Heartbroken

My sweet parrot Simon passed away early this morning.  I will miss that boy even more than I am able to express in words.  I am so grateful for the many years that he was in my life.

I brought him home with me in September 1976 when I was just 22 years old.  I had wandered into a local pet store and was casually walking by a cage he was sitting on top of when he suddenly grabbed at my shirt and climbed up onto my shoulder.  The pet store employees were all upset and nervous as they were trying to figure out how to safely remove him.  He apparently didn't like the guys, and it was the guys that were afraid of him.     The next day I went into my local credit union to ask for a loan of $500 to take him home with me.  As you can imagine, the loan officer didn't think she heard me quite right and dropped her pen on the desk when I repeated my request.  The next day she called and told me to come pick up my check.  I immediately called the pet store and asked if they still had the bird named "Buddy," and if so, would they do me a favor and start calling him Simon as I was on my way to pick him up.

Me and Simon during our younger years.  

Goodbye my sweet bud.  Thank you for all the love you gave me.  I know you're with Grandpa right now eating peanuts out of his hand once again.  You know my love for you will never end.   

Starbird

Stormy, snowy winter days are a perfect time to make a few changes around the house.   And my changes started out when I decided to give a name to our upstairs kitchen. 



Then I came up with an idea to convert one of my glass insulators into a shade to replace a pendant light that I had grown tired off.  I just had the local glass shop drill a hole in the top, and then Henri masterfully replaced it for me using the same hardware from our previous fixture.  If you would like to do this too, I found out the hard way that only a very small and very low watt bulb (15W) will work.  My use of a larger 40W bulb heated up the glass too much and caused my previously perfect insulator to sprout a sudden small crack, complete with sound effects, right before my eyes!  Fortunately the light switch was handy enough for me to react quickly to stop the damage. So now the fixture has a bit more character on one side than I had planned, and that's okay with me too!

Oh, and here is the reason I named the kitchen Starbird. Our Simon who is 38 years old.  The kitchen is where he spends most of his day. 

I also decided to dress up his cage with some sea shells that I added to some frayed tie-top curtains I made. 

He hangs out on the top of his cage during the day.  The only time he actually goes into his cage is at night.   Also, I did the ceiling in that embossed paper that is supposed to make it look like tin.  I have not yet painted it though.  I may just leave it white. 

Across from his cage he has a friendly tin seahorse to keep him company. 

See his reflection in the porthole mirror right there? 

I also added touches of gold leaf to my previously distressed cabinet doors that I painted black. 

Here's a close up of the gold leaf on a shell embellishment that I found at the hardware store. 

I should also mention that the color of my new light fixture, along with the name I gave the kitchen, might just be a nod to a common navigational sign you may be familiar with.   

In a previous post I confessed a little trick of how I always remember my left from my right, navigational-ly speaking, that is. 



Red for Port.  Green for Starboard {Starbird}.  Just a little visual in case you need help to remember that too! 

Greens From The Garden

Our first harvest of the season, some spinach and swiss chard.

Such an easy and healthy lunch wouldn't you say?

Oops, where did that come from?

Right in the middle of trying to be healthy.

(There's always room for a brownie.)

More green.

Simon had his own little salad too, just no brownie.

He is such a good role model.

Let The Summer Begin

The flag pole at Sorrento's public landing today.

Memorial Day festivities seem to always mark the beginning of summer for us here in Sorrento.

It is plenty warm enough to take Simon along with us on walks now.

Either he's a little spoiled or we're a little eccentric. But if I just let him sit on my shoulder, he would no doubt become eagle bait.



Sometimes, Henri likes to push the stroller ahead and then catch up with him.




I'm not the only one that notices when he does this though.




The rosa rugosas are beginning to emerge. The scent is heavenly.




The lupines have risen almost overnight in a showy burst of color.

A few skiffs have been launched and have taken up summer residency on the float.

Ours will be next, but today it serves as a prop to show you my new summer purse that I won in a recent giveaway from the lovely Kat over at Low Tide High Style. I just love the wonderfully funky spoon handles, and I tell you it suits me to a tee!

Kat lives in Maryland, so you know the card she included would have to include an image of a crab! Her card is what inspired me to go ahead and attach my favorite crab pin right on the front of my new bag.

And since it is green, and not blue, I think the little guy will be okay with staying right here in Maine with me. Thank you so much Kat, I love my new bag!

Spring Break!

We're taking a little road trip.

And someone wants to make sure he gets to come too!

Color My World

Neon buoy paint. It's that time of year again to freshen up the lobster buoys in my favorite color combination. Hot pink and lime green are the colors I chose to register for my recreational lobster license. And just last year, they became Henri's colors too.

Henri's buoy colors used to be blaze orange and marine blue. But now his license is registered to use these colors as well. [It takes a real secure man to fish with pink buoys don't you think?]

Back inside, I spot my pink wool yarn that I just picked up a couple days ago.

And my best bud, Simon who's been with me now for 34 years.

I think I must have trained my eye to naturally look for these colors, now that I think about it. [Truth be told though, my real inspiration for picking out my buoy colors was from a popular brand of mascara.]

Bird On A Wireless

I finally achieved a taste of freedom today.

Although it took nearly a full pot of coffee to make it happen.

And a little help to read the fine print.

A couple pieces of brightly lit up hardware.

And I broke free of the table where my laptop normally resides.

It's a nice kind of freedom for a change of scenery.

My new wireless connected laptop.

With Simon to help me demonstrate.

My Funny Valentine

[Overheard at our house today. ]

"Is this someone's idea of a joke!?"

"You're kidding . . . right?!"

What happened to the chocolates?

"Don't I get any chocolate?!!"





"You know, you're really killing me with this!!"

"It's not easy being green."

[Most of this conversation was imagined.]

Three's A Crowd

Simon spent some time in the studio with me today,

where I found a spot for this pair that used to live outside.

This is the first time Simon has seen them.

He seems intrigued by what they are doing,

and moves in for a closer look.

Clearly unable to get their attention,



I think he's decided to give them their space.