Crackers First Trick!

I have been watching videos on youtube of GCC's doing tricks. There are some really talented birds out there. Crackers loves her safflower seeds - and she'll do just about anything for one; so I figured I would would use that as bait to get her to learn a trick. Here are the results.....

I was pretty impressed that she learned these tricks in just one day. In reality she learned them in about an hour's time. I can't wait to teach her more tricks though. I keep going over them with her during the course of the day so she will remember, and she does them everytime. Well - unless she has an audience apparently. My nephew Darren was over on Saturday and she was so interested in him that she wouldn't do the tricks...crazy bird!

*GCC = Green Cheek Conure*

Cheese Puff

For those of you who don't know - Crackers is our Green Cheek Conure (GCC). She was our first bird, but now she has a friend and his name is Cheesy (He is a GCC too). We got Cheesy on December 31, 2010 - I fell in love with him when I went to the pet store to get something for Crackers. Here is the picture I sent to Gabe explaining to him that I found a new friend...

He called me and told me to "step away from the bird". I’m pretty sure I stood in front of his cage for about an hour playing with him. He was so silly and funny. He kept hoping around, rubbing his back on the glass and lying on his back rocking back and forth! I took a video with my phone but unfortunately I couldn’t upload it. So I just used my camera to video tape my phone. It was this or nothing - and I really wanted you to be able to see it.

He kept doing that and I just couldn't resist him! So when I got home I talked Gabe into going to the pet store with me and taking a look at him. Lucky for me - Gabe liked him too and it didn't hurt that he was on sale. Well, he was on sale till the end of the year (aka the next day). We went home and said a prayer - wanting to make sure he would be a good fit for our family. We felt good about it and that he would indeed make a great addition. The next day Gabe got off work early we went to grab some lunch before we went to the pet store. They were experiencing a power outage. So we got in the car to leave and it literally took us fifteen minutes to get out of the parking lot! (Kohl’s is in the same parking lot and all their customers were leaving too – ugh). By the time we went full circle the power had come back on at the restaurant. Ha! We had lunch and headed to the store. We got there and surprise surprise - there was a power outage there too. They couldn’t take credit/ atm or check – only cash. We went to the bank and came back to collect our cheese puff.

He is adapting well to his new environment, considering what he has been through. Apparently he had a very bad experience when they clipped his flight feathers and he was somewhat traumatized. He had also been returned to the store once before. He hasn’t really come out of his cage very much since we’ve got him. He feels very safe in there and hasn’t had the desire to venture out. Which is way different than how Crackers was, she couldn’t wait to come out of her cage. She is still the same way – she hates it when we leave the room and she always wants to be near someone.

But he is making amazing progress! For the past week or so I have put his cage next to my desk and I feed him food. I leave the cage door open so he knows that he can come out if he wants to. Today, for the first time(when I started typing this), he decided he was going to go for it. It’s really exciting because I know that he is making progress! He feels safe enough to come out and be on the top of his cage. Baby steps! Oh and he took his first shower today too. Did you know that birds like to take showers? Both of mine love it and I’ve read that most birds do. They just sit on my finger, close their eyes and enjoy every minute of it!

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

Chicken and Red Potatos

I cooked last night. I know big surprise right? For those of you who know me - you know I'm not a cooker, I'm not a baker, I'm not a candlestick maker. Well, I have cooked, I have baked and a candle or two I have maked er made. I may cook, but I'm not a cook. Not yet. I will be though. Just watch!

After finishing up at Cal Family Fitness (and wondering why on earth I ate that Reece's Peanut Butter Cup an hour prior) I thought about grabbing something fast - because I was starving! I was good though and instead of fast food I headed to the grocery store. I was really in the mood for some chicken, but given my experience (or lack thereof), I opted for the rotisserie chicken and figured I'd save the joy of chicken cooking for another day altogether. I know what you may be thinking "chicken is easy to cook" I've heard it all before. Me and Chicken - well, we have a love/hate relationship right now. But watch out chicken, I'm planning on grilling, frying, roasting, and doing a lot more to you!

I happened to be watching the Food Network while I was exercising and I saw someone make a red potato and tomato salad, which looked quite good; however I'm not a tomato kind of gal so I stuck with the red potatoes. While I was at the store I looked up some recipes for my potatoes and found a quick and easy recipe - thank you Paula Deen! I did add a few ingredients to her recipe though - their names are broccoli, zucchini and shallots! I basically followed her directions except I didn't have as many potatoes due do the other goodies I put in. This is what it looked like pre-oven cooking...

After 40 mins at 350 - I pulled out the goods to see if the potatoes were "tender when tested with the tip of a knife". Yeah. Right. I don't think my potatoes knew what they were doing. After thinking of what I could do to soften these puppies up - I decided to throw them in the microwave. I only took the potatoes out because the rest of the veggies were pretty perfect looking. I put them in for three mins - then added two more just to make sure. After that I put them back in with the rest of the veggies and put it back in the oven for another five mins. And this is what they ended up looking like...

Looks good right? (It was!)

Instead of going with the garlic bread we normally have (totally unhealthy, albeit tasty) I decided to go with some whole wheat bread, buttered and topped with Garlic Salt. Tasty. I put these in for about five minutes...

It was totally worth the wait. I loved everything about this meal. I didn't quite love the after affects of the garlic though. Not pretty. Makes me think of a post I just read over at 'Of Food and Love' about a rather interesting and entertaining book titled THE GAS WE PASS. Kudos to it for being creative though! If you want/need a good laugh then go read her blog (her being Misha) - I literally laughed out loud.

The final product....

To drink we had Carmel Apple Cider...yum

And for dessert you ask? Chocolate covered apples & bananas!

I had fun making this and Gabe totally loved it; and that in turn makes me a very very happy gal. I'm proud of myself. Thanks to Julie & Julia too - I've been inspired by you two...but I'll save that post for another day.

Whew. I think it took me longer to write this blog than it did to make that meal! I'm having issues with adding pictures and having to drag them down to their correct location. Any suggestions?

My Messenger Bag!!

I made a messenger bag...took me two days, a lot of seam ripping, and a little frusration...ok, maybe a lot of frustration! But, the important thing is that I got through it!! Yippie.

Amy over at http://increasinglydomestic.blogspot.com/ made one for her daughter Brooklyn...and it turned out soooo cute that I said to myself "Self, you need to try that"...and self lisented!! Here's a picture of hers...






I got the tuturial from Larissa http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/06/basic-messenger-bag.html, who does a fab job and I'll have to try a more complex one at some point...but there is plenty of time for that!


I measured all my pieces correct - however when I cut the corners of the 'flap' - yeah...well, I cut the wrong end and didn't realize till I started to attach. I had to cut a little here and there and then re-sew. You live and learn eh? The important thing is that it still looks good and I am happy with the outcome!

Here are a few more pictures...

(The Back)

(Flap open - inside pocket showing...)

(Picture taken in the mirror!!)

Over all - it was a good experience and I will def be making more of these bad boys!! :o)

Crackers

Well...I guess I kinda forgot about my blog for awhile. I'm just not a huge blogger...yet.

Ok - so new news..Gabe and I got a parrot, a green-cheek conure.

Her name is Crackers.

I know, I know - you're thinking "awwww, what a cutie!" Well - I assure you she is. However, she is also a little rascal too!

She doesn't like to be alone. This little gal screeches every single time I leave the room! And believe me she has huge lungs for such a small bird. What can I say - she loves her Mommy! It can get rather obnoxious though when you're trying to get stuff done around the house.

Then there's the biting. She likes to bite - usually she is just messing with me - and she's only gotten me really good once. I usually just walk away when she get's into those moods.

She loves taking a bath too - it's so funny how she will submerge her whole body and flap her wings when she's inside. She gets water everywhere - but she seems to enjoy herself...and I usually get a good laugh out of it too.

Here is a video of her first bath - she doesn't get all the way in on this video, at some point I'll upload one where she does.

I left the sound on - so you can really hear her fluttering and if you listen closely you can hear her making little noises. I make a double clicking type sound - so if you hear that - it's me, but the other noises are from her.