Grasshoppers... Help!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Technorati Profile

Where Do All The Peanuts Go?

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

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

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

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

Chickens

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

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

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

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.

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!