Itty Bitty Hooves

The Goofy Amazon

I have an Amazon Parrot named Goober, as I’ve introduced before. He’s a crazy bird. He has really begun to feel at home and plays with his toys and takes baths in his water dish and talks and talks and talks, but he WILL NOT use his playtop on his cage. It’s a huge cage with lots of toys inside and we even put a branch with toys outside which he loves, but it has a really great top with a ladder and perch and two feed cups that I keep full (for no reason whatsoever because he will not go up there). Today Bobby finally got him to step off his hand onto the top perch and he stood there for a minute–looked around–looked at the yummy peanuts (his favorite) in the cup, looked at Bobby standing across the room, looked at the ladder, looked at Bobby, looked at the seed cup–and flew to Bobby. So much for the playtop, he’s not sitting on his cage door (favorite spot) and looking at me with a smug look on his face.

The Mighty Amazon

As a writer, I love books. Just like everything else when i shop I shop online. My favorite site is Amazon books. I like them because they have every book imaginable, and even some that are out of print via their used books listings. The prices are great and often have deep discounts on them and with certain orders you can even get free shipping. I have several of my books listed on Amazon too and from that end they are fantastic. It is fun to read the comments and reviews on books either mine, or ones I am interested in and it is a very popular site with may community options to talk with and learn about other people’s reading experiences. I like that they have related books on each page too so that if I am interested in one author, or novel I can see what other novels might be on the same subject or from the same author. There are many reasons to love the Amazon site from books to electronics but they got their start with books and they sure know how to do it.

Real Drama

I saw parts of the first half of Frost/Nixon yesterday and it looks really good. I can’t wait to see the whole movie. I love docu-dramas. I like them better than full out documentaries because there is just enough dramatic acting to make them entertaining but I like my ducu-dramas to really stick to the truth as much as possible although obviously ‘behind the scenes’ dialogue has to be made up, it is hoped that it is made up as close to what would be reality as possible. I have this one saved on my Netflix to come as soon as its available. Director Ron Howard really made a good mark with this one. I believe he was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for it. I hope he wins.

All I Want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas is a GPS system for my truck. I’d like to get a new truck with a built in GPS but since that isn’t going to happen anytime soon I’d love to get one to either put in the truck or that is self-contained. Maybe a self contained one would be even better because I can put it where I need it to see the directions. I travel to a lot of places that are off the ‘beaten path’ and I maps are so obsolete now. Since I’m usually alone when I drive messing around with maps in dangerous anyway. My sense of direction isn’t that great either so having a GPS tell me where to turn would be wonderful.

I like the directions you can look up online at any of the map sites, but even that is limited. What do you do when you are on the road and suddenly run into construction, or decide you need to go someplace different at the last minute? Unless you have your laptop with you then you are out of luck.

Real Cabin Fever

Today is a pretty great day even if it was a pretty hectic and difficult night. It’s bright and sunny. It is amazing how a beautiful day outside can make even troublesome days seem better. When it’s nasty outside even little things are huge problems. I think that is the worst thing about winter and the biggest reason behind ‘cabin fever’. I know with my mother-in-law it seems that cabin fever gets worse in the winter than it is in the summer even though her situation doesn’t change. She can’t get out on her own, or do things in the summer any more than she can in the winter but it just seems brighter and happier because the weather is nice.

Christmas Party Games and Christmas Decorations to Make Your Celebration a Success

Well, I am almost finished with my Christmas Decorations. I try to wait to put it all up until mid-December so I’m not in a hurry to take it all down on New Year’s Eve. Christmas Decorations always makes the house look so bright and cheery. I love a lot of lights. The big trick now is keeping the birds out of the trees. It used to be keeping the cats out of them. That was even harder. At least all the outdoor animals are not a problem there. I don’t do quite as much with Christmas Decorations outside although I love seeing other houses decorated to the max outdoors. I have thought about it. It would be lovely to have the fence line along the drive lined with lights.

It is such a busy time of the year. I just sent off my ‘Secret Santa’ gift for one of the forums I am heavily involved in, and watching the mail for mine to come from my ‘Secret Santa’. That is always fun. I have all my Christmas gifts bought, and ready to wrap. Okay, no I haven’t wrapped yet, but there’s time. I also have a lot of Christmas parties to go to for various clubs I belong to. I love the Christmas Party Games that we always play at those gatherings and often wonder where they come up with the ideas they get.

Celebrations.com has wonderful Christmas Party Games and Christmas Decorations to make your holidays brighter and more fun. Whether you are planning family parties or work, or hobby group celebrations you’ll find Christmas Party Games to make them a big hit.

Making the Most of Cold Weather

I can’t say enough about the heated water tanks we finally got last winter. They’re back in service again now and it makes things so much better. It used to be nearly impossible to keep outdoor waterers unfrozen for more than an hour or two a day and usually required pouring hot water brought from the kitchen instead of being able to fill buckets from the outside spigot because it was cold, over the rock solid ice, and or dumping the ice out and completely filling the containers again. Now we can use water from outside so long as the spigot is working, and just fill what is empty instead of the whole container. We may still have to occassionally get water from in the house ( a mess ) but even then only as much as has been used. I would love to be where it is unfrozen all year long, but if I have to be in the frozen ‘tundra’ of Illinois at least the heaters make it easier.

Bling, Bling

I have been hemming and hawing about going ring shopping. I’ve been looking at some new bling. I need a new wedding set, both the engagement and the wedding band. I had a decent set but the stone fell out of the engagement ring and it’s time for an upgrade anyway. Buying diamond rings is such a personal choice and there are so many different types to choose from. I prefer a simple band with a single stone in the middle. I love the types of wedding bands that wrap around or blend into the engagement ring like it is all one unit too. Looking at all the different types available and other rings as well can almost be dizzying. I guess it is just one more thing for the birds to mess with and to get dirty as I work but I miss my wedding set.

Robobird

That’s Simon’s new nickname. He has developed a habit of flying off and attacking anyone who is not me that enters the room we’re in. I’m toying with the idea of getting his wings clipped. I’d really like to not have to do that but for everyone’s safety that may be necessary. There are a lot of sites online that show how to do it yourself but it’s a kind of scary thing. You have to cut certain feathers up to the right point but not too far, and there are blood feathers. My eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be not to mention I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to appreciate the process. I love having him fly and it’s great exercise for him but anyone (especially men) else in the house is not safe so long as he’s flighted. He doesn’t just fly at them he attacks. And for a little bitty bird he has a big big bite.