Baby Birds!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to have had 3 babies hatch today! I was not even sure if they had ever mated so this was a perky surprise. Jackie was up on a chair watching the mother and dad feed their tiny babies. It is soooooo cute to see them! If you look very close under Patches throat you can see the tiny baby head coming up.

I felt like a professional photographer today. I probably took 50 shots to get this one picture. I was rearranging lights and contorting into all kinds of positions to get this shot. I was fiddling around with the camera and I actually got this picture right thru the bars. I knew there was a way to focus and have the bars look like they disappear and after many attempts I figured it out! I was quite proud of myself!

Budgie Buddies

Here are our new baby budgies on their little play area.

Here is the "Reading Corner" in my room. Notice the bird play area on the table.

Here is Jackie standing next to my new birdcage in my room. I spent several hours rearranging today to get this look.

Canary Fun

As most of you know, I have a love of birds. The ones I have enjoyed the most over the years are canaries. At one point, Danae, Dean and I could have practically had a canary ranch going! It is an incredibly fun hobby to have and it can also be profitable. Since Danae has been off of work, she has gotten the ball rolling again. I ended up buying a pair last week and the fun has begun again...... The difference is that this time I don't have as much room for cages, so I will have to enjoy on a limited basis. There is something so interesting about watching the whole process. The couple (who are hopefully compatible) check each other out. If he likes the feel of her, he will sing to her and feed her. Then she will begin frantically building a nest. Hopefully, somewhere during all of these steps they will be mating. Once the nest is built, she will start laying within a couple of days. My female (named Patches by Jackie) started laying last Saturday and layed each day for 5 days. The male, Handsome, (also a Jackie name) has been singing to her and feeding her while she is on the nest. If all goes well in two weeks baby birds should hatch. I never actually saw them mate, so there is a distinct possibility that her eggs are not fertile. It is a major hit and miss process, but when everything clicks it is wonderful!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

34 years ago today Greg and I were married. To look at that number it seems unbelievable that we have been together for that long. I am sitting here waiting for him to get up so we can start off our day by going to the lake to fish. We had thought long and hard about how we would like to spend the day and we both agreed that fishing would be perfect. Some of the most enjoyable times we have had together as a couple have been spent doing just that. Our very first family vacation, when Michelle was only 2 years old, was spent fishing in the Sierra's. We have spent innumerable summer vacations in the exact same way. We are planning to go again this summer with Michelle and her family. Every year when Michelle was little we would take her picture on the horse swing by June Lake. We are all looking forward to taking Jackie's picture on that swing this summer.



I have been thinking back over the years and all that we have been thru together. The ups and downs of life have truly brought us closer together. Soooo many events have occurred during these years. It makes me think of a movie Deb and I saw years ago. A mother is talking to her son and daughter-in-law, who are on the brink of divorce. They are all at a wedding reception and she is pointing out various family members. She then tells some wild, war story of what they have gone thru in their marriages and then finishes it off with, "and they're still together!" We are one of the lucky couples who can say the same thing!



I am blessed beyond belief to have spent my life with Greg. We have been thru so many things both good and bad. We have a beautiful daughter who has made our life complete. She is by far our shining moment! Now we have her, our wonderful son-in-law and our beautiful grandchildren to bless the rest of our lives. I thank God on my anniversary for all He has given me ........

Dieting SUCKS!!!!!!!

The title sums up my feeling right at the moment. I am trying to get into the "zone" and it is really a push. My overall mood is annoyance. I am most annoyed at myself for even letting this be an issue. I could dwell on my many problems and why I have let food be my comfort, reward, consolation, and absolute treat. I could list my excuses - age (getting up there), lifestyle (not a whole lot of excess movement), asthma (I'm sure my lungs are not being helped as they are crushed on all sides by excess fat), weak ankles (let's face they were never meant to support this kind of weight load) and daily pressure ( dealing with all of the mentioned items). Or I could suck it up and admit that I eat too much and I need to drastically alter my daily intake. I have no answers or really even a point to this. All I can say is today I am working the diet.

Fishing

Daddy and Jackie at the lake......

Jackie and Jeff had a ball feeding the ducks! Everyone had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. All in all it was incredibly pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Anabelle was very proud of herself!

Michelle had to rig all of the poles and did a great job!

Joe's idea of relaxing.......

A Relaxing Day

I had such a relaxing day with Jackie and Danae. We went to lunch and then to Color me Mine. For a while, we were the only ones there and it was soooo pleasant. We all had a lot of fun and can't wait to see our creations!