A wild bird at my window

My birds love watching the outside birds fly around and do their thing.  It's rare when it's the opposite.  A long time ago, a bird was flying by and noticed my lovebirds at the window.  It flew back up and hovered looking at them.  It was very brief because Joey or some birdy chirped at it and scared it away.  And when lovebirds chirp, it's not like a sweet gentle chirp.  It's a few loud shrill chirps with a jump and wing flap.  And it's not so much as being mean.  It's more like, "whoa!  I found a bird!  Everyone, there's a stranger here!!!"

Today, I was running around trying to make sure Evie was not being bothered in her play area, that Jada and Hermes would not fight since they were both on me and are terrible enemies, and that everyone else was not chewing on something they shouldn't be.  I turned around to see Pepper sitting quietly at the window sill with a wild bird on the other side of the screen.  Of course, Pepper being the sweet soul that he is, didn't scare it away.  He was definitely curious and surprised.  If it was Joey or some other birdy, they would have scared it right away.  This bird is normal sized, but so tiny compared to Pepper.  

I was annoyed with myself for not having my camera ready.  I ran to grab the battery that was still charging and came back to see the bird still there, but no Pepper for the photo!  I took one anyway.  He wasn't scared and seemed more interested in the bugs that were stuck in the screen.  I was so sad when Basil or some birdy flew down to the window sill and scared it away :(  

After all that, I go back to work on my pizza.  Uh, someone took advantage of their time and ate my pizza crust.  A big no-no!  Most likely it was Jada.  She eats anything and always eats her bread this way.  And she always wants her mommy's food!

Sprouting!

When I first learned about sprouting, it seemed like the hardest thing to do, but it's super easy.  Not to mention super good for your birds as well.  I like to sprout wheatberries, mung beans, and rye berries.  I do switch it up now and then though for their palette.  It's totally good for humans too.  I don't eat it, but that's ok :)  I do try it just to see what it tastes like.  It's not bad, but I'm just not a healthy eater.  Anyway!

Wheatberries

   

Mung beans

  

Rye berries

I rinse them and let them soak in some water mixed with a bit of apple cider for a couple of minutes.  I use the organic one with "the mother" as I read it's better to use.  Then I rinse them again really well.

I let them soak overnight or for 8-12 hours in just plain water.   I cover up the jar with coffee filter and a rubber band to keep it closed. 

After they are done soaking, I rinse them again and put them back into their jars.  I put them them on a plate that is tilted so that the water drains.  Every 6-9 hours (usually cuz I'm at work), I take out the seeds, rinse, and put them back in here in this same position until they are sprouted.  It doesn't take that long before they do sprout.

Here are the Mung beans after they sprouted.  They were the first ones to sprout compared to the other two.  They grew fast!  I came home from work and bam!  Tails were this long.  It was crazy.  I usually catch them before they grow this long.  

A few days later:

I mix it in with their birdie mash and sprinkle it with spirulina and wheatgrass powder (not too much of these two, really just a dash of it) along w/ ground flax seeds and probiotics (make sure you get an avian one.  I ordered mine from Avitech).  

As you can see, my fids love sprouts!  They eat it like candy.  They prefer it to their mashed human food.  And it's super healthy for them too. 

How I keep my sprouts is that I damp a coffee filter with water and put that on the bottom of my food storage container to keep it moist.  I keep it in my fridge for no longer than a week.  I also rinse it throughout the week as well.  You must make sure your sprouts are fresh.  Some people make theirs every other day.  I find that mine are fine for up to about a week.  They look fine after a week, but for personal reasons I toss them out after that if there are any left in the container.  There normally isn't much left anyway.  When I measure the dry beans/seeds, I don't do too much because when it sprouts, there is a lot!  I'd rather use too little and have to make a fresh batch every 3-4 days than to make too much and waste it.  

If you want to learn more about sprouting, a good website to check out is: http://www.landofvos.com/articles/sprouts.html  Everyone does it a little differently and this is just how I've always done mine.

The Great Minnesota Get Together

If there is one thing I look forward to every year, it is the Minnesota State Fair.  it's the end to Summer and the start of Fall.  There is always so much to do, see, and eat.  I always have a great time and no matter how many times I go, it seems as though I don't see or do all that is there.  Since my bf only had an x amount of time before his soccer game, we did what we could in four hours.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but we'll be back.  I was surprised I didn't eat as much as I thought I would have today.  Oh well, there is always next weekend.

One of my favorite things to see there are the animals.  I just love them, especially the rabbits and horses.  I do feel bad for the animals there that are advertised for meat.  I once saw the cutest goat for sale for meat and I just wanted to him/her home so bad.  The state fair is where I got Milo too!  I must have been walking up and down the Holland Lop lanes for over 30 mins looking at them.  I decided not to get a rabbit, but later after the birds of prey show, we were walking back and the breeders were packing up to go home.  There was a truck full of rabbits and people were gathered around playing with them.  That was when I decided to take Milo home.  I almost picked out the lop next to him, but the breeder really liked Milo, so I figured that there was a reason why she liked him and so we bought him.

Of course, we couldn't stay any longer at the fair with a rabbit in our arms and no carrier.   I was actually quite scared that he would jump out of my boyfriend's arms and into the street as we were waiting for the lights to turn green on Snelling Ave (it's a super busy street, esp during fair season).  Thankfully, he preferred to be held inside my sweatshirt plus I think being tired from 4 days at the fair helped.  We rushed to the nearest pet store and most were closed or close to closing.  We finally found a Petco with ten minutes left to spare!

Anyway, these photos are from the fair today.  I really do enjoy going to see the animals.  They are just so cute and it's the only time I get to pet the farm animals.  As you can see, I really love the loppy ears.  I wanted to take more photos, but it was really packed and we were on a time crunch so I mostly looked at my faves.

This black lop was the sweetest thing ever.  He loved being petted and would just stick his head as far out of the cage as he could .

I love the farm kids who just go and lay right next to their cows.  

Seriously, this cow was so darn cute.  I wish the lighting was better.  

This lamb was so cute!!!

And finally, the horses.  My word are they majestic creatures!  I love them yet find them sort of terrifying due to their large size and power.

This first horse was super sweet and nice.  She came up to us right away and let us touch her.  The guy who owned her then opened up the gate to let people pet her, which was super nice of him.  Most folks prefer that you don't.  And the baby he was carrying so so goofy and happy.  She was not afraid of the horse and grabbed at her nose, face, and everything.  The horse was so good with her and with everyone.

All I ate today at the fair: funnel cake, fries, and a bratwurst.  I did have bites of my bf's spaghetti and meatball (though I don't know why one would order that at the fair anyway since I eat that at least once a month) and pork chop.

Next week when I go back, I intend on going to the Butterfly House.  That should be fun!  And eating fried apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top.  Yum!

I'm not much of a rides person.  I'd rather take photos of people while they are up there.