jmgoyder

wings and things

Absence makes the heart grow furious

When our two male golden pheasants, Phoenix 1 and Phoenix 2, went to war over a female, and Phoenix 2 flew away, I was at first alarmed, then bereft, then relieved to find out that Phoenix 2 was happily living with neighbours.

Strangely, even though Phoenix 1 – picture below – banished his brother, he, too, has been bereft and rather reclusive and obviously very lonely.

For months now he has been coming to the back veranda window to stare forlornly at his reflection. He has also been really silent and moody and seems quite angry to be the only pheasant here now. He misses the females he and his brother fought over but like I said to him yesterday, ‘It’s your fault – you scared them all away!” Funnily enough, my harsh words drew him closer to me and he took the bit of cabbage in my hand. He doesn’t usually come so close, so that was lovely.

It was almost as if he knew that I knew that he knew we were both in similar predicaments of loss. I’m not sure.

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Pull your socks up!

Yesterday was supposed to be fantastic, with Husband home for the day. I had sushi, smoked salmon and blue cheese (some of Husband’s favourites) ready for lunch. But Husband doesn’t have much of an appetite these days so it ended up being a bit of an anti-feast.

Yesterday was supposed to be fantastic and I had envisioned one of those sentimental scenes in which people who love each other run across fields of daffodils in slow motion and embrace; after all, Husband and Son hadn’t seen each other for over two weeks. But when I picked Husband up from the nursing lodge he was uncharacteristically grumpy because I was late, and, when we got home, Son was asleep. The daffodil-ish scenario evaporated and a whoosh of disappointment blew through the house.

Yesterday was supposed to be fantastic, but by the time Son woke up, Husband was outside trying to water the garden, I was walking the emus whilst keeping an eye on Husband, we somehow lost Husband’s new walking stick, then I lost sight of the emus, then I lost sight of Husband, then the tension reached a nasty twang when Son came outside to yell at Husband to come inside so they could watch a movie together and have a talk and a hug! I told Son later that if he needed a hug he would have to ask less angrily…. Mmmm.

Yesterday was fantastic when, finally, both my men ended up watching Red Dog after which Son had a ‘deep-and-meaningful’ with Husband about how he now identifies with being disabled. The difference is, of course, that Son is getting better and Husband is getting worse. I intentionally withdrew from their company so they could watch the movie together in manny mode. When I heard them chatting, I was relieved because over the last year or so, Son has found Husband increasingly difficult to relate to and vice versa.

Yesterday was fantastic when both of them called me to put their socks on. Unfunnily enough, one of the things they now have in common is that neither of them can manage this. Earlier, Son said, “Sorry, Mum, this like what you do for Dad”, but I said, “No, your feet are much bigger,” and we had one of those half-hearted laughs where you can only manage a one-syllable ‘ha’ rather than a ‘hahahaha’.

Yesterday was supposed to be fantastic and it wasn’t. And then it was. And then it wasn’t again.

So, once I’d taken Husband back to the nursing lodge and settled Son into bed for a late afternoon nap (he is still on very strong painkillers), I went out to spend time with the birds.

Then I pulled my socks up.

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The turkeys grow up

Our three turkeys are getting huge but, when I purchased them as chicks, I saw various of their parents so I know they may well grow even huger! I loved them when they were little and cute but now I adore their big robustness. Here is one of the Bubbles with Baby Turkey underneath the two ancient fig trees. They are the only birds who eat the figs – they eat masses of them which is probably why they are growing so fast!

It’s hard to believe they were ever this teensy!

Despite their angry looking faces, they are the friendliest of all our birds. They love to be patted and nearly jump into my lap when I bring bread out. The guinnea fowl and peacocks are much more nervous birds. Even though we have had guinnea fowl for longer than any of the others, I still can’t handfeed them or touch them. The peacocks will take food from my hand but if I try to pat them they get really jumpy so I’ve stopped trying – it doesn’t matter. The turkeys, however, will nibble my clothes for a pat!

I still miss that very first Bubble – the one we lost in the early days of our bird adventure.

Husband is coming home for the day and, apart from the guinnea fowl, the turkeys are his favourite birds. I think he’ll be quite glad to see Son too!

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Tomorrow just became today!

I think there might be a funny story within this situation, but I haven’t quite found it yet.

This afternoon I found out, almost by accident (during a phonecall with Son), that he could be discharged from the hospital today. I immediately rang the hospital to confirm this and said I’d be there first thing tomorrow morning, explaining that I lived 200 kms away. But the woman on the phone said it had to be today because they needed the bed.

Okay….

In the meantime I’d received a phonecall from our local hospital to say that they would be delivering a special chair and other equipment for Son this afternoon and would I be home … okay

Long story short, I then rather frantically had to arrange for relatives in Perth to pick Son up and have him overnight, cancel my planned visit to Husband, confirm delivery of Son’s equipment (which, as it turns out, can’t be delivered until tomorrow anyway).

Okay….

So, our wonderful relatives are now bringing Son home tomorrow morning. As he can only tolerate sitting for about 15 minutes without pain, I think this may be a long journey.

Previously I’d been told Son would probably be in the rehabilitation unit until next Monday, maybe this Friday at a pinch, but only if he made a quick recovery.

Well, he made a quick recovery all right – it’s only Thursday!

I feel a little sped up!

So home tomorrow … the beginning of a new adventure – hehe!

It’ll be Son and me and a bunch of birds; wish us luck as we let the funny story unfold!

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Flexibility

Geese, with their long necks, have incredible flexibility. In the photo below, Pearl (on the left), appears to be giving herself a little hug!

The biggest drawback after scoliosis surgery is loss of flexibility. Son has had 12 of his 24 vertebrae fused, so this area of his back is now ramrod solid. The good news is that this middle area of the spine doesn’t require much flexibility anyway and Son still has the top and bottom of his spine to flex, dance, bend, lift, so he still has his shoulders and hips. If he wanted to, he could even preen himself the way Seli does in the following photo.

I love watching the geese preen themselves. This is Godfrey and Seli below. As you can see, Seli does actually have a head!

Okay, so Son is not a goose, but he will still be dancing, preening and spreading his wings again!

Okay, so he might not have as much flexibility as Pearl (picture below again) but you never know!

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Irony

I rather like irony.

Just before I checked out of my Perth hotel yesterday, a few birds suddenly appeared so I quickly photographed them.

The pigeon on the right was gently pursuing his mate on the left.

Some ironies are difficult to absorb. Since surgery, Son has now experienced almost all of Husband’s Parkinson’s symptoms: immobility, loss of control, confusion, hallucinations, pain, hopelessness, fear, but also resiliance, hope, determination … heroism.

The willy wagtail screeched at me just like the ones in our wash house do!

Another sudden irony: I have fallen in love (hehe!) with Son’s surgeon who just rang me and reassured me that, except for football, Son could do anything but it might take a bit of time. His spinal surgery was a great success and the curve had been corrected to around 34%. The surgeon said miscommunication is common post-op but that, as far as he was concerned, Son could go to the concert, get back on his motorbike, do anything he wanted to do and that it was up to Son to figure that out.

I rang Husband to tell him the good news, then I rang Son, who had visitors and asked me to ring back (!) so then I went and told Ola, named after one of my beautiful nieces, Olivia. Ola is, however, not a girl!

I rather like irony.

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Beautiful black swan

One of the reasons I’ve stayed in a rather lovely hotel on the river is because of all the beautiful bird life around here – ducks, swans, cockatoos and other various winged creatures. Early this morning I woke to a chorus of different bird songs but I drifted back to sleep. Later, when I got up, I went out to the balcony with my camera to take some photos and guess what? No birds.

I’ve been waiting over an hour now and still no birds!  I have to check out of the hotel soon and go and see Son, so I’ve decided to take some shots of the beautiful black swan in my room. He didn’t mind being photographed at all and remained very still for the close-ups.

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Nouns and verbs

Before the ‘bird thing’ happened to me, I was unaware of the noun, ‘birder’ and the verb ‘bird’ (as in, ‘to bird’ – you know, ‘birding’). I’d heard of bird watchers, of course, who were sometimes pictured on television, wearing strange safari-type hats, carrying binoculars and cameras, and whispering David Attenborough phrases.

I didn’t really notice these peculiar people with their bird-feeders and their bird baths; I didn’t notice the birds either until, like I said, the ‘bird thing’ happened to me. I think it was the peacocks that did it for me – I absolutely loved the sensation of being able to feed them by hand, and the rest, well the blog tells it all.

However, I am not really a birder yet, in the true sense of the word, because all of our many birds are domesticated. Real birders admire, and take brilliant photos of, the wild birds, and that is something I have a new respect for, thanks to these two incredible bloggers:

http://bobzeller.wordpress.com/http://

http://tootlepedal.wordpress.com/

If it hadn’t been for these guys I would never have noticed how many beautiful wild birds live on our farm, and I would never have bought a better camera!

Noun: Bob Zellar

Verb: Tootlepedal

King peacock: I’m a noun too, you know! If you want a verb, see Queenie….

I just love ‘the bird thing’! I’m going to get heaps of bird feeders tomorrow on my way back to the farm. This is NOT peculiar!

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Beauty

Real beauty never recognizes itself

It averts its face

It would rather splash around than look for its reflection

It searches for grubs

It ponders

Real beauty doesn’t know it’s beautiful….

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Don’t come any closer!

Tina Turner (Araucana rooster): Don’t come any closer, Phoenix.

Phoenix (Golden pheasant): It’s okay, I’m leaving!

Phoenix: Hi guys!

Peacocks: Hi Phoenix, ‘bye Phoenix.

Phoenix: No problems – I get it; I’ll just dance away on my own.

Phoenix: Don’t come any closer, Julie.

Me: I know what you mean, Phoenix.

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