Red Gate Farm

While we may not have worked our way back to owning chickens, we are getting closer! This week, folks in our neighborhood begin spotting a cockatiel in different yards. Over a day or so, it became stationary enough to get photos, and it was clear he (or she) was not looking good. I sent a couple of our kids out to try to catch it. For those who don’t know, we used to run a small parrot rescue, so we have a bit of experience rehabbing and training. The only problem was, I sold all of our bird stuff when we left Petersburg a couple years ago.

So the kids successfully caught the bird, and brought it home. I gave the bird a quick, minimal stress exam, as it had multiple areas of dried blood, no tail feathers, and was missing one eye. Other than the aesthetics, though, it seemed ok. In fact, it even appeared as though the hird had been hatched without the eye, as there was no wound there. I got the bird set up in a cat crate, and it nearly attacked its water. Clearly dehydrated, he drank for a little while. While the bird settled in and rested, I updated the neighborhood group that the bird was safe, and a very kind lady responded, wanting to donate a large cage and some food she had. Ruth cleaned it up good, while I ran to the store and got a few basic supplies for him, and after a few hours of rest, we moved him to the big cage.

It’s been a solid 24 hours now, and we can find no trace of an owner. No “lost bird” posts, no inquiries on my posts, nothing. That’s actually surprising, as the bird is proving to be VERY social and friendly, always wanting to be held, which usually indicates a lot of love and handling by humans. We won’t know for sure if it’s a male or female for a while, as the critical identification feathers are all missing, so now we need a gender-neutral name. In the mean time, we are having fun with it and he seems very happy in his new home.

I’ve been trying my luck at gardening here in FL—-a whole different climate than IL. Bugs really decimated most of my garden TWICE this year, so we had a very sad harvest of a handful of sweet potatoes, a few okra, some green beans, 2 lemons, and a few herbs. I finally gave up in mid fall, walked away from the pitiful garden, and decided to try again next season. Of course, FL Climate allows for a much longer growing season than what I’m accustomed to, though, and I didn’t realize that as the winter rains and cooler months arrived, some of the plants sprung to life. Over Christmas, I noticed a few more potential harvests on the horizon. Now, we have a major (for FL) freeze and possibly even SNOW!!! coming, so I just went out to check on things. I was surprised to find the reward of the beautiful and absolutely delicious batch of carrots ready to pull!!! YUM!!! It isn’t much, but gives me a renewed hope for the coming season!

This is how the cat lays on his cat tree once he outgrows the platforms!🤣