The Realm

Chris is doing better. He's two days ahead of me. I'm better too but not really well enough to be up and doing anything. I lost some tadpoles during this which I'm not happy about. Transitioning from tadpole to frog always seems to have risks even if the tadpole was eating and healthy. I don't know why. I hate that. but the worst thing was today my parrotlet Melville died. I was well enough to do bird dishes. Chris went out to the patio to feed birds and tells me "Melville died." I couldn't believe it when I heard it. What? Why?? He was totally fine yesterday. What I can tell is a snake got on the patio, tried to eat him, couldn't and left. His feathers were matted with dried saliva but he has wide shoulders so the snake was not able to finish him. We looked everywhere but could not find the snake. We don't know how it got in or out on our patio. It's been a long time since something like this has happened. I'm very upset. Melville was a nice bird. He acted like a jerk a times and was loud but he did not bite and you could pet and grab him. I had plans to breed him with Nautica. Nautica liked him and he could talk a little bit. He could say "Ahoy Melville." I'm very upset. Sudden unexpected deaths are the worst. And I had forgotten how expensive parrotlets are. I don't know how I was able to afford him. I won't buy from the breeder I got him from since it was not a good experience but out of curiosity I went to her site. Yike!! How did I ever afford him? And even if I could get another one it would be a baby. I think adults are hard to find so that would be another year wasted waiting to breed. Parrotlets live longer than budgies at least so if I want to try again I can. When I get better I NEED to build the nestbox for Whitey and Minion. Time's wasting and I can't let the lacewing gene go extinct. I think I'm a lot better physically but I'm very crappy feeling right now after the loss of my bird. That snake better not show up because I will chop its head off.
EDIT: Snake has been dispatched.
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I'm very happy with how things are coming along. A few weeks ago I bought a linen cabinet to use as a bird pantry. I keep all the bird food, toys and dishes in it for the outside flock. My birds in my room, Minion and Nautica, have a small wall size one. I bought a second one because I love these so much to actually use for us in the bedroom. We have a black one I inherited from my mom but I've never liked it. The first one was easy to build. I only needed Chris to hold the door so I could get it on. But this one though the same model had damage in shipping. Luckily I was able to fix it with wood glue. It has a few cracks but I can fill those in and paint them. I'm glad it worked and it gave me way more problems than the first one. But it's finally done. Renovation has started for Chris's bathroom too. I bought him a new sink vanity, new mirror medicine cabinet (the old one broke and I had to) and a replacement cabinet all in white which will look great with the ocean Subnatica theme. I also bought the first paints from Lowes. I have lots of drywall repair to do first but then I hope to start on the fun part which is the painting. For now I will make just a blue gradient and a simple flat ocean floors. Later on I will add detail. Putting all the cabients back on the wall will let me know how much room I have to play with too so I'm not going to bother drawing rocks and plants because I don't want them to be covered up as I don't know where the new furniture will go exactly.

Here's what I'm hoping to draw on the main big wall.



( More stuff )
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I got a cool cabinet the other day. Been wanting this for ever. It's to organize my bird supplies. It's for a bathroom medicine cabinet but I tend to end up using most things not for their intended purposes. Here is a video showing how I put it together.


https://youtu.be/apjfAAaJa9s

I found out something weird about youtube. If you make a locked post and you're not logged in you don't see the day of the calendar lit up even if that's the only post you made. I don't like that because then it's not accurately logging you posted something even if it's locked.

Yesterday was like another birthday for me. Well this whole month is one big celebration be it birthday or anniversary. Chris worked a half day then came home and we just hung around. His parents had invited us to a birthday meal at Alexander's steak house. Chris and I both love that place. He had to drive me as I still didn't get my new drivers license. This was the year to renew it and though I sent it in two weeks ahead of time it's a government run organization so it took way longer. I finally got that today so I'm legally able to drive again. YAY. But it's ugly. It has a retro look. The old license was so Florida with the sun set on the beach and the green header at the top. This looks like a 70s government document alright. Boring. So we had a really nice meal there and I got two more Amazon cards. I still don't know what I want to get with them or hold on to them until Christmas to get something big. I really want an entertainment set for my game systems and dvd player. Not sure I can hold out that long or for the next sale holiday. We'll see. So after that we came home and saw a lovely storm. That night we watched Danger Bay and talked.

Today some delayed gifts finally came in as well as stuff I treated myself to. I got my first half sider Nautilus. I didn't know there was such a thing. I know about white ones and normal ones but this is the best of both worlds. One side is polished white. This is quickly one of my faves. I'm not a fan of polished or pearlized nautiluses but I've never seen one like this. Even the natural side has a nice gloss that makes it nice to touch. I don't have a good pic of it yet but here it is in the new budgie cabinet.



It looks very nice there but that may not be its permanent home. With all this nautilus collecting I'm doing I want to make some changes to the house. I was having a conversation with jokerforever about making part of the house into a mini natural history museum. I already own neat stuff like a cat skull, shells, feathers, dried pitchers, minerals etc. So yes, having something in that's patterned after a museum and nicely organized would be great. When I was a kid I remember having collected feathers and things and taped them to card board and named them with scientific name and location. I had one side of my room set up and remember thinking I wanted a real display in my house. Well I'll keep that promise to myself. I was the kind of kid that I made serious long term promises like that and people thought it was just my imagination. No I'm making good on those now. So I want to eventually get some nice glass display cases.

Since I'm getting into shell collecting I found this journal showing a room set up this way that's so nice.
http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/2014/10/15/the-rambo-seashell-shellaboratory/
Of course mine won't be just for shell. But I love the white and blue thing going on here. I am planning to get those white book shelves and replace the black ones I have.

So I also got John Hammond's cane today.



Here is a close up of what I call "the egg".



And here is the whole thing. Ok the good stuff first. It looks really good. It's the right length and the handle part looks like bones or bamboo. The fly is in great shape. I love the bubbles in it too. All these are unique and no two look alike. It is also a functioning cane. I can put my weight on it, though it will be on display and not to be used. I already have my walking staff for that. Now what I don't like about it.

The worst thing is the egg is slightly scratched. The top is cloudy and the side with the bug's face has some deep scratch marks. Second, the egg is too small I think. Have a look at these scenes from the movie.



And last complaint is the texture. I thought it would be smooth feeling like bamboo or glossy bones. I was expecting it to be like my staff. Nope, it's rough nasty wood fiber feel. Good thing I'm not using it as a real cane. As annoying as these things are I'm not going to ask for an exchange or refund. This is the best cane out there. Better than the official replica that costs way more. Not that this was cheap. Far from it. It is a display piece so I can live with the flaws. Oh also with my bug had all his legs. He only has two instead of six. But the pose is perfect. So it's not an exact replica but darn close.

OK, switching gears now to birds
( Nautica and Minion )
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Yesterday I let my birds play with my phone. Nautica has really fallen in love with it. She likes to look at pics of herself and other budgies. She pushes the screen and bites the lens and I happened to get this one awesome photo of her.



This looks like a scene from the hungry shark game. I was on the phone with ACTipton when this happened and we were laughing so hard.

( Few more pics )
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Got two videos I want to share.


https://youtu.be/oK7WzDpR7tQ

I love how fast she flaps on her perch. She's such a happy girl and I'm proud that I have been taking good care of her.

I have another driving compilation finished too. I think this is my best one though it's short. I had fun adding animations and funny songs and sound effects.


https://youtu.be/JsKtNJ61ojc
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I just edited this short video. I'm very happy with how funny it turned out. Amazing how editing always takes way longer than what a video is.


https://youtu.be/cFC61v4kNE8

Nautica Body Slams Minion.

So yesterday Chris and I had a nice day off. We got a lot accomplished. We did some yard work and for me I'm about 40% done with wallpapering the bathroom. It's amazing how it's looking so much like Jurassic Park. I will have progress pics soon. But for now no wall is completely done so that's why I haven't done any yet.

I got my disk drive the other day so I have now installed my art tablet. I just need to get a new scanner and I should be back in business with my art.
I'm impatiently awaiting for plants to bloom too. My first lotus is still a bud though it has gotten bigger. And my two A. paeonifolius are still buds too but I think they also have gotten bigger. Gosh hurry up already. Wish these guys would open.
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Something is wrong with Live Journal's photo hosting right now. I hope it's not that I'm on Windows 10. I can't upload images. When I try it shows a window with a folder select and a save button at the bottom. If you push the save nothing happens. I thought it was because I'm on the new computer but I tried it on my tablet and the right window pops up but the browse button is clear and you can't push it. I've sent a help request to tech support. This is very annoying. I have to host the photos on dreamwidth and they only give you 500 mb. That's nothing and I don't know if I can buy more space or if I'm stuck with that. I can make icon file sizes smaller. Been doing that since the 90s. I hope LJ fixes this issue. I need my space. Luckily I have several DW accounts I can add them all up for hosting, though I haven't logged onto some in decades.

So on to the post. I'm loving my new pets. They are lots of fun. Nautica is this mustard yellow with a little bit of green on her rump. She reminds me of the second budgie I ever had as a kid that was a heavy yellow recessive pied with no black and tiny amount of green on the tummy and rump. She was a mean nasty budgie but I loved her. My first budgie was a recessive pied the color that Phage was and hence why that will always be my fave budgie color.



Here is Nautica on my finger after a feeding. She's all scruffy and messed up. These pics are older and out dated already. I need to take some new ones, but where to host them?



Minion in Nautica's cage preening her.



They go into each other's cages though he mostly goes into hers since she has more toys. I'm hand feeding her three times a day. It was four times when I first brought her home and they seller had told me it was twice a day. No way. She needs more. She's very smart and I can grab her and pet her back but she won't let me scratch her face. Sigh, just like Bullet. I can scratch her as well as Minion does. Don't know how to convince her of that. Minion has broken nearly all his tail feathers. They were breaking when I got them. He's lousy at landing and jumping. I clipped both my birds and they are way easier to train and manage this way. I bought a large colorful ladder and have already taught them how to use it in case they fall off the cage. The stand for the cage is so nice. Ha, Nautica just fell as I type this. But she got back up. I'll film the set up soon. I found videos and pics of Nautica on the facebook page from the petstore and downloaded them. So nice to see my baby that little. When I bought her she was in a little clear box with a yellow male, I guess her brother, and a cockatiel. I found pics of the male too so I know those are the same birds as they were posted a few days before the show. It bugs me I don't don't her birthday and parantage though. No leg band and they told me they didn't breed her but got her from a breeder and they don't know which one. Something's fishy about that. Sloppy record keeping if it's even true. I don't know of any breeders that ell unweaned babies in bulk. It's rather unheard of. Most of us are reluctant to sell unweaned babies. A lot of these sellers are Spanish and I have noticed they don't get it about pet care the way we do, that they aren't just a business product to be sold. I've dealt with a lot of them and hate how impersonal they are with the birds. So good thing she ended up with me.

On the computer front, I'm loving my new computer. I love how quiet it is and how colorful. I ordered the pink and black chair. Can't wait to get it. They say it will arrive Monday and is coming from Fortworth Texas. I hope I will like it as far as comfort and durability. I hate that these chairs are online only so you can't try them out in a store. I bought white paint and hope to paint the trim or base board around the room. Then I can prepare to paint the whole room light blue.

I'm loving the lotus plants I have gotten too. What fun they are. My Space 36 Lotus is doing great and my fastest grower. My First Fall Lotus is older but only has two leaves. Space is producing five I think and the first two are bigger than when they opened. I can't wait for the first areal leaves. I also got some feeder guppies and two silver mollies for mosquito control. Chris bought those mosquito cakes and I am floored by how they work. There were lots of larva in one of the pots and I tossed in a cake over night. The next morning they were all dead but the plants and fish are unharmed. But with a lack of mosquitoes I have to feed the fish now so I got some flake food. My silver mollies are beautiful and I will take videos of them soon too. I picked up two other lotus breeds. I got a large one named Dream of Sixth Dynasty. It is a large yellow flower verging on green. Very rare color. And I got one called Love Sick Red that is a medium plant but has bright red flowers. Bright red is kind of rare. I see many called Red something but they are pink. Same for purple. They are pink. I don't think purple is in the genes for lotus the way it is for water lilies. I'm loving having found the plant store Bergen Water Gardens. I found them searching for Nepenthes but they have gotten me hooked on Lotus. This last order they send me an extra tuber of Sixth Dynasty. It's funny these plants are Asian and all mostly from China so they have funny names like that. I'm not into Asian stuff but I do like these plants from a botanical and scientific standpoint.

It's been cold for us with nights in the 50s and upper 40s. I hope that will end for good already. I've put all my plants out and don't want to bring them in on an emergency frost or anything. It's almost May for Pete's sake.

Happy early Easter if I don't post tomorrow. Easter totally snuck up on me this year. I partially decorated for it but am not ready. It's a shame because it's one of my two most fave holidays. I feel I got an early Easter gift with Nautica my yellow baby chick.
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The weather was nice today though a bit cold in the morning with lows in the upper 50s. I think I can say Spring is here now. I've been seeing phlox along the road. The Tabebuia trees are in bloom, even my fallen one. So I think it's save to start putting all the plants back outside. I can't wait to plant my American Beauty and Frankie's red dragon fruit cuttings. And finally all the plants can go back outside. Today I started treating my nepenthes for scale might as I have an infestation of those blasted things. This is what the sprayer that Joker got me is for. I hope I can kill off those little jerks and they'll never come back. Here's the article on how to treat scale on nepnethes.
https://carnivorousplantresource.com/treat-scale-damage-nepenthes/

I got a new hybrid today. I got N. merrilliana x campanulata. Both lowlanders so I hope it will get the size and pink color of merrilliana with the wide mouth of campanulata. It's a baby plant so it doesn't look like much at the moment.

The new parrot is doing ok. I haven't been too happy with how afraid he is. He seems cage bound which is not good. When I put my hand in I have to grab him because he won't step up. He just runs away. And when I have him out of the cage he tries to fly back in. He's done better when I take him into other room. Tonight in Chris's room he showed some progress but I want him to play with his toys more and not run from my hand in the cage. From what I've seen of the videos the breeder hugs and kisses them too much. I don't think anything is wrong with kissing pets but when it's all the time that the bird is in your face and covered they become afraid to be far away and is counter productive. This bird has not learned how to be independent. I want a companion and a friend. Not a clingy needy bird. Hate clingy people and I guess I don't like it in animals either. Nor cowards. I chose a parrotlet because they are supposed to be so brave. I know I haven't given him enough time but I just have a feeling. I don't know, but I'm worried. Also been trying to teach him how to use the water bottle. I ordered a bag of food. Can't wait for it to arrive this Wed.

ACTipton called me today and we talked a lot about birds. I mentioned these old classic budgie toys that used to be around in the 80s. It was a plastic budgie on a spring with clawed feet. I had several as a kid. Here's a pick.



The problem with them was the plastic peg in the spring was too short so they'd fall off once the budgie punched it and could never be fixed. Later on a design came out where it had a ball underneath as a counter weight. But I loved these original ones because they looked the most realistic and I loved how they bobbed when they did work right. I had one as a toy for myself. Don't like the new versions that are out.

While I was looking for this pic I came across something I didn't know existed and now I want it. I'm impressed with how the Japanese love budgies and small pet birds. There are these little capsule figures that are budgie mushrooms.



Who would have thought these two things would combine so well. So budgies and cockatiels that are mushrooms and wearing hats. This is so cute and I'm going to try to track these down. The one thing annoying about Japanese figures is they only have a one year run. I don't know what year these are from but they might not make these anymore. I'm so glad I got my budgie charms and budgie pillows from Japan when I did years ago because there are none left and they're super rare now. Hum, I see these are from 2014. Yes these will be very hard to track down.
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It's taken me three days to recover. I've been so tired since I got back. I hope by tomorrow I'll have normal energy again. It seems it takes me three days to recover from a trip. I'm sure it has to do with being an introvert as well. The Mr. Burns icon was perfect for me the last few days. I'm slowly trying to get my routine back online too. Chris is better too but also came home early as he's not fully recovered yet. I got my plant order in the mail today that I mailed myself. It was funny seeing a package in Chris's name with my writing and the two addresses the same. Got three hybrids of truncatas. truncata x aristolochides, truncata x tentaculata and truncata x vogelii. The last one I'm most interested in as I've seen a video of someone that has an adult plant. Huge long skinny pitchers with mottles. I had forgotten I had truncata x tentaculata already. Oops. Now I have two. But my other one isn't doing so great so maybe it's good I have a back up. The weather has been so nice that I put those outside on the shelves along with half the other nepenthes. I'm seeing signs on Spring here like the tabebuia tees are in bloom and phlox are starting to pop up along the roads. They are gorgeous when in full bloom.

But the biggest news is that I placed an order for a parrotlet today. But instead of being happy it got me really sad. I thought I was done with that and I had mourned Bullet properly already but I've just been thinking about her and was very sad today. This new bird won't replace her but poor guy has a lot to live up to as that's the big void he's filling. Also new species for me. I'm not sure what to expect exactly. I hope they'll be bold and feisty like some videos I have watched. I wish I could just see a bunch of babies in a flock and pic one after observing. I wasn't even sure what color yet. But I chose a yellow one. Wish I could have afforded a turquoise or something really colorful, but I love yellow too in birds. So tomorrow I may go to the pet store and buy some supplies like toys and his food. I get to pick him up on Sunday. That will be great. For now he'll live in Bullet's old cage which is 24" x 16" x 16". Those are the minimum dimensions for a parrotlet and eventually I plan to upgrade the cage to something bigger. A new friend for me and hopefully by having a new bird to give my love to I can stop hurting about Bullet. Oh and his name will be Ahab. I hope he'll fit his name. Though Bullet didn't fit hers like I wanted her to. I named her Bullet so she would fly like a bullet but she was always a bad flyer. Haha. Well this guy I don't care about flying. He'll be clipped when I get him anyway. I hope he'll talk. I know they don't talk as clear as budgies. They have very bad voices but I hope I can teach him some words clearly. I guess must learn phrases and words are
Ahab
I love you
Come 'ere
Gimmie a kiss
Pretty Bird
Arrr
Walk the Plank
Ahoy there
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