Canary Tales

After months of work, I have finally been having the results I had hoped for with my birds. I went yesterday and sold another 4 of my babies. That makes 8 altogether I have sold! I moved things around in my room again yesterday to try and get things more organized. Now I have all of my birds together in one area and so far it seems a lot better. At this point, I have 5 females in various stages of feeding their babies or sitting on eggs. Icy has one baby who fledged 5 days ago. She has built a new nest and layed her first egg this morning. Romeo has been in with her for the past few days, so everything should be good to go. I moved Jewel's 3 babies to the baby cage yesterday and she is sitting on 5 new eggs (also thanks to Romeo)! Peachy is feeding her 3 babies (Gatorade's the dad) that hatched on the 13th. Puff ( the one who was standing and panting on her nest before) actually hatched 3 beautiful babies and is on her second round feeding 1 baby, that hatched on the 18th. Juliet, my beautiful red factor, is feeding 2 pretty babies who will fledge within the next couple of days. Romeo will be finished in Icy's cage by then and ready to move back in with Juliet. He is a REALLY good male. The girls love him! He is beautiful to look at and he is a wonderful singer too! And for an added bonus, he always pitches in to feed his children when he makes the rounds. Gatorade, my only other male, is a little too aggressive. He goes into a cage and immediately jumps to the nest and frantically begins diving around with nesting material in his mouth. He comes on WAY too strong.. He met his match when I got Peachy. She is a really big canary. She is double his size! The first time I put him in with her, he tried his usual moves and was met with a quick peck to the head. He quickly toned way down and they actually became a good couple. Sometimes that is all it takes...the right woman for the job.

From Wonder to Weiner...........

A few short weeks ago I was writing and posting pictures of the wonders of canary breeding. Things have changed.......... I bought a few more birds in my quest to have a Canary Empire going. (I can't be content to have a pair of canaries and watch them breed and feed and raise their babies. If one pair is good then 5 will be orbital!) At the present time I now have a few pairs going and some stragglers I have given up on. Actually, I have 4 females who have layed eggs and 2 of those have hatched. Out of the original 5 babies only 1 made it, and is now in his own cage. This fiasco can only be blamed on me. Once again I thought I knew best and moved the cage location and actual cage more than once. I actually had a professional breeder warn me not to do such a thing! That same female, Patches, layed and hatched again and only 1 even hatched and was dead a few days later. My other female, Sunshine, hatched one baby two weeks ago. This was also my fault, as I did not get her man, Gatorade, in with her soon enough and only 1 egg was fertilized. I was trying a new "hands off" approach with her and it has backfired. I have been feeding and watering her and basically leaving her completely alone. Today I finally decided to look in and see what was up. Her baby is 2 weeks old and should be coming out of the nest soon. I was horrified when I saw it. The baby is skeletal, barely feathered and minute. I think it's legs are splayed. Many times it is not good when only one baby hatches. The mothers' have a tendency to barely feed them and they also sit on the nest too tightly and too long. I could not bear it so I got the nest out and mixed up food and fed the baby twice, til his little crop was full. This is tippish at best. Hand feeding is time consuming and chancy. The mother is no longer sitting on the nest and this poor thing is barely feathered. Not a good feel at all.... That brings us to female number 3, Puff Puff. She was with Butterball, who has taken a bad turn. I also played a hand in this situation. I bought a male who was very questionable. He look a little sickly right from the start. He has something wrong with his eye and had to move to a hospital cage for isolation and closer observation. This leaves Puff Puff alone. Actually this may not even be a problem, as I am not sure if her eggs will even hatch. She is not sitting on them the right way. She is always kind of standing and mildly panting like she is having a heat stroke. She needs to have her breast and stomach pressed on the eggs to keep them warm. She is rarely doing this. Now female number 4, Juliet and her man, Romeo. They are beautiful Red Factors. So far all looks good with them, but let's face it this season has NOT been going my way. I am in a darkened room with the cages covered as I type this. PLEASE HELP ME.......I think I just heard a sneeze from one of the cages!

The Best Laid Plans......

Greg was going to take my car to work this morning to have the window fixed. Seconds after he left the house, I heard him bellow out "F...!" I looked out the window to see what had happened. I saw him holding his head coming toward the house. The car door on my Jeep was still open. I ran out to the kitchen just as he stormed into the house ranting. "What in the world did you have a box on the front seat for? I was looking at it and got distracted and banged the door into my head." (blood was seeping thru the Kleenex he was holding to his forehead) And yes, you did read correctly, he was claiming I was at fault for having left a box on the front seat of the car. If I did not value my life as much as I do, I might have either burst out laughing or yelled back, "Are you insane?" Neither seemed appropriate, so I remained silent. His ranting continued as he stalked down the hall to the bathroom. He could not get the bleeding to stop. I asked him if he wanted a bandaid and after flipping out more, he huffily agreed. I ran into the bathroom and the only ones I could find were "Dora the Explorer" and "Littlest Pet Shop" Needless to say, the choices pushed him over the edge. Luckily, after scouring I did find some plain ones. He finally left for work........ When he got home tonight, he was actually laughing about it and admitted he had been insane.

This evening, after finishing up the dishes and putting away leftover food, I decided to mix up a pitcher of Crystal Light. As soon as I finished, we were going to watch a movie. I was really burnt and was living for the moment I could dive onto the couch. As I efficiently went to put the pitcher into the refrigerator, my finger caught in the stopper on the lid. In a slow motion moment of horror it slipped from my hand and bounced to the ground, spraying a half gallon of Iced Tea all over the floor. I am not sure what I screamed out, but I do recall kicking the pitcher. Greg actually called out from his recliner, "How did you do that?"

Sweet Innocence

Yesterday I finally told Jackie about the littlest canary that had died a few days earlier. I had been waiting for just the right moment and I thought that I had found it. The look on her little face as I told her was absolutely heartbreaking! Her face got flushed and her eyes filled with tears. Her lips quivered and she struggled not to let out a sob. She stood there for just a moment trying to compose herself. With teary eyes and a shaky voice she finally asked, "Grandma, when I get to heaven will I see the little baby bird?" If you could have seen the hopeful, trusting look on her face.............. "Of course you will. He will be waiting for you on the gate as you go in." I answered. " Oh Grandma, that makes me soooo happy!" Her sweetness and utter innocence are so precious. I am bawling as I type this. What a wonderous blessing she is in my life.

I need a good night of sleep......

I am still awake, tho' somewhat tired. I had a horrid night of sleep last night. I was wide awake for and hour and a half in the middle of the night. The really bad kind of awake, where you are dwelling on any and everything that could possibly cause tension......... " Why didn't we save more money? Should I look for a job? How will the Chrysler bankruptcy affect us? Why haven't I gone to the dentist? Will I ever stop eating and get on to the diet for good?" Get the picture? Bad dwelling. I woke up this morning early (of course!) and the first thing I did was to check on the canaries. The tiny little guy I have been worrying about, was dead in the nest. Sad start to the day. I haven't told Jackie yet. My day was pretty busy. I cleaned the house and worked at Jackie's school. Min and Scott went to a meeting tonight, so it was just Jackie and I for dinner and homework. She is asleep and I have just finished working on my Bible Study for tomorrow. I am trying to unwind and slow down to induce a good night of sleep. Greg just got home and told me he talked to his brother, Jeff today. He has been promoted to Chief of Police on Catalina Island. It is a 2 year stint, after which he will return to the mainland with the rank of Captain. He will receive a housing allowance, so that will allow him to keep his house in Yorba Linda. They plan to come back home every other weekend. This is just the kind of story that will help me relax and get right to sleep, I just know it.............

Happy Birthday Queen!

35 years ago today the world changed forever for me. Michelle Laurie Donahue was born and my life would never be the same again! To go from a young, naive, and yes, somewhat selfish woman to becoming a mother was remarkable to say the least. Only someone who has made the transition can ever know the impact it has.

From her her very first moments, she has brought me a joy I never knew existed. She was a sweet and very good baby. Some of the most treasured moments of my life were those I spent sitting in the rocking chair in the middle of the night, staring into my precious baby's face. I could not believe I was so lucky! Michelle could nap through anything. I could literally vacuum under her crib and she would never wake up. All during her first summers, I would take her with me to the beach. She actually had a suntan in her 1 year old picture! She has always loved the beach and swimming.

As she grew, so did my love for her. She was an adorable toddler who loved the park and being outside in general. It was during this time that Joey was with us every day and their bond grew from cousin to brother and sister. When John came along she was only two and a half, and he joined their close knit club. It is a wonderous blessing that she has had so many cousins to share her life with.

Michelle's sense of humor has always been a big part of her personality. She can always find the humor in a situation. This is a trait that has been a joy for all around her. So many times over the years the sound of Michelle's infectious laugh has lightened many a tough moment. She can find something funny about almost anything and you find yourself laughing along with her.

I have so many memories of Michelle thru the years. School days, scouting, dance classes, ceramics, swimming lessons, cooking class, ballroom dancing, summer camp, the list could go on and on........ Watching her thru all the phases has been absolutely wonderful! As she experienced the moments, so did I as her biggest cheerleader. Last summer as she and Scott were married, I truly felt things had come full circle. Greg and I love watching her in the role of parent and wife. I am thrilled for her that she will soon have another sweet baby to hold in her arms and share all the love and joy that she has given to so many.

Michelle, I am so proud of you. Knowing that you are walking with the Lord is the biggest blessing of all for me. I know I am the woman I am today, because God gave me the most wonderful daughter in the world. I love you more than words could ever say!

More Arrivals!

This picture shows the size differnce

one day can make!

This picture is one of my very favorites. Patches is sitting on her newly hatched babies. She was making a little twittering sound which is her signal to Handsome that she wants him to feed her. He frantically jumps around the cage eating and then rushes to her side to feed her. The whole time he is feeding her she is fluttering her wings. It is such a sweet thing to watch. I love it!

You can see in this picture how they have downy like fuzz on their bodies and big black circles covering their still closed eyes. The dark on their necks is their little crops getting filled with food.

This picture shows the difference in their coloring. The oldest three are dark skinned and the youngest two are pinkish skinned.

We started off with the first 3 hatching on Monday. Then Tuesday morning, the fourth hatched and the fifth hatched on Tuesday afternoon. You have to keep in mind that these birds grow from the size of the top of your thumb to full grown birds in less than 3 weeks. That means that a day and a half behind in hatching is a lot. I was really afraid that the two smallest might get lost in the pile when heads come up for food. Last night I stood there forever watching and I never saw the tiniest one at all. I was trying to prepare Jackie for the worst, but she was having none of it. She ran back in my room and got up on the chair to watch them. Sure enough, after a few minutes, she came running out yelling she had seen the fifth head. I ran back with her and there was the little guy! Yeah!!!