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Saturday, March 6, 2021

This is the first day of the two day weekend for many of us. The work week is in the rearview mirror, and Monday looms ahead in the not-so-distance. But today and tomorrow are a time for revelry, happiness, reflection, and relaxation; a time of working in the yard, cleaning the house, fixing cars and engines, and with spring knocking on the door (hell, here in south Mississippi, spring has opened the door and is crossing the threshold), many of us are also preparing our gardens, planning for where to raise chickens or other animals, or thinking fondly of a new pet. So many various things to be doing this weekend! And yes, many are also working. I remember having to work every other weekend when I worked at one of the local hospitals in registration. I didn't mind losing the weekend so much, except later when I was in the ER and working 12 hour days that were slightly maddening (and being stabbed in the back, repeatedly, but I won't go there just yet). However, I see my hubby only on the weekends, so that definitely put a cramp in our relationship, only seeing each other every other weekend. It was so refreshing to return to a job where I have the weekends off, even if he doesn't have full weekends. He owns his own business, and is open on Saturdays. One Saturday, he can usually come to town mid-afternoon, but the the following Saturday, he won't be able to come down until late that evening. Sounds worse than it really is, but it does work for us, and does allow us to be together every weekend now.

In these journal entries, I've mentioned my dog, Max, my cat, Maggie, and my flock of 6 chickens. I have not, however, mentioned the 2 parakeets I have, Whiskey and Rye. They are a mess, constantly noisy, throw their seeds all around on the floor under the cage, and are wild. I was never able to tame them sufficiently, which in all honesty I probably just never took the time to tame them properly before it was too late. When I'm working, they are constantly screeching and I know they can be heard on the phone. Only once, however, has anyone mentioned them, and I of course lied and said there was a bird feeder outside my office window and that's where the sounds were coming from lol. Even though they are wild, occasionally Rye ("she's" yellow, Whiskey, whom I consider the male, is blue - these gender designations are baseless in fact, I honestly have no idea what sex each one is) will let me rub her chest with my finger through the bars. Very rarely. Whiskey wants absolutely nothing to do with me at all. June will be two years since I acquired them from one of the best pet stores I've ever been to, B & B Pet Stop in Mobile, Alabama. They have so many wonderful pets, from hundreds of types of both fresh- and salt-water fish, mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, ferrets - I could go on, but I think you, gentle reader, get the idea. In any case, back to my 'keets, they have a nice, big flight cage, with an attached bathtub, 3 water containers, several toys, and a clear plastic feeding station that's supposed to cut down on seeds being thrown out of the cage. I can only imagine how much wastage there would be with a different type of feeder! Pictures will be added below. For some reason, it's easier to get pics of Rye than it is of Whiskey. Again, I guess it's because Whiskey wants nothing to do with me, whereas Rye at least realizes I feed them lol.

One last thing, then I must go, as the hubby is on his way down as we speak and I still need to clean up a little around the house. I've had a Flandrin poster of the Jeune Homme for some time, but finally got around to framing it properly today and hung it up above my bed. Since it's so difficult getting a good image of a framed picture (reflections on the glass and such), I just found a picture of it on Wikipedia and am including it below. It's a great painting/poster and I think it looks great above my bed. I used to do amateur male photography in the past, and would love to be able to find some models to start up again, and I'd love to do a study of someone posed like that. It's always fascinated me since I first discovered it some 20 years ago. In any case, enjoy the pictures I'm posting below of Whiskey, Rye, the Flandrin painting, and a picture of Max and me from last year. Until tomorrow!

George