Late Morning Tidbits

Today I am feeling much better than I have in a week. Last week I became weak and then started to get sick with a sore throat, sinus mess, fever, etc. I felt better yesterday but I was still not yet productive (on my terms and I am very demanding of myself). Tomorrow I should be rearing to go.

I've decided on names for the Baby Dove. If female she will be Jasmine (though Arielle just popped into my head and now I will consider this), and if male he will be Tucker. Mom and Dad (Prince and Princess) were showing baby dove how to fly today. I've watched parent birds teach their young many, many times over the years and it never ceases to amaze me how this life form communicates with their young (and each other). Baby Dove is lighter like the father and will be a white grey color with medium brownish grey tips on the wings. Until all the feathers are in and the baby has it's full coloring, you cannot tell the gender from looking at it. The male Diamond Doves have a larger and brighter orange ring around their eyes than do the females. Below are some of today's camera phone photos of Baby Dove.








The weather is so much warmer than it has been the past several weeks. It was so cold that Reilly and I could not go for our usual walks. Temperatures for more than 3 weeks hardly above the mid teens and many days were at or below zero with a few days being almost -10 below with -30 below wind chills. Brrrr... Reilly and I both have put on the pounds - my jeans do not fit well and Reilly just wants to sleep all day! Today after school lets out, we will head out to the school campus for an extended, long overdue walk. If I wait until just before sunset, I bet I bump into my family of deer.




Tiki is hanging on the outside of his cage talking to me. He is such a sweetheart that bird. The way he likes to cuddle with me and the baby sounds he makes when I cuddle and pet him are so angelic. Birds are so emotional and they relish in the affection. Reilly gets jealous no matter who I am paying attention to but whenever I tell Tiki in my fun and sweet darling voice that, "I've got something for you," (which means I'm going to go to the fridge and get him a peanut), Reilly jumps off whatever couch or chair he's stretched out on and comes running to the kitchen for he wants something too! Yesterday, I was in the garage and opened the door that leads to the kitchen to drop some phone books onto the floor so I could put them in the office when I came in. Well, the slamming of the books freaked out Tikers and he flew spastically towards the living room. Before he landed on the living room floor, he knocked over the kitchen vacuum that is always within reach (it is more like an electric broom in style). I quickly ran in for all five cats ran to see what Tiki was up to and I was worried Tiki might over-react and bite one of them because he was frightened. My shoes were wet from being outside on the snow and I slipped on the tile floor and twisted my ankle. As I was picking Tiki up, I said to him, "You scared me and I hurt my foot." Tiki replied in the voice I use when I accidently bump into a bird cage and scare the birds, or bump into one of the cats and freak them out, "I'm sorry." He is SO SMART! He's just not repeating words, he is using them appropriately according to the situation. He can associate terms and tones based on the emotional atmosphere. He does this all the time. The guy is incredible!

Okay, enough of my rambling. I have many things to accomplish today and have a week of catching up to do!

Have a great day, all!