Plot twist...

So, Norbert died yesterday. I was pretty surprised to find him dead. I looked at Cheryl, Neville and Louise. They were looking down at him. Then they looked at me. I said, "What's the go?" They didn't respond. Budgies are like that. Inscrutable. Stoic. Closed mouthed. 

Just now I went outside to bring in the dried laundry. Ursula, my beauty challenged chook, was staring at something on the grass. I wandered over and found a dead budgie. Another one. Hmmm. This was grey and not mine. I suspected this one was an escapee. I wandered over to the budgie cage and looked at my three remaining budgies. They were tight lipped but exchanging furtive glances as if they knew too much. Hmmm.  

I disposed of the runaway as I did Norbert,  a weird side plot in the current story I'm writing coming to mind. Will there be a third budgie death to intrigue over? Hmmm...

So, I nearly bought a guinea pig…

 ….because I was really restless, for various reasons, so I decided to go for an aimless  drive and wander in and out of various shops and ended up in a pet store and saw some guinea pigs and I thought, “They’d go just swell with the 4 budgies and 3 chooks.” Then, in my mind, I pictured the wholesale chaos that usually occurs on the patio when the chooks and the budgies get together and decided adding a guinea pig to that might possibly be nuts.

But, you never know what I’ll do…

Of sex and car washing...

So, I went to a country market at Gordonvale, 20 mins from Cairns city, yesterday and found out about chooks from a young, dedicated chook bloke.  I learnt probably more than I will ever want to know about chook sexing. I do now know that most types of chooks can hang out together – no matter creed or colour – lesson for the mankind there and that they must have a perch to sit on as they like to contemplate their world. Fair enough. That sounds like something I would do. I made a mental note to knock up a perch when I got home. I also know that I bought two golden something or other chooks and a black speckled Hamburg and all will lay in approx two months. I found out they’re very placid creatures – somewhat a paradox to the budgie crew - and that they’re happy to sit in a box in Verity, my car, with the radio on loud and they didn’t blink when I stopped to take Verity through the laser car wash. So far they’re still alive after a night in the new digs. See? I’m not completely useless. 

Chookery...

When I went down south to visit my father at Easter, I met up with one of his carers who had a vast knowledge of chooks. That’s chickens to non-Aussies. I’ve always been interested in having some chooks as pets. So, we had a long discussion on chickens with the carer. My father listened in and added in interesting comments like ‘your mother always liked ants because they look busy’. I think that’s why I like chooks. They’re birds who look like they have things to do and places to go. Anyway, I now know exactly what I need when it comes to chookery – possibly a made up word. I do understand they only lay for a couple of years and then ‘it’s best to get rid of them.’ My father chimed in at this saying ‘Oh Amarinda can’t kill anything she names.’ I agreed that was indeed correct because I do give names to all sorts of things and once named I feel honour bound to animals, birds, insects, lizards and horny, misguided bandicoots called Neil, to make sure even if they are retired and wonky in the legs with age, they still will be able to hang out or wobble around my backyard without threat of the chop.

So, with all my new found knowledge in mind, I have started looking for a hen house. There are lots of abodes for chooks to live in. At present, I am undecided what housing requirements I want the chooks to have. I like a lot of room to do stuff in. I expect no less of any chooks who wander the grounds of XH, my home. I did check out some abodes in my lunch hour but none appealed to me. However I did buy several toys for the budgies, who are spoilt rotten for toys, while looking at chook housing. I wonder what chooks like to play with….hmmm…

Oh the drama...

So, I was talking on the telephone this morning when I looked out to the patio and noticed Wayne, my budgie, was outside his cage and Cheryl, the other budgie, and clearly the smarter one, was still inside. No, I have no idea how he got out. Frankly, he’s not that smart. Cute - but not the sharpest tool in the shed. Anyway, I got off the call and went outside and tried to catch him to put him back in. Yes, of course, he flew off. He knew an inept budgie catcher when he saw one. He circled the backyard for a while, then he sat on the roof, then he flew off and then came back again and generally hovered around trying to make his mind up. He didn’t respond to ‘get down here right now mister.’ Then, alas and alack, eventually, I no longer saw Wayne. Little bugger. I looked at Cheryl. I knew budgies needed company. I went into budgie emergency action plan A…actually I don’t have a budgie plan B.

Long story short, I have a much bigger cage and two new budgies that are apparently ‘babies’ who have bunked in with Cheryl. I was told 'you can’t tell a baby budgie's sex when they’re babies'. Frankly, I’m not into watching budgies have sex so their sex to me is irrelevant. I think enough said on budgie sex though I expect it will become the next erotic genre. Anyway, all is quiet in budgie land and Trevor and Louise are hanging out with Cheryl, who after making me chase her around her old cage with a towel to gracefully – not – bitch - put her into the new cage – is okay with the newbies.

Always have a budgie plan A. It could save your life.

The state of play in Amarinda world today...

...the budgies are tweeting and spitting seed everywhere and the sun is shining...can't complain...ok...maybe about the seed spitting thing...

Beak banging…

So, I was given some budgies. I’ve called them Wayne and Cheryl. They’re said to be incorrigible. They bang their beaks on the cage and annoy their owners. I was asked did I want them? Hmmm, irritating birds who care not what others think and do their own thing? Why yes. Welcome Wayne and Cheryl…