Conure Corner - Niblet's Blog

It's Christmas Time!

12/5/2018

It's Christmas time in our nest! Mommy and daddy finally decorated the house. We have the trees and stockings up, and several other ornaments adorning tables and shelves around the house. It's quite festive. This is exciting!

Actually, the process itself was exciting. Mommy discovered that they weren't as careful as they thought packing the stuff away last year, and several ornaments broke. The good news is that nothing that broke was of great value, and won't be missed. The bad news is that one item that broke was a nativity snow dome, and it made quite the mess out of most of the things in that box. So we're down many decorations, but that's ok. The parronts said decorating in moderation is fine with them this year. They'll decide if they want to replace the stuff as the season progresses, but so far the answer is no. We're happy with what we've got. So it all worked out and hey, we did some impromptu purging. Mommy said that worked out because we had too much stuff shoved around the house anyway.

Still, it's good to have Christmas decor back, even in moderation. And in fact, it looks a bit classier because some of that stuff was getting kind of worn and in need of "retirement" anyway. The best part: there are presents under the tree, and some have mine and Zack's names on them. Yay!

That's all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Bubbles

Colds and Christmas Shopping

11/29/2018

It doesn't sound like a winning combination, does it, and yet mommy managed this adventure. She usually takes the Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving off to do some Christmas shopping. This year was no different, but she got a surprise on Wednesday: she woke up to return to work with a cold!

Good news: she didn't get sick over Thanksgiving or over her days off. Bad news: she's probably spread that virus all over this end of creation by now, since that stuff is contagious days before symptoms hit. Wow, mommy. Talk about Giving Tuesday. I don't think a virus was what they were after!

But wait, because mommy's weirdness isn't over. Remember that new car she got a couple of weeks ago? She refinanced it today. She found a better interest rate at her bank, and took her germy self in to sign the paperwork to transfer the loan. She's going to save a lot of money. And she spread her virus a bit further today. Way to go, mommy.

I know humans are busy and can't always be off when they have minor things. As colds go, this one isn't too bad - she just has runny sinuses. Considering that everybody is sniffling and sneezing with the whacky weather shifting from cold to warm to windy to rainy, rinse and repeat, then it's kind of hard to tell if it's sinuses objecting to the environment, or if they're all walking contagions. It makes me glad to be a bird, living at home. And that we can't catch that crap from them.

Bubbs and I are looking after her and daddy the best we can (because he has it too, but like mommy, he's still running about his business). If we can get them to slow down enough, that is. Humans are so busy being busy. It's super silly.

So that's life in our corner of the world. Silly, as usual. What can you expect with parronts like ours? We love them.

That's all today. Take care. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Luv,

Zack

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/21/2018

Hi friends, we want to take a moment to wish you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! We wish you all save travels, a wonderful meal, fine fellowship and fun, and successful shopping adventures if you’re braving Black Friday sales (or successful surfing if you’re wise and shop online!). Have a safe, fun, and joyous Thanksgiving.

We also want to thank all of you for being wonderful friends to us. We enjoy checking in on Twitter each day to “see” and “chatter” with you. Thanks for sharing your life with us through social media, and for your friendship and support.

Happy Thanksgiving, and have a blessed Holiday Season!

Luv,

Zack and Bubbles

Mommy's New Ride

11/14/2018

Mommy got a new car and it's blue, like me! I'm an inspiration. Now she and I will match. How sweet! Mommy must love me!

Actually, she just likes blue cars, and she was lucky to get it. Most cars are neutral colors, like silver, or gold, or black, or white. Boring! Who wants to drive something that looks like what everybody else is driving. Not my mommy! She said she's different from other people, she knows it, and this car will show people that she's ok with it. What will people think? She says whatever they want, but at least they can make an informed decision if she's authentic. And she'll be happy driving her new car in the meantime.

The truth is that she's been planning, saving for a down payment, and researching cars for a year. To you, this is a surprise. To us, it's about time she made a decision. Zack and I will be riding in style now. Snazzy!

And mommy does love me! And I love her back. But don't tell it too much. I have to keep her on her toes. I think she knows, though.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Bubbles

Stretchy Feathers

11/7/2018

So the midterm elections are over, and the post-election analysis is happening. With Republicans running the Senate and Democrats running the House, one thing is clear: nothing is going to be done over the next 2 years. Then again, Congress is so convoluted that is anything being done anyway? I don’t know. This bird has learned to avoid political discussions. It’s obvious we can’t have a civilized conversation or respect over that anymore. One more domino falling toward the Apocalypse.

My question is this: can we move on to the holidays now? Halloween has come and gone. Humans have had their three-ring circus over Election Day. Can we focus on better things now? Isn’t it time for Bubbs and me to make our gift list? Shouldn’t that Santa Clause cross-stitch that mommy did be coming out again soon? It is turkey and tree time yet? Stuffed fridges, cabinets, and tummy time perhaps. I think it’s time for the “stretchy pants” or, in my case, the “stretchy feathers.”

Mommy says it’s still “the dead zone” before holidays, despite the fact that Christmas commercials are already running. She calls it a desperate consumer plot to pillage her money. I think she’s trying to make a play for more time because she isn’t ready for apple-cinnamon everything yet. She’s still grumbling about cooler weather and shorter days. She needs to adjust! Summer is over, mommy. Winter is coming.

We will get there, because the season is on the way and won’t slow down for anything. It will be turkey time and Santa season soon. Hooray!

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Zack

Bad News Etiquette

10/30/2018

Daddy, mommy, Zack and I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to Bluto Bird’s dad. As I’m sure you know, Bluto passed away Friday (October 26). We’re saddened by the loss of our friend, and offer our love, prayers, and condolences to Bluto’s dad. Losing an avian companion is tough, especially since most people don’t understand the strength of the human/avian bond. They just don’t get that birds aren’t pets. Mommy said she spent as much time wanting to put her foot up insensitive peoples’ rear ends as she did crying when Chloe and Ollie passed away. A word of advice to humans who have never had birds: if a friend has lost their parrot, just say “I’m sorry” and zip it. Mommy says that’s pretty good advice in dealing with death altogether.

Actually, saying dumb things when confronted with bad or shocking news is common. One of mommy’s coworkers found out that a family member was murdered Friday and mommy’s reaction was “holy crap!” At least it wasn’t Morty’s favorite word, as it well could have been in her state of shock at the news (especially after learning about Bluto’s passing 4 hours earlier). Fortunately, people know that mommy’s reactions won’t be typically girly, so they didn’t think anything of it. But she still felt like a moron and wished she had canned it.

I’m sure there’s etiquette for dealing with unexpected blows, but unfortunately the brain isn’t much in etiquette mode when confronted with the unexpected. So I suppose the best advice is to train yourself to I’m sorry, love and prayers, and etc. platitudes, and suppress the “son of a –“ reaction until you’re locked in your car or other isolated place.

Just don’t let it out in front of a talking parrot.

That’s all today. Take care. Have a safe, fun, and Happy Halloween tomorrow, and a wonderful week.

Luv,

Bubbles

Fall Vacation

10/21/2018

Hi all, we're back from our fall vacation. The parronts took a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas last week, and we stayed with Mommy's parents. So it turned out to be a vacation for all of us last week. It was interesting, because grandmommy and granddaddy are retired. That means we didn't have to get up before sunrise for them to go to work, or sit all day waiting for them to come home. It was all day fun, every day! We got to watch TV, sit on their screened in back porch, and see their friends who came by to visit us. It was quite different from what we experience every day at home! But I have to say, they watch different stuff and listen to different music than mommy and daddy do. No drama or aliens here. It was much milder entertainment than we're used to, but we managed well.

The grandparronts took good care of us, but it's still good to be home. And we've let mommy and daddy know that we missed them, too. We've screamed, thrown seed, and given them strategic bites to remind them of where it's at! We've also snuggled and kissed them a lot to let them know we're glad they're back. They need to know the error of their ways with leaving us, but they also need to know we love them!

Fortunately, they only take these big vacations every few years, so we should be good for a while.

So that's what's been up with us this past week. You can check out daddy and mommy's pictures from the trip on Flickr if you're interested. But now, it's relaxing today before heading back to the routine tomorrow. And I'm sure they'll pay for being out last week there, too!

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Luv,

Zack

One More Time

10/10/2018

I remember when we didn’t have Category 4 Hurricanes when the State Fair opened in mid-October. Fall was actually here, and it wasn’t still in the 80’s – 90’s. Mommy says that anybody who doesn’t believe in global warming should have lived in the southeast for the past 40 years. There’s definitely been a shift in the weather here. Summer is warmer, and last longer than it used to. And we’re having a hurricane again, one more time, less than a month after the last one.
Even I notice it, and I’m only 18. The AC stays on longer. The parronts are wearing short sleeves until nearly the end of October. Mommy even had to go shopping for some Halloween T-shirts a couple of weeks ago, because it was too hot to wear the long sleeved Halloween shirt she has. She could only wear it twice last year, and both times were in the week before Halloween.

It’s supposed to cool off and actually be fall after this storm passes, but we’ll see. Summer keeps coming back. I suppose it will have to go and stay gone for a little while at least eventually. We actually have a joke around here that South Carolina does have 4 seasons: December (fall), January (winter), February (spring, as pollen really does start here around Valentine’s Day), and summer. But for now, we take in the outdoor furniture and batten down the hatches one more time. Here's hoping the tropics will settle as the season winds down. Heck, they'll probably have to lengthen hurricane season a month or so, just like they did Daylight's Saving Time (why do we bother with that for 4 months? Oh well, I suppose that's another blog entry.)

It’s whacky weather for sure, but we’ll batten down the hatches one more time and keep our friend at NOAA Weather Radio tuned in. We pray for all in the path of Hurricane Michael, and that we will weather this second storm of the season. We’ll keep you posted on Twitter.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Zack

Keeping Busy

10/4/2018

We’ve been keeping busy with fall fun lately. Mommy and daddy have been shopping and planning for upcoming Halloween events, and mommy has kept busy with October book promotion and preparing to release another book in November. The title is Trigger, and it’s another scifi novel set in the same ‘universe’ as The Earthside Trilogy (which will be offered for free on Oct. 10-11, so bookmark that link and set a reminder to pick it up if you don't have it already!). That book release has actually moved up, thanks to those impromptu days off from Hurricane Florence which put her ahead of schedule. It’s amazing how things work out for the best. Now, she’ll have a new release to coordinate with prime book selling season in November – January. Plus, she got an email yesterday about a flash fiction contest opening tomorrow, so Zack and I need to help her go through her writing journal to find an appropriate entry.

This is fun! A lot of people think that writing is a simple thing, but there are actually a lot of pieces and parts moving to get a book published. It’s fascinating to see her work with the cover artist to finally get a visual depiction in place. It’s interesting to see the story finalize as the final edits and proofreads mold it into final form, and then formatted for ereaders and ereader apps. It’s amazing to see the manuscript formatted into a final form for ereaders and ereader apps. And it’s exciting to get it downloaded and set for release so a story in the works for 2 years is finally released to readers. Plus this will be a special release, because the dedication for Trigger is in memory of Chloe. She’ll be so happy over the rainbow bridge, and I hope it brings mommy a further measure of closure over her loss.

Plus, we’ve chattered plenty over all of the work and plans during our back porch time. Yes, it finally cooled off enough for us to do that again! Zack and I love watching the wild birds from the back deck. It’s a good thing we have outdoor cages too, because a thrasher flew right up to us the other night. I think I scared it when I tried to mimic it.

So we’re keeping busy with good, fun stuff these days, and it’s all good. I hope you’re all doing well. Take care. I hope you have a happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Luv,

Bubbles

It's Fall, Ya'll! (Mostly)

9/27/2018

Fall is here, and I hope it will start to feel like it weather-wise soon. Mommy changed the house décor to fall themes, and is checking her Halloween jewelry. We saw another preview for the new Halloween movie online recently (hey, Michael Myers!). The days are getting shorter. It’s dark when the parronts get up for work now, and they’re turning on lights sooner after work. Better Call Saul is winding up their season, and our CW shows (The Flash, Arrow, and Supernatural) will rev up new seasons in a couple of weeks. College football season is in full swing. Halloween commercials and decorations are coming out. Heck, mommy even saw them stocking Christmas items at Walmart yesterday.

The problem is, Mother Nature still hasn’t received the memo. It’s still in the 80’s with heat index in the 90’s. I guess that’s better than 100+ degrees, but still, we’ve been doing the heat/humidity thing since April. We’re over it. I certainly don’t like cold and snow, but I think we deserve some mild weather for sticking out the deep fried insanity that’s summer in South Carolina. We’ve had our hurricane/tropical weather for the year. Growing season is over for home gardeners (mostly). Do like the Kit Kat commercials – give us a break!

We’ll get what we get. Fall will eventually arrive. Despite seeming evidence to the contrary, it can’t be over 90 degrees year round in the subtropics. And it’s certainly fall in all other ways, despite the weather. Everybody’s in fall mode here, and Bubbs and I are ready for our fall porch time. We just have to wait to not melt in it before we can see the great outdoors (from the safety of a small cage, of course) again.

That’s all today. Take care. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Luv,

Zack