Mooky's Hood

Whittier Narrows Park

2010-03-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of pictures from a bike ride we took back in February to Whittier Narrows Park. This was our first bike ride in 2010 and I used this opportunity to try out the new camera Bill got me for Christmas.

Must say I am pleased with the results.

Mooky's Back & Drumming for your Attention

2009-05-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe my last post was back in December! Time sure does fly! I could blame it on my lemon of a computer, Mooky’s unwillingness to cooperate or just plain laziness. I know Blah, Blah, Blah & Blah! What matters is I finally am back blogging! However all of the above excuses are the truth except for Mooky’s unwillingness to cooperate since we all know what a “Ham” is he!

This is Mooky’s new favorite spot which I find surprising since I bought this cage over 4 years ago and up until a few weeks ago he was afraid of it! I realize sometimes if a new toy is introduced to him it might take him a few days, even weeks to get used to it but 4 years! But now every chance he gets he flies from his perch in the living room into his room to perch on top of this cage.

Go figure!

What's In Here?

2008-12-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

The other evening I was in the kitchen fixing dinner and like any normal person I went into the refrigerator to get some things out and left the door open while I put the items I took out on the counter. When I went back to close the fridge door there was Mooky perched atop it inspecting the contents. Not only did he inspect the contents inside but he also found it necessary rip the things I have stuck to the front of the door with magnets. (Unfortunately that picture was too blurry to post.)

Even after I closed the door he would fly back to it but he wasn’t able to perch on it while it was closed. I finally had to stick the feather duster in the crack between the fridge and the cabinet to keep him away.

Caught in the Act

2008-11-24T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yep… Mooky gets caught again! Here we have him gripped to the sliding glass door handle in the living room while I was probably watching TV. This was one of those cases where his perch was too close to the door so Mooky being Mooky he just couldn’t resist climbing onto it. I’m not quite sure what he expected to accomplish while there but I’m not a bird with too much time on his hands/feet!

Really when it comes right down to it Mooky’s not the best at hiding his little birdy stunts. I wouldn’t have even known he was up to “No Good” if he hadn’t said, “Ah!” and started laughing.

I guess he thinks he’s pretty funny!

Visitor At My Front Door

2008-10-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

I found this little green guy just outside of our front door when I went out to get the mail. And as usual I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of photographing him… especially since I’ve been so bad at updating my blog these days. For a bug I think he’s quite handsome or should I say pretty because who knows he may actually be a she!

After the photo shoot I placed him in the plant next to the front door. He stayed there for hours not moving an inch and then the last time I checked he was gone!

Loving the Marrow

2008-09-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Getting the marrow out of a chicken bone can be tedious work but not for Mooky… he loves cracking open the bones and savoring the marrow inside. Savoring is probably not the right word to use since he usually eats them in a frenzied hurry.

I have this on video clip but it's too long to post and besides I don’t have the clip with me at work.. One of these days I’ll have to edit the clip so I can post it!

This is a short post but I wanted to put up something since its been awhile since my last post!

What Kind of Lizard is This???

2008-08-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

I found this little baby lizard a couple of weeks ago between the front door and screen door.

And yes, he he made me jump which I'm embarrassed to admit since he was so small.

When I opened the screen door he crawled outside and quickly ran under the doormat. He was not camera shy and I have to admit he was really cute considering him being a lizard and all! I haven't seen him since that day. I hope he crawled from underneath the mat and went on to live a happy & healthy little lizard life!

I've seen so many fence lizards and baby fence lizards I know that's not what he is but maybe one of you out there can shed some light on what type of lizard this might be.

Mooky vs The Can

2008-08-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Mooky’s back and fighting Aveeno Shaving Cream cans… that’s right he’s protecting us all from those evil cans! Why does he do this; I’m not quite sure exactly? We think that he pretends its Bill he’s triumphing over, who by the way is in the tub. Mooky follows Bill into the bathroom every morning and plays on the bathroom floor while Bill is bathing. I use the word “play” very loosely because Mooky’s true motive is to get into the bathroom closet and chew on rolls of toilet paper like in the “Blue Bathroom Ducky” post.

One day the shaving cream can was on the floor and Bill just left it there as another layer of protection to prevent Mooky from getting into the closet. When Bill told me about Mooky fighting the can I have to admit I didn’t believe him but boy was he right.

If you listen closely you can hear Mooky ask for water… I guess all that can fighting makes a bird thirsty!

Waiting

2008-08-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

My computer is in the shop so I decided to post these Bear photos that a friend sent to me. I actually find them quite comical I hope you feel the same.

I should have my IMAC back sometime next week… so stay tuned for more Mooky posts!

3 Young Bucks

2008-07-22T12:48:00.001-07:00

The other day, early in the morning I was out watering the yard and I saw 3 beautiful young bucks walking down the street. I was hoping to get some nice close-up shots of them to blog but when one of them spotted me they stopped dead in their tracks.

Apparently my presence wasn’t enough to stop them from walking over to check out whether or not my yard had anything they might find edible.

Luckily for me, they don’t like bougainvilleas!

I guess you’ll have to take my word for it when I say there were 3 bucks since I only captured 2 of them in my photos!

Pushing Boundaries

2008-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

Mooky loves to push his boundaries but I’m sure most of you have figured that out by now. Occassionally while I’m in the livingroom watching TV, DVD's whatever (BTW one of my favorite past times that is other than working in the yard) he’ll fly over and perch on the back of the couch. Every now and then I think whats the harm in this so I let him stay there. Usually after just a few short minutes I'll hear little faints sounds of parrot beak chewing on the upholstery of the sofa.

This is when the Sofa Ducky is needed not much different than the Blue Bathroom Ducky only he’s not light blue and he doesn't reside in the bathroom linen closet.

Mooky attempts to stand his ground with the Sofa Ducky Ducky but gives up and flies back to his perch only to try it all over again in about 5 minutes.

Kitty Patrol

2008-06-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken in the parking lot of the Bakersfield Museum back in March. When we were leaving the museum I happened to spot the ducks across the parking lot behind a fence in a playground. And off course I immediately thought they would make a good post!

So I walked over to get closer to them and that’s when I saw the cats. Okay so I figured I’ll take pictures of ducks & cats... for I have nothing against cats except for that they eat birds!

But these kittys were protecting the ducks or either preventing the ducks from getting any treats from passersby. For the most part every time I got the camera positioned to get a snapshot of a duck a kitty would come along and hog up the shot... as you can see!

Simply Mooky

2008-05-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

Now that the fires seem to be over and the memory of the sad African Grey in the Plexiglas case has faded a bit I thought it was time for a post of just simply Mooky. Here he is in all his glory in the backseat of the car in his travel cage. It almost looks like I caught him midway through a sentence. I can’t actually remember if that was the case but when we travel with him he usually has a lot to chat about that’s when he’s not screaming, whistling, kissing or roaring like a Dinosaur. And being a bird he always takes time out during the trip to munch on a corn kernel or two.

The Hills Are On Fire

2008-04-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

I took these photos from our front porch just a few minutes ago. Many homes have been evacuated... luckily we're not as close to the fire as the photos make it appear.

I was watching the fire through the binoculars for quite some time and its odd how something so disastrous can also be so beautiful in its own way... well at least in my opinion.

Someone Save Me

2008-04-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

This is why I hate going into pet stores but my curiosity always keeps me going back for more. In this particular pet store called “Super Pets” located in Temple City, CA there were several birds… 1 large Cockatoo (Nothing seems to bother them!), several finches, parakeets, some cockatiels & last but not least this sad looking African Grey who looked just like Mooky. It saddened me because all I could do was picture Mooky in this Plexiglas box with nothing to do or no one to consider his flock.

You have to wonder who thought of keeping puppies, kittens, snakes & large birds etc. in plexiglas boxes and not to mention in pet shops period.

Saturday Morning Bath

2008-03-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well I have to agree with Mooky that last Saturday morning was the perfect day for a bath.

The sun was shining, all the other birds were bathing outside, the warm breeze flowing through the sliding glass door & a water cup filled with cool & clean water ... why not!

Hey if Mooky's dish was big enough for me I would have probably taken a bath in it myself!

The problem with Mooky's baths is that Mooky doesn't seem to get wet... just the floor, shutters and walls could you imagine the mess I would make!

Loopty-Loop Palm

2008-02-17T12:51:00.001-08:00

Hey I know this isn't a bird, creature or even something growing or crawling in my garden but when I went on a walk the other day for my lunch break I found this Loopty-Loop Palm Tree. I must admit I've never seen anything like it...So of course I thought it might make for an interesting post.

It was hard to capture with my camera since the Loopty-Loop Palm was so big... thus so many shots posted. I wish I knew the story about this palm to share but sorry to say I don't. Who knows maybe one day on one of my walks I will be fortunate to meet someone who can tell me the story behind the Loopy-Loop Palm!

Mooky at the Bottom & Crows at the Top

2008-01-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Crows are part of my Halloween decorations... I place them outside in trees or perched on a pumpkin! Nothing too elaborate I always like to keep things simple. The bamboo room divider ; which we call "The Barricade" is meant to prevent Mooky from wondering from the livingroom area into other parts of the house to help keep his destruction down to a minimum. The problem with "The Barricade" is that it has a pretty big gap between it and the doorway. For a while Mooky was afraid enough of the actual room divider itself that he wouldn't go near it but in time he figured how to fly through the small gap making his escape to the rest of the house.

These days thanks to the watchful eyes of the crows Mooky hasn't been able to get past "The Barricade" but that doesn't mean he hasn't tried. He'll walk over to inspect the situation hoping to find a gap he can squeeze through.

I'm just curious to see how long it takes Mooky to befriend the crows... One day I fully expect to walk in and find him perched atop "The Barricade" with the crows!

Hello, Hello... Is anybody there?

2008-01-20T11:50:00.002-08:00

It's a new year and I started a new job so I've been a little busy however that hasn't stopped Mooky from his daily antics... it just means I haven't had the time to post them or to visit your blogs. I'm sure I've missed some good posts too! This is my first post of the new year and I plan to get back into posting & visiting on a regular basis.

See you at your blogs soon!

Merry Mooky Christmas!

2007-12-26T21:15:00.001-08:00

Once a year Mooky gets to enjoy holiday ribbons from our packages. He carefully unravels each one very intensely and then squeaks for more! He can be quite funny though because one ribbon may be fine for unraveling but the next ribbon may scare him and he wants nothing to do with it. Go figure... Mooky can be just a tad bit peculiar at times.

I hope you all had a great holiday!

BEAR!

2007-12-19T07:21:00.001-08:00

This morning when I was putting the mail out I spotted a bear in my yard. By the time I found my camera he was in my neighbor's front yard. This was my first bear sighting... how exciting!

Sorry I haven't been posting on a regular basis or visiting your blogs but I've been just a bit busy these days with work & the holidays. I hope to get back into the swing of things soon!

Junkyard Bird

2007-11-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we drove down the 605 Freeway in search of a down & dirty nitty gritty urban area for Bill to photograph and to later possibly paint. I think we exited on Valley Boulevard and parked in a Big K-Mart lot to unload our bikes and hit the road. We went through City of Industry, Puente Hills & Walnut just to mention a few.

The day was grey and so was the areas we biked through & that's fine with me but most of the bike ride itself was pretty uneventful. That was until we were headed back to the car down Valley Blvd. when we heard a familiar squawk and I might add a very, very loud squawk. We pulled over to discover a Red Macaw in the parking lot of some sort of auto repair business. The Macaw cried out for attention and seemed entertained for the few moments we spent with him. It was getting dark out so a lot of the photos didn’t turn out.

This Macaw was well protected by his junkyard dog buddy in the bottom photo who I nicknamed Cujo!

Happy Bird Day

2007-11-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

Old Mr. Diry Beak wishes you all a Happy Bird Day!

I hope you enjoy your meal as much as Mooky enjoyed his.

From Sink to Sack

2007-11-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

So I came home from work one evening to find this little fellow in the kitchen sink & I might add he decided to get himself stranded on the garbage disposal side... not too smart little guy!

As you may remember from one of my earlier posts "Lizard Rock & Crazy Wild Trumpet Tree" that these lizards usually frighten me because they move so quickly & seem to pop out of no where!

Bill came to my rescue and captured this little beast in a Ziplock bag & set him free in the backyard!

Mooky Monday

2007-11-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Look at me I’m on the couch exactly where I’m not supposed to be!

Wait a minute... what's happening?

Hey this flying pillow game is fun! Wheeeeeee!

Let's do it again!

Mooky occasionally flies or walks over to the couch while I’m sitting and watching television. Now he knows he’s not supposed to be there but then again how much fun would it really be if he wasn’t breaking house rules. If he walks over to me I’ll pick him up and give him a love fest… that’s me petting him until he’s had enough & pinches me! But if he flies over I send him back to his perch without a love fest. I’m hoping this will teach him good behavior. My thinking is that maybe he’ll realize he’s allowed to visit me on the couch if he intentionally walks over for affection/attention but if he flies over just to be bad he has to go right back to his perch.

But as you can see Mooky has turned being sent back to his perch into a new game… the Amazing Flying Pillow game. Sometimes I have wonder who’s training who!

Coyote Calls In The Dark

2007-10-31T12:40:00.001-07:00

It's Halloween Night and the coyotes are out to play!

Watch out Mooky!

And He's Off!

2007-10-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

Down from his cage and seeking adventure! Where will Mooky go?

With endless options available… Mooky has chosen to perform his "Upside Down Head Foot Bop Dance" perched on the shower curtain rod!

Usually these little Mooky adventure walks have a more destructive outcome but luckily this day he only felt like shaking his groove thing on the shower curtain rod. Although I'm sure if I would have allowed him to stay up there for any length of time there would have most certainly been more than innocent bird dance performed.

You never know with this little guy!

Elephant Seals & More

2007-10-16T17:05:00.001-07:00

There were a ton of Elephant Seals on the beach... no pun intended!

This little Conure was on vacation with his family too!

2 Crows hoping to get a cracker from tourist!

Ground Squirrel enjoying a cracker!

On our way to Cambria we stopped at the Elephant Seal Vista Point off of Highway 101 not far from Hearst Castle. There were plenty of seals but they were on the far side of the beach as you can see in the first photo.

I actually found myself enjoying taking pictures of the crows & ground squirrels. One tourist, the Conure’s owner, was feeding them crackers even though there were signs saying,” Please Do Not Feed The Animals”. Apparently the signs don’t work too well because the crows & ground squirrels were very friendly… at one point a ground squirrel tried to crawl up my leg hoping to get a treat.

Where's That Daddy At?"

2007-10-09T22:44:00.001-07:00

Back from vacation already… why does the time seem to go by so quickly while on vacation? I bet I’m not the only one to ask that question!

I took lots of photos while on vacation but haven’t had the time to go through them to see what’s worthy of posting.

Just to get something new up here’s a video clip of Mooky on vacation with us standing on his travel cage asking “Where’s that Daddy At?” and “Where’s that Daddy Addy Addy At?” This is his new thing to say when Bill leaves the room or just isn’t in his sight. He says it very quickly in a sort of baby voice. Hopefully you can make it out! And for even more entertainment value he throws a fart sound in there for you too!

Lizard in a Crack & Be Back In a Week!

2007-09-30T22:53:00.001-07:00

This is a photo I've been trying to capture for some time now. I've noticed this little fence lizard sunbathing in between the cracks of our redwood fence several times but this is the first time I was lucky enough to get a photo of him... I only wish it could have been a bit more of a close-up shot! He is quite the cautious little fellow!

We're off to San Luis Obispo again this year! See ya in a week!

Don't have too much fun without me!

Ring My Bell

2007-09-20T22:11:00.001-07:00

If you listen closely in the very beginning of the video you can hear Mooky say, "Kiss"! He says it so sweetly and usually he leans over and gently pecks me on the lips with his beak. Now as far the bell ringing goes that's a whole other story. He rings his bell to either get attention or to let Bill or me know it's time to shut-up or leave! Mooky also likes to attack the bell as if he's honing his fighting skills... not quite sure why he needs fighting skill!

The noise in the background is the fan... this was filmed during one of the really hot days we were experiencing in California. Hopefully in the future I can get him to talk while I film him sans the fan noise!

A Deer Post

2007-09-16T11:04:00.001-07:00

These are a couple of deer I spotted up in the Sierra Madre canyon on one of my early morning walks. In the first photo they’re eating a lovely purple plant in someone's yard... luckily I haven't had any problems with deer eating my plants but that’s probably because we live below the canyon and the deer usually don't come down from the canyon too often.

On occasion they do visit searching for food when it’s really hot. I’ll spot them across the street in the settling ponds standing under the big oak trees chewing on plants. I love to watch them and of course I always try to get a snapshot of them if possible. They usually ignore me and go about their business or they move to another spot where they can't be seen.

Beating The Heat

2007-09-08T22:29:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness the heatwave finally broke this week! The temperature in the house was as high as 94 degrees. We actually have central air conditioning but in these extremely high temperatures it is basically worthless. Every time I go to turn it on the breaker switch is flipped... so I have to go outside and flip the switch to make it work. I have a problem with this since we had a complete remodel done on the house just 4 years ago. All new electrical and all new air conditioning unit.... go figure!

I think Mooky has the right idea. He'll fly to his room which is mostly dark because the shutters are closed to keep the house cool and sits on the fan. He'll stay there for hours not making a sound. When he has to poop, eat or have a drink of water he'll fly to his perch in the living room to do so. The temperature in his room is always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house and Mooky is smart enough to take advantage of it!

Praying Mantis Update

2007-08-30T16:10:00.001-07:00

The other day when I went to turn the lights on in the garage I found the Praying Mantis again! I say again because I believe it’s the same Praying Mantis from my post titled “Garden Visitors” but of course I have no way of knowing for sure. But I’m pretty convinced it’s the same one since the garage door is just a few feet away from the planter where the cone flowers are planted & we usually keep the garage door open all day.

I put a piece of paper towel near him to crawl onto so I could place him back in the garden. He seemed happy to get back to the cone flowers but since then I haven’t seen him… maybe he snuck back into the garage!

Tomatoes and More Tomatoes!

2007-08-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Let me start this post out by saying that I love tomatoes... the more the better!

In the past seasons I planted my vegetables in containers because of those little critters called Gophers. I can remember one year weeding in the garden and just like in a cartoon I saw one of my green bean plants disappear down a gopher hole. Since I didn't see many traces of gophers this year I decided to plant my tomatoes directly into the ground. The only problem was that the plants grew so fast I never got a chance to stake them properly as you can see in the first photo.

After getting such a bountiful harvest from these messy looking unsupported plants I’m considering never taking the time to stake again!

Blue Bathroom Ducky

2007-08-14T16:11:00.001-07:00

That's one Big Blue Ducky...

But I'm going in anyway!

What, did you think a Blue Duck would stop me?

And I made it!

Shredding toilet paper and protecting the bathroom linen closet with his life is just another one of Mooky’s favorite past times. With luck on his side he’ll sneak past the The Stuffed Army , slip through the living room blockade and waddle down the hallway to the linen closet hoping not to be intercepted by either Bill or me. Once he’s made it through this obstacle course and into the bathroom he may find the linen closet door closed… drats his plans are foiled. And if it’s open he still has the Blue Bathroom Ducky to deal with!

It depends on his mood because on this day he wasn’t about to let the Bathroom Ducky stop him… let’s face it he went through a lot to chew on some toilet paper.

Garden Visitors

2007-08-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

So I spent another Saturday working in the garden. You know the usual stuff pulling weeds, trimming things and planting some new plants I got at the Farmer's Market. I originally intended to post photos of my progress in the garden and the new plants I planted but since I had the opportunity to take these pictures I decided to post them instead.

The Praying Mantis has been on the Cone Flower since Saturday and was still there as of this Wednesday morning. I keep hoping that I'll have the good fortune to photograph him devouring another creature but so far nothing.

Not that this has anything to do with these lovely creatures I posted but I wanted to share one frustration I have and that is the supposed kink-free hose that always kinks! I even invested in one of those coil hoses and guess what it kinked more than the regular hose.

Does anyone else share this frustration?

I Want To Be Taken Seriously

2007-07-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend I tried to get a new video clip of Mooky to post but he just wasn’t having any it. He’s turned into quite the little temperamental Star. Nope… there was no performing from him this weekend. Oh he was up to his usual Mooky tricks but purely for his own entertainment. Maybe he wants to be taken serious. You know like when Julia Robert’s cut all of her hair off and Johnny Depp didn’t want to be cute anymore.

I think this photo portrays Mooky's serious side... what do you think?

A Small View of my Garden

2007-07-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Cone flowers, French Lavendar, Butterfly Tree, & Sage.

Newly planted Cone Flowers.

I like to plant vegetables & herbs anywhere I can find room... here you can see some Swiss Chard & Basil.

Saturday I spent time planting and cleaning up this planter and the planter on the opposite side of it which has 2 huge Mexican Sage plants & a Rosemary bush. (I'll post pictures of them another time when they're in bloom.) It was a beautiful day, a little warm but tolerable.

Eventually I hope to have a completely drought tolerant garden. This area is just the start... it's filled with French Lavendar, Yarrow, Cone Flowers & a couple of other plants I can't remember the names of but are also drought tolerant.

Dinosaur Roar

2007-07-18T10:55:00.001-07:00

I recently got a SVP Digital Comcorder for my birthday which turned out wasn’t very Mac compatible. So after doing some research online I found this very easy to use, inexpensive, compact replacement and best of all Mac compatible called the Flip Video Camcorder. So far I’m very pleased with it but I can’t say the same for Mooky. He seems to be a little leery of this new device which doesn’t make sense to me since he’s such a ham when I take his picture with my digital camera.

But luckily he seems to be warming up to it and I was able to get this small sample of his Dinosaur Roar to post. Hope you enjoy it and who knows what video clips the future may bring!

Mooky's Wingys

2007-07-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend Mooky was very cooperative. He must have sensed I was desperately in need for a photo to post. While I was watching some silly movie on the Lifetime Movie Network (Please tell me I’m not the only one who watches LMN movies!) he was whistling (The Bridge Over the River Kwai theme song), singing & flapping his wings. So I thought let me pull myself away from this movie that I have probably already seen 3 times or more & see if I can get a photo of his antics. I went over to him with my camera and just simply said “Wingys” and to my surprise he started flapping his wings for me.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them because I got so many good shots I will have to do a Mooky's Wingys Part II.

Company Dog

2007-07-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

We found this little fellow in an Industrial Sewing Machine shop in Chinatown. He looked so adorable I asked Bill to take his picture for my blog. He appeared friendly enough, that is until Bill started to take his picture... the closer Bill got to him with the camera this cute little dog would silently growl causing his body to jerk. After experiencing his reaction to Bill we understood why the owner(s) of the shop feel confidant to leave the door wide open when they’re not around!

Is this fuzzy little dog a Pomeranian?

Crazy Bathing Bird

2007-06-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is our crazy bathing Mooky machine. He just goes wild when he decides he’s going to take a bath in his water dish. Depending on my mood I may remove his dish just because I don’t feel like cleaning up the aftermath. Oh and he gets water everywhere… on the floor, on the shutters & completely soaks the newspapers on his perch. Yes, fun for him and work for me or at least that’s how I see it sometimes.

He looks soaked or somewhat soaked here because I gave him a shower and let him finish in his dish. By the way he hates going in the shower but he’s a good sport and tolerates it… although I may leave the shower with a couple of war wounds.

Samson

2007-06-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is Samson our neighbor's dog.

Everyday around 5 or 6pm he comes around and waits for his daily dog biscuit… he prefers the bacon & cheese ones but who wouldn’t. He’ll wait patiently never barking or whining but I have found him looking into our bedroom and/or bathroom windows to see where I am.

This really isn't the best picture of Samson but I love the reddish orange sky & his white eyes that make him look a little scary. But he’s actually far from scary he’s just a big & gentle Samoyed.

The Blair Mooky Project

2007-06-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Each night we are confronted with shrieking and sounds so haunting that we are convinced someone is following us, and we quickly begin to fear for our lives.

Not really! I stole that sentence off of Blockbuster.com from the synopsis for "The Blair Witch Project" because this shot of Mooky reminded me of the well known scene of that sniveling girl who has her face all up in the camera. Mooky can be evil at times but not shrieking or haunting... well maybe shrieking!

San Gabriel River Bike Path

2007-06-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

This beautiful & friendly horse we saw along the bike path loved having her picture taken. There was also a colt that looked just like the horse in the pic... same color and same white spot on her head. The colt wasn't quite as cooperative though. She was very friendly too but she would come so close the to camera I couldn't get a good shot of her... Oh well maybe next time.

The goats on the other hand tried to get as far as they could away from me but that's okay because I like how they look all huddled together.

And finally me walking down a hill that we thought would lead us out into the neighborhood but "Not" and I'm glad it didn't because it forced us to follow the bike path to the end. This turned out to be one of our better & longer adventures (6+ hours) the weather was great & we got to explore areas we were never in before.

There You Are

2007-06-01T15:06:00.001-07:00

Once in a while Mooky gets lucky and we forget to put up the barricade that prevents him from sneaking off into other areas of the house causing damage. (The barricade is a bamboo room divider with a fake crow perched on top… One of these days I’ll post a picture of it.) This day I caught him in our walk-in closet snooping around my shoes for what reason I’m not exactly sure. Though I have to admit he can be cute when he’s caught… sometimes he says “Eh!” & other times he just puffs up like he did in this photo.

Grasshoppers... Help!

2007-05-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

As a kid I used to love Grasshoppers. I would catch one hold it's mouth against my finger and sing "Spit Tobacco, Spit Tobacco, Spit on my hand & if you do I'll let you go!" They would spit something that looked like tobacco on my finger and I would keep my promise and let them go.

Can’t say I love them so much anymore. Actually I consider them one of the biggest pests in my yard & garden. They will chew on almost any type of plant. I found this Grasshopper hidden on a branch of my Princess Tree. I also noticed an abundance of the little green baby Grasshoppers on my tomato plants this weekend. The babies are cute but very destructive.

Mooky & Our Stuffed Army

2007-05-22T22:09:00.001-07:00

Mooky with Mr. Golden Retriever, Mr. German Shepherd & Mr. Gorilla. This is our army of stuffed animals that we place around the house to prevent/frighten Mooky from venturing off & chewing on things he's not supposed to... like baseboards, bathroom closet doors and anything else he finds tempting. (One of these days I will post pictures of the damage he has done around the house.) First we started out with the Gorilla and it worked well for awhile but then its effectiveness wore off so we added the 2 dogs to our army of stuffed deterrents. But after catching Mooky chewing on the Golden Retriever’s eye I’m thinking we need to grow our army... any ideas?

Mooky's Buddy

2007-05-18T10:02:00.001-07:00

This is Mooky’s “Birdy Buddy.” Or maybe he considers it his little soft cuddly purple pal or maybe his teddy bear… who knows. What I do know is that he loves it! As you can see it's a fuzzy piece of material that ties to the bars of his cage just above his perch. When he goes in his cage for the evening he snuggles up against it to stay warm or maybe for comfort.

Isn't he just too cute... sorry I couldn't help myself!

Lizard Rock & Crazy Angel Trumpet Tree

2007-05-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

Growing up in New Jersey I didn’t encounter lizards. When I first moved to California and saw one of these little Fence Lizards I nearly broke my neck trying to get away from it. Since then I have come to accept their presence and I'm ashamed to admit they still frighten me on occasion especially when I find one in the house. They love sunning on this rock in my garden... they'll lounge on it until they almost turn black in color.

Here's an interesting fact: Researchers have found out that the protein in these lizard's blood kills Lyme Disease bacteria. (For more info click on the Link)

This is my crazy Angel Trumpet tree. The flowers are beautiful but it grows like a weed & blooms more times then I can count in a season. This year it has more blooms than ever which I think is a good thing but I'll soon have to get my clippers to keep it under control! By the way the flowers are very fragrant also.

Travel Time

2007-05-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a couple photos of Mooky in the car on our way to Sonora. He loves to go on road trips, although judging from the first photo you might not have guessed that. He’ll whistle, kiss, sing & sometime if we’re lucky he'll do his dinosaur growl.

This is a new travel cage that made loading & unloading him in the car much easier. I'm sure he would have preferred to have his bigger cage but it can't always be about Mooky. Despite the size of his cage he seemed to enjoy himself and so did we.

Walk The Walk

2007-05-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

I am aware this is just Mooky walking but I find it so funny. I guess because of his clumsy body type. Actually I crack up every time I see it. I think it also looks like a screen test for a movie, commercial etc.

I will be out of town until Monday. Bill is having a paint out in Sonora, California.

Please check out his site California Painter for some amazing paintings.

Hope I don't miss much while I'm gone.

Bedtime

2007-04-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

Not the prettiest photo but I thought it was worth a post. This is Mooky in his bed. It’s a big round pillow covered with a twin size fitted sheet. When it starts to get dark out Mooky will ask for his Blankie as he calls it. If I don’t respond to him quickly he repeats “Blankie, Blankie, Blankie!” He sleeps there until I go to bed and then I’ll put him in his cage but first he'll have a poop in the toilet and a drink of water. I make sure he poops first because he won't poop in his cage. I know probably too much information. And sometimes as a real treat I’ll let him stay under his Blankie all night!

Wild Parrots of San Gabriel Valley

2007-04-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bill was actually lucky enough to get a couple of photos of the wild parrots that have become residents of the San Gabriel Valley. I say lucky because they usually perch very high up and never, that I have seen, come down to the ground. After reading a few articles it seems there are over 8 different species. This one I think is a Red-Crowned Amazon. Several rumors circulate regarding there presence the most common being that a pet store burned down and the parrots escaped. I have no idea what the truth is but since I'm a parrot/bird lover I think they're great to have around even though they can be a bit noisy.

Mooky of course could care less about them since I don’t believe he considers himself a bird!

Sunday Morning Fun

2007-04-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

A few months back Mooky decided that on Sunday morning he was going to make a big mess (for me) by chewing the newspaper I use to line his perch. I’m not sure how he knows it’s Sunday but I think it’s because on Sunday mornings I make breakfast and we all eat together. I even make him his own little breakfast sometimes it’s a boiled egg that I mash up or tiny little pancakes. After he’s had enough to eat he climbs down his perch and turns into a shredding machine. And by the look on his face you can see he takes it very seriously.

Lonely Dove

2007-04-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I have a birdbath in the front yard among my Japanese maple & Gardena bushes. It is frequently visited by Morning Doves, Blue Jays, Starlings & Wild Finches.

Occasionally I have even found the neighbor's big black & white cat perched on it hoping that maybe, just maybe the birds won’t notice that he’s a CAT.

Is Nothing Private Anymore

2007-04-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Little candid moments like this one used to be just between Mooky and myself but now since Mooky's Hood nothings sacred. Last night I was putting Mooky in his cage when he grabbed a hold of his cage cover and flopped over on his back trying to avoid the inevitable. Well needless to say the first thought that popped into to my head was this is a Blog Moment... so I ran & grabbed my camera while he layed there patiently and let me take his photo.

I think he's a ham at heart.

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Where Do All The Peanuts Go?

2007-04-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Each morning I put out 6 peanuts on the railing of our deck for the pair of Blue Jays that have made our yard their home. 6 peanuts a day equals 2,190 peanuts per year... that's a lot of peanuts. Obviously they eat them and I've watched them carefully bury/hide them in the yard and I've also withnessed the squirrels wait for the Jays to fly off before they go and reap the rewards. I also wonder if my neighbors find peanuts in their yards when gardening?

Glamour Shot

2007-04-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

We have Mooky's perch near the sliding glass door so he can look out into the backyard and also communicate with Bill when he is up in his art studio working. This shot is from the outside in. I call it a glamour shot because of the way the light hit the screen making it look golden almost romantic, if you will. I know that's a stretch.

Mooky Flying Into Painting

2007-03-31T11:48:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why Mooky does this but it is sort of fun to watch. I know the video is a little slow/long in some spots but hang in there the last shot is the best!

One weekend I was sitting on the sofa wathing TV and I heard Mooky taking brief flights off of his perch. When I turned around he just stood there like he wasn't up to anything. So I waited patiently with camera in hand for him to do it again and of course he couldn't help himself. Maybe he really likes the painting or maybe he thinks it's a portal into another world.

Anyone else out there ever see your bird do something like this?

Blogging

2007-03-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Mooky wasn't happy with me posting pictures of chickens on his blog so he decided to take matters into his own feet.

Chickens

2007-03-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

On one of our weekend bike rides we were lucky enough to find a farm not far from our home with these beautiful, fat chickens. At first the chickens were hiding in their barn but the owners were kind enough to throw seed to them so they would come out so we could take pictures. I don't remember what kind of chickens the owners said they were but after a little research online I believe they are Cochin Chickens. If there are any chicken experts out there... please correct me if I'm wrong.

Mooky's Turkey Friend

2007-03-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken a few years ago in Big Sur where we rented a cabin off the beaten path. It was very quiet but the best part for me were the wild turkeys & chickens roaming around. This one turkey (you have to look very closely) took a liking to Mooky. He would come up to the window and stare in. We were actually surprised that Mooky wasn't afraid of the turkey... maybe he figured out he was safe behind the window or maybe he liked the turkey too.

The Sack Destroyer

2007-03-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

This is an invention we came up with for Mooky that we call "The Sack." It is made out of standard size lunch bags, an empty cardboard paper towel roll cut in half & corks. It's filled with dried pasta & peanuts and then hung from his perch. Unfortunately when he really concentrates on getting the treats out it doesn't take him long to destroy "The Sack." Luckily he hasn't lost interest in it, like he did with store bought parrot toys.

Shower Curtain Rod

2007-03-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Mooky loves to perch on the shower curtain rod... when we don't remember to shut the bathroom door he will fly to it the first chance he gets.

2007-02-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

One morning while having my tea outside I was lucky enough to get a good picture of this humming bird enjoying a taste of the Cape Honeysuckles!

Geese

2007-02-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

I know these are geese and they weren't really in Mooky's Hood! We took a walk last Sunday around a local park which as you can see had an abundance of geese & ducks and we even saw one swan.

Mooky's Portrait

2007-02-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

This is a portrait of Mooky done by Bill Wray. He has a kernel of corn in his foot and the evil eye expression he so often directs towards Bill!

Mooky & His Ducky

2007-02-13T14:47:00.002-08:00

In time the duckys are chewed up into little pieces of rubber!

Mooky In His Cage

2007-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Mooky reluctantly coming out of his cage.

This is strange because he always reluctantly goes in his cage!

Crazy Bathing Bird

2007-01-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Mooky doesn’t like bathing much. Sometimes I think it’s more to entertain himself or a way to interact with us. He’ll run around his perch as I try to trickle water on his head with my fingers. It’s fun to watch how excited he gets but not fun to clean up the mess that he makes. Water gets everywhere except for on him!