HAPPY CHRISTMAS

It is now ten and a half people months since I arrived here, and for the first time in my life, I got a Christmas tree and sent out Christmas cards! I got a present a while back from the people who looked after me whilst Mum was away - a nice pack of special seed. Yummy! And today, a card came addressed to Dog Angela and me in response to the cards we sent out. This photo was used on my card, and the one below is what Angela selected for her personal card.

The Christmas tree stayed for the photo taking episode (I posed for about forty photos, folks) nd then departed. I was quite glad, actually - it fell into my cage at one stage. I did not really like that.

I hope that you all, bird friends and people friends, have a peaceful and blessed Christmas.

Love

Bibbie

Dog Angela sends her Christmas Greetings too. She went to a Christmas BBQ at the vets' surgery - well behaved dogs on leads were invited. Not birds! Still, I did not want a squeaky toy (which all dogs got from Santa) or sausages in bread, mince tarts and cordial (which people got) and would not have liked all the dogs staring at me. Especially not Diva, the surgery cat -she was there, ignoring all dogs but supervising everyone else. So - all in all, I was glad to stay home in my house.

At the top you can see one of my brightly coloured distant cousins thieving apricots.. I counted about 15 who flew out of that tree all at once! and then, under that, you can see me walking about. Sad I have to take such little steps - it takes me many more than it does Mum to walk about!

SoB made me a rope ladder, which I shall try out later today. I will let you know how things go.

Bibbie

Whoo hoo, excitement

A big exciting event, last night! I took my courage in both hands and leapt out of my cage! I lost a feather attemtping to fly, but landed safely and started walking about. Mum came looking for me to put me to bed and could not find me in my cage.. yes, the door is left open quite often.. and then she heard me move, walking round the floor. she said "Oh Hello" and went back to the bedroom, so I followed her. I found Dog Angela was in there, on the bed. She got off once but I acted fierce and screeched, so she got back onto the bed and just looked at me.

There is a new person in this house right now - Sort Of Brother I will call him though he used to live with me once before, before I came to this house. SoB said Angie must remember the time I bit her on the nose!

I explored for a bit then Mum produced my little safe cage. I hurried down the passage to her and it and climbed in. I have had a very good sleep and am just waking up now.

Oh recently I have had a nice time watching distant cousins stripping Mum's apricot tree. I don't think she will get one - nor me, even though I did ask them to leave me some.

I've forgiven her

Well folks I had to give in.  I was given all sorts of nice tidbits. 

 

Today was nice and sunny and I spent it outside.  I saw Mum picking strawberries –she came and gave me one.   I enjoyed the change of scenery until it started to rain.  I did not get wet but it made a loud noise on my roof.  I called out and Mum came and got me, and took me back inside.  She said she had been asleep.  Still jet-lagged apparently.

 

Dog Angela did not even look at me when I was outside today; no need to screech at her at all! 

 

I will allow photos to be taken in a day or two.  Suffice to say my ankle warmers have not fluffed up, though I do have more oomph on the nape of my neck.  The feathers that appeared as down are getting bigger and more feathery!

 

Bibbie

Mum's back

Well, SHE came home yesterday.   It has been a long time since she left – just over seven weeks in human time.  I had just got used to my alternate arrangements and was settling in nicely – now, my routine is all upset!  I will punish her for going by not letting her stroke me and will certainly not kiss her for a bit.  I have not even taken food from her hand!  But I did charge down my perch to the treat dish before she had withdrawn her hand, I just could not resist.

 

Dog Angela has forgiven her already – it only took a few hours and she was asking for her tummy to be rubbed and so on.  It will be a bit longer before I go back to how I was before.

 

All is well though and the vegetable garden has rioted. My feathers have not – though I am a little fluffier than seven weeks ago.

 

When I have forgiven Mum I will pose for a photo..

 

Bibbles aka Bibbie

 

 

Well something is going very funny and two emails to the blog have sent themselves it seems. Both half finished, and peculiar. Maybe because this is a strange computer and a mac to boot. More likely because Mum is tired as she has not slept for over 40 hours now.

Joonie the thought of having to chase my food around gives me the horrors too but not maybe for the reason it gives you nightmares. You see, being unable to fly, maybe my food could run faster than I can and I would be VERY hungry. It woud be fresh though Joonie you have to admit. Sammy may have a point..

Mum is in England now and very tired she said. She has the lend of a computer for while she is at SoS's place.

Goodnight from Oz, good afternoon from England

Bibbie

It will be a while...

Well hello everyone – and so long for a bit.

 

My typist leaves in a couple of hours to go to England for just over seven weeks.  If I can send my thoughts to her, she may be able to sneak a post or two onto my blog, but probably not.

 

Today she is going to a place called an airport – this one is specifically called Tullamarine (Melbourne) where there are big big birds that fly all over the world.  Apparently hundreds of people get inside their tummies.   I think those big birds might be frightening!  And I guess they can’t just sit in a tree and take off like I am meant to do so they need special landing places.  If only I could fly!   Although, England is a long way, and Mum is bigger than me, so I might not be able to manage it.

 

I have met Vida and a few other people the last couple of days.  Apparently these are all people who will come and look after me.  And Angela.  They are all very nice and kind, but I do not really know them yet and stand back and hiss at the men.  Vida and the other ladies, I just open my mouth and look as if I am going to hiss!

 

Silverbeet, the leafy green part, looks like spinach but is much harder.  It needs cooking longer whereas nice young spinach can be eaten raw even by Mum.  Silverbeet leaves she cooks but gives me them raw – just a bit.  I am not really fond of it.  Mum cooks and eats the silvery white stalks too but I have not been given any of that.  Pears, apples, oranges I love!  Mum puts them in my little pink dish and I hoe in.  Get it all over my beak sometimes.  Egg is nice and the bit of omelette I had this morning was lovely.  I saw Mum put cheese and parsley in it as well as fresh home grown asparagus - I saw her cut it from the garden just before she made the omelette.  Can’t get any fresher than that, now can you!

 

Mum has bought a few tomatoes and they are not bad; carrots if they are sliced thinly by the peeler are nice too.  Broccoli, cabbage, mandarin.. In fact, I want to try EVERYTHING Mum eats these days and scream till I get some to taste.  (Some things Mum won’t give me though.)  To think I used to be scared of everything but bread! 

 

The other night I had a real problem.  I had been tucked into bed so to speak – the fire stove was making the place all warm and cosy and the lights and my TV had been turned off.  I decided to go into my bedroom from the large living part of my cage.  And I could not!  The door was ajar but would not go wider to let me in!  I tried a bit then got very annoyed and let everyone know about it.  Mum and Angela came in to see what I was fussing about – the lights came on, and Mum started laughing.  She had to open the door of the big cage and then open the door of my little cage wide, then shut the door of the big one again which keeps it in position.  It had not been done that way and the big cage door is too close by far to the little cage to allow the door to swing right open or shut. I looked at Mum and did a quick think.  I was hanging onto the door you see.. – so, Mum and l looked at each other and then I quickly scrambled up onto the cage itself.  Even then my backside hung down so I had to hitch it up.  Mum fixed it all and shut the big door again and I went happily to bed.   

 

By the time Mum gets back it will almost be summer.  It should be warmer for sure.  Spring can be warm, hot, cool or cold.  Wet or dry – mostly dry the last few years – and windy or calm.  Well it is nice looking at the weather changing outside several times a day whilst I am snug and warm inside.  If I don’t like it one way, I only need wait a couple of hours and it is usually different!  The clocks change too at the end of October – doesn’t make any difference to me but apparently these mammals I live with will get up earlier by the sun so they have light later at night.  They like it.  To me, it is odd.  Why not just use the sun?

 

Goodbye for a while

 

Bibbie

 

 

silver beet

Well now Joonie you have alerted me to something. Silverbeet is sometimes called swiss chard. Now do you know it? You eat the stalks and leafy part not the root. My Mum grew up only eating the stalks as her mother did not like "spinach" as many people used to call the leafy part. Now she eats it all. It is a relative of the things Mum calls beetroot, and you just call beets or red beet. Yes, those come in orange and other stripey colours accordng to pictures in Mum's heritage seed catalogue.. Mum sometimes grows beetroot and then I might get the odd leaf of that, too - Mum eats those would you believe, too. As well as the roots. Back to silver beet. The stalk part is white, perhaps with a silvery tinge. And I suppose that is where the name comes from. you can get coloured sorts, known even here as rainbow chard. I have seen yellow and pinkish red stemss up to almost beetroot coloured stems. the chard things do not have edible roots - at least, Mum does not eat them and she seems to eat a lot of odd things.

Your nice ball with nuts sounds fun - for you. I do not really like to DO anything. I sit and watch TV and Mum in the garden and Dog Angela and.. sing and whistle and climb about my cage. I have a swing and it terrifies me. I will not go near it! I sit on the door of my little cage - I like to sleep there - but soetimes it rocks a bit and I get scared evenof that. If I lose my balance I am in big trouble.. can't flap feathers to sort things out though the wings still flap. They just don't seem to DO anything! I have a sort of kebab thing,and some balls appeared and I ws scared to move till they vanished again. I have cuddly things too, but I did not come out of my little house for several weeks, well, not willingly, till it went away again. I hated it touching me! Soft and cuddly and warm they said - no way! I like to sit and snooze, contemplating my life and how it has changed since I was dangling upside down in that garage carport place with cold winds whistling about.

Maybe SoS can update the blog for me - she can, but she does not communicate with me often from England so she may not know what I want to say.. Last time she rang I called out "Hello Cocky"and she called back over the phone "Hello Bibbie!" It was good to hear from her. I will have to practice screeching loudly so she can get my messages on the other side of the world. And then she can update my blog..

Well, the fire has started putting out more heat now Mum has put more wood on it. She went out to friends for dinner and I was not invited. The only consolation, the only thing that makes me not feel ignored, unwanted and so on is - Dog Angela was not invited either. At least she came straight in and stoked up the fire for me.

It is cold and windy outside so the fire is a nice thing to have going.


Back to sleep for me

goodnight

Bibbie

Silver beet - nice for me, too.

Pear blossom to make lovely pears. I love pears! some will come my way I think. There are apple trees with a bit of blossom on too but they are a bit later to flower than the pears.

I have recently been making a pig of myself on oranges and tomato and a bit of egg. And rocket - that nice Italian bitter sort of lettuce. I get a bit of everything Mum has, really. Carrots and celery and.. so it goes. to think I used to be scared of such things! Now I ask for things by calling out when I see them.

Bibbie

There's a bit of rain about - a wonderful thing!