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Post by siobhan on Sept 15, 2014 22:29:22 GMT -5
Clyde's sixth anniversary of owning me was in May, and in all that time, he has not allowed head scritches. I can pet his head if he's in the mood. I can kiss his head. But Thou Shalt Not Scritch. That was before Greta. He has sat upon my hand grumpy and watching me scritch Greta endlessly night after night long enough, and tonight he DEMANDED scritches. Of course, I wasn't doing it right and had to be corrected (chomped) several times. But he refused to let me stop, for all that. He'll back up to my pinky, lean against the other fingers, and shove my index finger up and stuff his head under it. This is awkward for scritching, but that's the way he wants to do it. He even turned his head this way and that and closed his eyes a couple of times. He also groused and griped in Quaker between chomps. I tried to explain to him that it's not much fun for ME if I get chomped a dozen times and if he'd let me do it the way I do it for Greta (she sits on my leg and I can use all my fingers), it would be more comfortable for both of us, but he wasn't buying. His way or the highway.
He's also grouchy because I brought home a couple of goldfish and installed them in the birds' room. He thinks we have too many critters already, and here I come bringing MORE home that I'm going to want to interact with and will have to clean up after, all of which takes time away from HIM. Jade was not pleased by the goldfish, either, and when she saw the little tank going by her cage toward the bookcase where they reside, she squawked and yelled "What IS the POINT???" I tried explaining to both of them that the poor fishies were in a tank with about 100 other fish and I felt sorry for them and wanted to save them, but they have no altruistic tendencies AT ALL.
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Post by cnyguy on Sept 16, 2014 19:49:53 GMT -5
Clyde will have you trained in no time and you'll master the fine art of scritching his way. And Jade should be satisfied, since you did explain the point of bringing in the new goldfish. Which doesn't mean that she'd agree, of course.  |
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Post by siobhan on Sept 16, 2014 22:47:44 GMT -5
She doesn't like anything I have to carry past her. She freaks out over the plastic hose thingy I use to clean the gravel in the other fish tanks (the goldfish make three tanks in that room; the other two each have one betta and too many snails to count). The mop and broom are only acceptable because they serve HER. I keep my chair and footstool covered to protect them from bird poop, and sometimes I have to wash them and she squawks when I carry them over to the washer and back again. She won't let me touch her beak if I have a drink in my hand.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 16, 2014 23:45:01 GMT -5
They all have their little quirks. I really love Clyde - he reminds me so much of Shah. The word "compromise" just doesn't appear in the quaker dictionary.
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Post by biteybird on Sept 17, 2014 4:00:06 GMT -5
Re the fish: You must remember that you are diluting the attention that should be rightfully Clyde's - it's simply not acceptable... and adding insult to injury you are giving it to a species lower in the food chain!  |
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Post by siobhan on Sept 17, 2014 13:38:13 GMT -5
True, and tonight I expect severe pouting because last night I had band practice and very little time to spend with them. They reluctantly concede that Mama must go to work in order to keep the food and utilities flowing, but they don't understand and don't WANT to understand why Mama would go play her silly instruments with silly people when she could be spending that time with THEM.
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Post by biteybird on Sept 18, 2014 5:22:24 GMT -5
Hey, what instrument(s) do you play? I was a full-time trumpeter and bugler in the Australian Army Band (Melbourne) for many years & my hubby played euphonium and trombone. Also, I played piano and violin. Anyway, had to give up playing instruments because of a wrist injury (motorbike accident...). Small world! Yep, our little birdies are control freaks and very infantile! But we love them |
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Post by easttex on Sept 18, 2014 9:04:57 GMT -5
I think of them as more toddler-esque than infantile, but control freaks, for sure!  |
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Post by siobhan on Sept 18, 2014 14:05:53 GMT -5
What I play depends on the situation. In our regular band, I was the drummer until this week, but we have an old friend who plays drums and wanted to join the band, so I switched to piano/guitar. He's a good singer, too, and quite the showman, so we may have him come out and do some of that and I'll take over drums for those songs. In the church praise band, I generally play bass, but depending on who's available (and who isn't) I've played guitar and drums in that band, too. Not at the same time. LOL We also have a wind ensemble at church and I play flute for that.
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Post by biteybird on Sept 23, 2014 19:03:57 GMT -5
Wow, you really are a multi-instrumentalist!
Any progress reports on Clyde's scritching/scratching? And how is Jade coping with the endless passing parade of cleaning products and the proximity of the goldfish?
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fig
Hatchling
Posts: 42
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Post by fig on Sept 24, 2014 2:17:42 GMT -5
Oh, tell me about it! It's bad enough that I must leave sometimes to go to an appointment, but that I have the audacity to go to my volunteer job at the ZOO where I spend time with the EAGLES!!! Really!
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Post by siobhan on Sept 24, 2014 15:10:57 GMT -5
Indeed. I'm a reporter and you never know what I'm going to be doing, and today it was meeting some snowy owls who reside at our raptor rescue/rehab center. I can just imagine what Clyde will think of THAT.
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Post by biteybird on Sept 24, 2014 22:27:57 GMT -5
For shame, Fig & Siobhan! Your fids will have to join forces and form their own minority group (something like 'Scritch-deprived Quakers Against Wayward Parronts' or SQAWP...?), then obtain government funding. You two will then be maligned on Current Affairs TV shows - the mind fairly boggles!
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Post by siobhan on Sept 25, 2014 17:00:44 GMT -5
My gang has already formed some sort of coalition but they won't tell me what it's called.
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