Wingy

Artichoke is fun. I figure, even if Jake eats only a bite or 2, the dollar it cost was well worth it. There is such joy in their faces when they are rooting through, ripping and shredding stuff.

My buddy is Mr Picky when it comes to eating and really only eats a few vegies and even those are hit or miss depending on his mood. He will sometimes go for the freeze dried when he refuses the fresh. I live in the land of lake effect snow storms so having accepted dried vegies is a plus.

That Zilla fruit and vegie grabbed my attention. Hopefully one of my local stores carries it. My buddy might really like that.

I can see the little bit of red emerging from the baby on the right. They are both adorable.

The paper straws I have seen were not wax coated (wax coating would make most drinks taste terrible). As for the jelloware it is a plant based gelatin. If it makes it to widespread commercial production the ingredient list can be looked at.

I have to ask. Did you give her the nut?

There are paper straws if you don't want to use the plastic. There are some very exciting concept products that are being tested now including things such edible cups called jelloware.

Today is the day of Jakes first "made up" phrase. Gimmie tickle tickle. He must really like the word tickle because it is one that we don't use often.

Have you ever considered making your own granola and adding pureed vegies or the red palm oil in the binder or even used some dehydrated/freeze dried vegies as part of the granola mixture. It is quite easy to make granola and doesn't take any special equipment or much time. By making your own you can choose healthier fats, leave out the salt, and play with the binder so that there is less sugar. Best of all you can eat the rejections until you get it right.

This is just a heads up that a large portion of the US may be in the deep freeze by the 3rd week of January. There are a few things I need to do around here to get the house ready for such cold and I'll be working extra hard to convince Jake that his new thermal perch isn't evil. Checking your backup heat source might not be a bad idea. Brutal Cold Waves Could be Heading for the U.S. By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist (ACCUWEATHER) January 06, 2013; 5:03 AM URL http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/brutal-cold-waves-could-reach-us/3586088 Beginning near or just past the middle of the month, signs are pointing toward waves of frigid air moving southward across North America from the North Pole. Much of the nation has been experiencing higher-than-average temperatures and lower heating bills so far during the cold weather season, with the exception of some bouts the past couple of weeks. However, there are signs of a potential change on the way beginning during the second half of January. A phenomenon known as sudden stratospheric warming has occurred in the arctic region during the past few days. The stratosphere is located between 6 miles and 30 miles above the ground. Often when this occurs, it forces cold air to build in the lowest layer of the atmosphere then to drive southward.

I notice that Rosie is comfortable with the rope perch. Have you tried attaching one on the outside of her cage near where you said she sometimes stands at the door. Rosie knows the rope perch is "safe" so she might be willing to slowly venture out of her cage on it.

I am lucky. My Petsmart stores only have finches and parakeets. Both are kept in enclosures with glass fronts and sides. I was surprised Jake wanted to see any of the store outside of his carrier.

I took Jake to visit Santa at Petsmart. He was in his Pak-o-bird until we were in the store and near the room where Santa was. After Santa time he stayed on my arm and we walked around until he wanted the safety of his carrier again. I did finally find a stroller base for the Pak-o-bird which will allow us to go even more places once it warms up.

My guy came from a "pet" store that caters only to birds and their needs. I had a choice between 2 CAGS and a TAG. I choose based on personality. My little guy ran up and knocked over 2 larger and a bit older CAGS to get to me. As time went on I would watch the webcam and saw that he would bully his way to the front of the tank to interact with people when ever anyone showed interest in that baby tank. That solidified my choice that he was the right one.

Orange creamcicles, fudgecicles and banana pops and buckwheats cereal.

You just haven't found his "currency" yet. That one thing he would walk through hot coals to have. Every bird is different. Jakes currency is a piece of tri colored rotini. He won't go in on his own but he doesn't usually fight me either. I palm a roni, pick him up, walk toward the cage door, and as I'm one step away I put it in his beak, just for a second I place my thumb lightly on his feet while saying I love you (not pinning his toes but a momentary gentle touch), and place him on his sleeping perch. He has that roni in his beak so tight that he can't nip. This is what works for us. I hope you find what works for you.

Jake telling me and Santa what he wanted for Christmas. ENTRY #15: What Santa brought Jake for Christmas. ENTRY #16: Ms Isabelle my DS's feather baby telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas. ENTRY #17:

There have been many new and exciting things going on here in the past few weeks. As I have said before the vet says Jake is severely clipped but that is not stopping him one bit. Since day 1 here we have encouraged him to use his wings and over the past few days he has started to fly where he wants to go instead of begging for a ride. He can easily fly from his cage to his play tower or from his table top play gym to the couch. His confidence really grew once he figured out that he not only needs to target a landing spot but how to successfully land on that spot (hopefully this will translate into fewer bent and broken tail feathers). Jake has also discovered that he can climb down the play tower and end up on the floor. These are both a blessing and a curse since Jake is on a mission to add a cats tail to his cage. The poor kitty is terrified of Jake and runs away when ever he climbs down onto the floor. This, of course, encourages Jake to chase her. Talking wise Jake has learned many new words and phrases. Hellooooooooo (think Mrs Doubtfire) Hi Good Morning Whatcha doin'? Why What Kiss kiss (and the kissy noise) Gimmie kiss (and he pauses to wait for a kissy noise from me) He loves this one and the interaction because I always try and give a kiss. Some days my pucker gets sore. Good boy Oh boy! Rock n roll Lets go. Love you Step up Whats goin on? How are you? There are many other words and phrases he is working on but they just aren't clear. He has an incredible amount to say and chatters all the time. He is not bashful when he has something to say. He greeted the neighbor with a loud HI. We are now working on giving words meaning by putting names to objects and actions and I am very excited for the future to see how much "human" he learns and how much "parrot" we learn. He has already shown us that a certain click means touch my beak, another means give me a scratch and there are certain chirps for come get me and I want (the I want is still a guessing game because it seems to be generic). Looking back it is hard to believe how much has happened in the past few months. I would like to thank everyone here. Without all of you cheering us on, offering words of encouragement, and sharing your stories/ideas, life would not be as sweet as it is today and Jake would probably not be a part of our lives. Silly Jake on Christmas morning.

My gift to everyone who has loved or cared for any animal. Your love can and does make a difference. http://www.montyshome.org/stories/Marthas-Christmas-Miracle/ Martha's Christmas Miracle Martha was sitting in her living room watching television this Christmas Eve, alone as she had been for the last five years. All of her children had married and moved to the four corners of the nation, her youngest, a surgery resident at the Vet School across the state had planned on coming home, but had been assigned to work the emergency clinic and couldn't find a replacement. Martha told herself that having Sally working to help the sick and injured animals this Christmas Eve was worth being alone, besides, Sally would be driving over for Christmas dinner the next afternoon. All the animals had been fed and now were safely in either the kennel building or lazily laying around the house. Martha had to stop to think how many dogs she had at her house this Christmas, she sighed when she realized there were 16. She did rescue, and the number of dogs was always changing with some dogs being adopted, and new abandoned dogs coming in. Feeling overwhelmed by the number of dogs she had and all the dogs still left in shelters to die because there was no room for them in rescue, Martha seriously wondered if she should stop working rescue. If she didn't have all these dogs, she could have flown to any of her other children's homes for the holidays to be with family. Besides, the heartbreak of seeing each dog in such need was beginning to really weigh on her. Tonight she had a new dog, brought home that day. Martha didn't really plan on adding another dog, but on her way home from the store she saw a dog lying on the side of the road. Certain the dog was dead, Martha stopped, to pick up the body and take it home for a burial. As she got closer, she recognized the shell of an Alaskan Malamute, the breed she rescued. Covered by cuts and festering wounds, what fur was left was matted and filthy, it was so skinny that laying there you could see each rib and it's hipbones were the widest part of his body. With tears in her eyes, mourning for what once had been a majestic animal now reduced to almost a skeleton she reached down to give the poor dog one last pat on the head. "Oh, you poor boy, what a way to end your life. Well, at least I can name you and give you a decent farewell." As her tears fell on the dog's head, one eye slowly opened and the tail gave a single wag. "You're alive! Everything will be OK now, I'll take you home and you will have a soft bed and food tonight." She said, tears streaming down her face, this time from happiness. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the dog's wounds and making sure he was able to eat and drink water. Martha set up the large run in the kennel building for him. A soft blanket and a thick foam pad was to be his bed, fresh water and food beside him. Papers for his 'necessary functions' were placed at the far end of the run. He lay there watching every move she made. Martha left the dog resting on his bed, somewhat surprised at the reaction of the rest of the dogs in the kennel. Pandemonium usually broke out with all the other dogs wooing and barking when a new dog was brought in, tonight all the other dogs just stood and silently watched as Martha cared for the new dog. Thankful the other dogs were not disturbing the new boy, Martha went to the house to finish preparations for tomorrow's dinner. Later that evening Martha went down to the kennel to check on the new boy and feed the other dogs. As she walked in the door the new boy shakily stood to greet her. As she was straightening up the kennel after feeding and exercising the dogs, she saw her microchip reader. "Well, this will be a waste of time" she thought as she ran the reader over the dog's body. BEEP! The reader had located a chip! Writing the number down, she hurried to the house to call the chip registry and report the found dog. As she suspected on Christmas Eve, all she got was a machine. Very late that night, the phone rang. Martha answered and a strange voice was on the other end. "Did you find a dog with a microchip?" "Yes, are you the registry needing more information? " Martha asked. "No, the registry called us and told us you found our dog!" and then the man broke down crying. After composing himself, he continued. "The dog you found is BISS AM/CAN/INT CH Wasilla's Ice Sculpture, WPD, WTD, WLD, TT, CGC but to us he is our heartdog, the love of our life, Icy. Three years ago Icy was stolen from his exercise area in our back yard. We did everything we could think of to find him, but lately we had almost given up hope of ever seeing him again. This is a miracle. We are leaving now to come pick him up. We are about 14 hours from you so we will see you and Icy in the morning." Martha was crying, indeed it was a miracle! And the new dog now had a name, his own name and his people were coming for him. What a wonderful Christmas gift. Martha hurried down to the kennel to let Icy know that his humans had been found and they were on their way to take him home. As Martha walked up to Icy's kennel he stood to greet her, "Icy, yes, I know your name and I have spoken to your people. They' re coming to take you home." As she was talking to Icy, she heard the old clock in the building strike midnight. Much to her amazement, Icy said "Thank you." Martha thought, Now I am sure I have been around dogs too long, I could swear I heard Icy speak. Icy continued "Martha, yes I am talking to you in human language, you see, at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Day, all animals can speak. Let me tell you what happened to me today." "I have been kept in a dark barn for a long time by some very mean people who beat me and often forgot to feed me. Two days ago I found a loose board on the barn and was able to escape. I walked as fast as I could, looking for my people, or at least for some kind person to feed me and give me a warm place to sleep before I died. I was in the middle of a big field when I couldn't walk or even crawl any more, I laid down, knowing I was about to cross to the Rainbow Bridge. As I stepped onto the Bridge, an Angel came towards me." "Icy," the Angel said "If you agree, He has a job for you before cross the Bridge. There is a very kind human who needs you today to restore her sprit." "Of course I agreed to help a human -- that is what Malamutes do. The Angel picked up my body and carried it to the side of a road and laid it down. The next thing I remember is you were scratching my ear and talking to me and your tears were falling on my face. You have cared for me this day." Martha heard a chorus of voices all about her. To her amazement she was surrounded not only by her dogs, but dogs she had rescued and sent on to forever homes, all voicing stories how Martha had cared for them and restored them to health and loved them, thanking her for her love. The first Malamute Martha had rescued many years ago stepped to the front of the gathering and said, "Martha, you took us in to your home, cared for us, healed us both in body and spirit then, even though it broke your heart, sent us on to our new forever families. This gave us a life we would never have had without you. Others of us here, never were adopted and lived out our lives with you, loved and cared for as if we were your own dogs. In our hearts we are your dogs. Thank you." Then one small mixed breed puppy stepped forward from the back and said, "Miss Martha, you never held me nor fed me, you see I am speaking for all the shelter dogs and cats gathered here for which you did all you could. We understand that you can't save us all, but you read our shelter stories, knowing we would cross the Bridge without knowing a home of our own, and you cried for us. We thank you for that. You see, we knew you cared and loved us, too. And that love helped us as we crossed. We thank you and all the other Rescuers for that small act of love." Icy looked at Martha and told her, "It is getting late and you will have many people here tomorrow to celebrate Christmas. And you have your rescue work to continue. Our time to be able to talk to you is growing short, but always remember what happened tonight. What you do for the animals is a gift to us and to Him, the Father of us all. Each of us, animals of every species, needs people like you. Please keep on helping. You are doing the work of Angels." At that point, all of the dogs in unison said "Thank You," and their voices blended into a joyous howl, which echoed from the heavens to the ends of the earth.

Put the food in the freezer for at least 2 weeks. That generally kills any eggs that have hitched a ride home in the bag. A determined bug can get into tuperware. I use recycled glass pickle jars (the huge ones from a restaurant/deli) with a good fitting screw on lid for pellets. I use quart mason jars that I seal with a heated canning flat and my foodsaver for seed. (This is a great way to reuse canning flats).

I love my Focus. I have the 2000 model. The gas mileage is good, about 300 miles to the tank in city/hwy driving and 450 miles to the tank on hwy only cruising at 65. I dread the day I have to replace it because it has been such a dependable car. We have been through a lot together and its almost like an old friend.

I have an 8 month old TAG and he enjoys interacting with all adults, is fascinated by dogs and thinks cats are for chasing. He does not like kids. I have a backpack carrier and he has gone for rides in the car, to work, to the store and for walks with me.

Your flock might like this. Jake is fascinated with all the sounds and follows along with the "perking".

I found the little 20 inch tree in the basement and I'll put that up this weekend.

Jake does it just because its fun. He'll be on one of his boings, bend over and grab onto another section of the boing, and flap his wings with every ounce of strength he has while screaming his head off. After a minute or so he'll stop to look around before starting it again. It happens almost every day but not always at the same time or on the same boing.