The Acuff Zoo

Zeke, the Helper Bird

2010-03-09T20:56:00.000-06:00

I was making birdy cubes the other night, and Zeke decided to help :)
We chop up veggies and fruits and such, pour into ice cube trays, and then freeze them. It's so much easier to have pre-portioned cubes to be able to heat and serve :D

Irish Fest

2010-03-07T19:08:00.000-06:00

It was fun. Lots of people stopped to take pictures of the birds, and we had to get a picture of this awesome steampunk guy :D

North Texas Irish Fest

2010-03-05T17:12:00.003-06:00

We will be taking the birds to North Texas Irish Festival for a family outing tomorrow. It's finally warmed up enough here that they can be outside and enjoy the sun for more than 10 minute. Plus they love the attention :) Every 5 seconds someone will turn, see them, and go "Are they real?!" No, seriously. Every. 5. Seconds. It's funny for the first few times, but then it gets old since the people asking are usually within earshot of the last conversation lol. The hazard of having exotic animals I suppose :)

Picture Day

2010-02-22T16:00:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was photo day, courtesy of Mistie Beardmore

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Snowmageddon in Texas

2010-02-12T15:40:00.001-06:00

Just snow, no ice. Yet all of Dallas is pretty much shut down. Silly texans, snowflakes can't kill you :)

The birds seemed intrigued by the fluffy white stuff falling, too bad it's too cold for them to go out in it :D

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Birds are like potato chips...

2010-02-08T11:09:00.004-06:00

You can't have just one (thus why we have 3). Izzy is doing better at her freeflying, she flys longer and lands only on Toney (video here). Zeke is eating seed still and he is now refusing pellets again, though he will still eat warm foods and mash. Cairo has been re-trained to step up on command almost every time, I'm glad I did something before it was too late :) All 3 fids are doing great.

Had a great early Valentines this past weekend (since Toney works Valentines weekend). Saw 2 great movies, got a pearl bracelet and shiny CZ necklace and gave Toney his present (Tungsten and Carbon Fiber bracelet). Had pizza and sparkling cider Sunday :D Very fun overall.

Scarborough is also coming up very quickly, and we are getting all our stuff together. Ordered our season passes, Toney's boots, my corset, and also got me a new pair of boots from Burlington Coat Factory on sale and a bull whip for a light weight weapon :)

Looks like we may be going to the North Texas Irish Festival in March, seeing as they allow animals in. I think the birds would enjoy a nice day out with a bunch of people gawking at them :D

Back to normal!

2010-01-19T08:41:00.001-06:00

My apologies for not blogging for a while, life has been kinda crazy. I am now employed again, thank goodness. I work at a small software company as an admin assistant. It's pretty awesome, and there is one huge bonus that I looooooove...I'm 2 miles from Tree Top Bird Center! Guess where I spend pretty much ever lunch break lol.

The fids are all doing good. Zeke rarely ever needs a stick to step up :) Izzy is freeflying small distances. Cairo is upset that I'm not home all day, but loves to show off the new tricks he's learned when I get home.

Scarborough season is almost here! I'm busy plotting my new outfit so I can make it all day without a corset jabbing into me.

More blogs to come :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Revamped a bit

2009-12-30T19:44:00.002-06:00

Check out our photos page. It's been revamped a bit. I have organized all the albums to that page to eliminate clutter on the navigation bar. Also, there is now a album for my art/photoshopping/photography.

Doodle of boredom

2009-12-30T13:49:00.001-06:00

I get super bored being stuck at home all day. So this is what happens lol

Ignore my previous blog.

2009-12-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

I was trying out a new system, and trying a "earn money for blogging" thing. Neither worked so well.

So- blogs will be first posted here and then put up on the website shortly thereafter. It is much easier to blog from my phone, and sadly (for apple blogs) there isn't an app for that....yet.

Not much new. Still job hunting, hae an interview Thursday and another Friday.

Cairo is being a real snuggle bug now that I am home almost all day with him.

Zeke loves hiding in a big box I gave him and chewing it from the inside. It's cute! I'll post a video shortly of what he does :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Eco-friendly much?

2009-12-27T16:00:00.001-06:00

Being environmentally friendly has it perks. Aside from helping the planet, you can help yourself.

Example: We live north of DFW, TX. The city that we live in actually PAYS us to recycle. Not cash in hand mind you, but a $5ish discount on our utility bill. That equals out to $60 a year, or $900 over 15 years. Nifty huh?

Just food for thought :)

Personal Blog has been moved

2009-12-26T16:17:00.003-06:00

Blog has been moved to www.theacuffzoo.com

Please subscribe to the rss feed there for the most current updates on us and the fids :)

this blog will be solely for product reviews and thoughts related to: Health, birds/parrot products, eco friendly products, etc...

Izabo

2009-12-21T15:45:00.001-06:00

Izabo went to the vet on Friday to do our yearly checkup we got some blood work done and the results came in today. Most of everything was fine but there were some irregularity's. I've got to go back next month to get some more blood work done, the vet wants to look at if the blood is the same or better or worse because fids can hide the illnesses very easily. So keep her in ur thoughts we will tell u what the blood works says next month and hope all will be well.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Catch me if you can!

2009-12-17T15:02:00.003-06:00

Zeke now loves the floor. We let him roam a few times, and now every-time I look away for even a minute he is trying to sneak down.

He has a playgym in the computer room that is almost 3 feet off the ground. I looked away for half a second, and the next thing I hear is the typical "Grey Beep" and the pitter patter of little talons on the hall floor! He stopped, looked at me, waddled a few more feet, and waited for me to come after him. Then he "ran" as fast as he could while laughing and talking to himself! That silly stinker! When I caught him and scooped him up, he raspberried me 0.0

I don't know what I would do without our feathered fluff balls lol

Stolen parrot in austin

2009-12-14T09:48:00.001-06:00

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/Stolen-Bird

Please pass this around to help get her beloved fid back.

Gift Wrapping for Bird Owners

2009-12-11T09:04:00.001-06:00

Gift Wrapping for Bird Owners:

1. Clear large space on table for wrapping present.

2. Go to cupboard and collect bag in which present is contained, and shut
door.

3. Open door and remove bird from cupboard.

4. Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.

5. Go back and remove bird from cupboard.

6. Go to drawer, and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors,
labels, etc. . .

7. Lay out presents and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping
strategy to be formed.

8. Go back to drawer to get string, remove bird that has been in the drawer
since last visit and collect string.

9. Remove present from bag.

10. Remove bird from bag.

11. Open box to check present, remove bird from box, replace present.

12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.

13. Try and smooth out paper, realize bird is underneath and remove bird.

14. Cut the paper to size, keeping the cutting line straight.

15. Throw away first sheet as bird chased the scissors, and tore the paper.

16. Cut second sheet of paper to size - by putting bird in the bag the

present came in.

17. Place present on paper.

18. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present. Wonder why edges don't
reach.
Realize bird is between present and paper. Remove bird.

19. Place object on paper, to hold in place while tearing transparent
sticky
tape.

20. Spend 20 minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape
from
bird with pair of nail scissors.

21. Seal paper with sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible.

22. Look for roll of ribbon. Chase bird down hall in order to retrieve
ribbon.

23. Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two directional turn.

24. Re-roll ribbon and remove paper, which is now torn due to bird's
enthusiastic ribbon chase.

25. Repeat steps 13-20 until you reach last sheet of paper.

26. Decide to skip steps 13-17 in order to save time and reduce risk of
losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that is the right
size for sheet of paper.

27. Put present in box, and tie down with string.

28. Remove sting, open box and remove bird.

29. Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for lockable
room.

30. Once inside lockable room, lock door and start to re-lay out paper and
materials.

31. Remove bird from box, unlock door, put bird outside door, close and
re-lock

32. Repeat previous step as often as is necessary (until you can hear bird
from outside door)

33. Lay out last sheet of paper.(This will be difficult in the small area
of
the toilet, but do your best)

34. Discover bird has already chewed the paper. Unlock door go out and hunt
through various cupboards, looking for sheet of last year's paper. Remember
that you haven't got any left because bird helped with this last year as
well.

35. Return to lockable room, lock door, and sit on toilet and try to make
torn sheet of paper look presentable.

36. Seal box, wrap with paper and repair by very carefully sealing with
sticky tape. Tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst areas.

37. Label. Sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulate yourself on
completing a difficult job.

38. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed bird.

39. Spend 15 minutes looking for bird until coming to obvious conclusion

40. Unwrap present, untie box and remove bird.

41. Go to shops and buy a gift bag.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

2009-12-10T19:13:00.001-06:00

I was laid off Tuesday at 4pm. I applied for unemployment as soon as I got home and started sending out resumés. Yesterday (Wednesday) I spent the day applying tomore jobs, put in applications in person as well as online. I came across a posting around 3:30pm and called. They wanted me to go for an interview at 4:40pm (1 hours drive in traffic) so I got dressed and rushed or the door. Got there, filled out an application, inteviewed, and left. 8pm I called like they said. I got the job! So I went to orientation today :) Total time unemployed: 27 hours and 51 minutes.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Location:Unemployment....

Yummy good food

2009-12-07T13:40:00.000-06:00

Zeke is a seed addict. He refuses pellets and most veggies and fruits (except apple) unless he has had nothing else available all day. Well, when I heard Beak Appetit went out of business I decided to buy all I could find at local stores for Cairo and Izzy. Izzy wouldn't touch it, Cairo pigged out, and Zeke actually ate it!

Let me explain a bit why i am so excited Zeke is a picky boy, especially if he doesn't get seed first. And he is a very dainty eater who refuses to get messy (even with mac n cheese). So imagine my surprise when I looked at him and his WHOLE beak was covered in the Beak Appetit and he hardly came up for air! I have finally found him a nutritious food source that he doesn't refuse! Now to try and buy up all that is left in the USA lol.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Holidays and parrots

2009-12-03T14:19:00.001-06:00

I really want to decorate for the holiday season, but with Izzy flying around the house and landing on everything I am petrified she will get hurt. Cairo and Zeke stay on their perches pretty much so I don't worry about them getting onto anything.

What do yall do to keep your pets (and decorations) safe? Do you decorate at all? We would love some input :)

~Happy Christmahanukwanzaakah from Heather's iPhone

Snow in Texas?!

2009-12-02T13:14:00.001-06:00

Sure enough, I went to bed last night while it was raining and we woke up to snow. Brrrrrrr. It's supposed to be icy for the next few days, so it's time to bundle up. Personally I am wearing 2 shirts, a sweater, leggings, pants, and socks...and I'm still cold when I step outside. Go ahead and scoff, I've always been cold natured and can't take anything below 55°F (much like a parrot lol). Time to turn up the space heaters and bundle up with 5 blankets!

We keep a space heater in their room so that doesn't drop below about 70°F, and one in the living room for when they are on their playgyms.

So what do y'all do when it gets too cold for your fids (feathered kids)?

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Homemade Toys

2009-12-01T08:31:00.001-06:00

Homemade toys are the best. They are far less expensive than store bought toys, and our fids (feathered kids) seem to enjoy them more.

Example: in the picture above Zeke is ripping apart a box. I took three boxes, cleaned them, and poked holes and zip-tied them together. You can't seen inside, but he has made a giant hole from inside the top box on the middle box's top. I'll try to get a photo of that later with a better camera.

Here's a list of other household items and small things we have used as toys:
Phone books (on the cage floor for Zeke or hung on a toy chain for Cairo).
Cereal boxes (empty) filled with treats, toys, and stuffed with paper.
A spoon with a smidge of peanut butter and dipped in seed for an occasional treat.
Bits of old toys strung together with untreated wood from a craft store.
Cover a small metal bucket with a few sheets of paper and zip-tie it shut, make sure there are goodies inside :)

The possibilities are endless.

So what does everyone else do for toys?

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Chico is Gone

2009-11-30T17:22:00.004-06:00

We couldn't handle such an aggressive bird :( But we took him to Tree Top and they are working with him and trying to find him a good home.

The bite is healing well, but will probably leave a scar. A small price to pay to find Chico a kind and loving home :)

Happy holidays!

2009-11-23T16:52:00.001-06:00

How To Stuff A Parrot

Ingredients:
1 Turkey
Corn Pudding...Read More
Green Beans
Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Hot rolls
Relish tray
Pumpkin Pie
Whipped Cream
Hot Coffee

Get up early in the morning & have a cup of coffee. It’s going to be a long day so place your parrot on a perch nearby to keep you company while you prepare the meal.

Remove parrot from kitchen counter back to perch. Prepare stuffing, remove parrot from edge of stuffing bowl. Stuff turkey & place it in the roasting pan, remove parrot from edge of pan. Have another cup of coffee to steady your nerves. Remove parrot’s head from turkey cavity and re-stuff voided area. Prepare relish tray, remember to make twice as much so that you’ll have a regular size serving after the parrot has eaten his fill.

Remove parrot from kitchen counter. Prepare cranberry sauce, discard berries accidentally flung to the floor. Peel potatoes, remove parrot from edge of potato bowl. Arrange sweet potatoes in a pan & cover with brown sugar & mini marshmallows, remove parrot from edge of pan & replace missing marshmallows.

Brew another pot of coffee. While it is brewing, clean up the torn filter and old coffee grounds from around the pot. Pry coffee bean from parrot beak. Have another cup of coffee & remove parrot from kitchen counter.

When time to serve the meal: Place roasted turkey on a large platter, cover beak marks with strategically placed sprigs of parsley. Put mashed potatoes into serving bowl, rewhip at last minute to conceal bite marks and talon prints. Place pan of sweet potatoes on sideboard, forget presentation, as there’s no way to hide the areas of missing marshmallow. Put rolls in decorative basket, remove parrot from side of basket along with beaked rolls, and serve what’s left. Set a stick of butter out on the counter to soften, think better and return it to the refrigerator. Wipe down counter to remove mashed potato talon tracks.

Remove parrot from kitchen counter & carve the pie into serving slices. Wipe whipped cream off parrot’s beak & place large dollops of remaining cream on pie slices. Whole slices are then served to guests, beaked-out portions should be reserved for host & hostess.

Place parrot inside cage & lock the door. Sit down to a nice relaxing dinner with your family - accompanied by plaintive cries of “WANT DINNER!” from the other room.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Chico attack

2009-11-21T18:19:00.001-06:00

No real story this time. He was doing so good and then decided he wanted arm for dinner. It looked worse last night when he did it, and seems to be healing nice and quick thank goodness.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Chico did it!

2009-11-20T19:42:00.002-06:00

HE STEPPED UP!!!!!!! I am soooo excited!!!!! Izabo flew by and scared him and he jumped off his cage. He is so terrified of the stick that he wouldn't step up and kept running away from Toney with it. I offered my hand and he stepped right up without hesitation or aggression! :D We think his "attacks" now may be his way of showing affection since he hasn't actually bit me, just flown and clung to my shirt. He did it again, and this time I didn't put him down immediately and he climbed to my arm and sat there (not shoulder, forearm).

Best snack ever!

2009-11-19T18:47:00.000-06:00

Plain check cereal + ranch dressing mixed with popcorn cheese = delicious

Plus the birds can have the plain chex!

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Rant

2009-11-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

I am so tired of seeing so many people unaware of the time and care
that fids require. I can't even count how many times I have been at a
pet store playing with the birds and someone mistakes me for an
employee and starts asking basic questions. After they find out they
have to take care of them and can't just keep them in a pretty cage
all the time, they tend to walk away and go look at puppies and other
furry pets. It's infuriating really.

With that said, I am adding a few more pages to our web site on basic
bird care and such so I can direct them to that rather than relying on
google. The first page will be a list of basic facts: Things to
consider before buying a bird.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Cairo's feet

2009-11-17T07:50:00.001-06:00

The blood work results came back. Slightly elevated white blood cell count but everything else is good. So it's a minor inflamation and we are getting a cream ordered for him since the vet didn't have it in stock. I'm making him forage a bit more each day until everything is in foraging toys. Hopefully that will keep him busy enough to not chew on his toes. We also scrubbed their bedroom and cages and such from top to bottom this past Saturday. You wouldn't believe how much dust can collect on the baseboards in a short period of time lol. Hopefully our baby boy will get better quickly, and we will keep everyone posted :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Chico time!

2009-11-16T09:04:00.001-06:00

Some more info on Chico and his cage after closer inspection:
His toenails are overgrown
His feet are raw on the bottom from being on the same round perch for 12 years
The perch was covered in about 6 months worth of poo (now spotless)
The cage isn't much larger than cairo's travel cage
The cage is rusty
He has 3 toys-a rusty bell and a old piece of lava rock and a chunk of something
He has been fed seed from walmart
His tail is broken in spots and very ratty from the tiny cage

When he woke up this morning he made all kinds of coos and happy noises (he was silent last night after being dropped off). I think we are keeping him even if we can't touch him ever. I know with us he will be cared for, and I jus don't trust other people to give him the care he deserves after such a rotten life.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Welcome home Chico

2009-11-15T18:54:00.001-06:00

Our newest flock member is Chico and he is a 17 year old DYH Amazon. His toenails are waaay to long and his beak looks a bit odd. Overall he looks healthy and we will be making a vet appointment asap since none are open Sunday

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

We sure did it this time...

2009-11-15T10:58:00.001-06:00

When we moved into our house, our neighbor saw the birds and mentioned
his mom has a DYH Amazon. After talking to him for a bit, we
discovered the Zon has lived in a cage eating seed it's whole life!
Jokingly (kinda) we told him we would take the bird if she didn't want
him. A year later (like 5 min ago) our neighbors wife asked if we
still wanted the Zon.

Wow.

So long story short, we are bringing in a fourt fid if only long
enough to find a suitable loving patient home. If we can find the
space though I think he/she may become a permanant resident of our zoo.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Amazon agression

2009-11-07T19:54:00.001-06:00

Cairo has become increasingly agressive since we let his wings grow. It's like he thinks he's boss of the house. He tried to attack Toney and I on multiple occasions, often 3-4 times in an hour :(

He is now clipped.

He's already turning back into my sweet little cuddle bug that I fell in love with :) it was almost instant! Like " Oh, I can't fly anymore...guess mom is in charge. Ok, I want snuggles...NOW! mmmmm"

We also got Zekes wings trimmed just in case, and Izzy still flys free 'cause she's a sweetie no matter what.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Cheap bird toys

2009-11-04T08:36:00.001-06:00

We bought some Chinese take out boxes from "the container store". They are between .49-1.09 and we just filled then with toys, food, & treats :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Halloween

2009-10-30T11:01:00.001-05:00

I love Halloween. When else can you dress up and get free candy?! Carnival thing at church tonight and the spening tomorrow hanging with Mistie and visiting my lil sis for her birthday. Then a nice relaxing night with the birdies :D

Spose I should get to work now.

Pirate fun

2009-10-17T19:32:00.000-05:00

Took the fids to Pirate Days in our home city. It was pretty awesome. We all got dressed up and were the only group with real parrots lol. Alot of people recognized us from walking with them everywhere :) Zeke is still kinda freaked out about the stroller, so I was a bad mommy and let him ride on my shoulder half the day where he clung for dear life. Cairo rode in the stroller singing and screaming all day from excitement :D Izzy was on her leash like always and flew around a bit to show off for people. Normal response: " your bird is on a leash?!". Mistie took some pics of the fids for us too. And yes, the picture posted with this entry is from the festival...they were doing tattoos on the spot.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Rained out

2009-10-12T15:55:00.001-05:00

I love the State Fair of Texas. So much to look at, and eat :)

Toney and I went to the Fair yesterday with my cousin and his girlfriend. It was great, till it started raining. Curse you weatherman for predicting clear skys. We left after about 4 hours there since we were cold and wet.

In other news: Cairo has gained much confidence in his flying abilities. He will fly in circles just because he can now. Zeke trys to fly really hard but he still hasn't lost his clipped feathers and is too afraid to let go of my hand.

That's all for now :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Newsflash!

2009-10-06T13:11:00.001-05:00

Cairo turned 2 on Saturday the 3rd :) he flys very well now and has become less bitey. We bought him a treat bag from Tree Top and he got lots of attention and treats.

In other news, I discovered how to make a pen out of large feathers. Very fun to write with at work.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

What a weekend

2009-09-28T13:19:00.001-05:00

Well, we did it. We took Izabo to a Ren Faire. She had fun and was definately the center of attention wherever we were. We would have taken Cairo and Zeke too, except they are still petrified of the stroller :( It was pretty darn hot out, which did take away from the fun a bit but I would do it again next year if we can.

Unfortunately, it was in the middle of county farms and cottonwood trees. My allergies were less than pleased, and decided to let me know this the rest of the weekend through Sunday night at bedtime.

We stayed at the Faire for a few hours then left to head home and hang out. We being: me, Toney, Mistie, Vahn, and Hana. It was a full house :) Had frito pies and rootbeer floats for dinner mmm.

Twas a great weekend.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

A Parrot is the only pet that will tell you "I love you"

2009-09-24T09:28:00.001-05:00

A wise friend posted that saying, and it stuck with me. Yesterday I got frustrated with the birds and I stormed off to the bedroom. When I came back out to the livingroom where they were a few minutes later, Cairo looked at me and said "are you ok?" and he kept asking till I responded. Then Zeke chimed in with "are ya workin?" They were quiet and content after I told them I was fine and I was just watching tv :) Its really amazing how intelligent these kiddos are sometimes!

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Our Zekey Bird

2009-09-22T09:11:00.001-05:00

Zeke has been with us for almost 6 months now :) I have to say, greys are amazingly intelligent. He tells me when he's hungry, when he wants off his perch, when he likes what he's eating... And watching him when he's thinking, you can really tell he's processing new information!

I called Tammy (the lady we adopted him from) to see if maybe she knew his actual hatch date. She didn't :( Apparently Zekes original owner (we are his 3rd home) got him at Traders village or something like that, so no one really knows his hatch day just that it was in 1992. So we are going to celebrate his hatch day on New Years every year! That would put him at 17 years and 8 months old right now :)

He's doing really good too :) He loves eating baby food and yogurt, but only off a spoon. He will eat cockatiel sized pellets now instead of just seed too :) Zekey won't touch most fresh greens, but looooves apples and strawberries. He's a bit more accepting of new things, and will ask fist if a new toy is good hehe.

We just bought a stroller to take him and Cairo out on walks and such. Zeke was petrified of it at the store, but after 4 days it is now sitting next to his cage and/or playgym (depending on where he is) and he's ok with it. I can't get him in it yet, but maybe by Saturday I will? We shall see.

That's about it for Zeke updates for now.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Harness training and more

2009-09-14T12:28:00.001-05:00

So, I am attempting to harness train Cairo and Zeke. You can see the progress I'm having with Cairo in the pic. Zeke is at least allowing the harness to touch his back for half a second before getting twitchy :)

Cairo has learned to say "I'll be right back" and a few more garbled sounds. Izabo says "rawr" and Zeke is trying to sing opera like Cairo.

Saturday the 26th we will be going to Middlefaire just north of Hillsboro. We got permission to take Izzy as long as she stays harnessed and away from food vendors :) It'll be lots of fun I think.

In other news, I got another iPhone as the G1 just wasn't cutting it anymore and we are working on getting Toney one again as well.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

whats red and black and white all over?

2009-09-09T10:37:00.001-05:00

me! I dyed my hair black and red on labor day, deep red not bright red, and it blends nicely :)

Cairo is being very jealous of Zeke and is a stinker every time I try to hold Zeke. I dont remember juggling 2 birds being this difficult before /:

thats about it for now

Family update

2009-09-05T17:13:00.002-05:00

The fids are doing great!

Cairo has 5 feathers grown in on each side now and flys fairly well, though he is a scaredy cat still.

Zeke is finally eating pellet along with his seed mix, so hopefully we will have him off seed soon and on to healthy human food.

Izzy goes for a 4 mile bike ride every morning with Toney to get some outside time before it gets too hot. She has also learned how to play dead sort of, it’s a work in progress.

a week of updates

2009-08-19T09:58:00.003-05:00

Cairo flew for the first time on his own!!! He went from his playgym to me on the couch (about 20ft)! I praised that fid so much and he was like "OMG what just happened?!" Yay!

Also, zeke is finally molting and has lost his first clipped wing feather since coming to us in april! Soon he will be flying too I hope :)

Went to six flags saturday, i am starting to get used to rollercoasters maybe? it was fun :) One of the gals from the Scarborough Royal guard had extra tickets, so she took us. Thanks, Lauren :D

I got a pair of toe shoes for excercise, and I looove them (www.vibramfivefingers.com) I recommend them for everyone! Especially if you walk, run, rockclimb, or do any activity at all.

WARNING: TECHNO-BABBLE
Got tired of Apple's iPhone restrictions and wanted to use a better phone. I rather dislike windows in all forms, Palm OS is worse than windows, and Crackberrys are nothing but problems. So i decided to go to the Android platform on the G1 (unlocked to at&t of course) and it is wonderful. More feaures are accessible, the phone is less expensive, and most of the apps are free! Also got a 30GB iPod to use for my music and movies and as a flash drive since it was cheaper than a memory card for the phone.

<3 Heather & the zoo

android

2009-08-07T15:08:00.003-05:00

iPhone is gone, and i now have the g1 running on android :) fun times shall be had by all.

1AM trips

2009-08-03T09:29:00.001-05:00

Never make a 7 hour drive at 1 am if you aren't well rested.

Sunday morning we left at 1 in the morning to go to Britt's (Toneys best friend) newborn babys blessing at 9am. Got a ticket about 70 miles out :(, got to Missouri around 8:15ish. After church they had a small party and we all hung out with Holly's family (Holly is Britt's wife). I talked tech with Hollys dad for a while and Toney talked about the birds :). We left around noon and got home around 7:30. Stopped at Lowes on the way back and got a new garbage disposal since ours hasn't really worked since we bought the house.

NEVER CHANGE A GARBAGE DISPOSAL WITHOUT A GAS MASK. You have been warned

Overall a productive weekend, but very sleepy now.

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

Blegh

2009-07-30T11:14:00.000-05:00

For a while now I have been getting headaches and felt very lethargic. It goes away after I eat most of the time, ad there are other symptoms. Our going theory is that I am hypoglycemic. I am trying to put myself on a hypoglycemic diet and see if I can fix myself since we can't afford another doctor visit at the moment. Either way, I'll have the doc test me as soon as I can. Here's hoping it works :)

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

iPhone goodness

2009-07-25T15:56:00.000-05:00

Went to the apple store to have them check my battery. It doesn't hold a charge for long. 1 month left of my warranty. Try tested the battery for about 5 seconds and handed me a brand new iPhone! (After I wiped my data from the original first)

I LOOOOVE Apple!

~Posted from Heather's iPhone

I did it

2009-07-05T19:27:00.001-05:00

I have made it to 21!

Got a PS3, a box of Godiva chocolate, a engraved pendant, and an engraved “gemstone” (a large glass one :D ).

Great party at my aunts house on the 28th, and work bought me a cake on my actual b-day (June 30th).

Saw Transformers 2 yesterday with Toney :) as a late “just us” celebration.

Not so fun weekend

2009-06-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday all of us piled into the car to go to the bird store.
Cairos travel cage sits in my lap up front and izabo and zeke have
their travel cages in the back seat. About 10 minutes from the bird
store (15 min away from home) we hear izzy screech loudly and when I
turned around, there was blood everywhere! Cut across 3 lanes of
traffic into a gas station to figure out what happened and if we could
stop the blood. It was coming out of her mouth, in rather large
amounts. We got her back in the car and headed towards our vet, who
when I called we found out was closed. (very thankful for my iPhone at
this point and I will ALWAYS have one as longs as I have birds) I
pulled out my phone and searched for vets near us, the only place open
was an ER vet. Luckily they were only 7ish miles up the street we were
on and work closely with our normal vet...and they had someone on
staff who works with exotics and owns a macaw herself :) I called and
let them know what was going on so they would be ready, and pulled in
about 5 minutes later (7 miles and the speed limit was 40...we were
speeding just a bit and ran a red light /: ) Brought Izzy in covered
in blood and they already had a spot set up for her! I love these
people! 2 hours and $300 later, izzy is fine. She had aparently stuck
her beak into zekes cage one too may times and he bit her tongue! I
didn't think there was enough space for that, but they proved me
wrong. Izzys tongue was cauterized and she's her playful normal self
now. Please let this be a warning to anyone with multiple birds, you
can never be too cautious. I never in a million years would have
thought this could happen to us. I thank the lord that we live so
close to a vet, let alone one that is open 24/7-and for GPS with
google maps.

That was our weekend in a nutshell.

Busy busy

2009-06-04T19:23:00.001-05:00

Been very busy lately. Between Scarby, work, and starting my own online store I haven't had much time to update.

Cairo is growing out his first 2 full wing feathers, so hopefully he will be able to fly soon :)

www.feathersnstuff.etsy.com if you want to see my shop :D

Update... finally

2009-04-20T19:21:00.000-05:00

We got a CAG named Zeke, he’s 17. He’s sooo adorable. Pics to come soon

Scarborough: I got my 2 year stripe, Toney is part of the Halberdiers, and I got a pertty skirt.

Toney interviewed for a supervisor position at his job today, may or may not get it.

I am an admin assistant at a PI firm now, no longer a geek.

Update coming soon

2009-04-13T19:20:00.000-05:00

Been busy with the babys, sorry. Got a new fid named Joey...hes a quaker.

Scarby 09 is upon us!

2009-03-07T19:18:00.001-06:00

27 days to go!

I'm blue daba de da ba di

2009-02-24T19:16:00.000-06:00

Got my nails done as you can see. Green glitter = <3>

Getting my hair done this weekend. Extensions. :D

39 days till Scarborough Faire

Cairo says Roll over now. I fly him around on my hand and let him take off close to the ground and when he lands I have him roll over XD He’s soooo cute!

Still trying to get iphone. No luck.

Always keep your towel handy.

2009-02-15T19:14:00.000-06:00

Got a new tattoo of Cairo’s tail feather.

Izabo is learning to roll over now.

I have discovered that I LOVE GREEN.

Cairo is growing up so cute :) He’s getting more blue this molt.

And his personality is so huge I don’t think the house can contain it lol.

My hair is back to brown again.

That’s about it :)

Need to keep up with this lol

2009-02-05T19:12:00.000-06:00

Housewarming was great! It was really warm out so we had all the windows and stuff opened :) Mistie was first to arrive at noon and last to leave at midnight >_<>

I’m thinking of getting another tattoo, this one would be one of Cairos tail feathers.

Scarborough is almost here! I can’t wait!

Interwebz

2008-11-25T19:10:00.000-06:00

Internet tomorrow!

So the tattoos didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. I think I took it better than Toney though...

I LOVE MACS!

2008-11-18T19:08:00.001-06:00

Here’s why: I just made a movie of our babies with iMovie, iPhoto makes books that you can have printed and shipped to you, iWeb makes web design easy, and all the programs talk to each other! (and to many other reasons that I’m sure you don’t want me to rant about)

In case you haven’t guessed, this is Heather lol. I’m the one who blogs, so unless Toney has a update for y’all, assume its me writing the blog :D

Should be getting our internet on the 26th, so yeah...

And if y’all know anyone that’s hiring, I need a second job or a good paying full time job. So if you hear anything, please let me know.

Tattoo Time!

2008-11-17T19:03:00.001-06:00

I’m finally doin it. Yup me and Toney are getting tattoos Saturday.

Other than that...Nothing much lol.

Housewarming party Jan 3rd, hope its not too cold.

Waiting on internet still >_<

Normality Restored

2008-11-04T19:02:00.001-06:00

We moved into our first home on the 1st, and are pretty much unpacked. Its awesome. Cairo’s toe is healing too so thats good news. No internet yet but we do have cable :). Bought a new stove and fridge since I get a good discount at work. Thats about it for now.

1st post

2008-10-28T19:00:00.002-05:00

So, this is new. We will try to keep this up to date, but no promises.

We’re getting a house (hopefully). When we know, you will too. Other than that, not much is going on. Cairo had a bacterial infection on his toe and is on meds for 2 weeks, but he’ll be fine. He like to chew up his syringe that i have to use to give it to him.