It's been increasingly busy here at the new job and I'm forced to cut back on the fun to get the "must be done" stuff...done.
Here's a lovely "pet" picture to tide you over till Monday.
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| Robey |
I thought you might get a kick outta Robey. Named after Cary Grant's character in "To Catch a Thief" Not only because Magpies like to swipe shiny things, but he also stole my heart. He was abandoned, that's the only reason I would ever raise a wild animal, although they are domesticatible(?)
38 comments:
Ah, I love Robey.
Business first, but take care of yourself also. We'll take care of the week in review. muahahahaha
Janet, I think you meant domesticable. Try saying it your way 3 times and that's quite a tongue twister. Btw, don't work too hard.
Robey is adorable and very sweet looking! I'm not sure I've ever seen a magpie.
No WIR - this comes as no surprise - for this week, and possibly for the future as you've hinted. It's hard to justify if there are (ahem) "extracurricular activities" going on to anyone waiting for you to do x, y, or z - even when everything you've done has been of such value to all of us!
Based on the magpie photo - I have an idea for the WIR - and the name would have to change. :) Why not do a "Blog Reader Pet of the Week?" Or some name like that. You had a slew of pet photos come in for August...you could use those, and new ones that get sent. Pick at your leisure which to post.
See? That's definitely a NON-CARKOON'ish idea.
I imagine Robey has a Twitter account.
Adorable. Get done what you must, your Majesty. We will manage. At least you have a freshly painted place to go home to during this busy transition.
I'm sorry there's no WIR--it will be deeply missed--but I'm always happy to see pets! Love Robey (To Catch A Thief is a favorite); I have such a soft spot for abandoned animals. Glad you were able to give him a home, Opie!
Question for Reiders (and readers): I'm having some neuro issues that's making it difficult to read large blocks of text, coupled with migraines (yep, it's my version of hell).
Does anyone know where I can listen to audio books for free (preferably streaming), especially the classics? I tried Audible, but it's costly. Thanks in advance!
Susan, have you tried LibriVox? It's not streaming, and some of the readers can be iffy (Sherlock Holmes in a southern US accent is fun, though) but I've had some good experiences.
Aw I love magpies!
My Dad always tells us stories from when he had a crow as a kid. A farmer shot the mom, and since the baby crow just hung around the area, the farmers ended up feeling sorry for it and brought it to my Dad's family. My dad had two brothers, and among other things, "Buddy" the crow learned to say, "C'mon, boys!"
But Buddy had a real character and knew who he liked and didn't. He tolerated my dad, loved his youngest brother, and HATED the middle brother. Every time Buddy would see the middle brother, Buddy would growl a gutteral, "Hiiiiiiiii..." My dad said it was the creepiest thing, even worse than when he'd actually attack.
Buddy never flew --he could, he just chose not to --and they had him for 8 years. He'd always watch the crows fly overhead, but he'd never try to follow. He was eventually killed by getting hit by a car, walking across the road of course. It's sad but you can't help but admire a creature that sticks to his guns to the very end.
I like Donna's suggestion, even though selfishly I love the WIR's. Furry (or not) creatures could soften the blow :)
Also, Susan - I know some libraries will stream audio books.
I live on the Wineglass Marathon route right outside Painted Post, NY. The full course runs between Bath, NY, and Corning. There were 6,400 runners signed up this year.(I heard the runner schwag was pretty sweet.) For at least 30 minutes, it's a solid wall of bodies running by our home, then it begins to thin out.
Ain't it a bitch when life gets so serious that "what must be done" comes before "wanna do instead". I'm right there with ya queenie.
Hey all, not only have we had days of going to the dogs and long runs of cats pajamas, we've asked who's got crabs now we've gone to the birds. What's next, snakes on a plane and the worms crawl in?
About five weeks after Robey the fledgling, fell 65 feet from our Chestnut tree, s/he flew the coop. We managed to get his/her fractured leg to heal, and his/her infected eye was treated with some drops from the local Vet. S/he was constantly yelling for his/her watered down soft kitten food. It was roughly on the hour every hour until darkness, then and only as darkness fell, he/she relented.
I don't know how much I wanted a forever pet Magpie, but once you make the commitment it's on. She/he decided for me. It flew away one day while I was cleaning the modified Chicken coop de Ville. It flew straight to it's former nest, and after that she/he reconnected with one of it's parents.
I see Robey pretty much every other day. Trailing after it's parent. I was petrified when it left that it would not fare well, but Magpie parents don't disown their little ones, after slumming it with humans, apparently.
It was tragic that of the five that fell out of the nest, the runt made it.
Cheers Hank.
Sorry for the His/her and s/he delineation.
...only the runt made it.... errr!
Thanks Cheryl and Lennon! I'll look into both of those options.
Hank: That's the best story. A happy ending for all involved (and I imagine it's very grateful to you).
Janet, you do SO MUCH for all of us Reiders, if you choose to do one thing less I can't imagine there is anyone here who will complain. For me, the WIR served two purposes. It was a lovely way to spend a bit of time on a Sunday thinking back over the week and reconnecting with people, and the pet-of-the-week idea will serve that delightfully. It was also a chance to hear your replies to some questions folks asked during the week in the comment section. You could, if you choose, use that as the basis of an occasional blog post, if no other more timely idea presents itself: a grab bag of Q & A from the previous weeks.
I notice I'm talking about the WIR in the past tense. I apparently am preparing myself for its demise. How delightful if I'm wrong, but you will hear no griping from me either way.
I'm not sure why, but I somehow thought this was your bird, Hank! Very sweet-looking little guy. Glad you had some time with him before he went home. You could consider yourselves grandparents. :)
Susan: For the audiobooks, I'll second Lennon. I know our library system has audiobooks online to listen to.
Echoing sentiments already stated: no worries, Janet. Do what you need to do. This blog is already way beyond the call of duty for you, so the WiR is way way waaaay beyond that. We're just happy you give us a nice place to hang out while we learn. :)
Update: Thank you, Cheryl! I'll check out my library for contemporary fiction, but LibriVox is exactly what I'm looking for! Now I can "read" my favorites like Austen or Nesbit or the Oz series and not throw my books at the wall in frustration. I'm so happy/relieved!
Yay, Susan! The community helps again!
I'm with the others; incredibly appreciative of what you do already for us, Your Sharkliness. I like the 'questions answered in future blog posts' idea - and the pet-of-the-week blogpost may be also a good way for us all to help you, in a small way, towards this superlative community you host here... although the numbers of emails you receive will grow proportionally, I guess.
Anyway, thank you again, our Queen, for all you do. And here's wishing an easier weekend for you!
I'm late to the magpie party. Robey sure is a cutie! I've been setting chunks of fruit on a rock in our pasture in an attempt to befriend a murder of crows. It's working! I love their "Caw, caws..." (Weird, I know). Janet, I can only echo everyone else in our appreciation of the help you provide both here and over on QShark.
Colin, "...a nice place to hang out while we learn."
I like that.
Hank: Thank you for sharing Robey. We don't have magpies in MN so I found them fascinating when visiting a friend in Colorado, especially their long black tails when they swooped in to land. Evidently, they're not born that way. : )
Janet: I'm with the others. You do so much for us, teaching us and creating this community. Life ebbs and flows, and pet pictures work for me.
Maybe even leave it to QOTKU's choice. If Ms. Janet week wasn't warp speed busy, she could (?) do the Question of the Week post. If the week has been filled to the brim, and there isn't even enough time for Q of the week, then post a pet pic with a sentence of two, and let us meander where we may.
We all know we'll be in for a wonderful Julie story, if nothing else!
About Charlie...
We lived in Michigan for two years (Troy) where I attended 3rd and 4th grade. My Aunt Isabel had a red winged blackbird named Charlie who would sit on the wire above our heads and call out "Hello! Hello!" He would eat from my Aunt's hand - no one else.
I've often wondered whatever happened to good ole Charlie. (Maybe it should have been Charlotte)
Robey is so cute.
Susan - I use Overdrive for audio and ebooks. The app is free. You can add your public library and download audio or ebooks. I usually have an audio book and a couple of ebooks going at once. All totally free.
Hey, I just come here for the kitten and baby magpie pics...
and the wealth of publishing advice! Yes, that too!
I have never seen a live Magpie. Being an easterner I assumed they were roughly equivalent to our Grackles.
I was wrong. Nobody likes Grackles. They are considered a nuisance by everyone from farmers to backyard birders. They don't just eat their fill of birdseed, they kick the rest of it on the ground.
At least they don't eat Safflower. If they become a nuisance get some of that for your feeders. The other birds will eat it and eventually the Grackles will go away.
Hank: good job on the bird rescue.
On the lack of a WIR: I will take whatever crumbs my Queen leaves for me. As long as they don't add to my waistline.
Changing the subheader once in a while would help too.
What a great photo. I love birds, and I love the name, Robey. I'm a huge Cary Grant fan -- and it's a perfect name for a Magpie!
Hank, what a great pic! So cool that it would sit on your hand like that. I've never seen a magpie either, so this was educational (yes, I googled and read about them).
When I was a child, four baby raccoons fell from a tree in our yard during a storm. My sisters and I (there were four of us too) begged and pleaded to be allowed to nurse them back to health and keep them. Our parents, reluctantly, gave in. Sadly, the babies were all too badly damaged from the fall, or simply too young to be without their mother. Raccoon babies are absolutely adorable, but I have no idea what we would have done with four adult "pet" raccoons had they lived.
Janet, no worries about the lack of a WIR (or as an Australian friend used to say, "no wucking furries"). We have the week itself and can review it any time we choose. I hope your new overlords are not being too overly demanding. We happen to know of a lovely vacation spot and can make arrangements, if they are . . .
Do I get an award (or demerits) for Excessive Use of Parentheses in a Comment?
Melanie - I also love the caw of the crows, it's one of my favorite sounds in the entire world. Also, I'm enjoying your book!
We have magpies in Australia, although they are very different to the magpies you have in America.
The Aussie magpie has a white to grey back-of=the-neck which is how you tell the difference between males and females - the male is pure white, females grey. And the amount of white patterning on the magpie changes as you move from east to west coast.
A comment from yesterday's post... I just read what happened after I posted yesterday. Sorry! Didn't mean to throw the clock amongst the pigeons. Yes, daylight savings started in Australia.
I've only lived in a state with daylights savings for a couple of years so it's a struggle for me to work it out. Sadly, "Spring forward, Fall back" doesn't work in Australia... we have autumn (not fall).
I intensely dislike daylight savings and wish we didn't have it (in my home state I happily voted with the majority to not introduce daylight savings back in 1990).
Oh, Lennon... YAY! We are kindred spirits. "CAW! CAW!" And I send you a HUG for letting me know you're enjoying DOGS OF PROUD SPIRIT.
Late to the party again. Cyberspace (or my email server) conspiring against me.
Hank: Robey is wonderful! I've had a thing for magpies ever since reading "My Family and Other Animals" as a kid. Gerald Durrell's mischievous adopted pets, "the Magenpies," were unforgettable.
Janet - you're probably asleep by now, but I hope you had a productive weekend free of wrench-wielding plumbers standing in your bathtub. I like Donna's idea about Pet Photo of the Week if the WIR is a goner. Or Plumber Photo of the Week? (Kidding...)
Claire... me too! I've read and reread so many times. As an aside, I was terribly disappointed with The Durrells tv series because it lost the humour and focus on Gerry and the animals the book had =(
AJ: I haven't seen the show yet. It doesn't air in San Francisco for another week or two. I had cautious hopes that it would be good, but you've confirmed my suspicion that it will fail to capture the magic. Sad face :-( Sometimes random bits of his stories will pop into my head, like the one about Margo and her acne and the seance, or the Bedlington terriers, or his mother's ice box on the boat, etc., etc. So brilliant and so funny. One of my bucket list dreams is visit his zoo on the Isle of Jersey.
Thanks for the kind words about Robey. For a while it was just he and his brother, as Robey limped I had tentatively named them Cane and Able. But only Robey lived. Thanks again. Hank
Great story, Hank. I need to come back more often, otherwise there's so much I miss.
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