This Bites!

So, yesterday I woke up god-awful early (1), packed the parrotlets (1) in the car, and drove off to my mother's to collect her and her lovebirds to take to the bird show to sell (3). My mother, of course, was not ready. And she only had two cages together. TWO. She has flocks of these fuckers flying around, and only two cages to go to the show. I was growling. So, we pack up one car and off we go to Livonia. We sold one bird. One lousy little bird. That's it. Gail, our bird lady friend who we share a table with (been sharing with for years), sold one bird also. Blargh. So, I am glad, after all, that we did not take more cages. That would have required two cars and more stuff to carry back and forth. This was our first time working at this show. (4) It was smaller than the one we normally do. And not nearly as busy. It bit. Big time. And not no tiny little parrotlet bite. Oh no. Angry Amazon parrot ripping your finger off kind of bite. And I'm not even done complaining! A couple years ago I compiled an album of pictures of our birds to show at the show. Pictures of babies, of the parents, even some nice studio-esque shots. It went over really well. We were the only ones to do this. This show I saw THREE vendors with similar books. Last year I made photo buttons for my mom, Rob, and I to wear. Not to sell, just to wear. They each had a different lovebird on it. I thought it was a cute and innovative way for us to identify ourselves amongst the gaggle of bird vendors. Well, there was a vendor there (one who also had a birdy brag photo book) who was selling photo buttons! Big, fat copycats.


So, folks, here's the deal: I will be at the Motor City Bird Breeders show on Oct 29 in Warren. You will do your Jedi mind tricks and send people over to my table to buy lots and lots of lovebirds. Everyone will be happy. People will have sweet little baby lovebird pets. I will have money. My mother will not have all the lovebirds on Earth. And you will not have to hear about another bird show on my blog. It's a good deal.



(1) God-awful early in my book is the same time Rob wakes up every day to go to work.

(2) I am not making this word up. This is a real bird. A parrotlet is the smallest parrot in the world. They're from South America. I have a pair of the Pacific Parrotlets (blue mutation) that had babies. The weaned babies went with me to the show to be sold. For more information on Parrotlets (proof that I'm not making this up): www.internationalparrotletsociety.org.

(3) Ok, those of you who've known me awile, know that I have birds (d'uh) and that my mother breeds lovebirds and currently has all the lovebirds on Earth flying around her house. We've been breeding birds for years. But never on the scale she has currently. She's finally figured out that she needs to cut back. Way back. She's decided to sell off all her peachface pairs and babies. We sell the babies through ads (internet, pet supply stores) and through various Michigan bird shows. These bird shows are two fold: a) yes, birds actually get shown, like at dog shows. Yes, ribbons are given out. No, I have never shown a bird. b) Vendors. Lots and lots of vendors. People selling cages, toys, feed, and of course, birds. Of all sizes from finches to macaws. If you've never been to one, it's an experience. Oh, and you get the birds at breeder prices, at least HALF of what the pet store charges. It's an interesting society.

(4) Different club than hosts the show we usually do. A lot of the same vendors, though.