Thursday, June 18, 2009

Look! An update! Ohh...a squirrel...




Things are going well around here, just not really enough to warrant a post, I feel. That's one of the pluses to Twitter, they are mini-posts for me. They aren't all that exciting I'm sure, and there are those who would be bored to tears by my Twitters, but I don't really care. Just like my blog, my twits are really just me. I don't do them to make money, to promote anything, or to gain more readers. It's really just a brain dump I guess - just to let anyone who cares to know what is on my mind. It's the best thing for someone with ADD, huh? ;) I'd probably twitter more if I didn't get distracted so much. LOL!

I'm still loving the birds and all that it entails. I got bit by Charlie the other day, possibly because Andrea was there beside me (Charlie's "girlfriend" in his mind). It wasn't horrible, but it's still a bit sore. I had to throw a towel over him to get him back into his cage whereas the day before he let me pet him and pick him up and put him in his cage. They had to move Ralph to the sunroom because the other birds started to pick on him really badly. He was so happy to see me, he wouldn't let Chicken or Cricket near me on Monday, which didn't make them happy one bit. Cricket already wasn't happy because she had to wear an e-collar because she's been picking her feathers. Cricket was even mad enough to nip my ear (while Ralph was scrambling over to get her off of me from the other shoulder) when I stood too close to her. It took me 5 tries before I was finally able to get out of the room fast enough before he landed back on me before I was able to close the door. On Tuesday Ralph actually flew out of the sunroom to me (he's been flying to the French doors when he sees me thinking I'm coming in). Andrea was going in first and he landed on Dolly's cage that was outside of it (she's a new bird that might be coming in). I had him step up onto my finger (I was worried that he might bite it like he does when I try to get him off my shoulder so I can leave, but he didn't) and placed him on my shoulder. He rode there most of the time I was in there. Once Cricket realized I was changing the papers on the floor she got excited and started going after my fingers again. I had forgotten to put my tennis shoes on, and I just set them down and she started going after the shoelaces instead, thank goodness. I was able to at least get the papers up before she grew tired of that. I put my tennis shoes on and we played a bit of cat and mouse for a bit when I put the papers down, but I think Ralph pretty much intimidated her. It once more took me a couple of tries before Ralph let me leave. Tuesday was cleaning the Cockatiel Aviary and once more cleaning the African Grey aviary. I tell you, I'm getting a workout!

Meals haven't been that impressive this week. I'm still trying to figure out summer meals here, and what I feel like cooking/eating. Thanks to paperbackswap, I got Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen in the mail last Friday. So this weekend I cooked up a batch (a double batch actually) of his Classic Mexican "Pot" Beans (Frioles de la Olla) and used some of those to make Classic Mexican fried beans with onions and garlic (refried beans - I did the Frijoles Chinitos version). And then with those I made the Rustic Red-sauced Eggs on Corn Tortillas (Huevos Rusticos), and I've been eating bean soft tacos for lunch. Food lion had 5lb bags of Vidalias on sale so I also made Caramelized onions in the crockpot too. So I made French Onion Soup one night too. I used some of the beans to make Beans and cornbread. Used the rest of the onions to make Mujuddarrah (it's spelled plenty of ways) or rice and lentils with caramelized onions. This time I cooked brown rice and lentils at the same time in the rice cooker. It was so easy and turned out great! Tonight I'm using the last of the beans and making Wendy's-style chili. I haven't typed up the recipes from Rick Bayless yet, but I hope to soon.

Has anyone else made a switch over to summer cooking?

2 comments:

Mary said...

I'm glad you're enjoying your bird work so much! It sounds like my worst nightmare though...thanks to your husband showing me "The Birds" at a young age, I am absolutely terrified of birds and the thought of them nipping me is almost too much to bear!

JJ (Lady Di) said...

Why am I not surprised he would do that? ;) I got in trouble for watching "1984" while my sister was in the room and it had some nudity (I got the movie from the library because I loved the book) and of course that's when dad walked in. Both Kelly and I could care less about the skin showing, but dad was all flustered about it. Course there's also less of an age difference between Kelly and I and you and my hubs.

The birds really are more scared of us than we are of them. They don't swarm, they actually fly away as far as they can get except for a few nosy ones. And even then they don't come THAT close. Course after they've seen you a few times they start getting more brave, and then I've also got a winning personality too for some of them, so just a bit of chatter and they come to check me out a bit sooner than usual, like Charlie. But there are ones like PJ. He's a lover and will pretty much land on anyone's shoulder. He was in a retirement home (I think that's the story) and when they switched owners they paid for his lifetime care with us. So he's used to people and just loves to be on someone. But apparently he also has faves. And Ralph (the one in the pic) has apparently taken to me too, but he loves to ride on shoulders too. It all depends on how much time their original owners spent with them. I must admit my cockatiels are no longer hand-tame. Well, Gracie at least, Buster was never hand-tame, because I didn't spend much time with her. I'm starting to do so now after working with the birds and they may change.