Parrot Nation

There’s a cold front coming through. I had to wear a coat to take my dog Mattie out this morning. You might think this isn’t a very big deal as it’s now December. But I live just south of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the majority of my time is spent either in my work uniform, or running round in shorts and a t-shirt. The only time I end up wearing a long sleeved anything is inside to protect myself from air conditioning.

So last night I bundled up the bird cages with extra sheets and towels. Pepper, my bald Grey got a small quilt on her cage. 

Pepper my bald, rescued Grey

I have the day off but I have a lot to do and I can assure you that all activities will most likely take place indoors. The parrots will love it because I’ll be whizzing around the kitchen making dog biscuits for Christmas. They like me hanging around with them because they simply love company. They’re out on their play gyms all day and they mess around and preen and play or just nap periodically. When I’m in the kitchen, occasionally I’ll tell them what I’m doing. I’ll say, “I’m cutting the dog cookies, and then I’m going to bake them.” Nyla will pretend she hasn’t heard me and says in a loud voice, “What?” So I have to repeat myself, to which she replies, “Oh.”

My friend JB is coming over for a couple of days to search for a job. He lives on the west coast of Florida and is driving alligator alley to get here. He does handyman stuff for me and will be staying in my guest bedroom/office. His girlfriend Tish was going to come over as well, but I guess she’s feeling punky and isn’t up to the trip. It seems as though all of my friends have colds.

I worked the Haiti trip 5 days in a row and I went to a party on Saturday night so I’m still a little trashed. The party was a lot of fun and it was a dress up shin-dig, so I wore an evening gown. People were a little freaked out because I’m either wearing my work uniform or I’m in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, but I clean up pretty well, actually. I can pull off wearing an evening gown because I’m built like a thermometer with eyes and I’m tall, so they always look pretty good on me. Add 4-inch heels and you’ve got a pretty tall thermometer wobbling around! Unfortunately my feet are still killing me. I have some time off this week to get some stuff done around here.

My friend Les is over fixing Parker’s play stand. He’s replacing one of the branches and hanging a dried ear of corn for him to mess around with. This is not his playstand, but this is kind of what it looks like:

They’re just terrific. These are made by Wayne Gagne, and they are fabricated out of bottlebrush wood. The parrots love them and it gives them the opportunity to be out of their “rooms” (cages) during the day when I am around. Here’s his website:

www.waynesparrotstuff.com

I’m making some navy beans with onions and ham for dinner and those are happily simmering on the stove. It’s a good day for it.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes with with a Timneh that’s in the process of being re-homed. Thanks for stopping by.