Wednesday, February 7, 2018

HAPPY BATHDAY!!!

For those who have never been up close and personal with a bird, parrot, macaw or otherwise, they are WEIRD.  Most of you know this is my little buddy Jonathan who travels with me everywhere.  It's like a traveling zoo in my house.

I hand fed Jon from an egg because in the old days I got a strange hankering to raise exotic birds.  The aviary was 50 feet wide and 100 feet long.  In other words, BIG.  Cooled with huge swamp coolers and warmed by the sun in the biggest greenhouse on the West Coast, the birds thrived.  That means they paired up and produced lots of eggs, unlike most aviaries of the time.

Jonathan was the last one to survive the bankruptcy (not really, but the market for birds fell in the toilet), so I kept him.  Her actually.  You couldn't tell what sex they were until they displayed at around 8-9 years of age.  You COULD have them surgically sexed, which we did with some, but it was rather traumatic and expensive.

Yes, Jonathan is a 46 year old girl.  I'm just as shocked as you are that he's lived this long.  A very strange girl when it comes to loud noises like vacuum cleaners.  Every cleaning day, Jon loves the noise and screams loudly while taking his weekly bath .... in his water bowl.
I've tried the spray bottle --- he hates it.  I've tried a big bowl in the bottom of the cage --- he hates it.  I've tried the kitchen faucet --- he hates that too.  The only thing that floats his boat is to dip his head in the water bowl and fling it around, letting droplets hit his outstretched wings.
His head gets soaked and he looks like a drowned rat.  His feathers, not so much.  As long as the vacuum runs, Jonathan bathes.  What a pretty boy!!!!
Once I cleaned up the watery mess on the floor, I took to baking again.  Last year at Food In Root Market in Northern Tucson, I tasted a sticky toffee pudding that the nice lady said was pretty hard to make.  An English pudding ... not really, it's more like cake ... that was delicious.
There's nothing better than a baking challenge in my book, even if I do mess things up occasionally.  Okay, OFTEN, but I try hard.  Turns out these aren't that hard to make after all, except for the strange main ingredient.  DATES!!  Who knew??  

So while in Indio, I picked up a few (which I hate, by the way) and gave it a shot.  Just let me say they were HEAVENLY!!  Although a little time consuming, which keeps me out of the antique stores (good for my wallet), they were really easy to make.  They taste something like extra moist carrot cake smothered in brown sugar syrup.  You can't beat that!!
Today Chef Patty and I are heading off to Tubac for their yearly festival of the arts.  There's everything from handmade pottery to original oil paintings to hand carved wooden lamps.  I can't wait to fulfill my list with beautiful Mexican pottery.




8 comments:

  1. Oh that pudding looks awesome amazing that Jonathan is 46 years old

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amazing is right, considering they have a pretty finicky diet and are hard to keep alive!!! They live to be around 75 years old if you treat them right.

      Delete
  2. I had an idea you two were heading to Tubac, but I thought the festival is Thur-Sunday. Going back to your vendor/store for more of the colorful pottery you purchased last year and before? Hello Patty. Enjoy. Lynn Cross

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You KNEW we would Lynn!! They have added an extra day and it was a perfect one. Very few knew it was starting early this year so there were no crowds. A perfect day of shopping.

      Delete
  3. Interesting story about Johnathan. Must be a hoot!
    The pudding looks lovely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is pretty fun Patsy. He calls the kitty and does a cute disco dance, so you KNOW he's OLD just like his mama!!

      Delete
  4. Interesting thing to know about Jonathan. How long can parrots actually live?
    Those Date treats look nice and Dates are actually Healthy. They have a lot of their own natural sugar.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Around 75 years if you take very good care of their diet. It's a pain actually to constantly provide the right fruit and vegetables, not to mention seeds, greens and bird biscuits I bake for him.

      Delete