Goldie is gone...

We took good care of her, it isn't that she's dead. But we leave for holidays and so we couldn't just leave her in our home, wandering about, pooping wherever she liked. So we took her back to the Salthaven Bird Sanctuary.
Mr. Salt told us that they'll work at getting her flying. The kids and I did work at it. We'd take her outside and she would hop to the ground. We hold her high in the air and she'd just sit on your hand looking about. I even took to sorta "throwing" her into the air ~ she'd flutter to the ground...or if I got her high enough she'd land on the branch of a tree but wouldn't stay there.

Mr. Salt said that if she didn't fly, she'd probably just die in captivity. These birds are super-athletes and flying is just what they do. You never see a goldfinch on the ground. So, we'll call when we get back and if she's flown away, that'd be the good news.

The kids missed her for about the first five minutes and then moved on...we do leave for holidays so the excitement of that overshadowed the sadness, I guess. See ya when we get back!!

Goldie - Day 2

We drove out to a bird sanctuary called Salthaven yesterday morning to see if Goldie's wing was really broken. Turns out this bird sanctuary is rather cool. As we pull in, there is a line of red-tailed hawks just sitting along the driveway on perches. The owner asked us to pull up the driveway slowly so we wouldn't run over any of his patients. In a big tent-like cage is a beautiful 1 year old bald eagle...and about a gazillion Canada geese and mallard ducks wandering about the yard.

He took a look at the gold finch and told us there was nothing wrong with her wing, but it appeared she may have had a head injury. Probably flew into a window or something. He gave us a little syringe of medication, showed us how to use it and sent us on our way. Basically, she isn't sick enough to be admitted into his sanctuary if we're willing to take care of her. He thought she'd be flying again by Wednesday or Thursday.

His other suggestion was that she stay in a quiet dark place for a few hours. I mentioned that we have five children in a small house and he seemed perplexed...may be about the house, may be for the bird's sake.

So, all in all, we have a 'special needs' bird living with us. She has been a lovely little pet for the past couple of days and if she doesn't regain her ability to fly, I don't know what will happen. I know what the kids would like to have happen!
Hopefully she just figures out how to fly once again and we'll be able to set her free.

Goldie

This is Goldie ~ a female goldfinch we found on my mom's driveway. She has a broken wing or something so she can't fly. We happen to know what goldfinches eat, so we were able to put her in a box and give her food and water right away.
In less than 10 minutes, the kids were handling and holding her and she didn't seem to mind. She was very calm and quite comfortable (so it seems) with the patting and touching.

Our plan is to find out if she can be rehabilitated and see if we can help her "go home."
However, now that she is in the care of my five children, she will be having some interesting adventures....

Like riding a crane....

And drinking from a glass...
And having shoulder rides...

If this sweet birdie survives the next few hours in our home, she'll be one tough girl. The "love" she is being offered might be more than she can bear. We'll find a bird sanctuary or something tomorrow and see what can be done. Until then, however, I have a 10 year old boy who is very keen on keeping her as a pet.

Summer is Over?

It's hard to believe that summer is really over. Back to the grind of normal routine.
September is my most favourite month of the year and I'm loving the cool nights, the leaves already changing colour and the different blue the sky seems to be in the fall.

Looking back over the summer, I wonder what I did. Other than making pickles, what exactly did I accomplish? I read several books, I managed to plan school for the year, I stayed on top of the laundry, cooking and cleaning but really, other than that...not too much.

Our big holiday begins this week. We're headed for a week in Vermont ~ camping, touring, resting, relaxing etc. It's the best time of year to go on a holiday as all the kids are in school, the crowds are gone and the only other people at the campgrounds are seniors with fabulous RV's bigger and better than my own home. We can hardly wait.

Once our holiday is over, we begin school and the regular day to day schedule begins. Regular bedtimes, normal mealtimes, and the like -- and I'm really looking forward to that too. Perhaps it's life with small children, perhaps it's my personality type, but I like a regular routine that is somewhat predictable.

Jack is very excited about school. Almost every day he asks me if this is the day he gets to do his school books. The other night at bedtime we took turns saying bedtime prayers. Jack's prayer was simple. "Please keep my schoolbooks safe in the basement. Amen."