Jacuzzi Garden

When the bird bath is still frozen...

Do you dream or wish...

You still have your herbal garden thriving...

I did. But not anymore!

I do have a thriving herbal garden that keeps me happy through the winter. As you can deduce from above, I just had to opt for shower baths!

What could be a better location than your bathroom-to keep your Lavender, Cinnamon Basil, Mint, Lemon Balm, Curry leaf plant and Jasmin surviving through winter!

Yes! You are not imagining. I do have my tangerines and Pomegranate plants raised from seeds of the tastiest, store bought fruits. I may need a green house eventually.

Who knows...I might be lucky enough to have that dream come true-with my Parakeets and colorful Hibiscus as part of that tropical greenhouse ecosystem.

What would I be without dreams?

-VeeraMahal FRANKLIN

Parakeet baby is Born!

Seven Eggs! I am sure Sky has contributed to this collection. Could you see the tell-tale blue feather of Sky? You can also see Tweety's yellow feather on the opposite side. But we have figured out that Tweety is a male. But, if Sky's eggs hatch Nightly would be the father. Nevertherless, Foresty is brooding and Tweety is the "man of the nest"; that's the declared law among the birds as we see it.

Motherly Pride shining through ...

Do you know how much sacrifice, patience and tolerance goes behind this simple act of brooding? For example, see the next two pictures below:

A) The normal Parakeet P!

B) The brooding mom's "P"

B) is Foresty-the mom's P, relieved during her once a day, out of nest expedition. Holding all that in...what a big sacrifice! The finger is not to point, but to convey the relative size between the normal non-brooding vs brooding mom parakeet "P."

I know what you are thinking!

Yes, I guess the "crazy scientist mind" is still kicking in--time to time! But, then on second thought... I must have been born with this-crazy scientist brain or instinct for exploration. Or is it nature and nurture? For more details, click on the link "dedication to mother."

Now coming back to our brooding keet we have our chick or keetling born exactly after 18 days. When I took this picture the following morning the chick already seems much bigger than the eggs and sitting up, eventhough looking very feeble.

On the day of the birth, I heard the feeble chick-voice past midnight amidst the excited Parakeets chirps. Okay....! I was working late sitting at the dinning table. I felt the impending special event from the way-all of them sitting right in front of the nest, chirping excitedly when I came home that evening!

You should see how they function as an extended family, pitching in to take care of both Foresty & the keetling. Foresty still does not eat grains or fruits from the feeder. She gets fed and then she feeds the chick. Isn't it amazing? Or is it amazing-only because of our human brain having miscalculated happiness by substracting the extensions from "family" to a very small circle or even just to a mere "me & mine"?

-by VeeraMahal FRANKLIN