There was nothing specifically planned for this week, which we appreciated. We’ve covered a lot of ground and have engaged in some wonderful activities, so a quiet week at home will be nice.
Two weeks ago, Lou welcomed a new ringneck parakeet into his outside aviary. The new bird was a female and is a striking yellow bird. He has other ringnecks, but Lou has a passion for birds and so when the pet store owner called to tell him he had a stock of new ringnecks and one of the was yellow, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. He put the new bird in the aviary with a green ringneck and a white ringneck. As we were sitting watching them, I asked about names and he hadn’t named the ringnecks, and so I suggested Oliver for the green male. Lou immediately said Olivia for the new yellow female. He then said Angel for the white female. The new girl in town turned Oliver’s head pretty quickly and I felt sorry for Angel who had had him all to herself. Lou thinks Oliver and Olivia might mate, so there may be new birds in the future.
The most significant thing this week is that Lou got another new member of the family. The newest addition is a male Sunday conure who’s name is Walnut, Wally for short. He’s relatively young and he is actually the baby brother of the conure Macadamia, the bird owned by the guy next door. Lou intended to keep Wally in a cage inside the house, but it became clear pretty quickly that Wally was too noisy and too messy to be inside, so his cage went to the screened in verandah where Lou’s has his spa (hot tub). Wally is a very colorful bird and will get more so as he ages. He’s quite a character. It took him a very short time to figure out how to dismantle some of his toys, including untying a knot holding one of his toys. He also nips pretty hard if you put your fingers on the cage. Lou wired all the doors closed because we’re sure Wally has already scoped out where potential escape portals are. Hopefully, he’ll be able to move into a bigger cage because he needs to fly. Currently, he holds on to the top of the cage and flaps his wings while upside down. Lou’s trying to figure out some better living conditions for Wally. Banjo knows he has a bit of competition for Lou’s attention at the moment as Lou is spending time with Wally. Banjo goes over to Lou as he’s sitting talking with Wally just to be sure Lou pays him some attention, too.
Wednesday Lou and I went to Mudgee with Margaret. One of the things Margaret used to do was drive a bus to Mudgee taking some of the town’s ladies shopping in Mudgee. Ultimately, the bus company stopped the run. Margaret felt badly for the ladies, so she’s using her own transport to take the ladies to Mudgee every Wednesday. She recoups her gas expense from the ladies, who gladly pay. Lou has been tagging along with them to do his shopping, so I joined them.
The drive to Mudgee is quite beautiful. I relish seeing the mountains and the fields as we roll along the central tablelands.
During the week Lou and I walk into town at 7:00am most mornings and have a cuppa at one of the cafes. It’s been a nice way to start the day. I see and hear a lot of great birds on the walk and we keep track of what’s going on in the neighborhood.
This is where we have our coffee on the main street in Rylstone. It also is a gallery space and Clare once had an exhibition of some of her costumes and other work there. We enjoy watching the comings and goings as workers and locals stop for coffee and a bite to eat. We see a lot of the same people so Lou is getting to know people. Banjo is a magnet for conversation as most people stop to pet him.
That’s what’s been happening this week. I’ll have more exciting things to report for Saturday and Sunday as we have activities planned. Stay tuned.