Pine Cones and Shoulder Pads

Today was THE big day. The kids ran out of their Birdie Mush yesterday, so for breakfast today they got a mountainous dish of nutriberries (mountainous because they are confined to the travel cages and Double Trouble can't hit me with any of them---AsaMina has a wicked back hand and hits me 9 times out of 10 (the one time she misses, I remember to duck!))

And, the got PINE CONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, AsaMina is comfortable and ready to travel.

And, we have SHOULDER PADS !!! Ok, apparently my hands are shakier than they feel tonight, but you'll get the idea. The shoulder pads for the Ozark Mountain Fly the Coop Handbag wrap on and off around the quick links and thin straps and provide plenty of padding so the straps and quick links don't dig in to your shoulders. This particular bag is a bright light blue despite the light pictures (like I said, shakey hands tonight!). This blue bag is available for sale now (as is the green one), but won't be posted in my store till after my move.

Have Granola Bar Will Travel

Yesterday was the BIG day. The day the kids cages get scrubbed within an inch of their paint, the toys get cinched down to the bars, perches get anchored so they can't shift, seed catchers get removed, and cages get wheeled out of the room to be covered with tarps which are then secured in place with lots of bungee cords.

The kids? What about the kids! The poor little angels also get packed. But, obviously not in their big cages! They get uncerimoniously stuffed into their travel cages, where they'll live till we get to Washington. They have to make sure they can get around, are eating and drinking so as not to give me grey hair (or more grey hair as the case may be), and feel as comfortable as they can in such a small space.

Each has their own travel cage except Double Trouble. AsaMina and Worthington are sharing air space. They're still processing this concept. AsaMina whacked Worthington with her tail last night and startled him. Both have thier own seperate big cages and this is their first time sharing air space. It's been interesting: "Worthington Israel Wentworth!!!! LEAVE ASAMINA'S TAIL AHH-LONE!!!!" "ASAMINA SURA SARAH!!!! [she knows she's in trouble if 'Sarah', the English translation of her 'Sura', is tacked onto the end of her name] QUIT BREATHING ON YOUR BROTHER!!!!" And, thus far it's been over 24 hours they've been confined together. Hopefully it'll get smoother as they are stuck together till we get to Washington.

What about the granola bar? Well, that's a story and a half......

Four years ago, this June 1, we moved from New Hampshire to Arkansas. AsaMina shared air space with her biological little sister Precious (who we lost to an unbelievably massive egg July 2006) . As they've got now, back then they also had several perches with lots of toys all cinched down with zip ties to keep them from swinging around, and each got a special treat normally reserved for Christmas morning, a Sunseed parrot pine cone. A pine cone stuffed to the gills [I think pine cones have gills, don't they?] with special parrot seed, dried friuts and dried veggies. My kids just LOVE these pine cones and look forward to them every year. They were thrilled to get them for the car ride back in 2004, too.

Well, AsaMina, my 'perfectly normal' Grandbirdie, sat, yes SAT on her pine cone for 3 days and 1500 miles in the back seat of Hubby's bouncy Chevy Blazer. Yeah, everyones bottom but AsaMina's got sore from watching her sit on that pine cone the whole trip! Well, three times I did have to tell AsaMina, who'd finally given her bottom and feet a break and gotten off the pine cone, that it wasn't nice to sit on her little sister. AsaMina had apparently gotten either bored or uncomfortable with the pine cone and opted for a softer place to sit--her little sister. No Precious wasn't obliging, nor happy with her big sisters decision and swore at her, fortunately in cockatiel, not English.

So, here it is, May 11, 2008, and once again AsaMina finds herself packed into her travel cage, her entire room in boxes and elsewhere (their room is nearly empty at this point). She remembers the move from 4 years ago (no question about that), and since she's packed, the room is packed, she was ready to go.....

But Wait!

Where's my pine cone!!!!

...I don't put in the pine cones till just before we leave so they'll last the trip. So, AsaMina, my resident Einstein, opted for the next best thing, a birdie granola bar I'd just put in her and Worthington's cage. She climbed up on it, got comfortable, and glared at me, "Grandma, I'm ready. Let's go!"

And, for those who don't know the story:

Why I'm "Grandma" to AsaMina and "Mom" to the other 4 Muska-Tiels

Back in 2001, the last birthday gift my Grandparents G&G gave me was Rowena Rose, a beautiful month and a half old Lutino tiel. Rowena Rose was paired up with my Buddie Moose and the pair lived happily ever after......sort of. June 18, 2001 I lost April-Moana, R.B. Birds biological sister to age. I gave R.B. Bird a popcicle stick toy to keep him occupied and busy and hopefully not missing his sister too much. Well, Rowena Rose saw this toy from the cage she shared with Buddie next door and Just HAD to have it!!! She was about 8 months old at this point and female tiels don't mature till they're 2 years old [this part will make lots of sense in a moment]. Rowena Rose spent 2 months doing all she could to figure out how to get out of her cage and over to that toy. She had no interest in R.B. Bird and was happily bonded to Buddie. On a cold New Hampshire early November day, Rowena Rose figured it out. She popped the lock on her cage and tentitively, but excitedly let herself out. (I am watching all this oh-so intently, just in case she needed rescuing from herself). Rowena Rose crossed the three inch gap between her cage and R.B. Birds and let herself in, uninvited, into his cage. R.B. Birds door was open as long as I was home because he stayed put if I asked him to. I'm now on the edge of my seat, positive R.B. Bird wouldn't appreciate the Yellow Alien entering his cage. Rowena Rose went right to the irrisistable toy and for the very first time 'assumed the position' beneith it. Now, she was just 10 months old at this point and what she was doing honestly meant nothing more than "Hi, I'm Rowena Rose and I've been dying to meet you!" R.B. Bird, on the other hand, being exactly 10 years and 4 days older than Rowena Rose, knew exactly what she was doing and went after her. [barely on edge of seat now. More in 'mid-leap and rescue' pose] So, Rowena Rose 'got' the toy and R.B. Bird 'got' Rowena Rose. At two months shy of turning 11 years old, R.B. Bird couldn't produce babies. Rowena Rose wasn't old enough to produce babies. Thanksgiving day we had egg! Then, every other day till there was six of them! Well, no way are any of these gonna hatch, she's not old enough and he's too old....

Miracles do happen! Three days past her due date, on the third day of Hanukkah December 13, 2001 at precisely 5:43am AsaMina Sura popped out of her shell and goosed Rowena Rose in the bottom causing her to leap a good 60 feet in the air inside the tiny nest box. She didn't think the egg would hatch either.

Precious was egg number four. The rest of the eggs were sterile.

So, my Grandbirdies are the result of a jail break. Momma Bird, Rowena Rose, in an unrelated incident, was nicknamed Jail Bird due to her weird habit of running her beak back and forth across her cage bars like the prisoners do in the old movies with tin cups. A friend of mine, knowing AsaMina's story of being, nicknamed her The Convicts Chick. I think that makes me The Bird Lady of Arkansas....er....'Alcatraz'?

And, the winner of the "Name the Huey Kit" Contest Is...

.....Are you ready?

Are you sure?

First off, I'll tell you the decision process for picking the winners (even the runners up are winners). First, as each name came in I read them out loud to AsaMina and Worthington who sat comfortably on my knees. If they liked the sound of the name, their head feathers would relax (go down) if they didn't like the name their head feathers stood at attention. Several names caused question marks to appear over their heads. Then a bit of un-feathered feedback was explored. The winning name was chosen as 'IT' by all but one or two of the people querried saying it it fit what the bag was originally designed for and it's what you do with the bag.

The winning runner up names, just came in this morning--hence the postponment of this post. The same process was used for both runners up, too. So, without further ado.......

May I get a wing flap please!!! (uh, drum roll would scare the tiels)

The winner is Denise Felton with her Fly the Coop Pack!

The runner up who's name may get mixed in with Denise's is Laurie [Punkinhead] with Ozark Mountain Handbag

And the second runner up, who got my imagination immediately inventing my next invention with some of her names like Pursilla, and Roo Purse which just HAVE to be used for something! My imagination is currently working overtime on a new invention, Laurie [Glassbead].

Ok ladies, go to my store and pick your Apron!

The very first Ozark Mountain Fly The Coop Pack (I think I like that....still debating...) that will appear in my store mid June to July 1 (depending on the trauma of the move, of course) is this Olive Green Hexagon one. It's nearly done in the pictures. I still have to close up the inside seam and make the shoulder pads (velcro won't arrive till Monday, of course).

This first picture is of the pack with the medium straps attached to the back pack loops. The second picture is of the same medium straps, attached end to end, in the purse loops located at either end of the zipper. The third picture is of the Fly the Coop Pack turned inside out so you can view the inside. Side one has one pocket the size of the bag (12x14) in size (it'll be clearer in the store pictures, promise), and a smaller pouch pocket attached to it. Picture four is of the other side of the inside of the Fly the Coop Pack with two patch pockets which will hold a check book sized item and a key loop to hang your keys and cell phone off of so they don't end up at the bottom of the Fly The Coop Pack [never to be seen again!!!!]. On the sides of both inside pictures is views of the bottle pockets. They'll hold a 24 ounce bottle of water or a collapsable umbrella or baby bottles or pens, or..... The last picture is what comes with the Fly the Coop Pack (except the elusive shoulder pads!): three different strap lengths. The shortest ones will work with 6 year old children and on the back of wheelchairs, the medium ones will work with most adults of most body sizes, the larger straps are great for use as purse straps. Also, 4 quick links which can be sinched down so they don't come loose (also great for kids or a heavy bag that gets tossed around a lot). The shoulder pads are removable and will protect your shoulders so the quick links and straps don't dig in to your shoulders.

Congrats Denise, Laurie and Laurie! And thank you to everyone who suggested names. Your help is greatly appreciated and I do wish I had enough aprons to share with everyone as each of you do deserve one for your help and fantastic imaginations.

Self Explanitory Post

This post needs no introduction and should be very self explanitory. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE IS A VEGETABLE

Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Beans=vegetables.
Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are
plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus,
chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy
bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So candy bars are a health
food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries
all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

If you’ve got melted chocolate all over your hands, you’re eating it
too slowly.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store
in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It’ll take the edge
off your appetite, and you’ll eat less.

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that
a balanced diet? Don’t they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look
younger.

Put “eat chocolate” at the top of your list of things to do today.
That way, at least you’ll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn’t that handy?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top
pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You
can’t let that happen,
Can You?

Coming Attractions--Part 2-ish

Ok, this is for all you imaginative and not so imaginative people out there! If you can come up with a name for this bag (in 'Comming Attractions' post below) you will win a

FREE

apron out of my store of your choice. I think I've just run out of name ideas....or the problem is the bag isn't tweeting and whistling, nor does it have feathers.......

Post your ideas and suggestions in either this posts comments or the comments area in the post below.

Oh, winner will be announced in about 2 weeks!

So far, for your viewing pleasure, we have these as suggestions:
1. Earth Purse
2. Huey's Tagalong
3. Huey Pack
4. Fly The Coop bag
5. Better Bag
6. The Weekender Pack
7. All Around Town Pack
8. Tote-A-Long
9. Hue'll love this Bag
10. Hue gotta have this Bag
11. Homemade Everything Bag
12. Hand Sewn Earth Bag
13. Hand Sewn Handbag
14. Sewn in Ameribag
15. Hand Sewn All In One Bag
16. Ozark Mountain Handbag
17. Pursilla
18. Diamond Bag
19. Roo Pouch
20. Wheele Bug
21. Wheelie Purse
22. Camelback Pack
23.Converta Bag
24. Bag and Baggage
25. Bring Me Bag
26. Purse and a Half
27. Pack Purse

Coming Attractions

Well, my move from Arkansas to Washington is just 4 weeks away. Everything that can be packed is packed and what's left is stuff we need, stuff the movers will pack or stuff that we're packing in Elsie (who is getting treated like the classy lady she is and is being taken in a trailer to Washington so as not to stress out her 22 year old 148,324 mile engine). So, of course I'm just sitting, resting and twiddling my thumbs. Oh, and watching the soaps!

Now, for those of you who know me, you can stop laughing now. You're right, I'm busy and actually pulled out my sewing box and the few supplies that I had in my 'working on it' project box. Which I was conviently using as an end table---sneaky, huh? And began a project that began with the Santa Ana fires in the San Diego area in 2007.

Inspired by one of my bestest friends and the one and only 'Mom-In-Law' to my Cleo, I created what was originally designed to be used as a first aid kit for birds. A bag to keep all you need in an emergency for birdie in one place, ready to grab at a seconds notice. Someone, I can't remember who at the moment, but I think it was another of my bestest friends Dawn who commented that the bag would make a great purse. To which got my mind working (yeah, terrifying, huh?), and I made two more of these bags. One for me to use on my wheelchair as a 'purse', one for Cecils Mom to test out as a bird first aid kit (bestest friends are always great for testing ideas on! -thanks Donna). Then, I made yet one more for a fellow Etsian, Mommyknowsbest (or her medic alert tags), to test out, too. It's her fabulous zipper pulls I'd been attaching to each of the aformentioned bags. The one I made her was and is used as a school backpack for her 6 year old daughter and last I heard it was surviving school, a tug of war with one of her other daughters, AND the 6 year old. So, with one surviving a 6 year old and one surviving me and 5 cockatiels, I feel they're pretty well tested and ready for market!

So, once this move is over I plan on slowly listing 2 or three of these bags for sale and seeing what happens:

Each 12 inch wide, 14 inch tall, 5 inch deep bag features:

-1 elastic topped wallet pocket

-2 cell phone size pockets--will also hold a small day planner

-1 jumbo pocket 12x14 (inches) in size which can hold a note book, important papers, etc

-1 key ring to hang keys or cell phone off of so it doesn't end up at the bottom, never to be seen again

-2 elastic topped pockets that can hold a 16 ounce bottle of water each or pens or umbrella or etc

-each bag is lined with insulation and will actually keep warm stuff warm or cold stuff cold for 3 to 8 hours depending on outside air temps

-each comes with 3 different lengths of straps and 2 shoulder pads to protect your shoulders from the clamp/hooks used to connect the straps to the bag

-The straps can be used as either a back pack or moved to the top loops and used as a purse with either a long strap or a short one.

These bags don't have a name yet and I'd love suggestions! So suggest away!

How to PROPERLY recover from major surgery

As any of you who read my blog know, I had major surgery on March 11 of this year. Major enough that I was supposed to be doing a lot of sitting and resting. Which I did religiously......sort of. Under the very strict supervision of my nurses (see 'The Nurses' article in the second post below this one to refresh your memory) I managed to work on a couple of nice slow and very easy, nothing stressing, projects.

The first project was a thinking challenge from my good friend and fellow AREtsy Denise Felton . She sent me three really beautiful 18 inch by 22 inch fabric squares with a fabulous get well card she'd made herself. The challenge she'd penned upon the interior of the card was for me, while recovering, to figure out what the three little squares could possibly be used for. Her suggestion was that the fabric would look pretty good as one of my scrap aprons. I thought for a rather brief period of time and just couldn't part with all the love and healing vibes she'd packed into each beautiful square. Whatever these little squares were to become, it had to be a 'selfish me' project. Two of the squares immediately looked like outfits to me, and thus they became:
I even managed to chance upon a headband from Beckababe on Etsy that is a larger green and while polka-dot version of the fabric square Denise sent me! I also found a reversable headband from MindyKuen on Etsy which, of course, I didn't get a picture of due to not wanting to be a model anymore than I had to, that goes with the other three tops I hand stitched. Go to Mindy's shop and be prepared to be amazed! Actually, go to Becka's shop too, and prepare to be amazed! Both Etsians do beautiful work! The third square, as I type, is still sitting in my sewing box in a state of zen. It's trying to decide what it wants to be when it grows up---probably another top....

With those project underway I was happy, contented and relaxed until it dawned on me that we had just over two and a half months left before our move!

PANIC TIME!!!!

Ok, not really. But I did, out of total boredom and not really being able to sew as much as before the surgery, went fabric shopping to complete a project I'd set out to do several months earlier: make wheelchair covers. Why? Well, aside from the fact I'm just not a 'basic black' kinda person, they actually serve a very valuable purpose. Did you know that one ultralight wheelchair can cost $3000+ and medicare puts up one heck of a stink to cover 80% of the cost? Did you know that the cushion on my wheelchair cost $400? It did. So, the practicality of the wheelchair covers was two fold; protect the back of the wheelchair from the inevidable bird poop since you can toss a slip cover into the wash, but not the wheelchair. And two, protect the cushion from Hubby tossing it into the greasy back section of his truck. Slip covers are easy to replace, cushions aren't. I've also got two wheelchairs, the one I use and a possessed electric one that works fine for Hubby, but refuses to cooperate with me. I set out to make 4 covers, two per chair, one to keep on and one to change out when the first needs a bath. This is what I ended up with:

While fabric shopping for wheelchair fabric, another good friend stopped by and gifted me 4 yards of fabric. My friends know me well! Nothing soothes the soul and heals the body like beautiful fabrics! Well, two yards of the four total was a pretty burgundy polka-dot that I decided had to become a top. "OOOOOH! Better yet", I thought to myself, a top cool and comfortable enough to wear after surgery during our 8 to 10 day car ride up to Washington! "OOOOOOH!" I thought to myself again (actually, it was out loud to Double Trouble, who were perched on my knees and refusing to let me move at that moment) I can wear them when I go visiting relatives I haven't seen in 15 years and I won't look like a bag lady! So, out came the sewing box again (ok, honesty, I never put it away), and away I stitched on two travel tops:

Ok, that's it, gotta get packing and ready to move 2890 miles north west. I'm gonna put my sewing away. Yup, all done sewing till I get to Washington.....

BUT WAIT!!!!!

I needed new travel cages for Tyson Parker, and Double Trouble (Worthington and AsaMina are good at sharing, so they get to share a travel cage---shhhhhh! They don't know this as I type!). Well, the new cages came in and, of course, Murphy of Murphy Law fame, had to make an appearance! The new cages were a whole quarter inch larger than the ones they replaced (which had unsafe bar spacing and were dangerous for my angels). So,needless to say and of course, the travel cage covers that I'd made for the old cages didn't fit the new ones. It took Tyson Parker and Double Trouble a good hour of going through ALL the fabric I had before they decided every single bit of fabric in my craft closet was terrifying and they wanted the expensive fancy fabric I'd just bought for the above projects as their cage covers. You and I both know Murphy must have had quite the talk with the threesome, huh? Well, Double Trouble insisted that all Paisley Jam (the name of the fabric) was what they wanted. Tyson Parker, was quite happy with a bit of this and a bit of that. Those who've read my blog before know Tyson Parker needs a bit of therapy for his fabric fetish---which also explains the 'unique' picture I got of him on his new travel cage and cover. Have you ever tried to photograph a flirting tiel? No camera speed is fast enough for that, trust me! Double Trouble, of course, tried to convince me that their cover was terrifying, but I looked them in the little bitty eyes and told them to go sit on an ice cube. They opted to sit on the travel cage and cover instead.

What? You really think I've done all this sewing all by myself?! Of course I didn't do all this sewing by myself! I'm recovering from major surgery, remember? Lots of rest to recouperate, like a good girl! So, who was helping me? Worthington Israel Wentworth, of course. I haven't a clue why he picked this up, or what went through is mind the first time he gave it a try, but the little guy LOVES to sew! Ok, he can't work a needle, no hands, remember? But, what he does do is grab the thread as I pull it through the fabric past him. He helps me pull the thread snug so each and every stitch I do, is 'just so'. Now, he knows he's not allowed to help with store stock projects because some people are actually allergic to 1 year olds with feathers (much to Worthington's dismay). But, if it's a 'selfish me' or 'fellow bird person' project, he's right in the middle of it. This series of pictures is of him helping with all of the above projects. I held the thread in the air with one hand and the little camera in the other and just snapped away. His head is rarely in focus due to him 'bobbing for thread' in the air like a child bobs for apples on Halloween. That last picture is him glaring at me for one too many pictures. I only took 20, honest!

And that, for those of you wishing to know, is how you properly recover from major surgery! Any questions?