It may look like Taffy is being held in my hand against his will, but this is actually one of his favorite resting places. Taffy is my tame society finch who really enjoys his free time out of the cage each evening. When he's done "exercising", he flies to the top of my head. Once there, he knows that I will pick him up, then he snuggles into my hand for a head rub or a nap.

Here's another photo of him

It was chilly and windy here today -- not a good day to be out on the lake, so to entertain our visiting friends, we drove around the countryside. Some of the scenes were familiar, some not. I knew we were on an unfamiliar road when we came across this junk shop. I KNOW we would have remembered THIS if we had seen it before.

Here's a closeup of one of the cars.

The owner (orange shirt) was as colorful as his junk collection, with opinions on everything from Iraq, to State Farm Insurance (he loves it), to the outrageous cost of an ambulance ride to the hospital (twice he drove himself to the hospital while he was in a "coma"???, to avoid paying for an ambulance). As we were leaving, he leaned into the car and said "Wait - you never asked me what kind of glue I use to hold the junk on the cars -everybody wants to know that!" OK, we bit - "what kind of glue do you use?" "It's a mixture of rattlesnake, alligator, and rooster snot!".

The azaleas are blooming -

And the bees are busy.

My first rose of the season.

Once, when riding with my parents, we passed a field with cows and I joked that if I raised cows, I'd breed them for pretty colors (as I do with my birds). Well today, I finally was able to get photos of the "Oreo Cows" which are raised on a farm about 30 miles from us in North Carolina. We pass by here a few times a year, but this is the first time that all the conditions were right -- I had my camera with me, it was daylight, the cows were out in the field, and it wasn't pouring rain.

Another photo of the Oreo Cows

White Boy, our little blind finch, seems to be doing quite well in the aviary. I was worried about him for a few days. He seemed to have no trouble locating food (I have feeders hanging all over the aviary), but I never saw him drink from the water bottles. So a couple of times a day, I would take a shallow bowl of water and nudge it up to his chest and he would usually hop up for a drink. But today I saw him drink from one of the water bottles and he also found the bird bath water which I put in the aviary each afternoon.

This is Day 4 in the aviary for White Boy. He is surviving, but not thriving. Although he spends much of his day on the floor, the last 2 evenings he has managed to find his flock at bedtime for some typical society finch "community snuggle".

Freedom time! I moved the travel cages into the aviary & opened the doors.

Princess and Romeo just waited for everyone else to leave the cage - finally, some privacy !

Hannah & Big Red are on the "mating branch" minutes after leaving their cage.

This happens quite often - 2 birds mating and a second male "dive bombs" and interrupts their fun.

Chiquita enjoys the NC sunshine and fresh air.

Back Home! We were greeted with this beautiful sunset.

Here's a view from our deck. It's great to be home!

We were home less than 20 minutes, when Hale and Bop stopped by for a visit and a "handout".

I will miss our little Florida back porch buddy, Liz, who gobbles mini mealworms as quickly as I toss them to her.

Tomorrow will be my "bird packing" day - transfer the birds into their travel cages, and pack up their supplies (there is a lot).

Bed time - 7 in one nest and 1 in the other.

I love watching the kids bathe!