Thursday, July 28, 2011

Treasures from Craigslist

I love Craigslist!!!! I have found many treasures on Craigslist over the past several years.  I have two foster birds that came to me through Craigslist.  Our livestock guardian dog, Jake, was posted on Craigslist.  Our two new rescue goats were posted on Craigslist.  And so it goes....

The other day, I took Dad with me to North Vancouver, where we picked up my latest Craigslist treasure.  It's so lovely and I have been looking for one like it for YEARS.  I have a couple of places in mind for it, but can't decide quite yet.  Here's a photo (courtesy of Moe, as you know my camera is MIA).

My latest "Craigslist" treasure!!

This cabinet is taller than me!  It's solid pine, and has SO much character.  I got it for a great price, too!  Thanks again, Moe.

I LOVE Craigslist!!!


Proud As Can Be - A Corby Starlet is Born!!

I have a sister back in Ontario.  Her name is Janet (you can visit her blog HERE) and she's married to an amazing man named Stan.  They live in a hundred-year-old farmhouse and they farm the land (can't remember right now how many acres they have).  Stan also has an interest in aircraft - namely, homebuilt aircraft!  I have visited a couple of times over the years and seen Stan's project in the big shop, but never dreamed of all the time it REALLY entailed to complete such a thing.  We got an e-mail a couple of weeks back from Stan telling us that his project was complete and that it just needed some tweaking and fine tuning.  Here is his e-mail dated June 27, 2011......

A Corby Starlet is Born

Howdy Folks,

Just thought I would send you some pics of the birthing of my brand new Corby Starlet that was 10 years in the making. Well actually some parts are ten years old and and others are every where in between. It was moved from the shop to the hanger today and I am starting to get used to the idea that this thing may actually fly! Kinda like a flying sports car and should be fun to fly once I stop my knees from knocking. Lots of testing to do yet and then will see if this thing can defy gravity.

Cheers

Stan (photos below)







I am just so proud of Stan and Stan, I can't imagine how proud YOU must be - congratulations!!!!  What an accomplishment!!  Hard to fathom the magnitude of such a task.  Can't believe it was TEN years in the making!  What dedication and determination!!!!!  We will be waiting for updates on that Corby Starlet. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Shower With a Friend?

Today I showered with two friends. Now, before you go thinking that I'm some weirdo, let me explain.  Birds need showers.  Humans need showers.  I have two shower perches in my shower so that I can take one or two birds into the shower with me to get their showers.  This helps to (ahem) "kill two birds with one stone" - if you'll pardon the pun!  :-)  It's pretty easy to just put each bird on a perch and go about having my shower.  I don't have any RECENT shower photos (only the birds, only the birds, don't worry!!! LOL), but I have a couple of old ones that I'll post.

The last three days, I've showered with 6 birds - today it was two African Greys, yesterday it was two Quakers, and the day before that, it was three Quakers.  Bella & Bobby share a perch.  My cockatiel, Cheek, does NOT like to shower nor does Elmo, another Quaker.  Elmo will sit on the top rail, though, and tell us all how it's done!! He looks so tough up there, but if I go to pick him up and put him in the water, he's bound and bent to get away - he's such a cutie-pie!

Here are the pics I promised.  They are a few years old, but at least you can get a feel for showering birds.

Maya in the shower

Maya again

Bobby (middle) & Bella and Maya in behind BEFORE getting wet!

Maya & Theodore
Most of the birds enjoy their showers.  Maya actually squawks if you hog the water - LOL!  She likes a nice, solid spray of water and turns back and forth.  Theodore doesn't really care for his showers - he keeps his feathers tight to his body and the water rolls off so he looks like he hasn't had a shower when we're finished.  Abby has no tummy feathers (she's a plucker), so she gets wet whether or not she wants to. 

So, save water - shower with a friend today!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Catching Up!

Well, it's been a very busy couple of months since I posted here.  This is just a quick post while I have a little time.  Will post more when I have more time. 

We finally got the house "water disaster" fixed up and the last tradesperson finished up last Monday.  I had no hot water in the kitchen for six weeks and no dishwasher for two months.  Wah!!!  Amazing what we get used to.  The good news is that we have a new bathroom, a newly-painted laundry room with new flooring, dd's bedroom has been re-painted and the carpeting replaced.  I also got new countertops in my kitchen.  It was a very stressful time, but it's done now.  Many thanks to OnSide Restoration, who saw us through it all. 

The bad news........the reno set us back about $16,000!  With no insurance (we DO have insurance, but they don't cover water damage over TIME), and the black mould a possible health risk to everyone, we had no choice but to go ahead and get it done.  With DH working a new job, it wasn't possible for him to do it, so we had to just bite the bullet and have it done.

I do have pics of the renos, but my camera is missing in action right now, so will upload when I can find it.  I'll try not to be such a poor correspondent.  It's just been a whirlwind time of late.