Is everybody's air conditioner keeping up? We have the one window unit in the living room and usually it runs too cool to sit in the same room while it is running but not for the last few days! I don't mind sitting in that room at all. It is 85° in the kitchen but it doesn't feel bad if you are not working real hard. At least it takes the humidity out of the air.

Here is the latest picture of our baby. Sorry it is out of focus some.He is getting his feathers back finally. He is almost 5 weeks old now. I have had to start feeding him formula again. Daddy will still feed him if he goes for a visit but not enough so I have to do it. Mommy laid another egg today so she is busy now and is not interested in feeding him.

Tabby gave me a real scare last week. I thought I had lost her and that is a scary feeling. I was awaken about 4 am by screams of a dog in distress. I ran in to where the dogs sleep and Tabby was on her side, head thrown back, stiff and just screaming so pitifully. I could only stroke her, talk to her and pray while I thought for sure she was dying on me. She finally quit hollering and calmed down and I was sure it was all over but she lay there a minute and then got up and walked into the living room to lay down again. I knew I couldn't call the vet at that time of the morning so I put her in the bed with me and we waited. By this time I had the suspicion that it was probably a seizure but didn't know why or if it would return. I had her at the vets office by 7:30 and he checked her out. He couldn't determine any thing right there so he kept her to do blood work. He diagnosed an inner ear infection and gave her antibiotics. Said he was not absolutely sure that was the cause of the seizure but wanted to treat that first and just watch her to see if it happens again. Hasn't happened again, thank God! so that my have been the problem. I am still amazed and so happy to see her standing here looking at me after I just knew she was on her way out. That wore me out just remembering it and it took Tabby about 3 days to recover.

Eureka!

New developments in the baby bird saga. And I am sooooo happy with the new developments!

I fed the baby formula last night and this morning early, then when Sis got up she had him out socializing him and I let the parents out at the same time. They both came to the baby and proceeded to feed him while on the towel on the table. I thought, Hey, this is great if we can work something out here so that they still do the feeding but do not have a chance to pull out all his feathers. That is how we do it now and it seems to be working fine. We let them come to him outside the cage or even take him to visit them inside the cage but not leave him there. They do so much better at it then I do. No mixing formula, heating water, sterilizing utensils or wiping baby faces. This is great. I worried that he was getting enough to eat, that I didn't have it too hot or too cold. Wondered if he was gaining weight properly and now I don't have to worry. Praise The Lord!!!

I put him in his little sock this morning and greased his head with Vaseline so they wouldn't peck at that part of him and put him back in the nest box. I was just hoping things would work out right but when we got home and checked on him, he was okay but there was no food in his crop. Looks like they are not feeding him now that he looks so funny. I finally decided that this is going to be my job for the next 4-6 weeks. Sis is finally old enough to help now and she fed him 3 or 4 times tonight. The books say he should gain a little weight each day so......we'll see how this turns out.

Here is how she does it. I ask her why she tried sewing there and like that and she said because she wanted to watch TV while she sewed.



We had to put him in a sock! I am resisting my hardest to not have to hand feed this baby. I don't know what I am doing and don't want to have to spend the time and effort to get it done. The parents can do a much better job then I can. The daddy is the one picking all his feathers off so I tried seperating them and letting Mom do the feeding but it seemed that she was not feeding him enough, Dad had most of that job and couldn't do it while he was seperated so I put them back together and poor baby lost a lot more feathers. Terry suggested the sock and I hope it works. I did keep him in a box with a heat lamp last night and tried to do the feeding this morning but I was not satisfied with how it went so I wrapped him up and put him back in the cage, on the outside of the nest box so I could see what was going on. Dad fed him some but I haven't seen Mom feed him yet. I have to go to the shop today and don't really know what to do. Do I leave him here in the cage with Mom and Dad or take him with and try feeding him? HELP!!!!!

Thank you Sharon, for the suprise in the seat of my car today! You are a sweetie. One never knows how the Lord will answer prayer but he always supplies our needs.

Beautiful roses I took this picture at Mom's about a week ago. I didn't notice if it was blooming today at lunch but it sure was pretty last week. Never saw one before that opens yellow and turns to pink.

We seem to be having another bird problem. When I came home tonight and checked on the baby it was missing a few feathers. One of the parents is pulling its feathers out of its head and leaving it red, sore and even a little bloody. I have ask questions on all the bird websites to see what can be done about this. Haven't heard back from them yet. I hope he still has feathers in the morning.

16 Days Old!

Is he getting any cuter? I am still a little concerned about the legs but they are looking much better.

The following post is addressed to folk in Yahoo Answers that wanted to see pictures of my birds to more accurately address the question that I ask.

These are the parakeets. We call them Emerald and Sapphire. We were given these two just under a year ago and they both looked grown at that time. My daughter said that the blue bird had a blue 'cere' when we got him but it has turned brown since, from injury or lack of proper nutrition. Is that possible? They are on an all seed diet.

I found my next camera and I want it NOW!!!

My tongue is hanging out and I am drooling all over the keyboard. Get me a towel!

If you want to read about it click HERE. The part I like is that it costs less then I paid for my camera that I have now and is about times better! I guess I'll just have to tell Santa Claus about this.

Day 12!

Well, in that last picture, notice his leg out to the side? Seems he didn't have a surface he could grip good enough in the nest box and got a condition called Splay Legged. Even when I would pick him up, the legs would stay this way and I knew that was not right. Did some research on the internet and found a couple ways to correct this condition if caught early enough(we were early enough, thank God). I tried for 2 days to use gauze around the legs then medical tape to splint them back where they should be but couldn't get it to stay on. I found this solution that has worked much better. It is a make-up sponge with 2 holes cut and the legs inserted in the holes. It has stayed on all day today and he looks so much better. I will leave this about 2-3 days then use another with the holes cut a little closer. I hope this works and I hope I am doing every thing right. I am so clueless about this stuff.


Speaking of baby birds........... We had quite a frog strangler rain here last night and when I got home tonight I could hear baby birds in the base of the chimney right inside the flue. I knew the rain had washed them down last night but just had to pull everything apart and check it out. There was a nest, still intact, with 4 baby chimney swifts still in the nest. I dug it out, nest and all thinking the mommy bird would not fly down 10 ft of chimney to take care of the babies. We put them in a box and fed them a couple bites of cat food and I got to thinking, I told myself, "Girl, you don't want the job of raising 4 baby birds! There has to be something else done here." So I went outside just to look up at the chimney and surrounding area just to see if I could put it back somewhere that the mommy would find it and feed her own babies. While looking up I saw the mom fly back into the chimney so I went back in and sure enough, she was all the way down in the chimney looking for them babies. With a quick "Hallelujah" I said, "give me those birds!" I pulled it all apart again and set the nest back inside the base of the chimney and shoved it all back together, dusted off my hands and breathed a sigh of relief. I went outside and did see the mom go back down the chimney and didn't see her come out. One less job I have to worry about.

Now, on to the next adventure..... Terry was sitting in the living room watching TV and I heard him holler, "Mom, there is a snake in here!" It was more then 2 foot long and about as big around as a kindergartener's fat pencil. Terry said it was probably a chicken snake but it was not all black either. We got the kitchen tongs and a yard stick but Terry thought the handle on the tongs was not long enough to suit him. The snake was in the corner with the TV and wanted to hide among all the wires. We finally chased it behind the Video drawers and I had to get the tongs and grab the snake. Where is all the testosterone when you really need it? We opened the front door and it was getting feisty so I had to drop it on the front porch. I was beginning to think the tongs werent long enough either! It slithered off the porch into the darkness, never to be seen again(hopefully!).

And that was my day. Oops, almost forgot, the day started out with a trip to the dentist for me and Terry. We both had lost fillings so we had to get that taken care of. It went well enough, no pain, just a big bother.

Day 7!

Notice how much bigger it is now then the egg.

Still have pansies blooming on July 4th!

Day4!

The curls were a hit at church today. They were all gone by about 1 pm.

Still alive, just sleeping.

Just a note about the new Yahoo Answers thingy in my sidebar. I find this place very useful at times. Any time I have a question about something and would like to talk to an expert, I will post the question here. You get a lot of stupid answers that you have to wade through but there is always someone willing to venture a decent answer. Check it out, then try it out once. You will be suprised.

31 WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU TO YOUR SPOUSE

1. Love in words or notes.
2. Look at your spouse with an adoring expression.
3. Be lovingly honest - not withholding truth that will hinder your relationship or future trust.
4. Be eager to share a fun story or some other interesting information you have learned.
5. Have a candlelight dinner with music.
6. Be willing and available to fulfill the desires of each other, wherever and whenever it is proper and possible.
7. Give lingering kisses.
8. Talk favorable about each other when you are not in their earshot.
9. Ask for forgiveness often and say, "I was wrong and will try to change."
10. Make plans prayerfully and carefully.
11. Be willing to see things from your spouse's point of views.
12. Do a Bible study or ministry project together.
13. Keep yourself attractive and clean.
14. Refuse to be overly dependent on your parents or friends.
15. Begin each day with cheerfulness and tangible expressions of affections.
16. Give undivided attention when your mate is talking to you.
17. Run errands gladly.
18. Give back rubs or foot massages.
19. Greet one another at the door with a smile, a hug, a kiss, and say, "I am glad to see you."
20. Buy a small gift, and present it in a surprising way.
21. Seek to please one another intimately.
22. Make a habit of praying with one another on a regular basis.
23. Let your spouse know often you appreciate them.
24. Go for walks holding hands.
25. Stay within the family budget.
26. Refuse to disagree with your mate in the presence of others.
27. Be silly and unconventional in you intimate moments.
28. Wear a favorite fragrance for you spouse.
29. Plan a mini-honeymoon or get-away without advance notice.
30. Help with chores around the house and yard.
31. Maintain your own spiritual life though prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship with other believers. (Taken from harvest. org)

Well, it has been alive for at least 24 hours now and there is food in it's crop so I guess that is a good sign. I will keep you posted.