Litle B and swimming lessons

It's been so hot for the last few days in Perth. There's some cyclone that just past in the South West, so it's been dreadfully, humid amidst the 38' days. For someone without airconditioning of any sort, it's been almost unbearable. I've taken to being like Max our dog, and lying on the cold tiles of the house, when no one's around.

Little B has the right idea.

A few days ago when I went into my room to see Little B with it's mouth slightly open and it's tongue sticking out, I gave Little B it's first swimming lesson, introducing Little B to it's own 'paddle pool'. A shallow dish with 3cm of water.   After I tapped the side of the dish and splashed the water around with my fingertips, Little B seemed to get the idea and hopped in and out quickly, nothing major.

But today Little B was jumping in and out of the water repeatedly and splashing around so much, for so long, I can't believe how many times it kept jumping back in for more! That after awhile it was standing there dripping wet, looking like someone that had gotten drenched in the rain. It was so funny and cute.

Mr January 2011

Life drawing is back on! I'm so happy :)

This is the UWA session, Monday nights, 6pm, 10 bucks, Hew Roberts Lecture theatre.

The female model didn't actually show up. So first up is our fearless leader Chris, who organises the sessions.

Then it was the back up model, Kieren, who actually came to draw,
but being a professional nude model too, he good naturedly agreed to fill in.
I found he was quite a treat to draw. My favourite bits to draw on guys has got to be the upper arm, that shoulder-bicep bit. And as usual, I'm always happiest when I get the face and hair.

Everyone should come down Monday nights and draw. Work that right side of the brain = bliss! So relaxing.
This coming Monday is a female model named Kiah who I've heard to be one of the best. Very professional, impressive looking website wouldn't you agree? Looking forward to Monday.

Blythe factory second import

I was hunting around on ebay and found some factory second Blythe dolls that had random combinations of hair type, eye colours, and skin tone, and maybe a small fault. Two things appealed to me, 1. Something that I could take and fix up 2.They were about one third of the price of mint Blythe dolls. So now I own a few new Blythe dolls. They lie in their brown cardboard boxes waiting 'til I have some irresponsible time to start primping them.

I decided to wash the hair of one of them as her flaw seemed to be uneven, pink hairdye. She also had another flaw, a crack in the side of her scalp plate. It was like she'd been hit on the head and bagged to be sold on the black market as spare parts. Or in this case, sold with no name and shipped off to another country.

Walkin round inside my dream house

That 52 Grosvenor house with the Shop Front door & windows had an open house last Sunday, so I went to walk around inside it on a whim. I still can't afford even a quarter of it, and there were many interested buyers there already discussing deals with the owner. So looking at all it's sweet goodness on the inside (original fireplaces, wooden floorboards, spotless white ceramic bathroom with freestanding tub, amazing ceiling detail, and a perfect, neat, BIG, OLD TREE that perfectly shades the whole cobble bricked, two level back courtyard!) was kind of like a horse having to watch not one, but five fresh carrots being dangled in front of it, and then having to watch another horse eat up those carrots.

Then again, I'm meant to use this as motivation/visualisation power/imagery to get this dream house for real one day.

So here's a photo (photos-excuse the bad stitching) I got taken inside the shop front. It almost looks like I bought the place huh?

My honeyeater likes diamonds

For the last week Little B has developed an instinct to peck at every black and white fleck that stands out. Like sun spots on the edge of leaves, bits of lint on the chair, pins on watches, the circles in the woodgrain of the coffee table...the black diamond on my ring.
Little B tried really hard to get it out!

My little friend is the boldest thief, with expensive taste.

 

 

...And that's my sparkling, new, engagement ring from my most favourite and greatest boy I know in the world :) It's new, but sort of old news now as I should have told the story when in happened last year in October! I am happy to have a fiancee and be a fiancee, and at the same time it's really hard getting used to saying it.

I Would Swap My Firstborn Child For This

When I was working on Dogstar three years ago at the busy Beafort St, Mount Lawley studio, I'd park my car in the nearby suburbian streets and walk past the old style houses to get to work. I loved those short walks through the quiet, older neighbourhood, and one of the special houses I liked walking past was this corner house that had a huge corner 'shop front' window with a rustic shop door in the middle. It would have been a little shop decades ago, maybe a milk deli, or a grocery store, but now the windows were covered up with butchers paper and a home was at the back, now quietly part of a residential street.

In Tasmania, the second house we rented was one of those old ones with fireplaces, and a CORNER WINDOWS in the living room and bedroom. There's something so wonderful about the way the window spans around a whole corner, made up of large iron framed panes, to peer out onto the garden from a whole 145' view. And when the sun streamed in, it was bliss to sit on the sill on a Sunday morning, or an evening, and draw or read a book, while seeing who walked by, or watch birds flittering on and off branches. I told Tim my future house MUST have a corner window or two.

So I have a thing for corner windows, and this corner shop window house, 52 Grosvenor Place in Mount Lawley, I often mused how cool it'd be to live there. How I would be able to put up my art and drawings on the glass and change it every week, so people would have something different to look at. Or I could create jellybaby scupltures and make it look like an inviting, ice-cream pastel world with my huge book collection, and have it open for kids to come in and read books. So every day I walked to work, and every end of the day I walked back to my car, and even these days when I go to Mount Lawley, I'll park there, and I admired and day-dream over this old corner shop window house.

I figured one day when it goes on sale, if ever (I couldn't think of how anyone who owned it would ever want to sell it), it would be far enough in the future that I would have made my millions from one of my storybooks, or my many ideas of my own art gallery shows.

Well, I went to pick up Tim from work yesterday, and there was a huge Real estate For Sale sign out the front of it! I yelped out loud and stared at it. And ran over to read the sign and took a photo of it. OH MY GOD it IS FOR SALE!!! 

I estimated it to be around the 800k mark...and I checked this morning, and it was exactly that. $800,000+ .... I SO CAN'T AFFORD IT!!!! :(

I'm not ready yet, I haven't become a million dollar artist yet! It can't be on sale now!

Whoever buys it probably won't even live in it. It'll be used as rental income/investment instead, and so it will be sat on and NEVER up for sale again.

I had the most niftiest plans for that house! It was my dream house.

Does anyone have a million bucks to sponser a talented artist with a wealth potential? :'(

I am going to lock myself in my room now and cry for the whole week. Maybe for the rest of the year.

Ever wondered how birds sleep?

Little B.'s flying has gotten really accurate, and it can fly over to fully land on top of one high spot to another. But having said that, during the evening it got all excited and flew quickly from the top of one bookshelf to another, and then suddenly tried to land on a hanging picture frame, only to drop straight down...behind my sofa.

I can barely get my hand behind the sofa, so I couldn't pick Little B. up.
Little B. couldn't get a foot hold and chirped and struggled at the bottom, wedged between the wall and the sofa. I grabbed a stick to lower down so Little B. could grab it, but Little B. had already wormed itself accross the width of the sofa and was now behind the HUGE bookshelf.

Now there was no hope of moving the shelf quickly, or reaching it with a stick! But it was ok! because Little B. had already wiggled and tunnelled over to the opening on the other side of the bookshelf, where there was a 15cm gap til the corner of the wall and only an empty mailing tube propped up was in the way. I went to grab it, but Little B. was so fiesty, flapping it's wings and trying to fly off already and it it's frustration under the mailing tube, it went BACK IN behind the bookshelf!

Little B. chirped and tunnelled back all the way to where the sofa was, and continued all the way through the 5cm space accross the total width of the sofa again. This time I quickly shifted the drawer that was blocking that side, and I used the stick to push Little B. out.

Little B. stood in my hand with a thick, dark, grey, mass of spiderweb wrapped around it's beak and legs, it was so funny! the silly billy. I regret I didn't have my camera nearby to take a pic of it. I got the spiderwebs off quite easily with a tissue, despite Little B. protesting and struggling. It wanted to fly off again but that was well enough for tonight! I stroked it's back a few times until it calmed down, and then I put it straight back into it's cage.

I haven't mentioned before, but it's very cute when Little B. naps. It huddles down on the branch so only it's toes are showing (if at all), and it leans off to it's right side as it's head also lolls off to the right.
















Before I could count to ten, Little B. was fast asleep with it's head leaning right off to the side.

Bird on my head.

Little B.'s flying practices have consisted so far of trying to fly onto high things like curtain rails and bookshelf edges, only to fall short and scramble for a foothold, and then ends up falling to the ground wildly flapping it's wings. Or if it aims for me, it either lands on my head, scrambling in my hair or sort of falling short of my shoulder.

But yesterday it started landing ON more things, and started flying in loops around me to touch down exactly on my shoulder, or onto the crook of my elbow, or my hand.

Today I left the room for a moment, closing the door, and when I came back I had barely opened the door, heard a 'chirp', and before I could react I saw Little B. flying straight at me and relieved that it landed right on my shoulder and not poke my eye out.

Little B. likes Strawberry Jam

This morning I let Little B. out to fly after I changed the bottom of it's cage.

I then made my breakfast while Little B. sat quietly inside a branch in the cage with the door open. It seemed to watch me curiously, but it was happy to just sit there contently.

When I sat down and ate most of my breakfast, Little B. flew to the top of a ledge, scrambled at the vertical blinds, and sat on the bench, etc etc. I got my camera and then Little B. flew straight onto my plate.

I thought, "Aw. how cute!" and took a photo.

 

And then Little B. jumped right onto the middle of my strawberry jam toast.
Not cute! I wanted to eat that!

"Aw Little B.!!!" I yelled at it.

Then Little B. licked it a few times, and then flew away.
Over to land right next to the toaster on it's power cord.

I think it wants some toast with strawberry jam please.  

It's a Jungle in there!

Day 10. I have been calling the 'baby' bird "little B." now instead of "B.B." since it's not really a baby bird anymore.

For the first week, every evening after it's final feed and flying practice, I would place it back in it's nest and rub his neck and it would get sleepy eyes and settle down. It was like tucking it into bed every night.

But the day before yesterday, Little B. kept jumping out of the nest as soon as I put it in, and then would even wriggle out of my hand and kick it's legs like crazy, before I could even place it's feet into the nest.It was like that old Donald Duck and the baby kangaroo cartoon where Donald Duck is trying to get the kangaroo into the bathtub.

So since Little B. has outgrown it's nest, today I took it out and decked out the cage with native flowers of all sorts! Heheheh, I made a visit to nearby Winthrop Piney Lakes with a pair of secateurs hidden under my arm, and a cloth bag, and got every native flower I could see.

Little B. looked pretty happy, checking out it's new plants.

I read some Australian bird identifying handbooks today at the bookshop, and I found out I definately have a Singing Honeyeater, NOT a Brown Honeyeater like I first thought. Figures, as Singing Honeyeaters are one of the most common in the South West and generally around Australia. But I love it's little chirpy singing chatter.

In the books there were photos of the Honeyeater feeding on nectar from the inside of those tubular flowers. But I watched Little B. peck and pull at the flowers from all sides on the outside, even trying to eat the petals to no avail, I tried to show it by using the metal prong I've been feeding it food with, but it still hasn't really figured out how to eat the nectar inside the tubular flowers yet.

Baby bird and boxes on a Sunday

B.B never ceases to come up with new tricks. Day 07 it keeps stretching it's legs out, as it stands on it's branch, like a circus acrobat, trapeze high flyer artist. Speaking of circus artists, I am absolutely bursting looking forward to this movie, "Water for Elephants" coming out way too far away.

And speaking of high flying, I let B.B out loose for his-her daily flying practise, in my newly organised work room, which was formerly my parent's small,unused, sunken lounge. So the floor to ceiling height is pretty huge. B.B. flew right up to the ceiling! and then I caught it as it came down again, as it still flies in a series of mad-flapping, parabolic curves. I was going to take it out into the backyard for some natural flying lessons on some sapling fruit trees, but I guess I can't now. I wouldn't want to lose it in the back neighbour's pool, or to the side neighbour's kelpie.

This is the best pic I could take of B.B. leg stretching, I couldn't capture the full extent, and it is much more funny looking and entertaining in real life as it'll do it repeatedly at a time. Today B.B. has also started jumping back and forth from branch to branch, and seems to be twitching and tremoring constantly, as you can see from it's tail feathers shaking. I hope it's just a natural progression of it's nervous system, and B.B. is not sick with a temperature or cold.

Now back to rearranging my rooms. I have two rooms to live in, in my parent's house. Two rooms to keep a household of things, so needless to say there have been boxes piled high of things I haven't found a spot for, and boxes I haven't bothered to unpack and have been living out of, since getting back from Tassie and Melbourne almost year ago now, cripes! Plus having watercolour paints on the floor, printer on a coffee table and scanner on the edge of my dresser, and clothing half in one room, and half in the other room, working and unwinding has been most un-zen. I won't even begin to mention my collection of cool things, which began with overcompensating for those My Little Ponies of the 80s I never got to buy when I was nine yrs old.

So far it took the whole weekend to move around 10 pieces of heavy furniture. Now I have 1 full bookcase and 2 cabinets to go, and then it's organising everything that I emptied out of all the drawers and all the things spilling out of the boxes. Everything resembles a flea market right now.

Baby bird's Progression Continuation

Greeted Baby Bird (B.B) this morning of Day 6, to find it sitting happily waiting for me, on the branch at the front of the cage, on it's own, unassisted and steady!

Yesterday it couldn't grip and stay on anything and would flap it's wings like crazy, while hanging upside down, or just resorting to sitting on the ground, or on it's tail in my hand so it looked like it was sitting in a chair with it's feet out. Very cute.

So today B.B. could hop from branch to branch and stay there steadily while waiting for me to make up it's food.

I still don't know if it's a boy or girl. I tried googling it, and the only thing I found was, the male is larger in size, measured by the wing span, than the female. That doesn't help. Tomorrow I might go over to the Uni library and find a bird handbook that should comparative pictures of the male and female.

This is B.B. letting me clean it's beak with a wet cotton bud after it's eaten. The food mix has nectar in it so little bits sometimes stick to the side of the beak. Oh, Jamie bro came over and took a heap of pics with his super camera skills, so I've got these great clear shots (that also show my beautifully unkept, two week old nail polish, haha).

I was worried about B.B. bonding with me too much, in case it wouldn't want to fend for itself and be with other brown singing honeyeaters outside later on. But oh my gosh, just look at it ^ ! Plus imagine it's soft fluffballness  in your hand, and it's twittering chirpy chattering in your ear as it sits on your shoulder.

I am worried I won't be able to let B.B. back outside, to keep it forever safely by my side as my little chirpy sidekick  :o

My living bird badge

Day 4. The baby honeyeater nursery adventure continues. I haven't named it yet. Maybe a Simon? Maybe Honey! But then I already have a friend named Honey. For now, it's still "baby bird" or "birdy".

Now after it's been fed, it flaps out of it's nest and after a series of stumbles and hops on the floor of the enclosure, which is actually Alice's mobile carry case, the baby bird can get up the metal cagey bit of the front door and make it's way up (and out when I leave the cover off). When I pick it up while I have to clean it's beak or it's nest, it proceeds to try and make it's way up to my shoulder. It's really very funny, I don't know why it wants to get up there. Throughout the day it didn't quite make it and just hung out by the strap of my dress near my collar bone, like a living bird badge!

So far the baby bird makes a singular repetitive chirp that means "Anyone there? I'm hungry" and a squawk when it sees food approaching that means "FOOD OVER HERE! ME! ME!". Now it's making a third chirp noise, a twittering, soft whistling chatter, that it seems to mean "I'm happy" and also happy conversation. Because it will make that noise after it's eaten a lot, and also when I talk to it, it starts it's garbled twittering straight away.

In the evening, when I gave it it's last big feed and took it out to clean it's nest, it actually made it onto my shoulder and sat there happily chirping and twittering into my ear. This little bird is the funniest thing! But then the last thing it did that was less funny, was when I took it off my shoulder, it then flew STRAIGHT AT MY FACE between my eyes. I caught it just before it maybe tried to sit on my nose?! A friend suggested the name at the start of "Kissy Face McGee", and maybe it's not too far off. I hope it doesn't have a thing for pecking and clawing people's noses.

Taken from a reader Robyn comment on Kirsty Brook's Honeyeater blogpost:

"white plumed honey eater as a pet. Orbit was the best pet and friend...Her worst habit resulted from her very terriortial nature, she would attack our visitors, grasping their noses with her feet and putting all her might into squeezing. This was a painful experience for the unsuspecting, as her nails grew long. There were some interesting scenes in our home where we tried to trim her nails."

Further Shinnanigans of the Honeyeater

Third day since I found the baby Honeyeater and it's mighty well. It slept in this morning. I got up at 6.30am and kept checking back on it, and it was still sleeping waaay after sunrise til 9.30am. It continues to gain strength in leaps and bounds!

More chirping for food.

Squarking! (demanding food).

Lying around on it's back.

And then towards the evening it jumped and flapped out of it's nest onto the edge of the container when I called it! So i cut it's old nest out of the tree and fashioned it into a larger enclosure with some twigs for it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


But before putting it into it's new nest, I guiltily encouraged it to do its flapping, jumping trick to the edge of the container again and again by calling out to it, so I could get a good photo :O.
 


After all that exercise and one last meal for day three, it's now sleeping like a log.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A bird in my hand

Day two with the baby bird, and it is a total turnaround of what it was yesterday! I woke up to find it chirping, and when I gave it a glob of mashed hardboiled egg yoke/bannanna/sugar water on the end of some tweezers, it gobbled it up and chirped like crazy with it's beak wide open, just like those baby birds you see on sesame street or a David Attenborough's doco. It's so neat seeing it in real life!

City Farmers is the best, not only are they open on a public holiday, but they stock heaps of aviarist feed and medicine. They had all the Wombaroo range and more, and I easily found the 'Insectovore mix' and the 'Nectar mix' for honey eaters. They also had some curly whiskered, rex rabbits there. Oh my gosh, I would LOVE to take one of those home. They have that real Hare bone structure, velvetiest short fur, and those curly whiskers are so funny!

Back at home, chirpy baby bird keeps chirping every hour or so, and I make a fresh paste out of half Nectar and insectovore mix with water to feed it. After it's had enough, it starts dozing off and then sleeps until it's hungry again. It's so much stronger now, and just stumbly and wonky like a normal baby animal. It does funny things like I came back once to see it sleeping with it's head flopping totally back and it's belly sticking out.

New year, new bird!

I was washing one of the Alice's tiles (I put them into the freezer and then into her box so she can lie on it and keep cool during these hot spells, she has such a thick white coat, poor snow rabbit!) outside in the 40' heat today, and I heard a rustling on the groundleaves below one of our mandarin trees. I thought nothing of it, and was about to go inside, but the rustling again sounded significant, and when I looked over, was that something brownish? Maybe it was another hopping mouse? We've seen two over the last year, skipping along the bricks, and they're cute little things with tufts at the end of their tail, and hind legs like little kangaroos.

On closer look, I discovered a tiny, baby bird, a native Brown Honeyeater *edit 12Jan* correction:  Singing Honeyeater. It was struggling around the dried leave on the ground, and had ants crawling on it, and it was 40' midday! I spied a thin looking nest up above in the mandarin tree. My mum found a dead baby bird a few days ago here. That fact, plus the bad gusty winds we've had every night for the past week...I was not going to try and put the baby bird back into the thin looking nest, only to have it fall out again, and we find another dead baby bird.

So that's how I've come to have a baby honeyeater in a makeshift material nest in a tupperware box by my side that I've been feeding raw sugar water. I must say, the baby bird does not look very good, I really hope it lives. It is so fluffy and fragile....I really hope it lives. I will go down to the small, exotic, animals vet shop tomorrow and get some of that Wombaroo bird mix I read about on this great blog post by Kirsty Brooks, a heartfelt Adelaide writer and animal lover, (who also has many finches and even a story about a couple that brought a tear to my eye).