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Great to have you back. I think we have maybe 4 regular posters here right now but it goes up occasionally. I took a several month hiatus recently as we moved from our place in Allen Texas to a ranch near the Oklahoma border. I think I posted some pictures here a while back. We don't have the nice aviaries that I built anymore but working on setting up some new ones outside. Slow process....

Dorian's playstand is a combination of java wood, cotton perches, and a hula hoop covered in cotton supreme rope. His cage is a combination of manzanita and cotton, including a boing. The only perch he chews is the hula hoop one.

HI! Dorian and I are back. I know I haven't logged on since 2018, but I never forgot about you guys. I just got busy, and sick, and my back went out, and, well, life. Dorian's still my little feathered entertainment unit. He doesn't talk as much these days, simply because the house we're now in is much smaller than our previous home, and he spends almost all the time with me. He used to use speech to lure me back downstairs to him when I was upstairs taking care of my dad. Dad's been gone for 9 years now, but every once in a while I still hear his voice coming from Dorian. This summer I've been taking Dorian in his travel cage out to the front porch on days when it hasn't been too hot. He loves barking at the dogs who walk by lol. He'll be 21 this coming November. Hard to believe I've had him for 17 years. I'm going to have some fun looking around and getting caught up. Glad you're still here.

Huey gets all the girls. That's because he has rock hard abs of fluffers. Tues and Thurs (usually) I get on the bike trainer which is in the attached bird room. Huey always gets excited with the loud music and activity. Here he is busting out some hanging crunches. What a stud muffins... 20210817_112548.mp4

I forgot all about adding machine paper. Now I've got to find mine and give some to Snickers. He hasn't shredded any in a few years. Poor tyke. I just completely forgot about it.

Dorian is interested in 2 shredding toys, plus of course his big stainless bell. The shredding toys are a roll of adding machine tape, and toys I make for him out of cardboard. He doesn't touch wood, or store bought toys.

So, we moved into this house 9 years ago. Here, Dorian's cage is in the master bedroom, down the hall from the open concept living space. Now, I'll admit to sometime being a bad bird mommie. Sometimes, in the morning, I sit and have a cup of tea in peace before I get Dorian and bring him out for the day. Well, apparently he got tired of waiting for me one morning, and decided to climb off his cage and walk down the hall to find me! You could have knocked me over with one of his feathers when I saw him at my feet! He's so confident and cheeky. He bears no resemblance to the timid, frightened parrot I re-homed almost 17 years ago, and it does my heart good, even if I now have to watch my feet in the morning.

Glad to see you back! I often wonder about "regulars" who don't post anymore, and hope they are OK. I think we all have periods when we have stuff going on and aren't as active as usual.

We used to have a similar setup with the birdroom down the hall away from the living room/kitchen area. It was too easy to just leave them all asleep for a bit while we got out of our zombie state in the morning. Now that we no longer have a birdroom and they are all smack in the dining room, there's no avoiding them. Plus, my two Greys sleep in the bedroom with us now. GreycieMae is on a step ladder that has a monster living under it, and Huey has his own rolling perch. They now make note of our coming and going in the middle of the night and if it's near 5-6am, you might as well get Huey up. Greycie likes to sleep in though and will stay put until 7am if I'm being lazy.

I was contemplating a vacation in The Netherlands to see family a couple of years ago, and my main concern was taking care of Dorian. I'm leary. I once hired a neighbour to take care of him for a couple of days. I left them at the house, but had to circle back because I forgot something, and caught them putting him to bed at 5:00 in the afternoon, instead of 7:30 pm as instructed. I've also used the daughter of a trusted friend, but the problem with training kids is that they grow up and move away, taking their bird sitting skills with them. I belong to a good community group on Facebook, and I'd probably look there for a sitter. A community or neighbourhood group is a good way to get to know your neighbours.

Dorian has a sleep perch, which is the highest perch in his cage. After a night night almond and lights out, I tell him to "tuck yourself in" and he'll (eventually) go to that perch and be ready for sleep. He's in his own bedroom. It's the master, and it also contains my computer and my keyboard. Since I put in a night light he hasn't had a night fright, and I rarely see him sleeping during the day. He needs his full 12 hours dark quiet time to be in a good mood (learned that the hard way).

Vannah has quite the personality lol. I'm glad your husband is making progress. Sounds like he's on the right track. Since he wanted a grey, I hope he can enjoy her from her allowed distance.

Quite an adventure you guys have set out upon. Congrats on the new place.

Glad Sukei had a good birthday. I remember when you brought him home and everything you had to do. It's all turned out great!

So thrilled you guys are still here, and Gracie is still a cuddlebug. As Dorian has gotten older he's allowing less and less scritches. Plus I could never touch him on his belly or under his wings because he starts regurging for me. Give her a tickle tickle from us.

I love that Corey is able to request this and guide you around the house. I'm struggling to think of things me and Alfie do as he's normally pretty independent and happy to amuse himself. He has shelves that he plays on above the sofa and will quite regularly throw toys at me from there. Sometimes we play a game where I throw a foot toy back on his shelf, he rushes after it and flings it straight back at me. He's a pretty good shot, too! I've been trying to teach him to respond to "what noise does a duck make?" and "what noise does a chicken make?". He knows how to quack and how to cluck but every time I ask him the question he gives me the wrong answer. I'm pretty sure he does this on purpose just to get my reaction as I'll say "nooo! A duck doesn't squeak, a duck goes quack quack!" He can say "what noise" (but not the rest of the sentence) too, which is cute. Last night I heard him practicing various words and noises and he sat there rehearsing the following: "What noise..." *quack quack* "What noise...." *cluck cluck* I KNEW he was deliberately giving me the wrong answers when I ask the question!! 😂