Finally!

Oh, to be back! Been a while. I lost internet about 2 weeks ago after a severe sudden thunderstorm (ever been caught covered in soap mid-shower during a thunderstorm? Awkward. Definitely.) And then on Friday I lost power after those severe storms. Thankfully most of the food I eat is not overly perishable (fresh vegetables and fruits) and the neighbors, while a good hike away, have a generator so I could get water. The parrot room is on the first floor/basement (split level house) so that stayed cooler, and I covered the large front windows with quilts. Needless to say, they were not too happy about the seemingly endless solar eclipse. The strong winds did blow down tons of pine cones along with trees, though, so they did get to have, and are still having, a real pine cone fiesta! Little bits of pine cone everywhere, they do make great toys. These had little pine nuts in them, too, for an extra treat.

So for several days the parrots had nothing but their dry mix and some cut up apple and squash. Thankfully, my freezer was so full of the parrot food I recently made, plus some frozen bottles of water I leave to help it work less, that that food was still ok even after several days, unlike that in the fridge. Again needless to say, they were really very bored with dry mix by today, so I made up their fresh mash, slightly leaner on the veggie side after spoilage, granted, but still good, as well as some delicious spice/fruit pone.

Appetizing, right? Better than it looks, I think. My mash base, with shredded summer squash, shredded yellow beet, and mashed sweet potato, plus powdered greens, flax meal, and a bit of powdered hibiscus for some added flavor, and a tablespoon or so of applesauce to help it stick together.

Basic bird bread, made like corn pone. I started with the water from cooking the sweet potato- I steam/boil them with just 1" water in the bottom of the pot, some bottom layer boiled, the rest steamed. Then I mixed that with some blueberry juice, a bit of red palm oil to prevent sticking, clove and ginger, and blackberry and apple powder. I mixed that with some oatmeal and sorghum flour, and was good to go!

I have not been totally lazy in my absence from the blog even before the internet went out, though. I finally got my business up and running online, yay! A new website as well as Etsy store. I also got my first custom order, and it was one I was not expecting at all, certainly not this early on, but one which I was thrilled to receive- female Black Capped Vireo on a pink baby blanket. After all, I love a good challenge, and making a female Black Capped Vireo certainly qualifies as such. I am thrilled with the way it turned out, true to size, with some shin oak leaves I added on as that is what Black Capped Vireos most often nest in.

And as further excitement, the millions of wild blackberries really started ripening, so both the parrots and myself have been enjoying them no end! My parrots are pretty good eaters, but I find that even with parrots I could normally never entice to eat a frozen or fresh store bought blackberry will go crazy for fresh picked. The same seems to be true for so many foods. Parrots, I think, are natural born foodies. Granted, some will be stubborn even if you let them pick the food themselves, but for one that will eat something besides seeds or pellets, often having something really fresh, maybe even still dripping after you wash it, can really change their minds. Another plug for growing it yourself! And for parrots, you could grow a single plant in a pot in the windowsill, since they really do not eat that much, obviously.

So now, I am off to the internet to get caught up on all the happenings!