Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

It was a day of avian antics.
A stupid grackle managed to get into the chimney and down to the heat exchanger on the wood stove. I had to remove part of the stack to get it out. On the positive side, the chimney is quite clear of soot and creosote. Considering that I've had a fire everyday for 6 months, that is good. I guess those creosote sweeping logs actually work.

The canaries enjoyed the aviary while the fledgling parakeets just watched from the safety of their nest. Until just before time to go back in. And I thought that cat wrangling was difficult. With my hoop house blown away, a whole new world is out there for the littles to explore.

Now that my truck is out of the shop, I hope that I can start making repairs to the homestead tomorrow.

 

[vintagegem]

It was a day of avian antics.
A stupid grackle managed to get into the chimney and down to the heat exchanger on the wood stove. I had to remove part of the stack to get it out. On the positive side, the chimney is quite clear of soot and creosote. Considering that I've had a fire everyday for 6 months, that is good. I guess those creosote sweeping logs actually work.

The canaries enjoyed the aviary while the fledgling parakeets just watched from the safety of their nest. Until just before time to go back in. And I thought that cat wrangling was difficult. With my hoop house blown away, a whole new world is out there for the littles to explore.

Now that my truck is out of the shop, I hope that I can start making repairs to the homestead tomorrow.

do you breed canaries?...they are delightful little birds, I am looking for one myself, we have 2 other birds inside...an African Grey Timneh, and a Senegal. I had a gorgeous little canary last year but he met a sad demise

. Never had a bird come down the chimney but did have a couple of bats try it once and had to get my neighbor to remove them!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I have had a bat, caught by the cat.

And one Easter Sunday, just before we were set to depart for family dinner, a wild mallard flew down our chimney and straight into my living room. No joke. Truth.

And I hear those darn grackles up there every day. I need one of those dome things. Really.

 

[RaZ]

These are my parakeets, Squeak and Squawk.

 

[vintagegem]

These are my parakeets, Squeak and Squawk.

such pretty little birds!...we had one when I was growing up. we call them budgerigars in Britain

 

[RaZ]

such pretty little birds!...we had one when I was growing up. we call them budgerigars in Britain

Not many people here know them by that name. If you say "budgie" you get funny looks. Silly Yanks.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Silly that sucks about shane gibson. I am a corn fan too.

Taprock, that does sound "right". As hurtful as it probably was the stars could not have been more aligned. I know she will be missed.

Raz, on FB i whine too sometimes but i have only a few people on there other than direct family and you can't even see my stuff unless i friend; so i feel ok. Mostly they are my sounding board and usually know when to scold or support. A few chicken folk just cause my family still don't get why i didn't stay with little caged parakeets or something- lol

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Isn't the budgie the bigger version? My sis had one of the bigger ones-twice the size!

 

[jlynnet]

Coconut pound cake
For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 10-15 cup fluted tube pan with butter and dust with flour. Tap out excess flour.
3 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter
6 Eggs In a large bowl, add sugar and butter and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add one egg at a time, making sure to mix thoroughly between additions.
4 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1 1/2 cups Flaked Coconut (unsweetened)
1 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in three parts to batter and mix gently until just moistened. Stir in coconut and pecans.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
1/2 cup Water
2 tablespoons Salted Butter
1 cup Sugar
Powdered Sugar for dusting For the Glaze: Five minutes before cake is finished baking, make the glaze. Combine water, butter and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Slowly pour half the syrup over the cake, invert onto serving plate, and pour remaining syrup over top. Dust with powdered sugar, let sit for 10 minutes, and eat warm!

This makes a big pound cake. I usually only make it around holidays when I have lots to feed. You could add rum to the glaze for a nice kick.

 

[RaZ]

Isn't the budgie the bigger version? My sis had one of the bigger ones-twice the size!

The ones in my photo are budgies or budgerigars, real parakeets are bigger. Here is a brief link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parakeet