a woman on the edge

Well, i thought since you have all met Charlie, that i should introduce you to the other members of our family.

There is Winnie, a cheeky red/tan staffy, who is 8yrs of age.

She is so very clever and able to scale 6ft high chain-link mesh fencing. Hates thunder storms and is our little weather warner! She loves to just be with you, lounging around inside. She also loves to get out and run, run, run…

Then there is Mallikai, our burmese cross cat, he is 4yrs old.

Actually thinks he is human and the boss of the household. Very affectionate and loving, unless you don’t give him what he wants ~ then he can turn into Mr Nasty, biting and scratching the nearest body part (mostly with me however, being the main care provider)

And lastly, is our youngest boy Eddie, who will be 3yrs in April 08.

He is also a staffy, white with a big black patch over one eye. He is Mr laid back, Mr Cruzy. Nothing phases him, couldn’t care less about thunder (apart from the fact that he attempt to console Miss Winnie) until Miss Winnie scales the fence and he is left alone in the run ~ then he lets us know he is not okay. He is a real Mummies boy, and even when we take him for a run off leash, he never strays far from my side.

These guys, and Charlie, are very much our family and all get along really well, like most family members though, there have been some conflicts over the years!! Winnie has been a part of Meg’s life since she was 18mths, so Meg considers her, her sister…

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Well Charlie has well and truly settled into his new home. I don’t think he realises what a lucky budgie he is. His daily routine consists of; waking Meg up each morning with his cheerful chirping, being let out of his cage to stretch his wings in Meg’s room, visiting Steve and i in our room and travelling downstairs on Meg’s shoulder to explore the lounge and kitchen while we all have breakfast.

After breakfast Meg the cleaner takes his “house” outside for it’s daily cleanse, new paper on the floor, removal of all old seed, replenishment of seed and fresh water. Then a bit of rest time back in the “house” while Meg does some project tasks.

Lunch time usually coincides with another stretch of wings out of his house, flying free and fast from window ledge to window ledge, chirping with the birds outside. Landing on Meg’s shoulder while she works on school stuff, and helping her by picking up her pens!

Today, he also enjoyed landing on the fresh basil in the vase and having a peck. Then as i was filling the vase with water he hoped on the jug and helped himself to a drink as i was pouring. He liked it so much he decided to then hop in the vase and have a bit of a splash, coming out sopping wet, but obviously delighted. After a bit of a shake, he flew to the window sill and perched on top of a photo frame in the sun to dry off.

Then back to his house for another snooze and a bite to eat.

We took a trip to Shepparton today and Meg had some money to purchase some items for Charlie. She chose a colourful wooden ladder with beads and a stainless steel spike to thread fresh fruit on like a kebab to hang in Charlie’s house.

What a spoilt bird!

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Charlie has taken it upon himself to undertake some jobs to show his gratitude for living with us.

His first job is to pick up crumbs from the floor, keeping the ants away.

He eats little bugs etc from the cobwebs which keeps them from annoying us.

He picks up pens for Meg when she is writing and drawing.

He is diligent at searching all of our hair for lice.

He especially enjoys scouraging through Steve’s “goatie” for any left overs! As these pictures clearly demonstrate.

We love little Charlie….

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Inherently all my life I have had a fascination and love for the animal kingdom. Not just the cute and fluffy kind, but all animals. My parents tell stories of me saving field mice and wild baby rabbits from our cat when we lived on our farm. Even if the animals had already died, i would insist on removing them from our cat and given them a a burial service, making little crosses out of sticks to mark where they lay. This garden graveyard was fittingly outside my bedroom window.

I have many stories throughout my life of stopping to pick up injured animals and birds. Over the years we have “rescued” numerous critters from certain death, by stopping to pick them up off busy roads and relocating them to safer land nearby. One rescue even involved fibre-glassing his cracked shell (under veterinary advice) as a repair before releasing him back to the creek!

It has fostered a love of animals in my children. And i was very proud recently of Meg who alerted some people at a market who had a small galah caught in the wheel of their car. She also then assisted the wildlife lady, who happened to be right there also, by giving the lady her jumper and long-sleeved top to use to get the galah free. He came off pretty well, considering the people had been driving for awhile, with only a broken leg.

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Recently, after spending the day in Marysville with the kids and travelling home quite late at night (10pm) we came across a crisp white bundle on the side of the road.

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