Of parrots and dogs

I am lucky enough to share my life with some pretty incredible animals, dogs and parrots (well and chickens too, but this post isn't about them). There is never a boring moment in my house and although dogs and parrots seem like an unlikely pair, you are wrong.

From the very beginning our dogs were taught (trained) to understand that our birds were not play things but other members of the family. They have all complied and part of me wants to believe not just from the training. I wouldn't leave my dogs and birds alone loose in a room together because I know instinct is greater than self control but as long as I am around I don't fear my dogs lunging at the birds. There have been many times when our birds have gotten spooked and flown off their cages. The dogs come running only to see the commotion, but stay a respectful distance away. Granted, I have herding dogs and a lion hunting dog; birds really don't register on their radar.

But for one of my birds, Weiser (the Congo African Grey), the dogs are always on his radar. He loves dogs. He likes watching them and talking to them and doesn't seem to have any fear of them. Now I don't think he would cuddle up and fall asleep in their lap, but he doesn't run or scream in fear when they get close. He is so curious! Weiser actually knows how to bark like a dog and does this regularly when our dogs start barking about something. He also loves to tell them "get off" when they jump up on us.

Today while I was making pancakes for breakfast I decided to share a little pancake with the parrots. Weiser is always thrilled to eat people food and settled into munching on his pancake piece. Sydney, my Australian Cattle dog, knows that when the birds have food sometimes they drop it and so she was at the ready near Weiser's cage. And then he started talking to her. It was the sweetest thing although I have no idea what he was saying. Something along the lines of "jawa, bla, bla, bla," but I could tell that was meant for Sydney and not me. My heart swelled at this wonderful intimate moment.

Here's Sydney patiently waiting for her partner in crime to share the rewards:

I decided to let Weiser out of his cage so he could better see Sydney and this is him bending over to get a better look at her. Grey's (well most parrots) get puffy around the face when they are happy and Weiser was all puffs for Sydney.

Nothing quite warms my heart as watching inter-species communication...I am not a scientist so some would argue if my dog and parrot were actually communicating but I would like to think so. For a very long time, I had wanted to study inter-species communication and interactions because I found creatures that have no evolutionary reason to interact do, but I decided I would rather spend my time with animals than in a lab crunching numbers. Its beautiful and wonderful and maybe something humans should pay a little closer attention to...we could learn a thing or two from our wild and domesticated brethren.

As I am writing this Weiser is talking in the background saying "Paco" (the name of one of our other parrots), "step up" all interspersed with whistles and kissing noises. Never a dull moment!

Dulcimers and Fiddles and Guitars OH MY!

Before I even jump into this one I have to admit I am not the most musically inclined person. I am not sure its so much lack of interest, definitely lack of talent but most likely was a lack of time. I have always been fascinated with people who could make music. My own father plays the guitar and banjo and I always found it so fun to watch him do it. (and I am a little sad he doesn't play much at all anymore)

As a child I took piano lessons for a while, but I didn't have a proper piano to practice on but instead used my grandmother's organ. Not quite the same thing. It was hard and I didn't have the most charismatic teacher and so I stopped. I think I took an intro to music class in college and that ended my extended exposure to music that I would directly be involved in.

Of course, I listen to music all the time like the next person but believed I could never be responsible for making it myself. And then came along Jenna Woginrich. She is a writer and I stumbled along her book, Made from Scratch. I love this book for so many reasons but especially for a chapter dedicated to mountain music. Jenna taught herself (mind you she had some music in her background) how to play the fiddle while living in Idaho. Well if she could do it so can I, right?

Well I don't rightly know, but I am damn sure going to give it a try. I have always had visions of sitting around a fire with someone strumming a guitar or any musical instrument and finding it to be the most peaceful moment one can find. I suppose it would work out just fine for me to be that person.

So here I am about to start an interesting journey into the world of music. Jenna mentions in her book about how easy the dulcimer is to learn and although I definitely have my sights set on the fiddle I think learning something easy might boost my confidence. We will see. I am starting to do a lot of research and hunt down samples of music but ultimately I have a feeling I will end up with at least one or both of them.

And then of course there is the guitar. I have always wanted to learn to play but it definitely is a challenging instrument but such a beautiful sound. One of my favorite singers is Brandi Carlile and I would just love to play some of her songs. Of course, I wish I could sing like her too, but I think I would be happy to at the very least strum out her tunes.

Wish me luck...I still have to purchase an instrument, some instructional aids and inevitably find myself a teacher but I am excited to think of where I could be a year from now.

Here is a taste of the mountain dulcimer:

Stephen Siefert playing Whiskey before Breakfast (gotta love that title):

Dreams of Horses

I have been dreaming of horses again. And not just what they look like, but what it feels like to gallop across a field. Its a feeling like nothing else I have experienced and often my dreams of horses bring back that sweet memory.

Ever since I can remember I wanted a horse. I know some will write it off as the typical girl fantasy and maybe it is, but it always felt special to me. When I started keeping a journal (way back when I was 11 years old) I wrote every day of how I wanted a horse and the things I would do once I got one. A horse and a dog was all that I ever wanted. I finally got the dog, but never the horse. I don't think my parents realized how much it would have meant to me, even changed me, had my dream come true. Every Christmas, I would pray (yes that's right, pray) that I would wake up and my parents would have surprised me with a horse. It never happened and although I was thankful for my gifts, I would have given every single one back just to have a horse.

I did get riding lessons. My best friend's mom had a sweet little pony named Simone who taught me about all things horses. I remember the days I had riding lessons were the happiest of all the days of the week. My mom even paid for riding lessons at a stable when we grew out of Simone. I remember this horse named Wally. He was a very big broad backed horse and riding him was like sitting on a comfy couch. I wanted nothing more to be a bona-fide horse person, but my mom stopped paying for lessons after my sister took a fall (a very mild fall). And that ended all things horses.

For a long time, I gave up on that dream. I didn't think it would ever happen and I had no friends that shared my passion so for a while it died. I took down all my horse posters and sold my model horses and put that part of my life behind me. Except, every time I saw a horse my stomach would do a little flip and thoughts of riding would bubble up so fresh and real my heart would ache.

Lately the heart ache over horses has come back and I am not sure why. I suppose with all this work on homesteading its only natural that I would think of horses at some point, but it feels deeper than that. I feel that some part of me will feel complete once I get the chance to share my life with a horse. I imagine myself riding through the countryside feeling a peace that nothing else in my life can give me. I clearly was born 150 years too late!

My life is so crazy busy right now that I can't think of a way to squeeze horses in too. It is Idaho so I am sure there is a thriving horse community just ready to be tapped into but I am a little scared too. I haven't ridden a horse since I was in my early teens. I am sure its like riding a bike, but I am an adult now. I can clearly see the dangers of horseback riding that I didn't see when I was young. Although, is it really any more dangerous than mountain biking?

I am a big believer that animals come into your life for a reason. I have a feeling there is a horse out there waiting to come into my life at just the right moment. I think I am back to praying that moment is sooner rather than later.

Week 2 of the Chickens!

The chickens have been doing well and growing like crazy. This past weekend, Scott and I decided to upgrade their living space from one of our parrot's old cages to a spacious card board box. It took just 20 minutes to construct this cardboard condo for the kiddos.





We also added one more chick to our brood because Scott so desperately wanted an Easter Egg chicken or better known as an Ameraucana. I had the pleasure of attending a book signing for Gretchen Anderson and her new book, The Backyard Chicken Fight. It was a great presentation and Gretchen was so kind enough to refer me to someone who had an Ameraucana.

This weekend was very busy putting in the garden but a bonus was finding a few worms which I shared with the chicks. What a show!!! One grabs the worm and then runs for cover and then another chick jumps in and steals the worm. Its like a crazy, no rules game of capture the flag. Of course, Millie our Buff Orpington stole the worm. I can tell she is going to be the bossy queen over all the other chickens.

Next project is to get to work on modifications to their permanent home (an old dog house) and a chicken tractor both of which I picked up on Craigslist for $80 each. Screaming deal!

Millie (the Buff Orpington) is the only chick that has a name at the moment. I named her because she has a big puffy butt and she reminded me of the stereotypical large bossy farm wife which I of course assumed would be named Millie (or Bessy). Any ideas on names for the other crazies?

Here's is a pic of Millie:

Victory Gardens Revisited

As many of you know I have really been getting into this slow food movement. It calls to me in a way few things have and I can't get enough, but this isn't a new thing.

I was reminded that having gardens (and chickens) was to some a patriotic duty. They were called victory gardens. The US, as well as many countries in Europe, encouraged their citizens to help with the food shortage during WWI and WWII by keeping gardens and chickens to feed themselves and possibly their neighbors. It was estimated there were 20 million gardens with 9-10 million tons of produce grown!!! Can you imagine? How awesome and amazing! People really believed it was their patriotic duty to serve their country in whatever small way they could.

Now I am not a political person and don't ever plan to be political on this blog, but what I will say is that I only wish we had such love for our country (and inherently for one another) that we could do such things today. I feel our society is jaded (and divided). I am jaded. We don't seem to share the same ideals and values as times past. We seem very focused on being an individual instead of being a community. I won't glorify the 1940's because I know we have made wonderful improvements in so many areas, but I can't help but believe that the people of the 1940's knew something we don't seem to know today. It was a culture of honesty and respect for your fellow man (ok not always for women). It was doing the right thing even if it was the harder thing. It was smiling and tipping your hat. It was an understanding and a recognition that we are all in the life together and that we need each other. How did we lose all of that?

I for one think we should bring victory gardens back. Not to help a war effort but to seek victory over what we have lost and perhaps in going outside to the garden we will find it again. I don't think people will find what they are looking for in laptops, TV's and iphones nor in the fast food and shopping malls. The secrets are hidden underneath the fall leaves, the quite patience of winter's snow, in the tender green tendrils of spring's bounty and in the lazy sunshine of summer.

Here's to victory gardens a new!

Plain Simple True

I love blogging, but have had a hard time doing it regularly. If you noticed, I have taken a few months off. My blog didn't feel right to me and I needed some time to find my mojo. I found it in a chicken order and not your supermarket kind of chicken. I am talking about the walking clucking very much alive kind of chicken.

My life has been going through some major changes the last few years. I gave up the hot dry deserts of Arizona for the lush green rolling hills of Idaho. I have never looked back. My motto has always been that I am a complicated person in constant pursuit of simplicity. Anyone who knows me, knows that statement is true; although some would argue that I have an affection for the complicated. In truth I really have been seeking a simpler life, but for the short term I seem to be plagued by complication.

Try as I might to define what a simple life means, I can't. All I have are brief ideas and images of where I would like to be. The feeling of a wet dog nose on your knee, the singing of my canary in the morning, the flowers blooming in the front yard, the feel of dirt in my hands, the planning of a garden and the excitement of raising chickens. I love making my food from natural organic ingredients that I have either grown myself or sourced from a local farmer. I want to focus my energies on my husband and friends. I want to hike the hills and bike the city soaking up the sun, the birds and the sky. I want to be moved by the wise words of the authors I read and maybe bestow a few to the world myself. I want to share my knowledge so that when I am no longer on this plant, the mark I have made on the land will have been small, but the mark on the minds of friends and family will be big.

There are a few words that come to mind that might encompass all of these ideals and that's why I decided to call my blog plain simple true. Its more than the urban homesteader in me or the health nut seeking out the next best recipe or the love I have for the unique creatures I share my life with (3 dogs, 3 parrots, a canary and chickens). I am committed to living my most authentic life even if its quirky to most anyone else.

I found excitement and peace (and yes my mojo!) in taking a trip to the local hatchery to pick up some chicks. I was so happy and excited to be driving home with a card board box on my passenger's seat peeping at me. I didn't want to be anywhere else but with those chicks. It's a moment in my life where I felt I was doing exactly what I should be doing and is more satisfying than career success, fancy clothes or loud parties.

Happy Chick Day!

The Three Bitches

Yesterday I was talking to Scott about our dogs. I am not sure how the conversation started but I asked him what would our dogs look like if they were people. He said he had no idea, but I had already started thinking....

Pressly


Pressly is an older super tanned woman with white hair that she wears in a bun in the back of her head. She is reasonably in shape and does power walks around the neighbor but then goes home and binges on bon bons. She sassy and likes to gossip with the neighbor otherwise she spends her time knitting and staring out the window.

Luna


Luna reminds me of a young super fit tall lanky woman with black hair. She intense and will bite your head of if you don't do something right. She always wants to be the leader but easily gets lonely if no one wants to play with her. When no one is looking all she wants to do is snuggle up next to you and fall asleep.

I saved the best for last...

Sydney


Sydney reminds me of a young Australian red-headed hippie girl who runs around half naked encouraging everyone else to run around naked. She is care free but a lover at heart. She just wants to spread the peace and the love and that's all that makes her happy. She has some intense moments here and there but mostly likes to sit under a tree and zone out or watch the birds.

It definitely would be interesting to meet them as people!