Acappella

Well. I know it's really late, but I was late doing everything this year so I might as well include posting a picture before I take the whole thing down:) <br><br>Post edited by: Acappella, at: 2010/01/03 07:27

Here's another I love The Eagles, "Learn to be Still" (1994) It's just another day in paradise As you stumble to your bed You'd give anything to silence Those voices ringing in your head You thought you could find happiness Just over that green hill You thought you would be satisfied But you never will - Learn to be still We are like sheep without a shepherd We don't know how to be alone So we wander 'round this desert And wind up following the wrong gods home But the flock cries out for another And they keep answering that bell And one more starry-eyed messiah Meets a violent farewell - Learn to be still Now the flowers in your garden They don't smell so sweet Maybe you've forgotten The heaven lying at your feet There are so many contradictions In all these messages we send, (We keep asking) How do I get out of here? Where do I fit in? Though the world is torn and shaken Even if your heart is breakin' It's waiting for you to awaken And someday you will - Learn to be still Learn to be still You just keep on runnin' Keep on runnin'

Just remember, you asked for touching. Amanda Marshall "Beautiful Goodbye" Fed up with my destiny and this place of no return, I think I'll take another day and slowly watch it burn, It doesn't really matter how the time goes by 'cause I still remember you and I, and that beautiful goodbye We staggered through these empty streets, laughing arm in arm, The night had made a mess of me, Your confessions kept me warm. I don't really miss you, I just need to know, Do you ever think of you and I, and that beautiful goodbye? When I see you now, I wonder how I could've watched you walk away If I let you down, please forgive me now, For that beautiful goodbye, In these days of no regrets I keep mine to myself, And all the things we never said I can say for someone else, Nothing lasts forever but we always try, And I just can't help but wonder why we let it pass us by When I see you now, I wonder how I could've watched you walk away If I let you down, please forgive me now, For that beautiful goodbye Baby what can I do? Ough-ta get through to you and sometimes I cry It's a fool's lullaby Oh, I, I'm dying inside

To stop treating a large bag of Old Dutch potato chips like a full meal. To eat a least two servings of vegetables a week! To drive by a Tim Hortons without going through the drive thru (Canadians will understand that one) and on a more serious note, To give myself the time to do some of the projects and crafts that calm me and express my creativity.

Sorry, totally impossible to limit to one. I'm also a big fan of "The Shining". Other favourites: "The Commitments" (no one I've seen before or since) "The Hunt for Red October" (Sean Connery) "The Party" (Peter Sellers) "Arsenic and Old Lace" (Cary Grant, Peter Lorre, dir Frank Capra) "As Good as it Gets" (Jack Nicolson, Helen Hunt) "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss) "What the Bleep do We Know!?" (Marlee Matlin) "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (Neil Patrick Harris) "Ocean's Eleven" (Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra) "Blade" Wesley Snipes The "X-Men" Franchise (Patrick Stewart is yummy:)) Those are the ones that come to mind today. Tommorow the list might be different. I'm kind of schizophrenic when it comes to movies:P

Sounds to me like he's just stretching. I call it birdy Tai Chi. As for the feathers, just keep an eye on it. Dorian's molting right now as well. Does Sampson let you give him scratches? Maybe not, as you've only had him a week. If he does, you can feel pin feathers coming in, and if he's molting you'll feel alot of them. Just be gentle, as they're very sensitive and sore. Will he let you give him a bath or shower? If he's molting he'll be itchy and spraying him with aloe vera juice can help, but having him only a week, you have to be gentle and take things slow or he might not learn to trust you. It would help to know how he was treated in his last home. I read in your previous post that he was in a garage with alot of breeding pairs but in a cage by himself. Did he get attention from his owner or was he neglected or ignored? Did she bathe them, does he know what toys are, did he ever get time out of the cage? If he was in a noisy garage and not given one-on-one time, just think what a huge change has happened in his life. You and I know he's better off with you, but it might take him awhile to figure that out (and by awhile I mean weeks or months:)) Just the change from a noisy environment to a private home may be stressful for him. Take things slow and avoid the temptation to change everything in his life at once. The first thing you have to have is his trust.

You've gotten great advice here. I know it's hard because all you want for Abby is to give her a fantastic life. Also, you read here about all the things other grey owners are able to do with, and for, their birds, and you want all that for your relationship with your bird. The problem is, it sounds like Abby's life thus far has not taught her to trust new people. Think of her like a foster child that has been moved from one home to another. She's basically in an information gathering mode with you. For the first few days she was on her best behaviour. What that taught her was that as long as she's doing what you want her to, you're very nice to her. So now, like the others said, the honeymoon is over. Now she's learning what you'll do if she's not so good. Will you yell, hit, towel her, lock her in her cage and cover it, put her in a back room alone . . . who knows what past owners have done. She's not dumb. She knows you're bigger and stronger and can make her do or go where you want. She wants to know what the rules are, where your 'line' is, and what will happen if she crosses the line. This is when you truly begin to establish your long-term relationship with Abby. I can almost guarantee that someone in the past has tried being dominant with her, the way you train dogs, but this doesn't work with birds, and will not lead to the relationship you want. You have to chose your battles. If she's doing something unsafe, of course you have to get her out of that situation whether she wants to move or not. Otherwise, let her have some control over how she spends her time. If she doesn't want to come out of her cage, let her stay in, but here's the trick. Make being out of the cage with you look like soooooo much fun, she'll decide to come with you. If she is flying to things she's not allowed to, move her from there to where she's allowed to be. If she persists, give her a time-out. That's how you teach her what the rules in her new home are. Here's where the forum can be a big time help and sanity saver. Whatever she comes up with to test you, someone here has been through it:) She sounds like a great bird, and you clearly want to be her forever home. I really want that for both of you. If you learn all you can, and are patient and consistant, you'll have a friend for life. OK, the sermon from the basement in Ontario is over. :cheer:

It's natural to worry, especially when you're a new parront:) Dorian bent a feather badly while playing, and later broke it about 3/4 up the shaft. The rest stayed in for about a week and then I found it at the bottom of the cage. Abby will take care of it while preening. FYI, if she does ever break a blood feather you should have something at hand to stop the bleeding. Do a search here for a birdy first aid kit. It's always better to be prepared.

This is why I love you guys. I can talk about something like running a sound machine for my bird and not be thought a crazy person:woohoo: Let me know if it works with anyone else's fid.

Hello to you and Oliver. So you have a fid that doesn't like his greens, eh? The best thing you can do is sit by his cage and let him see you eating them. Keep a section on your plate for him that is free of seasonings and sauces. Make a big production about how much you're enjoying them (good idea to make sure no one is around with a video camera before you do this! ) Pretending to him that he's not allowed to have any also works wonders. Just like a kid, as soon as he thinks it's something he's not supposed to have, it becomes almost irresitable. It's called the African Grey diet. You'll end up eating healthier food because you want to set a good example for your bird:) As for biting prevention, you have to learn about Grey body language, and the specific cues Oliver is giving you. If you do get bit (and you will) let him know it's not ok. Don't get excited or scould him in an excited tone of voice. The little critters tend to find big reactions entertaining and may actually start to bite more to get that reaction. Just make a sad face, because they can read our facial expressions, say something in a sad, quiet voice like 'no bite' and then walk away from the cage, leave the room, turn your back on him for a few seconds. I tend to change the time out according to the bite. Just a beaking that gets a little too hard gets just a few seconds, the one time Dorian really nailed me he got the silent treatment for a good five minutes. This denies them the thing they want, which is the company and attention of their flock. I wouldn't let kids any where near that beak until you know each other better. If you don't want Oliver to be afraid of the kids you'll have to teach them to be gentle and quiet, a soothing presence, around him. They might enjoy reading children's books to him. It will help build trust, and it's the best way to encourage your bird to talk. The kids will be thrilled if he says something in their voice. Just warn them it can take months. Having a grey around is actually be a great way to learn about patienceB)

Ok, this sounds too silly to work, but it does, at least with Dorian. I read a tip in Birdtalk about how to get your bird to want to take a bath. They suggested playing one of those sound machines set to the sound of running water for your bird. It sounded silly, but I had a good Obus Forme machine collecting dust around here so I tried it. Dorian jumped right into his water dish every time:lol: He wasn't showing any indication that he was going to bathe before I turned the sound on. Once he's made the decision to get wet, I can 'help' him with a spray bottle and he gets good and soaked. All I can say is try it if you can. It's working here:laugh:

Dee, I'm so sorry you lost Juno. As much and as well as you cared for him, he loved you and knew he was loved. I'm sorry we didn't get to celebrate more milestones with you and your sweet boy.

I wonder if Peanut is waiting to eat when the flock is around. When I'm out all day I, of course, leave Dorian fresh water and food, and I can tell he nibbles through the day, but he doesn't chow down until I'm home. This is true even if I'm gone all day and into the evening. It really worried me at first, but now I just try to get a decent breakfast into him before I leave and if I'm really going to be gone for more than 12 hours I ask my dad to sit by his cage and watch tv downstairs for an hour during the day. He isn't starving himself after all, he just seems to believe in a 'family' meal:)

Nope, not the only one. I had one of those toys as a kid and loved it. Ecko is very funny and very naughty. You're going to have to switch to a sippy cup:)

If you're looking for a swing you can hang from the ceiling outside her cage look into a Boing or an Atom. It may take her a little while to decide it's not a parrot-killing device, depending on how brave or timid she is, but after that's over they're both big birdy fun:)

Well, my sign-in name is in honour of my past life as a singer/jazz music student (It was my 20's - feels like a past life:P )

I love Bozzle. He's still better than Rosanne Barr's version of the American Anthem (oh oh, showing my age again:ohmy: Here's another submission from Bozzle that I found.

This was Anderson Cooper's guily pleasure video of the week, and is the cutest thing ever IMHO. Enjoy:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHwY8qACATA

Haven't you heard, throwing food is a favourite sport of most birds, topped in entertainment value only by tossing the entire dish, along with the water bowl. Welcome to the messy world of bird ownership:)

I suggest pampered chef as well. Their stuff is expensive, and you have to 'season' their bakeware, but after a few uses you'll never want to use anything else.

Well, Dorian's going through a major molt right now and he's very cranky. Also, needy and demanding, and wanting to go to bed earlier. Do you give Elvis regular baths/showers? Dorian had a good soak today and after he seemed to feel more like playing, which gets rid of some of his energy. If you can get Elvis to tolerate a good soaking he'll have a big preen and get to work on some of those uncomfortable feathers. Be careful when you're giving scratches to be gentle where you feel a new feather coming in. Hope your little guy is in a better mood soon!

I've been done the shopping for awhile, but every year I make a few of my gifts and I haven't even started that. Plus, my lights aren't up, and my tree decorations are under the bed in the guest room, which I can't get into because it's full of furniture from the dining room, which still has only 1/2 a floor . . . Arrrrgh! Nothing like being sick for a couple of weeks to royally screw up your timetable.:angry:

Dear Dorian. This is mommy. I'm sorry we didn't get to do anything special to celebrate your 6th birthday on November 27th. Mom's been sick with something called the flu and I've been in bed alot. I'm very proud of what a brave boy you're getting to be and I hope you'll soon try the atom I made for you. I love you little one. Happy Belated Birthday

Guess she's figured out she doesn't have to wait for you to pick up her toys for her anymore:) What a sweetheart.

Congrats on all the happy in your family. Almost ten pounds and an at-home birth. That's one brave momma Lyla has! My mom's name was Grace and when I was a little girl I thought it was 'amazing' there was a hymn about her:)