PinnedMember-onlyThe intelligent, needy, loud, messy, independent, nosy, expensive, opinionated companion parrot.And did I ever mention, Wilbur, my goldfish? — My first pet was a goldfish I won at our town’s Sweet Corn Festival. Easy for me. Complicated for my parents. Their fault for letting me toss the ping-pong ball. I’d already eaten sweet corn, taffy, and those paper plate sized globs of deep-fried dough with drifts of powdered sugar…Lifestyle5 min readLifestyle5 min read
3 days agoMember-onlyI am a mealworm farmer. Let me introduce you to my crop.Once you get your processes, temperatures, and humidity dialed in, you can outgrow your own farm. I know, I raise mealworms. When things grow successful and huge in numbers, the crow eat well outside. My mealworm farm numbers in the hundreds. The most adult mealworms I’ve maintained was five hundred…Lifestyle4 min readLifestyle4 min read
Jan 27Member-onlyCaring for your budgerigar parakeet.Before we get into the how’s of parakeets. We need to cover what a parakeet is, and is not, and that parakeets and budgies are the same taxonomy. In the US these parrots are most commonly referred to as parakeets. The rest of the world calls them budgerigars or budgies…Life4 min readLife4 min read
Jan 24Member-onlyThe Queries of Wizards and other BeingsOwning a pet lifestyle website requires owning the search engine optimization job that comes with it. I am the Grand Wizard of inquiring wizards from afar. I see all your queries in all their forms; Navigational, transactional, informational. In my wizardy world, I see all. Questions you other wizards are…SEO3 min readSEO3 min read
Jan 22Member-onlyKeeping chickens is not your answer to high egg prices.They could be your answer to a companion with benefits, though. — Million Buck Lady. A paint mare. They offered her at auction with her colt, a tobiano not yet named. I brought them home to a small homestead. A double sized stall fit their needs perfectly. Fill a barn with oats, hay, horse, and tack. You’ve got a barn needing chickens…Lifestyle6 min readLifestyle6 min read
Jan 18Member-onlyCat opinions and one human’s undoing.I have not successfully lived with a cat for 16 years now. When I was living with a cat, I was not living successfully with the cat. Nor the cats before that cat. I take responsibility for my malignant malfeasance. A marching band worth of cats tried to expose my…Cats2 min readCats2 min read
Jan 18Member-onlyKnee high egress and a dog’s perspective.You live in a house long enough and you’ll know every detail you want to change. Because buying a house that fits lasts as long as you don’t change how you live. A big two story felt big and capable. Then we added two dogs, eight parrots, a rabbit, two…Lifestyle4 min readLifestyle4 min read
Jan 17Member-onlyA cursory glance will get you a cursory life.Randy isn’t one not to wait. He will out wait every other flighted being on the field. Other ducks, wood storks, spoonbills, hawks, starlings, Quaker parrots, Senegal parrots, gulls, blue jays, wren, and finches. He will be the last duck standing, staring at the windows and back doors of our…Life3 min readLife3 min read
Jan 12Member-onlyThree ducks and a fortune cookie.Chinese takeout. It goes back to US history during the California Gold Rush. Chinese restaurants appeared seemingly from nowhere. The 30,000 Chinese immigrants digging for gold wouldn’t agree with the “nowhere” part. Their stands, carts, and huts became known as Chow Chow Houses, which was a racist thing to say…Food3 min readFood3 min read
Jan 10Member-onlyStorytelling Traditions. The missing mortar.“Oh, my god. Was grandpa mad?” “No. What would be the point of it? We had two dozen rabbits to catch!” Dad laughed at the idea of wasting time on anger rather than solutions. Because his father did, too. I laughed with my father. Our Sunday tradition of a beer…Love5 min readLove5 min read