Christmas and Stuff....

We are way behind getting everything ready for Christmas in the house....I washed the curtains last week out of the front room and found after they had dryed that one curtain out of each pair had shrunk......how the hell did that happen? Very annoying! Couldn't leave them like that so off we went today to but some new ones---I joked with Bill that we needed some 'parrot dust' coloured ones as the birds seem to produce so much of the bloody stuff its unreal sometimes! It doesn't matter how often I hoover and polish there is always a thing layer of dust on everything! Anyway I decided on some lovely cream ones with a ''Paddy-- amazon  parrot'' green leaf on them in the end! And of course had to get some cushions to match them as well..Got them ironed and hung tonight,.just got to shampoo the carpets tomorrow and we can get the tree up...I will be packing away all my cat ornaments so the Santa's and snowmen can come out and then maybe I will be feeling a bit more festive...I'm off to see the specialist again on Monday, had a kidney scan last week and a letter came through the door on Monday saying I  needed to see the specialist again ---at 2.30pm on  that Monday!!! It had been posted 4 days before but sent 2nd class---and we had to be at Bridgnorth hospital at 2pm for Bill to see the diabetic nurse as he has had to start insulin injections so we could go to Hereford...so I'm now going next Monday to see him and see whats going on re my Polymylagia .kidney problems..looks like I have 2 different things happening at the moment. The steroids are working really well as regards the pain and stiffness in my body but they do have a side effect of making my arms and legs feel weak sometimes, and the tinnitus is also still with me on and off which can be a real bugger...at the moment its quiet, but tomorrow it could be ringing away like mad..luckily I'm able to ignore it when I'm busy and it just bugs me when I sit down quiet..

I'm going to have to tie the rubber plant back in the morning--it obviously loves it where it is as its grown and grown--and as we put the Christmas tree down in the bottom end of the front room it will be in the way! I got the dusting and polishing done down that end tonight ready for the tree,,and am quite looking forward to getting it all up now...have bought some lovely new decorations for it as well as the old faithfuls that come out year after year.Well bed is calling me now...nite nite everyone !

Three Years Today----Our Jake!

Its 3 years today since Jake joined our family--in that time he has bought so much enjoyment and happiness you wouldn't believe.He is so happy bless him-from the moment the cover is taken off his cage in the morning until he is covered up for bed he is chattering away and never fails to amaze us with his understanding of our human language! He now has his own facebook page and numerous videos of him on Youtube   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400L0u-STQs! His latest new word at the moment is Tickle Tickle so he is saying that  lot-- along with calling the cat and singing bits of Twinkle Twinkle little star. and Half a pound of Tuppeny rice! He doent say 2 when he is counting though my sister thinks he may have said it when she looked after him! His favorite game at the moment is to get beakfuls of food and throw it out of his cage-usualy over poor Bill who sits on the sofas by the cage-while he is throwing it he is shouting "stop it you naughty boy" which of course makes us laugh which makes him worse! The wild birds do well out of it though as it gets swept up and thrown out for them! Our other parrot Paddy still dosent talk bless him-we have had him 8 years now so dont think he is going to now.but Jake more than makes up for him!Each day we end up creased at things Jake comes out with--as I type away upstairs I can hear him shouting my Mum -Hazel and nephews Rhys and Charlie--and laughing hystericaly-very hard to concentrate!

Coincidence!

We bought a new TV recently and I put the old one on Freecycle as there was nothing wrong with it really.
It was snapped up  by a lady who lived in Ludlow--in fact she came from the small street where we had bought it from a few years ago--we bought it from a lady who had 2 parrots--at either end of her sofa-at the time we didn't have any parrots--but we ended up with 2 of them and they ended up at either end of the sofa as well!
That is a bit of a coincidence isn't it?

Jake

Here is the latest addition to the Jennings family.

Meet Jake the african grey parrot who came to live with us today.

He is 18 months old and talks ,sings and whistles tunes.

Its funny how things come about-I happened to see him mentioned last night on one of the forums that I go on --his owners have had a change in their circumstances and can no longer keep him.

After an email and a few phone calls Rich said he would bring him all the way from Southampton to make sure he settled in.

We had to do some furniture moving in the front room to fit his cage in, but got everything sorted just in time as they all arrived.

Paddy didn't think much of being kept in his cage while we settled Jake in , but I'm sure he will soon get to be friends given time.

He really is a character and whistles the Mcdonalds tune.

I know Rich and Nat will miss him a lot, but Im going to keep them informed of how he is with emails and phone calls.

He will be spoiled rotton like Paddy Bird is-as I speak he is tucking in to grapes and red peppers!

Garden Coming On Nicely

The garden is coming on a treat--the membrane has gone down on the bottom level of the garden and the lovely coloured gravel and cobbles arrived this morning.

The plants and trees have been set out in the approx places they will be planted.

Bill has sorted out 2 big planters that will hold trailing fuchsias-they will sit at each side at the top of the new steps down to the 3rd level.

The new ultra violet light in the pond has worked a treat and the pond water is now as clear as a bell!!!.

The fish are rushing to the side of the pond to be fed as soon as they hear footsteps on the patio! As soon as you throw the food in they sound like a load of pigs eating!!

You wouldn't believe the noise they make munching away!

The biggest one who is called Moby for obvious reasons pushes everything out of the way like a bulldozer, no wonder he is the size he is!

Commissions

I have been busy over the past couple of days working on a commission of Swallow Falls in Wales.

Its a place that has inspired me from the the first time we went there 6 years ago.

Paul and his wife have each commissioned a painting that means a lot to each of them.Im working on Pauls at the moment--he has sent me the photos of the scenes but also given me the go ahead to do my own thing with them because they love my style of interpretation of subjects.

.I am really enjoying this----although I am still doing my usual and emailing each stage for confirmation too!

I am really pleased with the results-the pic shown does not do this painting justice!

How Nice !

In this day of emails and mobile phone texts it has been lovely the past week to recieve 3 hand written thank-you letters by snail mail!

The first from Marden Wi 's program secretery Marcia Willmott thanking me and Bill for the demonstration we gave recently at their WI .

The second from John-Paul Kelly for the ''Path Through The Birch Tree'' painting.
He is very pleased with it and has also informed me that he has sent them (3 Canvas) to be mounted onto a single backing to make it easier to hang on the film sets.

The third one today came from Rachel Owen , program secretary of Lydham, More and Snead WI where we gave a recent demo.
Rachel was thrilled to se photos of the night here on the blog and has also informed me that she intends coming to a class a bit later in the year--we will look forward to it very much!

My Painting Buddy!!!

I was stood painting in the kitchen last night minding my own business when I heard a flutter of wings behind me and in flew Paddy Bird onto my head!

Bill and I were both shocked as he as never been brave enough to leave the front room before in the 4 years we have had him!! He had to navigate the turns into the hall and into the kitchen, he was puffing a bit when he landed on my head!

He has never been that keen on me until a few months ago, he always seemed to like Bill the most. He simply tolerated me-what has made him change I dont know.

Most parrots take to just one of their owners, Bill can still do more with him-mainly because Im still scared of him-he has bitten me down to the bone on my fingers several times in the early days and it has always gone septic. But Im getting braver now hes being nicer to me.

He was very interested in what I was doing, he seemed to enjoy watching me paint.

He thought all his birthdays had come at once when Bill gave him a clean brush to hold as we are always taking pens and lipsticks off him as his beak goes through them like butter!!

I might get him some paint and a little canvas soon and see if hes picked up any tips!