I'm Really Still Here...

I have certainly not been very good about keeping up with my blog on anything resembling a regular basis. For that I apologize. It isn’t that I don’t have anything to say. Heck I always have something to say, even if it doesn’t make any sense. Just too many things going on at home with too little time, and I haven’t been able to just sit down and write anything.

The show season for our budgies is just about here for 2009. The first show in the Northwest is only a month away. The Northwest Budgerigar Society will hold its show in April in Tigard, Oregon. I don’t have many birds that are in show condition right now but I’ll try to put together some kind of a show team so that I can support the show. Want to see some photos from past shows, or even some of the budgies? You can link to the photos at my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/12359546@N05/sets/. Photos from three of our recent Northwest shows are linked to from this page. Also on this page is a set of photos of my aviary and some of my birds. The Washington club has its show in late July in Kelso, Washington and the in October the Cascade clubs holds their show in Tigard, Oregon.

This has been my third poor year of breeding birds in a row. I started setting up my birds in early October and so far have only banded 16 chicks. That’s way behind what a normal year should have produced. Part of the problem this year is me, not the birds. Since I’m uncertain about staying in the hobby I think I just haven’t been in the mood. I find that I have to almost force myself to go out on a daily basis to take care of the birds.

My small troubles about the birds make me wonder how my dad’s family managed to be dairy farmers for so many years. Twice a day, 365 days a year you have no choice but to trudge out to the barn and milk the cows. At least I can sneak in a weekend now and then by making sure the seed jars and waterers are full.

‘Nuff for now, just a few more weeks to my 64th birthday; that’s a lot more years than I would have though anyone could live when I was a kid. Of course my dad’s mother lived to the day before her 101st birthday, and one of my dad’s brothers will be 98 later this year; so maybe I have good genes.