Last weekend was the Pet Expo - we had a great weekend.  It was busy and tiring - standing on cold concrete sure takes its toll on you after two long days.  I took Maya, my Quaker, on Saturday and she was a very good girl.  She stayed on my shoulder most of the time - she's a mama's girl - and is pretty well potty trained, so I didn't get pooped on at all!    On Sunday, I took Theodore, my Timneh African Grey.  He was quite stressed by the whole ordeal, but towards the end of the day, he had settled down quite a bit.  You can never tell how they are going to be - they are little beings too and we have to respect how they are feeling.  I did put him back in his travel cage a couple of times with his blanket covering him so he could just rest and relax during the day.

On Tuesday evening, DH, dd, ds and I all went to a seminar put on by the Langley School District.  It was a seminar by Terry Small, an expert on how we use (or don't!!) our brains!  The seminar was entitled "How to get better grades in school".  It was very interesting and Mr. Small kept us captivated the entire 2 hours.  You can visit his website here.  He had lots of great tips on how to keep our brains stimulated and how important it is to keep using your brain as you grow older.  Did you know that the #1 brain food is PRUNES and that eating just ONE a day can help cut your chances of getting Alzheimer's Disease by 93%?????  Just one a day!!!  Amazing!  You can also sign up for his "Brain Bulletin" on his website.  It's a free, monthly e-mail that give you lots of tips and information about your brain.

Wednesday I went to Curves and convinced Connie to join me even though she didn't feel like it.  After our work-out, the three of us (Connie, Stephanie (Connie's dd22) and I) went to Tim's for coffee.  We had a nice chat/visit and then went our separate ways.  Of course it's always nice to spend time with my  dear friend!

Ds had his public speaking competition on Thursday night.  He had been chosen from all of his class along with 3 others to compete at the District level.  We went to watch the competition and all of the kids did really well.  I should mention that ds is in a late French immersion class, and so all the speeches of the evening were in French.  It was difficult understanding some, but I did understand more than I thought I would.  Ds did very well, coming in 3rd place.  We were very proud of him - I even passed up a chance to go to the Canucks game in order to watch him - can you say "Mother of the Year"? 

Speaking of the Canucks, they lost their chance at any post-season play Thursday night.  In a must-win game, they lost to Edmonton 2-1.  It's very disappointing as a fan - I can only imagine how the players must feel.  It was heartbreaking to see Roberto Luongo's (our goalie - see photo below) emotional post-game interview.  He has worked extremely hard this season, and has been through a lot personally, so it must be especially difficult for him.  Such is life in the NHL.  I'm looking forward to watching the playoffs and seeing what develops even if the Canucks aren't there.  Also, I hope that the team does some much-needed housecleaning in the off-season.  We need some goal-scorers.  Our Defence is pretty good, but we need some more energy and talent at the front end.  On a brighter note, congratulations to Roberto and his wife, Gina, who celebrated the birth of their first child, Gabriella, on Thursday, March 27, 2008!

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo

Yesterday was dd's 10th birthday (incidentally, Roberto Luongo's as well - he turned 29!!).  We all went out to dinner last night - me, DH, ds, dd, Grandpa Tapp and Oma and Grandpa from Chilliwack.  We went to Apple Betty's - a wonderful buffet-style restaurant in Abbotsford.  Afterwards, dd went to have a sleep-over in Chilliwack for the weekend with Oma & Grandpa.  DH will pick her up on Sunday evening after ds's hockey practice Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday (Friday), I took my Dad to have some blood work done at the Cancer Clinic at Surrey Memorial Hospital.  He is a prostate cancer survivor, but has to have check-ups at regular intervals.  He has to see the Doctor next Friday. 

Dad and I picked up two ISA Brown hens from the Delta Animal Shelter while we were over in that area.  They seem very friendly and according to the young lady at the shelter, they have left a couple of eggs as appreciation over the past couple of days!  We got home and let the two out in the chicken pen and our own brown hen was trying to check them out and wasn’t too happy with their arrival.  The roosters were both trying to herd them as roosters do.  Here’s a photo of the two new arrivals (extreme left and extreme right) scratching around with Elvis the rooster (second to left) and our hen, Juliette (second to right).  The two new girls are pretty thin – I could feel their keel bones very prominently when I carried them to the barn.  I’m sure they’ll be plumped up in no time – just LOOK at Juliette!!!!

Below is a photo of Kitty the white broiler hen we picked up from the Delta Animal Shelter about a month ago.  She was found wandering around a construction area and I was asked if we could take her.  She spends a lot of her time inside the barn, but on occasion she wanders out and basks in the sun.  She hangs out with Forrest, our Special Needs rooster.  They are buddies and sleep side-by-side at night.  Broiler chickens like Kitty are bred for one purpose – meat.  They are not known for any life longevity.  Kitty will, however, have a wonderful home here for the rest of her life.  She already has troubles walking as the feet cannot handle the heavy weight of the body.  Ds and I discovered yesterday that she has a bad case of lice.  We dusted her heavily with some de-lousing powder.  As you may or may not know the lice suck the blood and the poor bird suffers immensely.  I think she may have come with it because none of my other chickens have it.  Anyways, she’s dusted and so are all the nesting boxes and the floor of the barn.  We will re-do her in a couple of days.  Poor Kitty – I feel so bad for not checking her out sooner!  She sure wasn’t too happy being held upside down and powdered.  This is the best way to get full coverage between all the feathers.  When we got back inside, we had some of the nasty brown creatures on us and both had to strip down and take showers – YUCK!  All our clothes are in the washing machine. Are you itchy yet???    The joys of living on the farm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, that was our week.  It's Saturday morning now and I'm about to uncover all the parrots and get them their breakfast.  I have some cage cleaning to do today as I was busy most of the day yesterday.

This is post #99.  Check back soon as my 100th post will be a bloggy give-away that you won't want to miss!

Blessings to all! 

~ Audrey ~