Tia drawing on her whiteboard

Have you seen my birds?

My Little Birds B and C have been missing for a few days now – too long. They were very loyal to return each day, so this can only mean that they have gotten into trouble and probably will not be seen again.

I can justify their fairly short lives (13months old) by the fact that they were ones full of adventure, fun, good health and prestige over their wild brethren (they had the best of both worlds - being free to live and fly outside also with the security of their cage(home) always offering good food, fresh water and protection from the weather and predators). I know they knew they had it good.

R.I.P. little birdy's. They have given Tia Ayako and I much enjoyment throughout their lives. These photos were taken of them sitting in their favourite tree just a few days before they disappeared.

Brandenburg Orchestra

We went to The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Brisbane again last night. The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.

This year they played Handels - Water Music. Very enjoyable. Followed by a few Belgium beers with Matt, one of the violin players, since we were in the vicinity ; )

Learning to fly

I put the baby birds outside on the balcony table to get some air and afternoon sun (as they have been locked away in their cage in the garage with minimal light their whole lives). When I wasn't watching the two oldest ones ...flew. Not that well but pretty well for a first go, with Dad working with them. The oldest one was definitely much better and finally flew to the top of a tree where I had to ultimately climb up to retrieve it just before it got dark. Silly bird.
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Swell 07

We dropped by to see the sculptures on display at Swell an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition along Currumbin Beach.
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Toddler

This week Tia has finally found her feet and has now been working on her balance with marked improvement day by day.

Classic Performance

We were invited to see The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Brisbane last night by our friend who used to be a member of the orchestra. The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.

The musicians play from original edition scores on restored or reproduced instruments of the eighteenth century. The orchestra name pays tribute to the Brandenburg concertos of Bach, who was central to the baroque and classical periods.

With a special guest Japanese 1st violinist and only half the orchestra - mainly the string section (which is fine by me) - playing violin concertos by Vivaldi, Handel and Zavateri, it was really good. Some brooding darker pieces followed by gay jovial Major chord stuff which was rightly suited. All good.

Unfortunately due to the short notice we couldn't organise baby sitting for Tia so Ayako opted to miss out which was pity.

Speed Weekend

The 6th annual Speed on Tweed (website by us) classic car event in Murwillumbah was on again this weekend. We went to see the Saturday night street performance and to the race track on Sunday. There is always lots of impressive cars to see.

The Saturday night Venetian Carnival Mystique was a masquerade street party. Holding Tia, I approched a group of friends all wearing masks who turned and made a fuss simulatinously which absolutely freaked Tia out. She must have thought she was in a bad dream or something and needed a few minutes consoling after that ...but enjoyed the show of acrobats and opera.

Two little lovebirds sitting on a fence

Today both Bird1 & Bird2 went outside together, the final test and they passed — being that they were relaxed and playful and also took a journey away from the house and returned without concern. Now the doors are open for them to come and go as they wish.
Congratulations guys ...you are free.
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A Little Pro Hart

I came into the room to find Ayako and Tia getting paint everywhere - worthy of a few photos. Hope that paint is actually non-toxic as the label claims.

Kirra Lines

Kirra and Cooly had some solid, difficult (due to the max. 10 sweep) surf for a week. This is one of the not very good days during the swell.

Free Love[Bird]

I took Bird1 outside for his first free flight in the big wide world.

He flew back in the house no problem, I had to then keep taking him back out. Then I just left the doors open for a while and left him thinking he'll be fine. He went back out then I think got a bit lost as to where the door was to get back in. He flew around the front of the house and we had to get bird2 to call him back. It was interesting to see both birds communicating from a few houses away.

Anyway he made it back and is ok. Check it out. He looks pretty cool in the tree. Better than the cage I think.
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LittleBirds A, B, C & D

Well just like "The Cat in the Hat" book we now have LittleBirds A, B, C & D. All four eggs have hatched. The final one this afternoon. I cleaned the cage about 3pm with one egg left. On inspection at about 6pm it had hatched. Mumma bird looks a bit ruffled due to her dedicated sitting, with Dad feeding her to then pass onto the chicks. It's quite funny, they are growing so fast all the birds are in sequential sizes as to hatching order. LittleBird A is more than twice the size of LittleBird D. They remind me of the Russian Dolls that are all the same with different sizes.

Anyway not bad, 100% success so far, which I was not expecting. I'll remove them to be hand fed in a two weeks.

First Steps

Tia took her first steps today. She had a paradigm shift in her head and just started walking. Pretty exciting for us all. She spent the couple of hours before bed practicing and looked so thrilled with herself.

LittleBird A

Today we noticed one of the Lovebird eggs has hatched. The miniature bird looks to be healthy and strong. It is even flapping its little wings. In the picture it is probably only about 8 hours old. It even has a small belly button hole from the umbilical cord. It's pretty cute. Surprisingly there was almost no trace of the shell left, one of the birds must have crushed it up or something. The rest of the eggs are expected to hatch in two day intervals, as they were laid and in the same order.

We have named it LittleBird A (like Little Cat's A B C & D ect from the Dr. Seuss book the "Cat In The Hat Comes Back" which Tia and I have been reading recently).
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On ya bike

This is Tia and I setting off for a ride together on our new bike. She doesn't look too enthusiastic but is happy once we get going. This time we rode down the beach on the sand.