I’m not done. I wasn’t so much bothered by my last diatribe as I was puzzled.  And I realized that I’m not finished discussing this issue. People have been so supportive and I thank you all.

When I first got into learning about aviculture I thought the welfare of the birds was first and foremost. And I said just that at a dinner with some other birds people. They almost laughed me out of the restaurant.

Because this issue isn’t just about the damned tub, or the damned Chop, or my own damned opinion. It’s about getting nit-picked to death. I thought I was prepared for this. When I went through the landslide of the aftermath of Cookie the Penguin, I just thought, “Well, that wasn’t easy, but I lived.”

I thought I had lived through some of the worst crap I’d ever encountered regarding my little corner of heaven here at WordPress. Ha!

I once made an observation on Facebook regarding having to get back on a plane after four days of utter hell which included stepping into human poop and getting pinned onto the hood of a car by a guy with a broken leg.

 I remarked, “You know that scene in the film, ‘The African Queen’ where Bogart gets out of the river and realizes he is covered in leeches? And after screwing around trying to push the boat forward through the reeds from the deck, he realizes he has to get back in the water? That’s how I feel right now about going to work today.”

Right now, that’s how I feel about writing here right now. I have to do it, but it’s beginning to honk me off.

Photo courtesy of Janet Hilton

I am not looking for sympathy. I’m a grown-up and I can handle it. But it’s sort of like a wonderful intro to a folk song done by the Limeliters: “Here comes the smut Martha….”

 It’s more about what I’m trying to accomplish here. The more I write about what I know and love and I guess, more importantly, what I don’t know, the more readers I seem to get. And that’s just fine with me. I am a writer to the bone and it’s obviously more fun if people are reading your stuff. I’ve managed to hang in there going on four years now having written hundreds and hundreds of posts and imparting a lot of good information.

Photo courtesy of Janet Hilton

 I’d like to think this blog has helped people, entertained them and more importantly, made them think. Not just about birds. While this blog is about birds, there’s more to it than that. It’s about life. It’s about the day-to-day when you happen to have parrots in the house, which on occasion can be pretty damned interesting. But it’s also about making a commitment to them. It reminds me of some lines in the film, The Lion in Winter:

Henry II: I want no women in my life.
Princess Alais: You’re tired.
Henry II: I could have conquered Europe – all of it – but I had women in my life.

Substitute the word, “Parrots” for women and that pretty much explains many of our lives.

 It’s my blog. And given the fact that I pay for the damned thing, I guess that gives me the prerogative to post what’s on my mind. I’ve been wrong on many occasions. But not this time.

The tub controversy is so juvenile, so trivial and so junior high, it’s like being vilified in the 7th grade for wearing the wrong kind of jeans. Ewwww! Seriously? If people want to pick on something why not pick on something that makes a damned difference in the world? Go educate the seed feeders. Or help the hoarders. But leave me and my damned tub out of it.  And leave Janet’s tub out of it too.  But while we’re on the subject of tubs, did you know that cleaning your tub and filling it with water is on the checklist for hurricane preparedness? It’s true. Go look it up.

But for the most part, this controversy isn’t about tubs. It’s about the fact that some people think they know better than anyone else. And they begin typing before they start thinking. And if something so stupid and so trivial bothers you, you have too much time on your hands. As for me, I’m on to other things. More important things. Like deciding what to make for dinner.

Photo courtesy of Janet Hilton

Get your Clawfoot Tub here…

 What is a bath tub? To make things simple let me just state that it is a container. It would contain its contents. In most homes, it is used to wash yourself. Most homes have a tub with a shower spigot over it. People often forgo the tub to soak in and just stand in the tub and take a shower. Some homes even have more than one bathroom.

I even have more than one bathroom. I have two, as a matter of fact. The one I use to shower in has a shower stall. It is right off my bedroom and it is an easy and convenient place to take my daily shower. My second bathroom is off the hall near the living room. I don’t use that bathtub to shower in. It is less convenient in the morning and I certainly don’t need to use two bathrooms for the purposes of a daily shower, thank you very much. I also happen to live alone and for the most part, neighbors aren’t knocking on my door every day to ask if they can use my tub. Their Condos all came equipped with their own bathrooms.

Irena Shulz and I starting a batch of Chop. (Photo courtesy of Janet Hilton)

 As you know, I make Chop. I make a LOT of Chop. And due to the amount I make all at once, I use the tub to mix it in. That would be the tub I don’t take a shower in. So for all practical purposes, this tub is used as a container in which to mix Chop. Period.

I don’t use it to wash car parts. I don’t use it to make bathtub gin.

Keeping a tub clean is very simple. I’m sure everyone knows how to do it. Most tubs are made with a nonporous surface like porcelain that is simple to keep clean. Lots of soapy, hot water with a cleaning brush and a thorough rinsing with very hot water usually does the trick. My tub even has a drain and running water in it that makes both scrubbing and rinsing easy and convenient. I’m fairly certain most tubs these days come with these features.

Now, I don’t know what other people’s tubs look like, but I like a clean tub. I don’t have sweaty, grimy little kids who just came off the soccer field showering in it. I don’t have a husband who spent the day working at a construction site cleaning up in it. I use it to make Chop.

Some of the comments I have seen about using the tub to make Chop absolutely astound me. If this grosses them out, I really wonder what their tubs look like. Don’t they keep their tubs clean? Don’t they wash it out? Seriously, when I see comments like “Yuk!” I am sitting there scratching my head and thinking, “Honey, if you are saying that about your own tub, I don’t even want to know…”

Irena Mixes a batch of Chop. Photo: courtesy of Janet Hilton

Seriously, what difference does it make? A clean container is a clean container. I don’t care if you make Chop in a bowl. If that bowl is not clean, it’s not clean. And if they can’t keep their tub clean enough to mix Chop in it, why in the hell would anyone want to use it as a bath tub? Yuk!

I really believe this is one of those online “Holier than thou” approaches people take to make themselves feel better. You can post something like, “I took my vitamins today.” and some kook will get on there and beat it to death giving you warnings about Vitamin A overdoses, or how taking vitamins is killing the people in China. Gloom and Doom! Death and Destruction! Hell in a Handcart! “The Sky is Falling!”

Spare me from those posts. Everyone’s a critic. And, as a friend of mine has stated, “People are very brave when they are hiding behind a keyboard.”

It’s real simple. I keep my tub very clean. I use it to make Chop. I’m not performing surgery in there, I’m mixing vegetables for parrots. If you don’t want to use your tub to make Chop, that’s your business. Make it in any container you prefer that works for you.

But in the meantime, stay out of my tub.

As you can imagine, Juanita has taken on a life of her own here at Parrot Nation. I like her. She’s a tad bitchy, but she does tend to stick to her knitting, and her convictions.

She says things I would never dream of saying. Well, except to Janet. But then we scream at each other all the time. (She has a spacious house.) I get a little worried around other people when we doing something. Because I’m afraid people think we dislike each other. We don’t. We just scream a lot.

But in a nice way…

“Janet! Where in the hell are those watercress bunches?”

“I don’t know! What do they look like?”

“Watercress!”

“Hey! I’m not a cook!”

“Gawwwwwd!”

But Juanita? She says what’s on her mind.

When I was doing the giant metal chicken photo series over at Facebook, someone remarked, “Oh, to be in your head for about 2 minutes!…what a wonderful place that would be “

 My response? “Yeah, well, it gets a little weird in here occasionally.”

And believe me, it does. Now, Juanita is not my invention. (And just to be clear here, neither is freezing parrot food… Certainly don’t want to piss off the neighbors…) Her photo was taken by poet laureate of blogs and really strange, but fabulous chick, the Bloggess.

I take my scarf off to her! Nevertheless, she has found a home of sorts here at PN. I welcomed her with open arms when she came screaming into my life and into my heart, because she’s just so brutally honest.

And she knows her Chop. So it works for me. I thought that if any of you have any questions for Juanita, perhaps I could convince her to answer a few of them. So please email your questions for Juanita to:  parrotnation@yahoo.com.

Maybe she’ll actually be polite and let’s all hope I get some decent answers out of her. I’ll post your questions and Juanita’s answers, (The clean ones…) here at a later date.

I am floored. I just don’t understand how people don’t understand. I am not going to say, “I have no words.” because I do.

As you might have noticed, Parrot Nation is Land of the Cuisinart-Home of the Chop. It is where, for lack of anything else to write about, I wrote my first post about Chop. And the response was overwhelming. So I kept making it and writing about it, eventually posting several videos and running up a nice tally of informational posts about it.

That was in 2009. I had been making Chop for years before I had the blog. As many of you know, I had come up with the concept because my schedule is insane due to my flying and writing and cleaning up parrot poop. So much for pleasant, languid hours down at the pool. Now, the concept is a hit. Other people in the bird world are more sane since taking up the practice.

Their birds are healthier and they are happier for having found what I did: That making “Chop” is more than just keeping their birds in fine feather. It’s about happier people. And when you have happier people, you are inevitably going to have happier birds.

This concept fulfilled a need in my life to get Parker the vegetables, legumes and grains that he needed without having to go through the machinations of the twice a day drudgery. But I found it served another purpose: Some people have the time to chop fresh vegetables for their flock twice a day. I don’t. And I really don’t think most other people do either.

So as I was happily writing and shooting videos and snapping photos, something began to stir. I was unaware of it until quite recently. And it upset me clear through to the core. In short, it was irritation. It was mind-boggling confusion. And the criticism comes from two fronts. Both are ridiculous.

One is that I am claiming I came up with the idea of making a huge batch of food and freezing it. Nothing could be further from the truth. I simply said it was a great way to feed your birds.

I’m just the one that has publicized it as widely and wildly as I did. I have yet to see a video on the process of making mash or any other type of bulk homemade food for parrots.

If they are out there, great! Let me know! But I never came across any in 2003 when I was a frustrated parrot person trying to come up with an efficient way to feed Parker.  It sure as hell would have saved me a LOT of time doing research if there was.

It was said in a Facebook group thread that I’m claiming I came up with it and that they’d been doing this for 15 years. Which of course begged my question, “Well, then why didn’t you share it, make a video about it, publicize it, blog about it and do some demos?” No response.

Apparently, there has also been some nit-picking going on about the Chop Concept as a diet. These are people that have absolutely no idea what’s going on over here and can’t see the forest for the trees.

People have been talking about how Chop is a “kitchen sink” concept and that it will fail the birds nutritionally. It was even told to me that if parrots were fed chop, they would become malnourished. What? Huh?

Not with a formulated pelleted diet, sprouts, nuts and healthy table food. Apparently there is a misunderstanding about what Chop is, what’s in it and there is a thought that I do not include legumes.

Apparently people seem to think it’s nothing but grains. Some do not realize I use a Cuisinart. I’m sorry, but how could you miss it? I actually put my cuisinart to music in this video. I thought it was kind of cool, actually:

Obviously, they haven’t seen my videos or haven’t read my posts or even have an inkling about what I’m doing over here. Here is a quote from a thread on Facebook:

“Birds need protein and it cannot come from a willy nilly mix of just grains. If people can pour grains into a bowl, they can pour legumes. Not a lot needs to be changed, the ratio and the soaking and the omegas and that will feed them nutritiously. They aren’t getting what they need from a random batch of stuff. People are very willing to feed more nutrient rich food if they know how. It’s not difficult. Folks can soak grains in a given proportion, it’s not hard to do… people can add some chia seeds for the omegas, it’s not difficult. Just give them the ratio and then move forward with more information. I don’t understand why you are against doing this. You already have them chopping and that’s the hard part.”

This is from a woman who told me a year ago that she couldn’t get her birds to eat fresh anything. Now she is jumping into my mess kit about how I’m completely wrong about how I feed my birds.

Oh my God! It’s a legume!

Obviously, this woman doesn’t realize that beans go into every batch or are served alongside as a separate dish. Chia seed does go into Chop. The beans are soaked and cooked first.  This criticism isn’t warrented and due to the accusations, makes these criticisms outrageously uninformed.

It isn’t just grains. Haven’t they even seen the videos? Let’s see, I did a video called Teenie Weenie Beanies.  Was it Teenie Weenie Grains? No, it wasn’t. Can someone tell me what these are? Anyone? Anyone?

I see several hands! That’s right! Those are Beans.  Are beans, grains? No.

Does this mess look like grains to you? Why, no. It’s beans!

I did not ever claim Chop was to be a replacement for a formulated pelleted diet, nuts, sprouts and healthy table food. Never.

I do not want people to add fruit into the Chop to freeze because it doesn’t freeze well. And as far as the fact that I have everyone making Chop, well, that’s just not true. Not yet anyway.  I did a presentation to a club in Raleigh-Durham and some people had no idea they could feed vegetables to their birds.

Here’s the deal on Chop: If you make it too hard or too demanding, people aren’t going to make it.

If they are missing one simple thing, they aren’t going to make it. If it’s too complicated, they aren’t going to make it.

If they can’t get the suggested vegetables in Taiwan, they aren’t going to make it. (I got a question once from someone in a Asian country who didn’t know what a very common vegetable was sitting on the demo table in a photo taken when I did a presentation at Phoenix Landing.)

It’s simple. I believe that you are caring and intelligent people. I believe you will figure out what is fresh, in season, and good for your birds.

I want you to use your judgement with your flock on what they need. Greys have a different dietary need than Hyacinths. Budgie needs are different from an Eclectus. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that “One Size Fits All.”

I get a lot of requests for a “Recipe” for Chop. I don’t give one. I don’t have one. I don’t recommend one. And here’s why.

I believe parrots eat seasonally in the wild. They have to, don’t you think? I mean, it’s not like they’re squirrels hoarding food in a “parrot pantry” somewhere. They eat what’s available. Once I got Chop figured out and well on its way to being formed into a concept, I began adding what was in season.

Which of course reminds me of a quote from the Film, Annie Hall. Annie and Alvy are at a party in L.A. and the camera pans to some television executives talking:

“Right now, it’s only a notion. But I think I can get money to make it into a concept. And later turn it into an idea.”

And that’s pretty much how I came up with Chop. I mean really; you can buy frozen vegetables, frozen pasta. I thought, “If Birdseye can do it so can I!”

I found Annie, HERE

I wanted to get a wider variety of produce and different items in my Greys’ diet and the only way to do this was to look at it from an entire year’s stand point, season by season.

I also found that buying items in season turned out to be less expensive. And God knows I’m all for saving money. (See my post HERE on ways of saving money.)

Years ago, I was talking to Robin Shewokis and I mentioned to her that my goal was to get at least a hundred items into Parker over a year’s time. There are so many good things to offer your parrot that I think it’s counter-productive to follow a precise recipe.

Once you get a handle on the thing, you can riff on it however you see fit. And usually, the way to riff is to use the seasonal, cheapest and freshest items available. It looks more difficult and more complicated than it actually is. It’s really very easy. It’s just like making a salad or a casserole…in a very big pot. I have done presentations on how to make Chop at various clubs, expos and groups.

And once people either helped me make it or saw how it was made, they realized that it’s actually very easy to do. I simply find the idea of a recipe extremely limiting. I also understand that people are making it all over the place. Blorian Yang from Hsinchu, Taiwan makes it. And to be honest, I don’t know that a lot of the vegetables we buy and take for granted are available there. So how could I possibly write a recipe with items unavailable in other parts of the world?

I’m also afraid that writing a recipe would discourage people from trying it. What if one item weren’t available? Would someone make it without that item? Would they try and find something else to substitute? Or would they just give up because they can’t find watercress?

These are things I’ve thought about along the way. And while they may sounds trivial, I don’t think they are. I’m hoping that more and more people realize that “The Chop Concept” is a wonderful way of enriching your parrot’s diet. Supplemented with a formulated pelleted diet, sprouts, nuts and nutritious table food, you’ve got a pretty good method of feeding going on.

I simply don’t want to discourage anyone. I started small. Simple. And you can start that way too. The trick is- you just have to start. And once you realize how easy it is, you’ll do it again and again. As the batch get bigger and your life gets easier, your parrots are going to benefit from this. Give it a try. It’s not hard at all.

I was laughing my keester off at the post and did a little bit of digging. One of her posts involved her purchase of a stuffed weasel. And of course not one to leave well enough alone, Jenny decided to put a pink apron on her and named her Juanita. She then proceeded to put hysterical captions above a photo of Juanita and graciously provided a blank for her readers to create their own “Photo-toons.” Being almost as twisted as “The Bloggess,” I have decided to employ Juanita and have her present a series of tips for making Chop. This is the first:

My Office at 35,000 feet.

While I try to keep up with the forums and blogs about what the heartbeat of the avian world is up to, (meaning the average parrot owner just like me) I have a tough time keeping up with them all due to my schedule. I’m either flying for work, or flying to get somewhere to do a presentation or do research or some such reason for the journey.

And there is the ever-present floor that needs a mopping. But I do get to meet really cool people:

Concetta! (Concetta DellaRocco- Ferragamo)

But I think it’s terrific the forums are busy because that means you are all yakking up a storm, exchanging information and helping each other out.

Paula Rossow, Irena Schulz and moi at the Midwest Bird Expo

Occasionally I run across a post about the Chop Concept. And I found one particularly interesting. When the Chop Video link was put up, someone saw all of the stuff I used to make Chop and stated the following:

“wow that is like 80+ bucks in ingredients.”

The original poster responded this way:

“When I picked up the ingredients for my batch of chop, I spent about $30 and didn’t use everything….I made the batch back around the 1st of October and I still have at least half left. I feed 8 parrots and 9 parakeets with it. I don’t feed it everyday, but several times a week.”

It was posted on the 30th of December which means she got through half of her Chop in three months.

The Real Quaker Oats

Now it sounds like making Chop or Teenie Weenie Beanies is expensive. It is- the day you make it. But once you bag it up and freeze it, you won’t be making it for quite a while, so you have to look at it as “cost-per-serving” or cost per day.  I never really figured it out to the penny, but I knew I was feeding three African Greys two meals a day for less than a buck.  And because I have never fed bulk seed on any real basis at all, I have no idea what it would cost to feed my birds the seed. But I can almost guarantee it’s less than 3 plus bucks a pound you probably have to pay for seed.

Have any of you figured it out? Does any one really know how much it costs you to serve Chop as opposed to the higher-pried model? I know it’s different every time, but perhaps some of you have done the costing out? I’d love to know what you’ve come up with.

If you ever run into her, (You will eventually. If you attend any avian related events, ask Janet how she met me. She has a very funny response.) My point is, people are actually making friends and acquaintances using social media to connect. With that, they share and exchange information, swap ideas, photos and also help, encourage and console each other during the rough times. Due to this, many friendships are developing as well as a more “family-like atmosphere.” Consequently, you just might run into your “Online Uncle Max” at a bird event. You’ve never met him before, but you feel like you already know him because you know how many birds he has, their names and the fact that his African Grey can recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Me, Robin Shewokis of Leather Elves, Lisa Bono of Platinum Parrot, Jessica Pineda, Editor- BIRD TALK Magazine and Dr. Susan Orosz

Photo supplied by Lisa Bono

But of course, along with this are the feuds that seem to pop up in even the closest of clans. Yes, you end up with blood in the water occasionally as misunderstandings occur, differences of opinion pop up and flat out disrespect for another’s point of view roars through the pixels*.

(*Fun Fact #1: Pixel: ORIGIN 1960s: abbreviation of the phrase, picture element.)

There are the “junior high school Mean Girl” moments as well as the warm and fuzzies. But that even happens in the closest of families, so this is to be expected, I guess.

 Despite this, the information exchange has done wonders for the companion parrots of the world. As people join this ever-growing, “Global Family,” they are learning that it’s better to adopt than buy, that an all-seed diet simply blows, and that foraging and enrichment are important for our feathered buddies. And avian nutrition? Well, let’s just say that I’m working my keester off trying to ensure that Chop is the “New Black” in a parrot’s diet. I want to ensure that Chop is a standard element in feeding a healthy diet to your parrot.

Michelle Elle’s Chop: Photo by Michelle

As I keep my head down and go on typing, more and more people are learning that this is the way to go. I have other ideas and I’m trying to develop new methods and more ways to deliver the nutritional goods. And overall, I’m really focused getting that information out.

But as people become more aware of the needs and requirements of companion birds, interest in more information about how to care for them has grown exponentially across all areas of companion parrot care. Because of this, the demand for website content, more research and answers to the growing questions about caring for the little buggers has increased. The realization and insight people have gained through the internet about the subject of Avian Husbandry has had a positive impact on everyone.

These folks who never really grasped some basic elements of the diet requirements for parrots before, are now beginning to wake up and smell the quinoa. They are beginning to ask questions and search for information as they run into others who seem to have a better grasp on how to care for their flocks. They are starting to understand that while an all-seed diet might be easier, it sure as hell is more expensive, more dangerous and will lead them and their wallet down that ugly road to Avian Vet hell.

Michelle Elle’s got it down! Photo by Michelle.

Pictured:  flax seeds, rolled oats. barley and wheat baby cereals, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, sesame seed, wheat germ, chia seeds

Enter the Chop Concept. Good news: It’s spreading like STDs at a Florida senior citizens social center. If dietary requirements are met, foraging opportunities are presented, training is done, and a clearer understanding of the needs and prerequisites of keeping birds is acknowledged, the birds are going to get a better shot at staying put. The bird is happier and healthier which certainly plays into their behavior. And if their behavior is easier to deal with and their needs are met, we’re less likely to want give up our birds.

This certainly would ease the strain on the shelters and the adoption and rescue organizations which would free them up to present educational seminars and social gatherings; a far more positive pursuit.

But me being me, it seems as though it’s not enough. When I was at lunch with some of the attendees after my presentation at the Phoenix Landing event on January seventh, I called for a toast. I thanked everyone for coming and helping me out. I then stated that I simply couldn’t wait to see Phoenix Landing go out of business. They laughed and held up their glasses. Because I don’t think they can wait for that day either.

Actually, I think that’s what we all want.

I got back from the D.C. area after an incredible time last weekend with the Phoenix Landing Organization. A little background is called for here:

I’ve known Ann Brooks since 2005 when we both attended the Natural Encounters Companion Parrot Training Class, or “Birdy Boot Camp” as I called it.  Ann’s a tad on the quiet side and I was sick as a dog having come down with some truly heinous bug I picked up from some guy who coughed on me on the way back from Haiti. Despite my feeling like ten miles of bad road and due to Ann’s ability to put up with this virus monster sitting next to her for days on end, we got along just great. I just had a feeling that she was going to accomplish something amazing. And I was right.

Ann has a fascinating background. Ask her sometime time about drinking Norwegian Glogg somewhere near the North Pole. I found Ann introspective, shrewd, extremely dedicated and very, very sharp.  Ann knew that she wanted to work with birds and well, she did it. And that’s a pretty tall order.

We managed to maintain a cyberspace relationship through the years and I would help Phoenix Landing as much as I possibly could. Being the southernmost outpost of PL didn’t give me much opportunity to help, but I did what I could here and there. I wish I could have done more, and hope to do more in the future.

Not long ago, she asked me if I wanted to do a presentation on Chop for the January Phoenix Landing get together. “Sure! Why not?” was my response.

So this past weekend, I flew up there with my “Got Chop?” T-shirt and hopped around in my “5 seasons-ago Non-Prada  boots” talking about Chop. Please forgive some of the photos, but when you’re talking and someone shoots your photo, invariably a few are going to make you look like a goldfish:

I made a slide show for you about the event.

Behold:

Needless to say, I had a blast! I haven’t had that much fun since traveling to Raleigh Durham to do my Chop Presentation for the Raleigh Durham Caged Bird Society.

The people I got to meet and the new friends I made was amazing. And I also got to meet people I’ve known on the internet and finally got to meet in person! Here’s Eileen:

And here’s Melissa!

I also met a ton more people I knew here and there and also got to see people I already knew, so it was just a wonderful gathering. We talked, we had lunch, we made plans…it was all good. (Vicky:”Up the stairs and to the right.” Is that correct?)

If you live in the area of D.C. or Virginia, or are around the Ashville, North Carolina area, you should really get involved with this non-profit. It’s a great group of people and they are making a HUGE impact on thousands of people and thousands of parrots. They are smart, savvy, incredibly well versed in applied behavior analysis, all things parrot and above all, they get the job done.

And it’s not about a lot of sitting around talking about their birds. They bring in speakers, organize projects and are proactive in the community with education about aviculture, training, adoption and of course they help people who are in need of assistance.

Please join these people for their wonderful warmth, their love of birds and their dedication to adoption, education and the welfare of birds. We can all learn from them. I loved my visit to Phoenix Landing and hope to come back soon. You can visit the Phoenix Landing website here. Just click on the PL logo. And if you can, please get involved. It’ll make you a better person. And I know that from experience.

The revolution I’m talking about is what’s going on in the average parrot’s diet. Yes, I’m talking about the “Chop Revolution.” It seems to be spreading far and wide and I couldn’t be happier. And if you’re in the Springfield, VA area this Saturday, January 7th, you have an opportunity to attend a Phoenix Landing event at ten a.m. in the morning. I’ll be talking about “Chop” and the entire concept and story behind it.  Here is the information:

Click on the Logo for more information!

NOURISH TO FLOURISH: CHOP CHOP! with PATRICIA SUND

SPRINGFIELD, VA
SATURDAY
January 7th
10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon
Grace Presbyterian Church
7434 Bath Street

I’ve been invited by Phoenix Landing to give a bit of an overview on “Chop;” how to make it, how to store it, and the benefits. I know it’ll be a ton of fun. Lots of people I haven’t met but have communicated with will be there and I’m very excited to be able to meet them. And I’d love to meet you too. I mean really; this is going to be fun.

First off, I can talk about Chop until I’m blue in the face:

I love talking about something I believe in. Ever notice when you take a photo of someone who’s speaking, their mouth is always open?

Phoenix Landing is a wonderful organization that was founded by Ann Brooks. And she got behind the Chop concept as soon as she saw the benefits and its efficiency. So I’m quite happy to come up and answer questions, fill in some blank spots and encourage people to make some Chop. So if you’re in the neighborhood, please, please swing by and say “Hi!” I hope to make sure it’s entertaining. See you there!