what do you do when it's -13.5F outside?

The weather is weird. We had a record low of -13.5F. with a wind chill factor of -31F. The house was creaking and the wind was howling. It was f*cking cold and no, I did not go out for my morning jog. Any cracks around the windows were filled in with solid ice. Thankfully, when I started my car and it started, but I just stayed home. So what do you do when you can't go outside?
I usually work on a art project.

                                          snowy owl icon

                                         Nikola Tesla's pigeon in steampunk gear

This was a fun project. It is hard to see from this copy how I did this in 3-D with gears, bits of watch parts, and nuts and bolts. It was one of my more ambitious projects. I have other ideas for steampunk art projects as well
So what else do you do when you are stuck indoors?
Ah! I am plotting and planning a new scuba adventure as well. (wink)

happy Valentine's day 2016

It's a holiday and I like holidays!
 It is what you make of it.
 I hear some sad people routinely say "it's a hallmark holiday' as an excuse to be a cheap bastard and not send their partner flowers. I doubt they ever send  flowers to their partners regardless.
Anyways, I think of valentine's day as a friendship holiday, not so much as a romantic holiday, mostly because "romance" is so individualized and up for interpretation. I make most of my own cards,personalize them and send them to friends. I like the silly corny ones the best. I usually include something with birds and troll dolls. I know this is lame but I love the "bee my valentine" with a giant bumble bee.
There has been this long running reality show called 'the bachelor". It is giant blind date of 25 insanely beautiful women vie for the attention of this one average guy. Feminists find this show offensive.It is pretty bad  BUT for some reason I can't help myself and I watch it. No, I don't watch it for 'the romance' because it is not my idea of romance. The guy ends up saying the same shit to each of the girls he dates. It's actually kind of so stupid and vapid that it is funny.
This is one dialogue:
guy;"you are always smiling. I want to get to know your vulnerable side"
girl: still smiling.."I have a vulnerable side as well"
guy:"oh good! I really glad we had this conversation. I think I know you better now"
seriously
I'll be honest I watch it because the "girls" all wear super fabulous shoes.
They go on these super cool exotic locations for 'dates". It's a train wreck of a show but the shoes and locales are fun to look at.
When I was kid we used to have this game called "mystery date". You pick a card and you open this door to your mystery date. The date could be a blond surfer boy, a well coiffed prom date or a messy "dud' date. My ol' high school friends have a 'game night" so I went on a search to find this "mystery date"game. I found it on ebay. I bought it and decided to "add" new dates to the door-including "duds". I have a new photo printer so I went into action. All I can say it will be freakin' hilarious. My husband just shook his head as I was laughing my butt off at my 'creations".
Romance? As I said it is different for different people.
I am happy with my birds all sitting on me with my husband snuggled on the couch eating raisennettes and watching a funny movie.
My mother will spend the day with my father in the nursing home just sitting with him.
Couples will go to fancy candle-lit restaurants drinking red wine.
Some folks will cuddle their dog or spend the day with their kids.
Happy valentine's day!

Lucille Dec. 9 2015

Lucille came to us through Dr Sagar's vet assistant, Deanna, who rehomed unwanted birds. Lucille was between 4-6 years old when she came to Deanna. Deanna called me sometime in 2003 telling about this 'little female cockatiel that needed a home". The poor thing was dropped off at Deanna's in a filthy rotten cage with wet tiny poop encrusted card board boxes used as food dishes. I chucked that nasty cage and bought her a nice big cage with soft perches and toys. Poor Lucille needed some rehabbing as well since  she was terrified of men and cried.
 It makes me so sad that people take in these living feeling creatures only to grow tired of them and neglect them. At least they were decent enough to give them to Deanna to be rehomed. Lucille's original name was "Beverly" and cried when she heard that name so I renamed her Lucille.
 I spent alot of time giving Lucille attention and she soon trusted me and was no longer afraid of men.
 She later bonded and mated with another rescue bird "Linus". They had babies together. Two of "babies" I  still have: "Fresh baby" and "Scizzorpoop".
Unfortunately this mating business became a problem. Lucille was constantly laying eggs which  beats the crap out of her body. I took her to vet whenever she seemed to be in reproductive distress and thankfully it passed.
As she aged I had to keep Linus in a separate cage because, like all males, he constantly wanted to mate and was pretty pushy about it. Later on, Lucille needed lupron (anti-hormone ) shots so she wouldn't lay eggs and daily calcium drops. Over the past year she was getting weaker and weaker despite my efforts in keeping her healthy through diet, supplements and exercise. She didn't look good last night and this morning her little soul left her body.
I let Linus see her and to be with her. When he finished visiting her and talking to her  I gave her a proper burial.
I hope she had a happy life with us. She was approximately 18 years old when she died. She was such a sweet little bird and I'll miss her.

gangsta pigeon

I have to change Trixie's name to "Trixsta".
 First of all, this pigeon to my dismay is not a sweet gentle female but a male.
 A very surly male with an attitude.
He is a total gangsta street pigeon. He bites the shit out of me whenever he feels I'm "in his face". He hates it when I clean his "crib". The only time he's civil when he wants a bath. He'll stand by the sink and demand (bustin'-a-move) I fill the sink with warm water.(He loves his bath!)
 He's a total"playah" .I caught him in Craow Dum's cozy hut trying to '"get busy" with her. Fortunately for Craow Dum that Trixsta's legs are splinted together.
The funny part is, even though he grabs and bites my hand if it is anywhere within biting distance he will want to sit next me and the other birds when we watch TV. He doesn't consider the other birds and myself as a part of the "flock' but just "homies' in "his" gang.

birdy business

* here is a pic of a "new client" a blue headed pionus named "Sweet".
This parrot is aptly named "Sweet" because he is very sweet, calm and quiet.

Owning your own business has it's challenges. One thing you can't do is be complacent. Clients come and go and you need to be "on the ball" as far as promoting your business to keep it alive.
I donated a Christmas basket with "kitty" items to a local fund-raiser in order to promote some business gearing to cat customers. 80% of my customers are bird boarding customers but I do home visits for people with cats as well. Cats for the most part are (and should) be easy to care for. I have on occasion have deal with some "challenging" situations in regards to cats and their (sometimes) neurotic owners.

I will be visiting other Chamber of commerce groups to pass out my business cards. Sometimes you need to expand to new territories.
I've joined a private chat group exclusively of professional pet sitters. Some of the stories people share are hilarious. They are hilarious because you've either been there and or you know this stuff can't be made up! Other sitters sometimes will ask for advice. And sometime sitters will just post adorable photos of some of their charges.

And of course, we ALL have stories. I once had to pet sit a turtle that required at night to say the Lord's prayer to him before he went to bed. I've had to care for a household that had multiple cats that were ALL "special needs'. I had one dog that needed stories to be read to him at night. I've had dogs that would leap over their gates to crap on the new rug. There was this one crazy lady who wanted me to put her cat's left over uneaten rotten food in a cup in the refrigerator (God know why).
Ah, the list goes on.

I prefer taking care of birds as neurotic as they are because that is my specialty. I guess I could say I'm a little neurotic myself so it is a good fit.
Right now I have a cute new budgie boarder named "Freebird" staying with me. My mission is to get him to "step up" on my finger. So I have been working with him using a yummy millet spray to coax him. This trick worked when I was training "Charlie" my cockatiel but there is no magic formula.Like everything else it takes time and patience.
Well that is all for now I need to go and check on the birds now. It's lunch time and I make sure everyone has clean water, snacks and clean perches.

Nov. 6 2015 Hampton beachin' it!

My long time childhood pal called me and said, "Hey! it's suppose to be warm on friday Let's go to the beach like two jerks for one last time"
I said, "great idea!"
It's November 6.
It's usually freezing cold, and at times we've had snow on the ground.
We went out midday with the sun poking it's head out. It was about 70F with a westerly wind blowing about. We had to wear our bathing suits too for the full 'effect". However, with the wind, I was a little chilly.
We took a walk and then my friend said," Oh screw it! Come on! Let's be two a$$holes and go in the water."
And so we did.
We ran in like thunderous deer into the water screaming our heads off!
Yes, a full dunk!
The water wasn't as cold as I thought. I am guessing maybe 55F.
A couple walking their dog on the beach were wearing full wind gear was watching us taking bets on whether or not we were going to brave it. Somebody lost the bet.
God, I love the beach!!!!!!

Halloween 2015

 I love Halloween.
 It is the one day of the year I can "get my freak on" and dance like Jim Carrey in public. I went as an "el dia de los muertos" (day of the dead) character. My husband bought a dime store costume made for a kid that actually fit him pretty well.

 We took the train from Ipswich to Salem on Halloween night. It was a total freak show on the train with everyone dressed in costume. I love it!
Some of the costumes were amazing. I met up with a group all dressed as psycho clowns. Even though clowns give me the creeps.

I had to have my pic taken with "Chappie" (from the movie Chappie) Like I said some of the costumes were amazing. There were a group dressed like the "ghost busters", one guy dressed as a hand giving the middle finger", a guy dressed and looked exactly like Mendez "porn stash' from "Orange is the new Black", there were lots of anime characters, robots,ghouls, pirates, monsters and of course, sexy police and witches. There were characters with elaborate props like a Frankenstein on an electric chair. Most people there dressed up. If you didn't dress up you kind of looked like a jerk.

 My husband doing a "selfie" shot.

  Here I am waiting at the train station. Nothing unusual here!

I met a scary Pope in front of a pyschic reading shop. The Pope (both evil and good ones) was a popular choice this year for costumes.
I found a centipede on  my travels. (for Robo!)

Here is some of the unusual costumes. These guys were jelly fish.
Oh I did see a lot of sharks too walking around.
 On the train ride back we unfortunately seated ourselves next to a drunk dressed as bacon. Yes, a slice of bacon.He was pretty  obnoxious. He kept yelling, "baaccccon! baCON! BAAAAAcon! Who wants a slice of f*cking bacon!" We ended up moving because he was not only irritating but he smelled like a dirty ass.
We stopped to eat at a Thai restaurant in Ipswich when we got back. The restaurant staff seemed delighted we were "dressed up" for the occasion.
Salem is a total blast on Halloween. I hope to do it again next year.
I also wanted to go to the "mourning tea" where you dress in Victorian mourning clothes, have high tea and you bring a photo of a deceased loved with you in their honor. They have a spiritual advisor in attendance at the tea. (My (deceased) Aunt would've loved that!) But unfortunately I got the dates messed up so  I missed that.
Next year I'll plan for that one as well :-)
Great fun!