My Future Christmas Trip

 I cannot wait! On Oct. 1, there is going to be an exotic bird expo held near Medford. I cannot wait to go! I really should not be talking about this, because I don't want to jinx it. But I just cannot wait to go. I'm so excited. I have some bad news to the people who read this blog when we got Dahlia and Petunia. We had to let the kittens go. I've felt terrible about it. But I had to. I put up with them knocking things down, and still loved them. I put up with them scratching holes in my curtains, and still loved them. But there is just one thing I won't let go on, and that is my birds. We left the kittens in the living room to eat. BIG mistake. While my sis and I were in our rooms, the cats had gotten to one of my doves. When I saw him, he wasn't able to fly. I did notice Petunia was under their cage. But they both had PLENTY of food in their dish. I thought they'd concentrate more on that than on my birds. They had been squirted enough times that they should have known by then, to stop harassing my birds. But Petunia was under their cage, and my little ground dove was not flying. Yet still responsive.

I reached inside the cage to get the dove out so I could investigate him. I saw the tale-tale rip under his left wing that told me the cats had gotten to him. He was torn, but it was small and fixable. I had to isolate him though. But I turned to my sis and said, "That's it! I want them cats OUT of my house!!!!" I turned my head before, too many times. This time, it was lucky for that dove that we got out there in time, or Petunia would have had that poor bird all consumed. The same way they consumed my parrot finches and my tricolored nun. I told my sis to get those cats out of my house! NO MORE CATS!!!! I told my sis we'll stick with puppies from now on. So my sis took the kittens to a shelter in Salem. I know they will find them a good home. Petunia is so sweet and mellow, she's sure to attract someone.

I hated it after I sent the cats to the shelter, and I did try and try hard to accept their little flaws. But when it comes to my birds, I just have to draw the line. This was the first, and will be the last, time I send any pet to a shelter. I hate doing that! But I had to do it for the sake of my birds. The very next day I cried though. Because I missed Dahlia and Petunia. And I'd never given a pet to a shelter before. Although my parents did it plenty of times when I was growing up. I'm just not used to it. I was going to send the kittens back to the lady who gave them to us. But we knocked on her door and she didn't answer. She NEVER answers. But that would have been so much easier on my emotions. It's hard letting them go to a cold, callous shelter. But I had no choice. Anyway, I did manage to get my dove back to flying condition again.

This is why I want to go to this bird expo. I want to see if I can replace the birds those cats took away from me. I also want to get some gouldian finches. I have always wanted to have gouldians in my collection again. But good ones are now hard to find. I like my gouldian finches to look like this:

But now, too many people are breeding gouldians that look like this:

I don't like that. Nobody can paint like mother nature. I want gouldians that look like gouldians. Not like canaries! Or those that have some of their natural colors missing. Same with parrot finches. They're supposed to be beautiful beyond all reason!!! Like these:

But like the gouldians, too many people nowadays are breeding the colors out of them. Like this:

This is the reason I don't go to pet stores to get birds. Unless I see some that I absolutely must have! But most often than not, all they'll have are those ugly mutations. I prefer the all-natural colors. So, I hope I won't be disappointed by this bird expo. But I am going with an open mind. I cannot wait to see what is there!

It's going to be early, but my sis gave me some money to start saving for this bird expo. This expo is my Christmas present from her. I'm also saving some of my own money. I'm really going to scrimp and save and when this expo comes, I'm there! And I'm gonna come back hopefully with a shitload of birds!!!