekends. On the other side of the family, my grandmother loved her animals, letting them roam the house. She had beautiful flowers in her gardens and probably never canned a day in her life. Heaven forbid, she bought canned veggies and store-bought jellies, but she wore something new almost every Sunday! Kom enjoyed her creativity in both her yard and her needlework. Was she better organized? Nope, I doubt it. In fact, I think it can be said that no one came to her house for her cooking or her interior design. She did however, know how to entertain with fun family stories, ice cold coca-cola and some sort of dessert, even if it was bought at the grocery store.
Maybe I will let that dust bunny live yet another day… I’m going to the studio for some stitching!
Hmmm… I’ve been trying to organize my home and my life so that I will have more time for creative work. However, the more organized I strive to be, the less time I seem to have for creativity. Is there something wrong with this picture? Is being organized really going to be a time-saving asset for my creativity or is it really a time-eating liability? Should I just throw in the towel, a dirty one at that, and forget having a sparkling clean home that is ready for company at any moment so that I can go to the studio and create my art?
I grew up amongst immaculate housekeepers. The women on one side of my family worked outside the home, kept an immaculate house and managed a delicious meal every night after work. These women cleaned their homes, planted a garden, and canned on the weekends. On the other side of the family, my grandmother loved her animals, letting them roam the house. She had beautiful flowers in her gardens and probably never canned a day in her life. Heaven forbid, she bought canned veggies and store-bought jellies, but she wore something new almost every Sunday! Kom enjoyed her creativity in both her yard and her needlework. Was she better organized? Nope, I doubt it. In fact, I think it can be said that no one came to her house for her cooking or her interior design. She did however, know how to entertain with fun family stories, ice cold coca-cola and some sort of dessert, even if it was bought at the grocery store.
Maybe I will let that dust bunny live yet another day… I’m going to the studio for some stitching!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Not a Routine Person
Not a Routine Person….
They (who ever they are) say that it takes 21 days of repeating an activity to make it a habit…NOT!
I have spent the first few weeks this year on trying to establish a daily routine for myself. I have it all printed and in sheet protectors in a very organized fashion in my dayrunner. Very careful, hour by hour I have planned out my workday schedule and I have tried, truly I have, to follow the schedule hour by hour each day. It isn’t working!
I have realized that I am not a routine schedule personality, nor am I lazy, even though I do enjoy working sometimes in my jammies. I am a productive person but not one who works on a regular routine. I need flexibility and change in my daily life to stay motivated and interested. Routines are boring! I’ve thrown out set in stone hour by hour daily routine. (This is prolly why I married my DH – he is not a time-oriented person either.)
I love my dayrunner and put absolutely everything in it – from notes on creative ideas, my address book, birthdays, and my calendar. I even have my weekly TUIT list (TUIT = around to it) and monthly TUIT list in there. But to have that hour by hour schedule staring at me just knots my stomach up into a big ball!
I purchased a legal pad and have started outlining my basic TUIT list on it for each day. I put about 5 or 6 jobs on each day. As I cross each one off with my bright blue highlighter, I get a sense of satisfaction that my list is being done. At the end of the week, whatever didn’t get a bright blue line thru it goes back on the next week’s list. I don’t have to worry about what time I’m doing a job, I just do the job for however long it takes until I’m finished. Then I get to stand back and smile about a completed job!
Both my husband and I work from home so our days are not the typical workday to begin with. We get up, drink our coffee, eat our breakfast, and begin our day. Our days don’t stop at 5 pm either, some of them continue on into the night but we like our lifestyle and it works for us!
While Flylady seems to work for some, I find that her less than gently reminders throughout the day make me nervous! I have taken what works for me from flylady and have had much fun flinging the rest! I don’t wear shoes in the house. I keep a pair of rubber gardening clogs by my backdoor so I can slip them on when I take the dogs out or if I need to go to the aviary. So no, flylady, I don’t dress down to the shoes and my sink isn’t always shining but my house is tidy and my creative juices are flowing again! I would much rather have a couple of dishes in my sink than have my creative pipes all stopped up because I’m trying to work on someone else’s schedule!
They (who ever they are) say that it takes 21 days of repeating an activity to make it a habit…NOT!
I have spent the first few weeks this year on trying to establish a daily routine for myself. I have it all printed and in sheet protectors in a very organized fashion in my dayrunner. Very careful, hour by hour I have planned out my workday schedule and I have tried, truly I have, to follow the schedule hour by hour each day. It isn’t working!
I have realized that I am not a routine schedule personality, nor am I lazy, even though I do enjoy working sometimes in my jammies. I am a productive person but not one who works on a regular routine. I need flexibility and change in my daily life to stay motivated and interested. Routines are boring! I’ve thrown out set in stone hour by hour daily routine. (This is prolly why I married my DH – he is not a time-oriented person either.)
I love my dayrunner and put absolutely everything in it – from notes on creative ideas, my address book, birthdays, and my calendar. I even have my weekly TUIT list (TUIT = around to it) and monthly TUIT list in there. But to have that hour by hour schedule staring at me just knots my stomach up into a big ball!
I purchased a legal pad and have started outlining my basic TUIT list on it for each day. I put about 5 or 6 jobs on each day. As I cross each one off with my bright blue highlighter, I get a sense of satisfaction that my list is being done. At the end of the week, whatever didn’t get a bright blue line thru it goes back on the next week’s list. I don’t have to worry about what time I’m doing a job, I just do the job for however long it takes until I’m finished. Then I get to stand back and smile about a completed job!
Both my husband and I work from home so our days are not the typical workday to begin with. We get up, drink our coffee, eat our breakfast, and begin our day. Our days don’t stop at 5 pm either, some of them continue on into the night but we like our lifestyle and it works for us!
While Flylady seems to work for some, I find that her less than gently reminders throughout the day make me nervous! I have taken what works for me from flylady and have had much fun flinging the rest! I don’t wear shoes in the house. I keep a pair of rubber gardening clogs by my backdoor so I can slip them on when I take the dogs out or if I need to go to the aviary. So no, flylady, I don’t dress down to the shoes and my sink isn’t always shining but my house is tidy and my creative juices are flowing again! I would much rather have a couple of dishes in my sink than have my creative pipes all stopped up because I’m trying to work on someone else’s schedule!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Double or nothing
Murphy, Harley, and Buffet on the back of dh's chair --waiting for a snack, snack, mommie!Double or nothing?
Having birds is like having a bunch of kids….some days, I feel like I run birdie day care. We have three adorable macaws: Murphy, the B&G, Buffet, the Greenwing, and Harley, the Harlequin. Today’s tale belongs to Buffet.
One of my bird clients was visiting her baby sun conure. She enjoys my macaws so they were all out to visit in the den that afternoon. They had a popcorn and peanut butter sandwich party, so all three macaws were excited and happy. Buffet has such a sweet personality. He loves everyone and everyone loves him! He just melts before your very eyes when someone wants to pet him. He’ll roll over and raise his left wing for a good scratching. Well, Karin knew this and went to visit Buffet. She rubbed his head and under his wing. Did I mention that Buffet is a jewelry nut? He grabbed her engagement ring with that mighty beak and gave one good twist. Karen had the most startled look on her face! “He got my diamond!” Buffet just looked at me with those big eyes and said, “Ark!” Immediately I tried to look in Buffet’s mouth, nothing. Karin, her son, and I dropped to our knees and proceeded to crawl around the floor looking for her diamond. Nothing…. Did I mention I had not swept or vacuumed after the popcorn party? Yikes!
As soon as Karin left, I got on the phone calling our local vet. No, he is not an avian vet but he has an x-ray machine. I wanted an x-ray to see if Buffet had indeed swallowed that diamond! Dr. Curtis Crawford told me to hang on; he would do some calling and see how urgent an emergency this was. Of course, this is after 5 pm on a Friday! How fast could a diamond go from a bird’s crop to his gizzard and then into the intestines? Could Buffet pass this ½ ct. round diamond?
Dr. Crawford called me back about an hour later. He had spoken to a couple of avian professionals and the consensus was that a greenwing macaw could and prolly would pass a ½ carat diamond with no problem. I called Karin and assured her that all was well. I went through the poopy papers for a couple of days without finding the diamond. Either Buffet passed it and I missed it in the paper; he didn’t pass it and is still carrying it around, or he never ate it to begin with.
Buffet is not officially for sale but my husband says that everything has a price tag or you will lose it. We figure that the diamond retails around the same thing a Greenwing macaw would sell for…. Hmmmm…buy the bird, get a chance at a diamond….almost as good as double or nothing.
Having birds is like having a bunch of kids….some days, I feel like I run birdie day care. We have three adorable macaws: Murphy, the B&G, Buffet, the Greenwing, and Harley, the Harlequin. Today’s tale belongs to Buffet.
One of my bird clients was visiting her baby sun conure. She enjoys my macaws so they were all out to visit in the den that afternoon. They had a popcorn and peanut butter sandwich party, so all three macaws were excited and happy. Buffet has such a sweet personality. He loves everyone and everyone loves him! He just melts before your very eyes when someone wants to pet him. He’ll roll over and raise his left wing for a good scratching. Well, Karin knew this and went to visit Buffet. She rubbed his head and under his wing. Did I mention that Buffet is a jewelry nut? He grabbed her engagement ring with that mighty beak and gave one good twist. Karen had the most startled look on her face! “He got my diamond!” Buffet just looked at me with those big eyes and said, “Ark!” Immediately I tried to look in Buffet’s mouth, nothing. Karin, her son, and I dropped to our knees and proceeded to crawl around the floor looking for her diamond. Nothing…. Did I mention I had not swept or vacuumed after the popcorn party? Yikes!
As soon as Karin left, I got on the phone calling our local vet. No, he is not an avian vet but he has an x-ray machine. I wanted an x-ray to see if Buffet had indeed swallowed that diamond! Dr. Curtis Crawford told me to hang on; he would do some calling and see how urgent an emergency this was. Of course, this is after 5 pm on a Friday! How fast could a diamond go from a bird’s crop to his gizzard and then into the intestines? Could Buffet pass this ½ ct. round diamond?
Dr. Crawford called me back about an hour later. He had spoken to a couple of avian professionals and the consensus was that a greenwing macaw could and prolly would pass a ½ carat diamond with no problem. I called Karin and assured her that all was well. I went through the poopy papers for a couple of days without finding the diamond. Either Buffet passed it and I missed it in the paper; he didn’t pass it and is still carrying it around, or he never ate it to begin with.
Buffet is not officially for sale but my husband says that everything has a price tag or you will lose it. We figure that the diamond retails around the same thing a Greenwing macaw would sell for…. Hmmmm…buy the bird, get a chance at a diamond….almost as good as double or nothing.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Queen of Hysteria?Hysterical? I don’t think so! My DH (dear husband today) has dubbed me the Queen of Hysteria! Don’t get me wrong, I have always wanted to wear a crown, not a tiara, a full fledge crown. I’m the queen of my home. My husband says I rule. I think I would rather rock but will take what I can get. If he thinks I rule then ok, I’ll rule. My scepter is a broom, my robe an unfinished quilt in progress, my lady in waiting will have to be Bailey the cocker spaniel. Wait can a male cocker, no matter how cute, be lady in waiting? Hmmmm...crown, what crown? Where in the world did that crown go?
I can think of any number of kingdoms that I should rule but I’m not sure hysteria is the one. The Queen of Procrastination….The Queen of Stress…. The Queen of Dust Bunnies, but Queen of hysteria? I admit I get a little excited about certain things… company coming when the house has been hit by hurricane Haygood, deadlines that have crept in without giving me ample notice; you get the idea, but to call me hysterical? I really think that is going a little far!
Listen to the pitch of my voice? Of course it goes up a couple of octaves but I’m excited and you have that music so high I can’t hear myself think much less hear myself!
The voice of reason? What in heavens’ name does the voice of reason sound like when 10 dust bunnies have run across that den after I just vacuumed the floor? Those dust bunnies don’t even have names yet and company is due to walk in the door in 15 minutes! Goodness Gracious! Breathe!You want that quilt when? Today? What? You ordered six months ago? Really? Time flies! OH, my, I have about 10 feet of binding left to stitch down on this quilt and company is coming in 10 minutes….. Queen of Hysteria? Where is my crown? I think I will accept my title and wear the crown with pride, just as soon as I make the darn thing.
I can think of any number of kingdoms that I should rule but I’m not sure hysteria is the one. The Queen of Procrastination….The Queen of Stress…. The Queen of Dust Bunnies, but Queen of hysteria? I admit I get a little excited about certain things… company coming when the house has been hit by hurricane Haygood, deadlines that have crept in without giving me ample notice; you get the idea, but to call me hysterical? I really think that is going a little far!
Listen to the pitch of my voice? Of course it goes up a couple of octaves but I’m excited and you have that music so high I can’t hear myself think much less hear myself!
The voice of reason? What in heavens’ name does the voice of reason sound like when 10 dust bunnies have run across that den after I just vacuumed the floor? Those dust bunnies don’t even have names yet and company is due to walk in the door in 15 minutes! Goodness Gracious! Breathe!You want that quilt when? Today? What? You ordered six months ago? Really? Time flies! OH, my, I have about 10 feet of binding left to stitch down on this quilt and company is coming in 10 minutes….. Queen of Hysteria? Where is my crown? I think I will accept my title and wear the crown with pride, just as soon as I make the darn thing.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Water water EVERYWHE
Water, water, EVERYWHERE!
I don’t believe in the typical resolutions for a new year, but I do try to set goals and form new habits each year. This gives me an opportunity to evaluate what I accomplished the year before and what I need to try to change, both personally and professionally.
My goals this year was to treat my designing as a real job. I worked for two weeks on setting up my daily routines so that I had studio and bird barn time scheduled during the week. I don’t mean the everyday stuff, such as email, basic bird care, etc.
Well, this past week was the first week to implement my new daily routines. Last week, I kind of just slipped into the new schedule. This week I got up with a mission set to stick to the routine…. Well, you know the saying, “the best laid plans of men and mice…” I was rocking along until about 4:00 pm yesterday. Steve (my DH) had been in and out all day so I wasn’t sure if he was home or not throughout the day. I had finished cleaning upstairs and was sitting down to spend some time on a new design. I was actually going to have a couple of hours to sew before supper! WOW! Unexpected pleasure!
All of a sudden I heard water running, you know, like Steve might be in the shower. I went to investigate after hearing it for a few minutes, thinking that it was really odd for him to be in the shower that time of day unless he had an appointment or meeting. I went to our bathroom first, no Steve. Then down the hall, that bathroom door was closed. Kind of strange that he would shower there, but ok. I knocked and poked my head in the door. No Steve but water shooting out horizontally from under the vanity! The floor was flooded! When I opened the door, the water just flowed out into the hall! I tried to turn the water off under the sink. The knobs were too tight to turn! I only accomplished being soaked. When I ran down the stairs to call Steve, I couldn’t believe my eyes!
The ceiling fan in the den looked like an upside down water fountain. The den floor had at least an inch of water standing and the water was just pouring from the ceiling! I got the shop number dialed and screamed in the phone – “COME HOME NOW!” I did manage to get out to him that water was spewing everywhere.
Thankfully, I married a man who is mechanical and pretty handy. He turned the water off at the street and came inside to help me get buckets, and pots out to try to catch the massive amount of water coming from the ceiling. We got the water up and the floors dried in about 3 hours. Steve made a run to Home Depot for new pipes and got busy on replacing the broken one last night. By bedtime, we had water turned back on in the house, no hot water in the bathroom sink, but at least the shower had water.
This morning, the ceiling looks even worse than it did last night but at least the room has been dried and put back in order…. So much for my new daily routines! They got thrown out with the dishwater yesterday afternoon…. Back to work on forming my new habits today….
I don’t believe in the typical resolutions for a new year, but I do try to set goals and form new habits each year. This gives me an opportunity to evaluate what I accomplished the year before and what I need to try to change, both personally and professionally.
My goals this year was to treat my designing as a real job. I worked for two weeks on setting up my daily routines so that I had studio and bird barn time scheduled during the week. I don’t mean the everyday stuff, such as email, basic bird care, etc.
Well, this past week was the first week to implement my new daily routines. Last week, I kind of just slipped into the new schedule. This week I got up with a mission set to stick to the routine…. Well, you know the saying, “the best laid plans of men and mice…” I was rocking along until about 4:00 pm yesterday. Steve (my DH) had been in and out all day so I wasn’t sure if he was home or not throughout the day. I had finished cleaning upstairs and was sitting down to spend some time on a new design. I was actually going to have a couple of hours to sew before supper! WOW! Unexpected pleasure!
All of a sudden I heard water running, you know, like Steve might be in the shower. I went to investigate after hearing it for a few minutes, thinking that it was really odd for him to be in the shower that time of day unless he had an appointment or meeting. I went to our bathroom first, no Steve. Then down the hall, that bathroom door was closed. Kind of strange that he would shower there, but ok. I knocked and poked my head in the door. No Steve but water shooting out horizontally from under the vanity! The floor was flooded! When I opened the door, the water just flowed out into the hall! I tried to turn the water off under the sink. The knobs were too tight to turn! I only accomplished being soaked. When I ran down the stairs to call Steve, I couldn’t believe my eyes!
The ceiling fan in the den looked like an upside down water fountain. The den floor had at least an inch of water standing and the water was just pouring from the ceiling! I got the shop number dialed and screamed in the phone – “COME HOME NOW!” I did manage to get out to him that water was spewing everywhere.
Thankfully, I married a man who is mechanical and pretty handy. He turned the water off at the street and came inside to help me get buckets, and pots out to try to catch the massive amount of water coming from the ceiling. We got the water up and the floors dried in about 3 hours. Steve made a run to Home Depot for new pipes and got busy on replacing the broken one last night. By bedtime, we had water turned back on in the house, no hot water in the bathroom sink, but at least the shower had water.
This morning, the ceiling looks even worse than it did last night but at least the room has been dried and put back in order…. So much for my new daily routines! They got thrown out with the dishwater yesterday afternoon…. Back to work on forming my new habits today….
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Hershey the Cockatiel!
I would like to introduce you to our newest member of our flock! Hershey is a cinnamon split to pied cockatiel. I’m so pleased with her coloring. It is a dark cinnamon that has a hue of chocolate in it. Not only is she a beautiful baby but she is so sweet! Hershey had a rocky start and some bumps the last couple of days in the journey of growing up to be a Patchwork Parrot bird.
On December 7, she was hatched to Babe and Sunny in our aviary. The first 11 days of her life, things went very well. Then on the morning of December 19, I found her and a sibling very cold in their nestbox. Sunny & Babe had decided they didn’t want to do this parent thing anymore. Grabbing the babies up in my hands, I went running into the house yelling for Steve to come help me. Imagine the look on his face when I pushed this very cold, naked baby cockatiel into his hands and screamed, “Blow!” It took a few seconds for it to sink in that I wanted him to cup his hands around the baby and blow warm air over it to start bringing up its body temperature, but he did a great job!
Later that day, we lost Hershey’s sibling but Hershey persevered. Christmas went off without a hitch even with a naked dinosaur looking baby on top of my refrigerator. No one even seemed to notice she was up there snug and warm on that heating pad.
This past weekend, Hershey gave me a little scare. Her crop filled with air to the point she looked like she had been inflated. I’ve raised birds for 13 years and never had one look like
this! I got on the internet and started posting questions and pictures about this condition. I got tons of great advice, lots of caring notes, and support while I did everything I knew to do to help Hershey through this. Was it yeast? No typical symptoms of that. Ruptured air sac? No, not the typical look for that either. What was wrong with Hershey?After receiving a very supportive and encouraging email from Bridget Aylward of Upsan Downs Aviary in CA, I followed her wonderful instructions on flushing and emptying Hershey’s crop. I was so nervous! I had done similar procedures on humans during my nursing career, but this wasn’t that large a creature! This tiny little bird was depending on me and I wasn’t sure I trusted my abilities. With a lump in my throat, and a prayer (literally) on my lips. I gave Hershey the baking soda/water solution then flipped her upside down and proceeded to push the fluid from her crop. The whole process took a few seconds but it seemed like an eternity. The danger here is to clear the baby’s mouth so no liquid gets sucked into her lungs. Aspiration in cockatiels is deadly! Afterwards, I cleaned Hershey up and gave her some Maalox and pedialyte and tucked her into her warm brooder.
By 5 am this morning, I was through tossing and turning, I wanted to see how Hershey had done through the night. There she was… snuggled up to her whompie, warm and cozy. (image placeholder)What a day! I wouldn’t trade raising birds for all the tea in China!
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