...and we're back!

...or I'm back. Don't know about y'all.

So, I left off with us packing and moving out so that renters could take over our place. And let me say, that is fine with us. Our island house is not very personalized, meaning all of our cluttered-life-crap is up in MA. So packing up is wicked easy - grab the clothes and toiletries, lock them in the owner's closet and away we go. The only cluttered pile I have down here is mail, and I ship the pile home when we're through with our stay. I do have a couple of photo albums to fill with pictures, but those will stay out for renters to look through. And hopefully not steal.

Hopefully.

We did lose a couple of really nice St. John towels over the summer to some renters. Who does that?? My fault for not locking them away.

But more on the house later.


Today's photos are all about the feathered friends we live with. Like I said, we moved out. Which is easy for us, but what about the birds? Normally they live in nice big roomy cages, as seen here:

Taking the cages with us was not an option as they're too big for the room we were staying in, and they're a BITCH to move. When we fly they go in tiny carriers that are able to fit under the seat in the cabin, but that wouldn't do as housing for a week, so we bought them larger travel cages that are clear all the way around. On moving day we took them out of their palaces and dropped them into the travel ones. Then they watched the Man and I deal with moving the big cages outside and around to the back of the bar where we covered them with tarps so the renters wouldn't see them. the birds weren't psyched about their temporary homes and I had to snap this picture as each one was clinging to the door like What the CRAP! We JUST got here and now we're traveling aGAIN?! Let me OUT!

No worries, they settled in once we gave them pistachios (a favorite treat). For the car ride we put them all in the backseat and I took a pic of Red and Yellow who seemed to really enjoy the ride. In their smaller carriers they don't have clear walls, so this was a new experience for them. Red especially kept her eyes on the road and enjoyed the breeze ruffling her feathers:

Gray was also back there, but we cover his cage when he goes outside...he sometimes gets freaked by the big world, and as timid as he is it will send him into a mini seizure - which is not comfortable to watch. However, with all of the plane travel in the past year and realizing he always ends up safe with us the Man and I think he's becoming more comfortable with everything. He had no issues this past week whatsoever. Little cutie.

In the new place we had a bedroom with a long chest of drawers. It was just long enough to fit all three cages next to each other and, even better, it was located in front of nothing but windows - so they had a beautiful view to look at. It was interesting to sleep in the same room as them though; the Man gets up earlier than me, and they would hear him leave (they're covered through the night) and would start their little morning routines. Which apparently includes tapping their beaks on the walls incessantly, or shaking the toys with bells on them. Not the quiet toys like rope, no, has to be the loud plastic ones with shrill bells. Which would leave me with my head buried under the pillow moaning Stop it! Quiet! only to hear the bell stop for a second before starting up again.

We moved back in our house last Thursday and set the birds back up in their big cages on Friday. Instead of keeping them downstairs in the main room we are now keeping them in an upstairs bedroom. For the following reasons:

A) Red bird can be LOUD and trust me when I say her scream has a way of bursting right into your brain while making toddlers cry. She's just happy, and letting the world know, but after awhile it's too much and we would end up rolling her cage into the downstairs bedroom and shutting the door. Don't feel bad, she didn't seem to mind the alone time. After screaming like a two year old for twenty minutes she would start whistling, chirping and talking to herself Hello. Hello. Hello. It's the cutest thing to hear her talk, but she doesn't do it in public, only when she's been banished. Downstairs is also where the Man takes business calls, and you really can't have a bird screaming in the background. Not hugely professional.

B) When we have rowdy parties (like we will for all the playoff games) the birds really shouldn't be downstairs as people stay way late. Birds should be going to bed and waking up with the sun, and if we're partying late or watching TV downstairs past 11 it puts them off of their schedule. Plus I caught one of our buds giving my baby yellow a sip of his drink during a party, and pretty much bitch-slapped him for it. We started rolling them into the bedroom downstairs and shutting the door during parties, but now they'll be locked away upstairs which is better for everyone.

C) When the cages are gone and we pull out the decor that's supposed to be along that wall the downstairs looks really really nice. And we decided we wanted to keep it that way. We have four bedrooms here, and for the next few months any visitors coming will only need two at the most, so the birds will own that bedroom. Here they are, I just snapped this picture this morning:



The room is not as dark as it appears, and they're very happy to have a nice breeze coming through all day. And for those afternoons/evenings when we want to bring them downstairs to hang with us we put together these playgyms that are where their big cages used to be:

Now the bamboo on the left can stay put. The wiry stuff to the right of the white pillar also goes under the blue picture, but it looks good where it is for the moment. And with the huge cages gone we no longer have to shove the dining room table out of place. It's a win win.

So there you go, you now have your fill of bird life. I hope you're all enjoying the new year so far!