No New Tale to Tell

Get up early. Go to work. Work. Eat. Knit. Work. Buy cat chow. Go home. Search fruitlessly for cute cardigan pattern. Blog. Sleep.

Taaaa-daaaa.

The Early Bird

I really did try to post yesterday; I think Blogger was down.

This morning I managed - barely - to get my buns in the car and on the road at 5:30. Even had to carry Sunny outside as she had no interest in getting her paws wet. I plonked my bum down in the chair at work right at 6. Then I looked at my calendar and discovered that my shift started at .... 8. Oops. They let me work the extra hours but I felt pretty dumb. All day I thought it was Friday (my real 6am day). Today was payday and my raise was indeed on my check; it pretty much paid off only the accumulated overdraft fees :( Stopped by the pet store and the grocery store on the way home and am now snug as a bug in a rug.

Walks barefoot into the kitchen to grab a beer, forgetting about the glass the cats broke earlier. Hope I don't pick up any shards.

Took some time this evening to harvest coreopsis blooms for dyeing. Deadheading them should encourage the next round of blossoms.

I finally started watching "The Riches" on Netflix (Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver) and am now a huge fan. Really well done. And with alpacas!

Tuesday Round Up

The purple sweater / blouse now has a front and a back! I just need two short sleeves and a bit of time for the sewing up. I am still loving the yarn and the color. I just hope I don't look like 'Grimace' when it is all done. I still haven't got anything in particular planned after I finish this. Baby bird, this evening (19 days). What a nutcase - flapping, flopping, perching, nibbling my fingers, she does it all. I can really see her yellow chin feathers and orange cheek patches coming in. I am eginning to think she is going to make it all the way!

Carrie, aka Mama Cat. For a cat who eats only when I am not watching, she is getting pretty tubby. I have never had a fluffy cat before and I have to say, I love it!

It rained a bit today and is supposed to stay overcast / drizzly until the weekend. I like a good bit of 'weather'. Sunshine gets so boring after a while. I like to watch the amazing patterns the clouds make.

Monday

A flurry of activity this morning when I got ready early and went to the DMV. Then I got in some good knitting time during the 2 hours I was in line / waiting to be called. I did pay the registration, renew my license and turn in the accident report, so I call it a win. I also fixed the error in the sweater and then made significant progress on the decreases for the back. The end is in sight!

Had a nice chat with the 'good neighbor' when Beaker and I went out for our evening sit. I took "A Weaver's Garden" out for my evening reading, as wanted to look up the proper harvesting time for the coreopsis if I want to dye with it. "Now" is the answer. I will go out and collect some flowers tomorrow for freezing. Previous reading selections include Scott Cunningham, John Milton and Beatrix Potter.

Sleepy tonight and back to my regular shift tomorrow, so I had better hit the hay.

Sunny Day

I am trying to have a sunny day today - I no longer have a schedule that lets me rest and recharge for 3 days at a time. The weather is certainly cooperating. I dreamt last night that I got kicked out of my WoW guild, then that my dog ate the baby cockatiel, and something else equally unsettling in between, which I have (thankfully) forgotten. Baby bird is fine in RL - the new feathers are starting to break out of their quills and she is getting a little fuzzy. Still trying to wrap my head around cockatiel genetics - dominant, recessive, sex linked... there is a lot to consider.

Beaker and I saw lots of little birds in the garden today - the angry hummingbird and then an even angrier one, that red house finch, a gold finch happily eating the leaves of the sunflower and a passel of sparrows. He was very chatty this morning and even groomed my eyelashes a bit. I am going to enjoy the next 30 years with him.

Not too much planned for today - some tidying, some laundry, maybe finding and fixing the error in the purple sweater. Plucking the rabbits if I feel wild and crazy. Warping the loom if I totally lose control of my senses.

Enough About Me

... as I am not a happy cheese this evening. I had a fine enough time at work this morning, but ran into choppy waters with my WoW friends today. The Knitter is having some socialization issues.

The baby cockatiel is turning into a little bird! Took her out today for some snuggling and was amazed to see her practicing her flapping, standing up tall and stretching her wings, shuffling about, trying to preen and nibbling my fingers. Her little crest goes up and down - it is all gray except for one or two yellow pinfeathers. I totally forgot to get a legband while I was at the birdfarm buying food today, and I was even discussing her with the fellow stocking the shelf (who, by the way, bore an amazing resemblance to Ralph Feinnes. I think I might soon be spending more time there). She is going to be too big for it to fit over her little foot. I also handled Hamlet for a bit today. As long as I am constantly bothering the parents in order to snuggle the chick, I may as well get back to keeping them hand-tame.

Speaking of the bird farm, I realized after a stroll through the flights that the don't have the quantities of cockatiels they once did. I wonder if they are out of fashion? There weren't very many budgies either. I did see vast quantities of conures, though. I would prefer a cockatiel over a conure any day, for while the little guys are cute, flashy and more clownish than 'tiels, they are far too loud for my lifestyle. Even Kiwi can be rather ear-splitting when she wants. They did have quite a few pionus; an adult blue-headed, a bronze wing (rather infrequent in aviculture), 3 Maximillians' (a single adult and a pair), the 3 white capped babies they have had since last winter, and Clyde, the 15 y.o. white capped I have been eyeing for about the same amount of time. None were quite as adorable as my Beaker, although the bronzewing is even more pretty in person than in photos. They are very dark birds, unusual for parrots. In fact, the whole pionus species is very subtly colored. I am continually surprised by how much I adore Beaker -he is just about my dream parrot! He is beautiful, a manageable size, does not scream, talks, and has similar food and housing requirements to the rest of the flock (read - no huge expensive cage, huge toys or specialty food like a large macaw or cockatoo). We had some porch time today and were visited by the local hummingbird (who, I think, was trying to drive me back inside) and saw a house finch in the yard. No goldfinches today, but the local sparrows are raising another crop or 12 of babies in the eaves.

Bah Humbug

A challenging day at work today. So many grouchy notaries. No one actually made me cry, but I was at the end of my patience by the time I slunk out of the office. I need to get to bed soon in order to make my 4:30 wake up call; it is another working Saturday tomorrow. Not particularly thrilled about it, but not feeling afraid anymore.

I came home and snuggled the birds for a bit. Beaker and I sat on the porch and read some poetry by Milton as the sun set. I patted the cockatiel chick and I am sure it is a pearl, which means it has to be a female. I think.

Just enough energy left to post and to set the alarm for the morning.

Technicolor

Sunflower in the garden.

Coreopsis tinctora - dyer's coreposis. Must start dyeing again!
Two weeks old today! I am beginning to suspect that she will be a pearl. *fingers crossed* I will have to get a leg band for her later this week, before she grows any more!

Blooming

The flowers are winning the battle against the weeds in the yard. The first sunflower has a perfect, modest blossom shining out and the coreopsis tinctora patch is a cacophany of green, yellow and maroon. I will have to hurry and spin some white fleece so I can dye it! The geraniums are islands of pink, the roses are a lucious red and the alyssum are dainty and white. Sigh.

I mangaged to e'file my taxes this morning and was pleasantly surprised to discover I am actually getting refunds! Now I wish I had not procrastinated, of course. Had a short day at work and then came home and walked the dog to get chili dogs for dinner. Still got settled back at the house by 8pm. Another short day tomorrow; perhaps I will bathe them and take them on a dog-drying walk in the morning.

Knitting continues on the sweater - another 2 rows today. I finally mastered "p2tog tbl" so that it looks correct on the front; I almost want to go back and tear out the ones that did not come out quite right.

Hmmm. I hear quite a commotion from the budgies. I hope they are just being garrulous and not fighting.

Out of Time

I seriously need to face my taxes. Seriously. And go to the DMV and face my driver's license, my smog check and my accident report. And switch over all the auto pays to the new ATM card. In a bit. Famous last words. I did buy cat chow, ramen and petrol today so I was not a complete slacker.

Baby birdy has open eyes and is hissing at me. Progress! Definitely a pied; fingers crossed it will also be a pearl.

Made it to the decrease section of the back of the purple blouse / sweater. The end is near!

Realized - tonight- that yesterday was Monday and I could have gone to the daytime weaving class and the night time knitting meeting. Oops.

Shucks

Darn, I knew I should not have put off posting last night. Oh well.

Everything is about the same here. Baby cockatiel is going to be a pied, I think (pearled also, I hope), and is starting to open her eyes. The little gray patch of developing crest feathers is high-larious.

Have the day off today - something about working 50+ hours last week. Spending the day playing WoW since I have no money for any of the things that actually *must* get done. Will put in laundry later and maybe buy cat chow and dog biscuits. It rained last night and I might take Beaker and pull up some weeds while the ground is soft.

Maybe I will knit later. I would like to have the sweater done.

Plugged In

Got the power turned back on today. Some sobbing was required. Also, quite a bit of money-flinging. They began by telling me it would be Tuesday since I paid on line last night, so I call it a win.

Came home from work around noon and had some quality porch time. I, Beaker and "The Time Traveler's Wife" enjoyed the day. I finally got engrossed and ended up finishing it. Not a bad little read. I can't imagine how they made a movie of it, though.

Then the power was back on and it was time for more beer (cold this time), a movie and WoW at the same time. With the lights on! Sleepy now. I did get up at 4:30 this morning.

Still would like to drive to Santa Clara tomorrow for the last day of CNCH, but the wallet is empty. And I need to run around turning on all the lights, glorying in electricity. Had an offer to go to Faire... I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Baby cockatiel is still growing. I can see the eyelid forming, the pinfeathers forming, the size increasing. She is huge. I wonder if the Violet's 'normal' markings will override Hamlet's 'pied' markings, and if his 'normal' color will override her 'whiteface' color. It would be something else to get a 'normal' appearing bird out of such lovely parents.

Boring ass blog post today. But from home!

In The Dark

I just love it when I come home to find out that the electricity has been shut off. Maybe if they would deliver a fucking shutoff notice I could have paid them. Oh no, then how could they charge me $100 reconnect fee? Fuckers.

Logging in from the cafe across the street. Going to go home and drink all the beer before it melts.

Bright Blessings

So, a funny thing happened today. As I was driving to work this morning, I was having a long talk with myself about prayer, generosity, requests and gratefulness. I said, I sure do appreciate that when I asked for a job that I like, that I am good at, with nice people, which pays enough to meet my needs, I got exactly that; but if I could someday get a little extra money to be able to do fun things and buy frivolous things again, that would be great. I had no idea how - or if - it would manifest, and put it out of my mind. This afternoon my manager randomly pulled me into her office and said, I am giving you a $1/hr raise, retroactive to the first of the month. It took me a couple hours to put those events together, but am astounded and grateful at the speed of the the manifestation of my request. She also paid me quite a compliment; that when she orders temps now, she asks that they send her another 'me'. /blush

The baby cockatiel is HUGE. I am now worried that they are feeding her too much and she will get sick. I hope not. I hope I have just forgotten how fast they grow. I can see little gray pinfeathers starting to develop underneath her skin... please let her stay healthy and grow into a fine, strong bird.

Not much else to report. I think I knit half a row on the sweater. CNCH is this weekend and I am thinking of driving to Santa Clara for the day. Flying is faster, and I wonder if the cost in gas / hotel would be any less than a round trip plane ticket. I looked at Amtrak, and it will take forever, since most of the travel time ends up being via bus. peh. I have another 12 hour day tomorrow and 6 hours on Saturday... so I will see how I feel about that long drive (8 or 9 hours each way, I believe). I am gunning for Monday off work if the schedule ever slows down.

Winded

It was a quite breezy day today, but warm and sunny. Unfortunately, I did not close the back door all the way this morning and I came home to find the furry inhabitants of the house had been roaming freely. They are all safe and accounted for - none squashed in the street - but I am sure the neighbors were thrilled.

Work is still crazy and tomorrow is another 12 hour day. Whew. I do my best to keep up, but tend to squawk; the office staff equivalent of a yappy dog? Or a grouchy budgie? I bought some microwave food for lunch tomorrow. All I had today was Del Taco and birthday cake. Yerg. I would have a beer before bed, but I don't think I can stay awake that long! It was 7pm before I even hit the freeway to come home today. Slow traffic makes for a tiny bit of knitting time, but getting home at 8 is really wearing. This evening at the grocery store I saw a customer who was a dead ringer for Neil Patrick Harris. Maybe he is slumming? I try not to pry, but I could not stop staring. So handsome!

Baby bird was in hiding again, but I saw her moving around in the nestbox. I am too tired to fight off the parents to take a picture. She (it, right now) will be a week old tomorrow, as this is the second-hatched chick. Stay tuned!

Flapabout

The cockatiels got some outside-of-the-cage time today. This is Graham; his coloring is called cinnamon. He is a sexy beast, and Hamlet's father. Good grief, he must be about 10 years old by now. He was really hamming it up today. He also let me pick him up, sat on my shoulder, and did some "step ups". Pretty Bird got some outside time too, but did not pose as nicely. Perhaps next time. I did wrestle with her and got those nails clipped! Thankfully there are only 3 toes to clip - her previous owners kept her free flight in the home and one day she was perched on top of a door that got slammed. Her toes were the casualties.
In other news, the baby 'tiel is still hanging on. Hamlet & Violet wouldn't let me see it much today, but I heard peeping.

Put in 12 hours at work today and am really glad to be home. Short day tomorrow, but lots of hours the rest of the week and Saturday. I am thinking of driving up to CNCH this weekend, but will wait until the last possible moment to decide. Can't leave the pets alone too long.

Managed to put a couple rows on the purple sweater today. It is only a couple inches away from the decreases for the back panel. Almost had the urge to get some spinning done this evening; perhaps I will make some time for that later in the week.

A Drop of Rain

Woke up to a gray and drizzly morning. Nice enough, usually, but sad today as I lost one of the cockatiel chicks. The other still seems well. It is their first clutch, so I am tying to be zen if they don't make it, but I want a chick by Hamlet so much! Still, I made the birds cooked breakfast again this morning and am hoping for the best. It is entertaining to see which birds eat which treats first. Some go right for pasta, others corn. Kiwi demolished his chili peppers early on today, while Beaker ate all the soybeans first. The cockatiels usually go for pasta, then corn, then peas, then millet.

It was wonderful to have 3 hours off today (well, 2 + lunch) and go in a bit later than normal. I feel refreshed and ready for the week. A good thing too, as tomorrow I am in from 6am (or maybe 5) to 6pm. Early bedtime tonight to accomodate, but I found time to clean the catboxes, feed the fish, sit outside and watch the sunset with Beaker and snuggle Kiwi. A little beer drinking and book reading was also squeezed in. An eighteen pound cat is lying on my arms, trying to convince me it is time for bed.

It feels so nice to sit on the porch and just be. I am not thinking of bills, work, the to-do list. Just taking 20 minutes and enjoying the evening. Maybe I should move the rocking chair out there. I love being wholesome and hokey and simple.

Lazy Sunday

Took some time today to sit on the porch and enjoy the morning. Had a book, had some coffee, had Beaker on my shoulder and had some saffron yellow socks to keep my toesies warm. It was nice. We did a little gardening (well, weed pulling) too. There is quite a riot of wild flowers and / or weeds in the garden. If you look at it long enough it seems gloriously riotous, but a quick glance just reveals an overgrown mess. Have to find some balance.

"Here I go - mumbling"

My long cheerful spell came to an abrupt end this morning. People who pry and then criticize really need to STFU. Just because I open my mouth, does not mean that you are invited to give 'advice'. Pah. The real bummer is that I had wanted to stay for a while and knit and visit.

Got some knitting done earlier in the day while the car was busy failing its smog check. Couldn't seem to find an open garage to get it fixed, so I guess I know what I am doing on Monday morning! It was a beautiful day to drive around town and listen to the radio, though.

The baby birds are fat and happy, I made all the birds pasta and veggies for breakfast, gave Kiwi and Beaker some snuggle time and Kiwi tried to give me heart failure by flying all around the kitchen.

I am supposed to be in the car, driving to San Diego for a concert, but am having trouble getting motivated, even though I have been looking forward to this for weeks. Maybe I will just watch the live feed online. Or put in a cd and sing along. Sometimes being a hermit means I forget if doing things with other people is fun / worth the effort.

"I don't need tiny cue cards"

Made it to knitting night tonight - first Friday movie & pizza. Beaker came, ate some pizza crust, didn't talk to anyone, and pooped on my shirt. Good times. The movie was "Easter Parade" and I made it for about an hour. Linda has some pretty new yarns. Might have to stop by tomorrow (parrot free) and visit for a bit. I put a few more rows onto the new sweater... I could finish it this weekend if I really apply myself. On the other hand, I have no real interest in any other projects-in-progress, so I sort of hate to finish it.

The chicks, aged 2 days and 1 day. Full crops, wiggly and full of cheep-cheep-cheep.

I spent some time looking for cockatiel genetics charts to predict what the little tykes will be, but didn't really grasp it. The yellow down means they will not be whitefaces, as far as I can tell. Hamlet is a Pearl Pied split for Cinnamon and Violet is a normal Whiteface. One is quite bald and t'other is only mostly bald. Fingers crossed they continue to thrive!

No work tomorrow (finally), and I don't need to go in on Monday until noon. Of course, I need to spend that time getting a smog check for the car, doing my taxes, geting my driver's license renewed and of course paying the rent, which I only just realized is due sometime, um, soon. Damn you payday, falling on the 7th. Other weekend plans include walking the dogs, doing chores / housekeeping, playing some WoW and plucking the rabbits. That little chore is way overdue and it is getting hot during the days. Mayhap I will even measure out some warp for a little weaving...

This beer sure tastes good, but I am short tempered, what with the 18 lb cat trying to lay on my lap (which is filled with, you know, a laptop). Time to drink a lot of water and maybe hit up the lemon sorbet in the freezer. I have "Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog" running on the other window. It really is my idea of a perfect film.

Simple Gifts

There was a second chick in the nestbox tonight, still a little damp. Chick # 1 is nice and fluffy and had a full crop. Later I heard Hamlet feeding them, so I have hope they will thrive.

Kiwi and Beaker got some snuggle time and playgym time. I love the way that Kiwi looks furious and Beaker is doing the avian equivalent of a kilt check.

Another average day. Work, lunch, knit, work, stress, laugh, sit in traffic, feed the cats. I think I am supposed to be in Naxx 10 but am just not feeling in the mood for WoW. I stayed up until 2:30 last night (this morning?) watching "The World's Fastest Indian" and it was as fun as I remembered. Right now "Defiance" is playing... it seems to be mostly in Russian, so I am getting every 5th word since I am too lazy to actually watch it and am playing with photos instead. Oh and I think it is time to switch the laundry and take out the trash.

A sunflower from Grandma's home in Wyoming. Sometimes I think about my simple life and wonder why I don't pack up and move out there.