Denestifying

Sometimes my person can be so mean. Yesterday she was walking around with that nasty little vacuum cleaner, letting it run its snout all around my cage and play area. That was bad enough, but then she looked behind the printer and discovered a nest I had been making. I had done quite a lot of work on it and filled up that cozy little dark corner with popsicle stick splinters and chewed-up bits of cardboard, including all the pieces from the raisin box my aunt sent me for Christmas. I had done a pretty good job on that nest, if I do say so myself. But instead of praising me for a job well done and instead of respecting my space, what do you think my person did? She let that nasty little vacuum cleaner get in there and suck everything up. I stood on top of my cage and squawked my protests the whole time, but no one paid any attention to poor little me. It’s kind of confusing because usually my person is very nice. She cuddles me and gives me head scratches and feeds me treats and keeps my water bottle and food dish full, but then she goes and pulls something like this. What a meanie.

Jammin’

I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before how much I love berry jam. It’s so seedy! I especially like the jam my person makes from the wild berries that grow around here. It makes even the coldest, snowiest winter day feel a little bit like summer. My person and I frequently share a midmorning snack of wild berry jam on toast, which I enjoy very much. The only thing is that usually I end up with my beak all covered with sticky jam and toast crumbs. That wouldn’t be so bad except that my person thinks it makes me look funny and she laughs at me. She thinks she’s so smart, until I wipe my beak clean on whatever happens to be handy, which is usually the sleeve of her shirt. We parrots always like to get the last laugh.

Same Old, Same Old

I know I’ve been behind with my blogging this month, but there just hasn’t been much new to report. The days just go peacefully by in the same old way: I eat my morning walnuts, share a bowl of cereal with my person, sit on her shoulder, nip her ear when I want attention, chew on a bag or bottle cap, look out the window and squawk, take a nap on my perch, eat, chew, nip, squawk, nap, eat, chew, nip, squawk, nap. It’s a great life!

December

Here it is almost half way through December and I’ve hardly blogged at all this month. It must be because it’s that hibernating time of year when we snuggle cozily in our cages and listen to the cold winds howling outside. Of course, those dumb robins think they have to fly thousands of miles south to find a warm place where they can eat worms all winter. I’ve never heard of anything dumber in my life. Why travel so far just to eat worms when you can stay in the comfort of your own cage nibbling on shredded wheat and walnuts? Nope, you’ll never catch me migrating. I just don’t see the point.

In the Bag

As a female parrot, I’m very nest oriented, so I’m always looking for dark enclosed places to hang out in and chew. That’s why I just love bags. The other day, my person hung one of those reusable shopping bags on the chair where we usually sit, so I figured I’d help her reuse it. She used it for shopping and now I’m reusing it for playing. Some times I hang on the outside of the bag and chew my way in. Other times I stick my head inside and chew my way out. Either way it’s really fun and I’m amassing quite a good pile of little green bag bits on the floor below. Of course, when my person sees that, she threatens to bring out the vacuum cleaner, and we know how I feel about that monster. Sigh. I guess everything has its little drawbacks.

Nudge

Sometimes even the best of people need a little reminder. While I’m the first to acknowledge that my person is very kind and attentive, even she needs a little nudge every once in a while. The other day it was about my seed treat, which my person gives me every afternoon. Sometimes it comes early, sometimes later, but it always tastes good whenever it arrives. The other day, my person had happened to leave the seed treat container out on top of the cabinet instead of inside it, so I had a good view of it from my cage. All afternoon I was eyeing that treat container, wondering when my person would finally open it up and give me my treat. Every time she went near it, I thought, “Now! Now! I’m finally going to get my treat!” But it didn’t happen. The day dragged on, the sky started to grow dark, and still my treat hadn’t appeared. I realized I would have to take matters into my own beak, so to speak. So I left the comfort of my cage and flew over to the treat container and started poking around it, trying to find the way in. Finally my person realized what I was doing and, full of apologies, she opened the container and gave me my treat. At least she didn’t make me chew all the way through the lid myself. Not that I couldn’t, but can you imagine! It would’ve taken a good while. The treat tasted delicious and I forgave my person for her forgetfulness right away. After all, nobody’s perfect, right?

Giving Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This year I’m giving thanks for all the friends who surround me:
- the furnace, who keeps us warm all winter
- the toaster oven, who ticks and dings and makes delicious toast for me to eat
- the coffeepot, who entertains me with its gurgling noises
- the refrigerator, who keeps my walnuts fresh and tasty
- the paper shredder and the pencil sharpener, who are always ready for an interesting conversation
- Trouble the gray parrot, who always brings grapes when she comes to visit
- my person, who takes good care of me and one day might buy me my very own grapes