Cabbage Island Clambake

Jamie and Mandy took a day for themselves and went to Boothbay Harbor for a  a boat ride which culminates with a lobster feed/clambake on Cabbage Island. They lucked out and got a gorgeous day to go. I'm assuming that Jamie was able to withstand the boat ride and the buttery seafood since I see no sign of her "OMG! I'm sooo nauseous!" face. Hooray! Here are a few pictures from their day. Al and I got the job of amusing the grand-boy for the day. Luckily he is (almost always) easily amused! A kiddie pool, an Ice Age 3 DVD, and some cookies and milk and our job was done.

Against All Odds

Amanda has been a bird lover ever since she was given her first parakeet as a reward for making the honor roll back in grade school.  (RIP Rupert) She has had birds of varying types ever since, and has always wanted to try her hand at breeding them. She had one failed attempt at breeding cockatiels several years ago, and just recently decided to try it again. Out of the six or so eggs laid, only two appeared to be fertile. The parents seemed to be doing a good job incubating the eggs, taking turns sitting on them day and night. In addition to keeping the eggs warm the parents are also supposed keep the humidity just right by dampening  their bellies as the climate dictates. Amanda soon learned that first time parents don't always do so well with the humidity control portion of the process. She wound up having to take this chick out of it's shell using tweezers and cotton swabs dipped in warm water because the membrane inside of the egg was literally fused to the chick's skin. It took her about 45 minutes to get all of the shell and membrane removed. When I first saw it my first thought was that there is no way this thing is ever gonna survive. I was already preparing in my mind what I was going say to try to make her feel better once the thing died. As it turned out,  I never did have to deliver my comforting speech. Mia called the chick Crush because Mama had to "Crush him/her out of the egg." After several weeks of hand feeding, (the parents didn't have a clue about feeding the thing either) Crush appears to be a normal healthy cockatiel. Sadly, the other fertile egg didn't survive.

Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to bird people.........