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!

a junkin' junkie or treasure hunter?

I could be called a "junkin' junkie" or just simply, a "treasure hunter". The barnies might call me an "upcycle artist" making 'wearable art".
I am the ultimate recycler.
Whatever.
I enjoy combing thrift shops and junk shops for treasures. Sometimes I'll find bits of jewelry on the beach and incorporate it in my artwork. The bargains and 'steals" are fun but it's all about finding "unique" one-of-a-kind stuff. Vintage stuff. Weird stuff. Religious artifacts. Funky shoes. Parrot and pigeon things. Vintage clothing. Furniture.And of course, troll dolls.
I enjoy rehabbing and restoring my finds either changing them or bringing them back to life. It's all about the art.
My latest dumpster dive was a leather and fur coat.
 It was completely disgusting.
I think at one time it was ivory. (I should have taken a 'before" photo) The sleeves were torn off, the lining was completely torn and soiled. It was pretty much unredeemable but I thought to myself "aha! a project!"
 It just seemed like such a shame and a waste to throw out something with fur and leather.
 I had to 'rescue" it.
For the record, as everyone knows I am an animal lover so I would never 'buy' a fur coat.It just seemed to me to be more of a sin to let this go to waste. I am guessing from the style it was from the 1970's.
 At first, I gently pieced it together. It was extremely fragile and I didn't know if it was going to be worth the effort but I gave it a go.
It was also completely filthy and it stunk awful.
 I washed it with oxi-clean which did nothing and then I pulled out the "big guns" figuring at this point I had nothing to lose. I dosed/scrubbed it with heavy duty industrial pet cleaner and the outside water hose. And yes indeed it was an ivory coat but still badly stained.
I washed the fur with blue hair dye. It cleaned the fur nicely ridding it of vermin (I told you the coat was gross). The next step was dying the leather-which I used a tan leather dye. I then used lavender oil/wax to preserve the leather.
I combed out the fur and retouched injured/torn areas around the seams.
And there you have it (see above)
I took it for a "test drive" and wore it shopping. At least three women stopped me and asked "where did (I) get such a beautiful coat".

dive #970 Oct 11 2015

dive #970 Oct 11 2015
Well this may be the last dive of the season. It was cold in the morning (my thermometer read 43F at 6:00AM) But it was sunny and it warmed up into the 60s late afternoon.
We had Fred and Chris running the show, Pete, Andy, John from froggies, Kate and Jackie. So we had a good group of people, but then again we always have a  good group of people!
We headed off to Folly cove. There were 2 other dive boats anchored in the cove as well. Everyone out for their last hurrah.
I had (tried) to patch up the tear on my left wrist seal on my dry suit with something called "goop" which is used to repair rubber soles. The water temp at the surface was 59F but just a few feet below it dropped to 55F. Viz was about 10 feet with a current coming out of the north.
As soon as I started to descend I could feel a pin point bit of wetness around my wrist and then it started to spread quickly. I figured I'd continue on the dive until I froze or it hit my crotch. The viz wasn't that good but as I was groping around the sand I saw that the sand was covered with sand dollars! I made it over to the rocks and by this time I was soaked inside the suit. It was a short dive but at least I did it. I wasn't going to give up my dive without a struggle.
Well I guess I'll have to get the dry suit repaired properly.
It was a good dive season but waaaaaay too short!

any port in the storm

I couldn't decide if I should title this post "any port in the storm' or 'beer goggles".
Anyways, "Teddy" (the dove) is a typical randy male always looking for  some "action" .
And since there are no doves around, he decided to make his moves on Craow Dum in her hide away hut.
Let's face it, Craow Dum isn't the prettiest pigeon.
 She's over weight, missing her beak, her eyes bulge and always has a snotty booger nose. Not exactly a beauty queen in the pigeon world.
Teddy used to attack and pick on her but I guess he figured 'hey..what the heck....she's single ...I'm single...plus she has a nice apartment..."
I think I was more surprised that Craow Dum allowed Teddy to come into her cozy hut. She would peck him and bust-a-move but something changed. I think Teddy is a bit of a smooth operator with his good looks and charms. He would preen and groom her gently.
 I guess she didn't care if he seeing her through 'beer goggles" so long as he was romantic and nice to her. "Hey why not? She thought, "He's  kind of the 'George Clooney" of the dove world."
This wasn't just a one night stand either. I've seen this canoodling business happen many times. Although I haven't seen anything go on other than cuddling and grooming each other.
Regardless, it's kind of funny and cute that they are together.