Thursday, May 14, 2020

Speaking Of Kids .....

Many MANY moons ago, I raised exotic birds.  Weird, right?  Honestly, I don't know where that came from.  One day I woke up and had cages full of cockatiels I was hand feeding for sale to a pet store, followed shortly thereafter by this guy.  Cute, right?

I hauled oodles of them to work with me in nondescript boxes that I kept hidden in the AC maintenance room.   It had one plug for the heating pad to keep them warm.

This was Jonathan's baby picture.  He's only about 2-1/2 inches high here with not a single feather.  He required a special liquid diet, prepared fresh every two hours.  These guys were a commitment.  I don't know how many I actually hand raised, but the parrots were only sold to people who I thought would really take care of them.
With no one suitable when it became Jonathan's turn to fledge, he just stayed ... like the teenager that never moves out.  His diet is quite extensive, but his favorite is Ritz Crackers, or any cookie you might be eating.  He has excellent eyesight and smell good enough to pick up on that cookie you are trying to hide.  He will squawk until you give him a tiny piece.  
All the while, Miss Jessie just sleeps the day away, except at breakfast and dinner.  Highly food motivated this girl is, as you can tell by her chunky figure.
Not to be outdone by the President, our governor got the Thunderbirds to fly over Southern California, NOT here.  Instead, the National Guard flew from Fresno North.  They were way too far away to get a decent picture.  In the meantime, the restaurants that opened up were closed after they bought enough product to feed everyone for the next month.  That should make them go bankrupt even faster.

Here's the numbers.  Tucson's death rate per the population is .09%.  Merced's death rate per the population is .004%.  Tucson's restaurants are open.  Merced's are now again closed.  Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason.
I try really hard to just sit, do nothing and keep my mouth shut, but it's very difficult.  I really feel like we should be fighting back or we will lose everything.  The Federal government has said open up (as have most doctors), yet the Governors are so high on control, they are not willing to let go, even though the numbers continue to drop with those states who ARE opening everything.  

Some states are now saying they will not open up until July or August.  I hope they have lots of people willing to pay twice the taxes to make up for all those going out of business.

One more quilt down as I work on five more.  All the fabric for this one was donated, so it will probably be MY next donation.  In the meantime, I'm in a spring cleaning frenzy.  I washed and waxed all the floors, washed down the front porch, melting all those mud hornet nests and planned my next outing, following Joaquin Murietta's trail.
Tomorrow morning the Chance crew should be here to pick up the horse trailer, as the last vestige of my cowgirl life disappears.  I think I'm going to cry.  The good news is Laila will be taking my place.



16 comments:

  1. Oh Jonathan was so little and cute! He's a beautiful adult too! The quilt is beautiful and giving as a donation is even better! Paying it forward! I know I have a hard time watching all this unfold. Everybody says the same thing about we should just open up, but only a few do it. I hate to see what the future holds honestly. Never would have thought any of this would happen. Laila will do you proud I'm sure, or you wouldn't be letting it go :)

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    1. Amazing how much damage can be done to our economy in three short months. All of my investment money is gone. Guess it’s a good thing I’m old and won’t be around many more years. Lol

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  2. Baby Jonathan is adorable and as Shirley say, even a handsome adult. :)
    Love the quilt colours, a nice donation for sure.
    I'm sure you are happy that the trailer is going to good friends and Laila will be a wonderful cowgirl too.
    I agree about the store and restaurant stuff. People are too paranoid now and it will hurt everything.

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    1. Jonathan thanks you!! He would go crazy watching all your wildlife!!!

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  3. Queen Nancy wants LOTS of $$$$ for states and cities, so they don't have to worry about opening up since the feds will just print more dollars. I agree with you on this. Here in Florida, we are opening up just about everything, but slowly...restaurants at 25% occupancy with 9 feet between used tables. Marcia can finally get her hair cut again next Tuesday.

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    1. She just wants to take credit for it all. They can’t keep printing money forever.

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  4. That was quite the commitment raising parrots like that. Jonathan turned out to be beautiful.
    Great looking quilt. If you don't donate it try selling it Online to recover some of your costs.
    Even here things that should be open are not and things that are should be better controlled.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time

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    1. Hmmm selling that quilt would bring more profit than a donation tax write off.

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  5. let's see..I'm in Michigan and we have the Michigan Militia who keep showing up in the state capitol carrying guns and then Whitmer extends the stay at home for two more weeks. There is another protest today and the Michigan Militia are there and Whitmer has already made comments about extending the stay at home until the middle of June! I understand the protest, believe me I do! I just wish they would keep their guns at home!

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    1. That’s crazy. I hope they keep protesting (without guns). Some governors have gotten Control happy.

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  6. I subscribe to the Green Valley newspaper...restaurants may have opened in AZ but they're not getting the attendance they expected. People would rather live with the restrictions than be one of the .09 or .004%.
    Too much is still unknown about this virus. As much as I loathe politicians and Trump in particular, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they lift the restrictions and there's a massive increase in deaths, they'll be crucified, but if they don't lift restrictions and the economy continues to fail, they'll be crucified.
    Personally I prefer that blogs stay away from the topics of politics and the virus. Let's focus on the positive of our everyday lives and our future plans instead of wallowing in misery.

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    1. There are many states who have lifted the restrictions with a continuing decrease in cases. If we don’t stand up and be vocal about losing our freedom, who will? It’s hard not to mention something so “in our face” at the moment. Especially when I’m doing absolutely nothing because nothing is open to visit or photograph!! Lol

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  7. Jonathon can pick up on a cookie you are trying to hide....just like a kid. Miss Jessie reminds me of my granddaughter Cindy. Food is a priority. I look at blogs the same way I look at Facebook. It's your blog....your Facebook account. It's what you want it to be.

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    1. Those “kids” of ours can’t be fooled!!!! Lol

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  8. I really don't think the governors are high on control, I think they're afraid of overwhelming the medical system. Despite what the administration says, there are still PPE shortages. It's not fair to ask medical people to work without it.
    Jonathon really is a pretty bird.

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    1. I can see that in New York, but this whole area has small towns with very few cases. The ones hurt are all the small businesses. Two restaurants here have closed for good. Don’t know how those families will survive.
      Jonathan thanks you!!!!!

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