In Memory

Over the weekend, Rob's grandmother Nita (his father's mother) passed away due to complications from pnemonia. She was 84.

I didn't really know her well. In fact, I had just only met her at my wedding. I'm glad that I was able to meet her and that she was able to make it to our wedding.





















Rob and his Grandma Nita.

Baby!!

Baby parakeet, that is!

My English Budgies (over twice the size of standard American Budgies (you know, those little chattering parakeets you see in every petstore...) have had their first baby! In all the years I've been breeding birds, I will say, the coolest pet is a hand-fed budgie! They are so cute, sweet, smart, and fun. (well, the smart is arguable. My male keet, Renoir, is dumb. Fly around and smack into walls dumb.) Still, I'm excited that they had a baby. Momma keet, Misty, laid seven eggs, and hatched one. The baby is about a week old, now. I'm sure most of you could care less what a baby parakeet looks like, but I'm going to post pictures anyway!


First is daddy keet, Renoir, keeping guard on top of the nest box. Next is momma keet, Misty, in the next box with her baby.





When Misty came out to fly around, I was able to take the nest box down and get a picture of the baby by itself. Prehistoric looking, isn't it?

Updated

For anyone who is interested, I put up my favorite pics from the Howell Nature Center in my deviant art gallery here.

I've had a pretty fun past week. As you may have read on Tammy's blog, last Sunday we went out on a cemetary crawl with Joel, Mel, and Joel's friend, Eric. We had a pretty good time. We went to Woodlawn Cemetary in Detroit, then next door to Evergreen Cemetary. There's some very nice architecture. We also froze! After all this beautiful "winter" weather, Mother Nature decides to actually give us winter! Brrrrr! My boots weren't as waterproofed as I thought and my feet got soaked! Still, I got some nice shots and hung out with good friends. What more can one ask for? And afterwards we went to dinner at the Bayou Grill in Belleville. Our friend, Nancy, met up with us. Unfortunately, Nancy is moving to Chicago in March for a new job. We'll miss the crazy girl! But wish her the best of luck in her new endeavors. Then the week went by, and it was the same old, same old. Then today, Rob and I went to the Howell Nature Center for a photography shoot. The nature center sponsors shoots to raise money. Yes, I had to pay to shoot. But it was worth it! Besides, all the money goes to help the center, and that's completely worth it. They brought out six different birds of prey: a Red Tailed Hawk, a Barred Owl, a Great Horned Owl, a Screech Owl, a Snowy Owl, and a Long-eared Owl. There were around forty of us shooting. It was amazing! Just being so close to these regal creatures! So, now you're wondering, where are the pictures? Well, I've been lazy about editing and uploading my cemetary shots. Tammy has put some of her pics on her blog. I've posted some of mine on my Deviant Art site. Instead of re-posting them, you may see them in my gallery here. Since I just shot the birds today, I haven't had an opportunity to display them on Deviant Art. I'll attach some of the owl shots below (in order: Barred, Great Horned, Screech, Long-eared, and Snowy). I'll be putting more up on Deviant Art this week though.

Pictures

Since I've been spending most of today in front of the computer editing in Photoshop the family portriats I took on Saturday, I thought I'd grab the pics I took at the Olive Garden get together and put some up for viewing here. Enjoy.




Joel being goofy (gee, what were the odds??). I believe here he is a camera pirate. Aaaarrrr!!!




Dustin and his girlfriend Kasey. Aren't they cute?




Rob's friend, Joe, also a pharmacy slave (did I say slave?!? I mean tech...) at U of M.




Mel and Shannon being silly.




One of the portraits I took Saturday. This is Stephanie and her two kids, Victoria and Thomas. Stephanie is my oldest friend -- we've known each other since third grade!!

Stuff

Here's what Rob and I have been up to this past week or so:

Sat. Feb 4:

I do a portrait shoot for my friend Stephanie and her family. This is the second time that I have seen her husband. The first was at their wedding -- they were married in 1999. Afterwards we meet for lunch with some friends at Aladdin in Farmington Hills (they have the best falafel and lamb kabob sandwiches!) We talk for a long time, and eventually move ourselves and the conversation to Starbucks down the street. Amazingly enough, I take NO pictures during the lunch outing! I know, that's so unlike me. But I took lots of portraits earlier, so that'll even out. No I have to go through and check them out in Photoshop and tweak where necessary.

Thursday Feb 2:

Rob and I drive up to Costco in Brighton to meet a lady for a bird trade, my green split blue parrotlet for her blue Indian Ringneck. We're supposed to meet at noon. Around 1:30, and a few phone calls with no answer and me leaving messages, Rob and I leave a note on the dashboard and go inside Costco for a deliciously inexpensive lunch. At 2:30, still no Melissa, no messages, no nothing. Rob and I go home. And I still have a baby parrotlet that needs to find a home.

Monday Jan 30:

I quit Rottermond Jewelers.

Sunday Jan 29:

After talking to Mel at Ritz 321, and finding out that I can get hours from her, I decide to quit the evil Rottermond Jewelers.

Sunday Jan 22:

Big dinner at Olive Garden with a bunch of my friends. This I took pictures at. And they're still in my camera, so you'll have to wait. Had a good time. We're one crazy bunch!

Saturday Jan 21:

Rob and I drive to Fort Wayne, IN to trade for birds: a multitude of my mother's lovebirds for a bare-eyed cockatoo, Sammy. Sammy is very sweet and sits on my shoulder in the car for the rest of the day. After Fort Wayne, we drive up to Sparta, MI to buy a female African Grey parrot, Birdie, for my male Grey, Barrett. I used the money that I made from selling all my parrotlet babies. I have made a deal with mom: I buy the Grey, she sells all her lovebirds (with the exception of a couple pets). Twelve hours from the time we started, Rob and I are home and exhausted.