Thursday, November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!


Well, here's our answer to the question of whether parrots will eat mealworms -- yes! One of our local ring-necked parakeets happily settled in yesterday and fed on the coconut stuffed with mealworm suet that I bought earlier this week. You can see a starling on the suet balls just below the parakeet, too.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Dave and I are off today and tomorrow -- one of the perks of working at an American school. (The British schools are all still in session, because Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here.) Today we're going out to dinner with a friend of Dave's from the states who's visiting London, and then Saturday we're having some of his music department colleagues over for a traditional meal. As we speak, Dave is salt-brining a big ol' turkey in the refrigerator.

Yesterday we only worked half a day, and there were no students -- we attended staff and faculty training sessions. I went to one on cyber security and one on British sign language, both of which were fun and interesting. Turns out British sign language is very different from American sign language. Who knew?


Our weather is pretty dismal at the moment -- there's an 80 percent chance of showers today -- but I'm hoping to get some gardening done this weekend. Those aren't potatoes in the bowl above -- they're dahlia tubers! I unearthed my first pot of dormant dahlias yesterday and found these massive round roots -- I had no idea they'd be so big and well developed, considering I grew them from seeds planted in March. I was shocked. Anyway, I lifted them and now I'm waiting for them to dry before nestling them in dry compost to overwinter in the shed. I'm going to do the same with the other dahlias and I also want to lift my amaryllis bulbs.

Feeling very organized, I bought travel insurance the other day for our Egypt trip -- I found a policy with all kinds of medical coverage and additional special coverage for our gadgets (camera, computer) and it all cost about £70, which seemed pretty reasonable. And then one of our coworkers reminded me that we already have travel insurance that we buy every year through the school. Argh! Of course I should have thought of that, because I've never bought travel policies for our other trips for specifically that reason -- but Egypt seems potentially dicey so I wanted to be extra cautious. I could cancel the policy, but as long as we have it I think I'll just keep it. Better too much coverage than too little, I suppose.

15 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I am surprised that Dave is brining the turkey in the fridge because I understood that Americans prefer their poultry to be chlorinated. This November has been a dismal month hasn't it? But the weather people assure us that it will at least end brightly. I saw a documentary on the BBC last night called "Earth from Space". In this a man from Chennai, India feeds a flock of four thousand parakeets twice a day. He spends 50% of his income on rice for the birds.

The Padre said...

Good On You For Being Organized - Stellar Price For The Travelers Insurance For All That Coverage - SCORE - Bet You Didn't Know That I Have My Own Sign Language - Been Working With A Deaf ( 90% hearing loss at birth ) Kid For 6 Years Now And I Have Developed The Ebonics Of Sign Language - He Cracks Up All The Time But We Communicate Very Well Together - Example: I Show Him A W, Turn It 90 Degrees, Flutter My Three Digits While Pulling Across The Horizon, And Thats My Sign For ," Its Going To Be Windy." It Certainly Works For Us

Enjoy Your Gobble Gobble, Be Well, & Dip Olga's Biscuit In Some Peanut Butter
Cheers

Ms. Moon said...

I love the parakeet on the mealworms. Beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving, Steve and Dave! It's gorgeous here today. I'm about to go wrestle a turkey.
I feel quite appropriately thankful.

ellen abbott said...

I only have feeders with seed. maybe I should get some suet and see if it attracts different birds.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Love seeing that parakeet enjoy the meal you so kindly provided. A little Thanksgiving treat for our feathered friends. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Dave!

Red said...

It must be nice to have a week end when the other guys don't. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Dave.

Edna B said...

It's so wonderful having the parakeets in your garden. We don't have this here. I would love it! Those Dahlia bulbs are amazing. At first I thought they were potatoes till you explained it. And you grew them from seed? Even more amazing. Pogo and I wish you and Dave a very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving Day. Hugs, Edna B.

Linda Sue said...

The teacher that taught ASL to my Son's class could sign in about six different languages, British being her least favorite because it was more cumbersome with more finger spelling. ASL is more expressive, easier to understand.
Very excited for your trip!

Linda Sue said...

OOPS had to come back and correct grammar- The teacher WHO taught.There I feel better now and hope that I did not make you wince.

Sharon said...

Happy Thanksgiving!
I've never bought travel insurance before but, I'm thinking of getting it the next time I travel out of the country. I won't be going to anyplace as exotic as Egypt but, as I get older, I begin to think it might be a good idea.

Allison said...

Thank you for feeding the Indian Ringneck. For a tropical bird, they have certainly proved themselves able to tolerate dismal and cold weather. They've been spotted as high as 2,000 meters in the Himalayas. There are many in Japan. Interesting article can be found here.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/03/19/reference/feral-parakeets/#.XeAOYNVlDIU

I guess part of their survival is due to the fact that they'll eat a diverse diet.

jenny_o said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and Dave! Nice to have a holiday even though you're not in the US.

I'm glad the parakeet hung around long enough to find your offering!

Catalyst said...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Penelope said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and Dave and Olga. The Dahlia is tubers are impressive. I think you have quite the green thumb.
I do think extra insurance is a good idea when traveling. Maybe check to see if it covers camel accidents, just to be on the safe side. :)

Beth Reed said...

Happy Thanksgiving Steve and Dave.

The parrot is such a beautiful color. I enjoy watching birds flying as well as sitting and eating. It is so nice to see them enjoying your suet and mealworms.

Have a very awesome day.