Last week of Kiwi

Yesterday, Kiwi and Cindy were very happy that Shannon spent most of the day at home. She was able to lavish them both with lots of attention. However, Cindy was not very happy when Shannon decided that it was time to trim her toenails. Cindy held still for most of the operation, but then grew frustrated and managed to scrape the inside of Shannon's palm. The cut was not deep, but made holding on to things a bit unpleasant.

Kiwi has been hard at work growing in a new crop of feathers. She has many little white spikes coming in around her head, and when she floofs up to be petted, they emerge in all their glory. It is perhaps not the most attractive sight, but Shannon still loves Kiwi anyways. The longer white spikes do not seem to be as sensitive as the newly-emerged ones, and so Kiwi loves it when Shannon scratches her all around her head. Kiwi will close her little eyes and rest her cheek against Shannon's thumb. It is really very sweet.

As much as Kiwi seems to be enjoying her time in Shannon's apartment, Shannon knows that the little bird must be anxious for her mother to return home. For her part, Shannon will be sad to see Kiwi go, so she is trying to spoil Kiwi very much this last week. As an extended Christmas present, Kiwi has been the recipient of many spicy peppers, and today, she received a lovely bright red bell pepper. She does not seem to be too interested in the bell pepper at present, because she is destroying (a.k.a. eating) a little treat ball. She is chirping very happily as she eats.

Perhaps while Kiwi is distracted by the treat ball, Shannon can sneak away for a shower ...

Shannon was gone a long time today

Poor Cindy and Kiwi were left alone for a long time today. Shannon awoke very dark and early so that she could feed and water the girls, and then prepare for her long bike ride down to Sunnyvale with her friend Donovan. Shannon was very excited, but also nervous, about the trip.

Perhaps Kiwi sensed Shannon's feelings, as she was chirpier than usual in the morning. She was displeased when Shannon did not let her sit on her shoulder for very long, but Shannon needed to put on her riding gear. It would not do to have Kiwi nibble holes in Shannon's new Chanukah riding jersey. Eventually Kiwi accepted that Shannon had to leave. Cindy was much more nonchalant, as she had observed Shannon going for early morning rides before. Perhaps Cindy's calming influence was able to subdue the little bird.

To tide the girls over during her long absence, Shannon treated Kiwi to a nice, fat jalapeno pepper. Cindy received some delicious sprigs of swiss chard. Not as tasty as from Kim's garden, but delicious nonetheless.

Then Shannon was off. First she had to BART with her bicycle down to Daly City, then meet with Donovan for a 45 mile ride down to Google for lunch. After lunch, Shannon's father drove the tired pair to his house, where Shannon was able to retrieve her car for the ride home. Shannon dropped Donovan off in Daly City, but he suggested a post-ride ice cream treat. Not being able to turn down such an offer, the pair ventured off in search of a frozen treat. While the ice cream was delicious, Shannon received a $73 parking ticket. It was not good. Then, being a weekday (which Shannon had forgotten), there was much traffic getting to the Bay Bridge. The bridge itself was not very busy, and finally, after many hours away, Shannon returned home.

Kiwi could hear Shannon and her bike coming from the elevator, and began chirping before Shannon had even put her key in the door. Smart little birdie! Shannon arrived home, and it was good. However, Kiwi was not happy when Shannon went to shower after her long day on the road, but it was necessary and Shannon told her so. After cleaning herself up, Shannon allowed Kiwi to come sit on her shoulder while she typed this blog entry. Shannon was not very pleased when Kiwi pooped on her. But then Shannon thought that Kiwi must have been very lonely today, and so forgave the little green monster.

After a monstrous Google lunch buffet, Shannon did not think that she would ever be hungry again. Much to her surprise, she is now craving some food - banana perhaps?

Til tomorrow.

Christmas has come and gone ...

Good morning Cindy and Kiwi! The little creatures received their Christmas presents belatedly because grocery stores were not open on Christmas day.

Shannon decided the Cindy and Kiwi would have to wait until the morning of December 27th to receive their respective kale and peppers, because Kiwi cannot have veggies in her cage overnight, and Shannon did not think that it was fair to give treats only to Cindy. So both girls received their gifts the following morning and were very excited. Cindy hopped over and began nibbling the leaves of the kale.

Kiwi at first was not eager to go back in her cage, as she very much enjoyed her perch on Shannon's shoulder. But once Shannon coaxed her to go inside, she had a magical surprise inside in the form of a spicy jalapeno pepper. Oh how Kiwi was excited!! She began ripping the seeds from the pepper, just flinging the flesh of the pepper to the floor of her cage. Shannon will surely have a mess to clean up, but it was good to see Kiwi so happy.

Shannon must report that Kiwi has not been nippy with her at all this past week, except with her feet. Kiwi does not seem to distinguish that feet are the same as hands - i.e. covered with sensitive skin. She does, however, enjoy scurrying down Shannon's legs when Shannon is laying in bed or on the couch. After a few minutes, she may begin pecking at Shannon's ankles, at which Shannon scoops up the little green creature and deposits her back on her shoulder. Kiwi is persistent though, and soon after she will journey back down towards Shannon's feet to begin anew.

One morning, while Shannon was stretched out on

top of her bed, Kiwi began walking down Shannon's pink pajama-clad leg. Now Shannon's foot was hanging off the edge of the bed. Kiwi decided to crawl into the leg opening at the bottom of Shannon's pajama pants. Kiwi proceeded to remain hanging there for quite some time, enabling Shannon to capture some prime pictures and a short video of the green monster perched with her tail feathers peeking out from below Shannon's foot. Eventually Kiwi tired of this game, and thought that she would enjoy hopping around on Shannon's bed. She thought that this was great fun, because now she could peer into Cindy's pen with a much better view. Shannon also tried to capture a video of Kiwi on the bed. At first, Kiwi did not want to do much, but if you look in the background, you can see Cindy in her litterbox, munching away on her hay. Shannon thought that the movie would be made better if Kiwi occupied more of the screen, but as her camera will not zoom during a film, Shannon resorted to bringing the camera closer to Kiwi. Given Kiwi's demonstrated frustration with cameras, she fluttered off and perched on top of Cindy's pen, thus ending the video.

On Sunday afternoon, Shannon and Tracy journeyed by train to San Francisco where they enjoyed a fabulous satire of Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps." Part of the satire "inwolved" inserting references to other Hitchcock classics, and a cast of four switching quickly between a multitude of bit characters. The Loch Ness monster even made an appearance in puppet form. When Shannon and Tracy returned to the apartment, Kiwi had devoured her entire jalapeno pepper; the only thing thing hanging from the pen was the stem. It was very good.

Merry Christmas!

Shannon and Tracy spend Christmas Eve morning with the girls, prepping them for spending the night alone in the apartment. Both bunny and bird got extra treats and pellets for the long night. Kiwi was not very happy when Shannon and Tracy left for Sunnyvale.

After a wonderful Christmas Eve night of present-opening and and roast, Shannon went to bed a happy girl. In the morning, she went for a bike ride, trying out her new tri shoes and clipless pedals, and managed not to fall off her bike.

Luckily for Kiwi and Cindy, Shannon drove back to Berkeley Christmas Day! Kiwi was very happy to see Shannon and chirped cheerfully all afternoon. After Shannon cooked her lunch, Kiwi sat on Shannon's shoulder and they watched The Right Stuff together. Kiwi did seem more excited about flying around the room and clambering around on Shannon than the film.

Shannon tried to get treats for the girls, but Andronico's and the Bowl were both closed. The dried fruit and peppers will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry Kiwi and Cindy!

The fifth day

The morning of the fifth day went off relatively without incident. Both Cindy and Kiwi were appreciative of their water and pellets, and Kiwi was especially excited about the giant pepper hanging in her cage.

After getting both girls settled for the day, Shannon decided to watch NBC's coverage of this year's Ironman World Championships from Kona. She was excited when she saw footage of her kindergarten friend standing close to the champion, Chrissie Wellington, just before the

swim start. By the end of the program, Shannon had been reduced to a ball of tears. Happy tears of course, but Kiwi did not know this and began chirping loudly to cheer Shannon up. Such a sweet little bird! Luckily, these were just happy tears and it was good.

Shannon left for lab with both girls properly fed and watered, and returned home around 5:30pm. She was a bit sad because Dorothee left for Tahoe; now who would Shannon sing Moulin Rouge songs with in the lab? She instructed Dorothee to take photogr

aphs of the purple ski pants with pink insides, and not to break any bones.

There were not many interesting programs on the television that afternoon, and Shannon and Kiwi were getting a bit bored. Kiwi decided to fly off of Shannon's shoulder and back onto the top of her cage. After a few minutes, Kiwi decided that,

as boring as the television shows were, she'd rather be around her people. So she flew back and settled on the top of Shannon's head. This delighted Shannon very much (although she hoped that Kiwi would not decide to poop while

atop her head). Shannon retrieved her camera, and managed to capture two beautiful shots of Kiwi perched atop Shannon's glasses frame. It tickled Shannon very much when Kiwi would flutter her wings against Shannon's cheek. But Shannon thought it was too cute to encourage Kiwi to move.

Kiwi then decided that she had enough picture taking for a while, and fluttered off to perch on the napkin holder in the kitchen. But Shannon was

very sneaky and took a picture of Kiwi there as well. After a while, Shannon thought that Cindy would like some time out of her pen, and to encourage Kiwi to go back to her cage, Shannon tempted Kiwi with some blueberries in a little bowl. Kiwi was very excited by the fruit, and did not mind going back into her

cage. It was good.

Cindy came scampering out of her pen, and then Tracy came home. Shannon and Tracy

again decided to test whether they were smarter than 5th graders. Again, the girls were not, but Shannon was finally able to answer the 10x bonus question at the end of the program, and so increased her winnings for that round to $200,000. Shannon was very sad that she did not actually win that money. Maybe she should consider going on the game show ...

The fourth day (sort of)

Today was the fourth day of Shannon taking care of Kiwi. (Kiwi has been living in the apartment for six days, but Shannon was in Las Vegas for two of them).

Shannon awoke to silence, and it was good. Kiwi only stirred when the towels were removed from her cage. She perched happily on Shannon's shoulder while Shannon fed and watered the two creatures. Kiwi was especially excited when Shannon hung fresh broccolini from the roof of the cage. Luckily, Kiwi had only pooped in one of her water dishes over night, which pleased Shannon very much.

Then Kiwi did something quite unexpected! As Shannon leaned over Cindy's pen to give her fresh pellets, Kiwi hopped off of Shannon's shoulder onto the top of Cindy's pen. Now this had happened before, but this time Kiwi decided she wanted a closer look at the bunny. Kiwi climbed down the bars of Cindy's pen until she was eye-level with Cindy, who was nonchalantly eating her pellets. Everything seems alright between the two creatures, but Shannon was concerned so she invited Kiwi to hop back onto her shoulder. After a bit of persuasion, Kiwi obliged.

Shannon then left for work, but came back in the afternoon with Olga, after the two of them had journeyed to the far-away land of Costco. Olga had not been to Costco in many years, and was much pleased by the purchases she made there. After depositing Olga's groceries at her house, Olga and Shannon returned to Shannon's apartment. Olga was very excited to meet the little green monster, as she had heard much of her. Olga enjoyed the meeting very much, and treated the chirping Kiwi to some head pets. Shannon did not release Kiwi from her cage, as both girls had to return to the lab, but she promised to do so when she returned in the evening.

After an afternoon in the lab, Shannon returned home. Kiwi resided on Shannon's shoulder while she watched TV, and then the two ate blueberries together. However, Kiwi decided to poop on Shannon's collarbone. Because she was leaning forward, the poop dropped down to Shannon's boob! It was not good, but easily cleaned. After that, Kiwi was returned to her cage for Cindy to be let out. Currently, Shannon and Tracy are watching Home Alone while Cindy is hopping around. It appeared that Cindy was ready for bed, until a scene featuring firecrackers occurred, and then Cindy began sprinting and jumping around the apartment. Apparently she does not enjoy the loud noises.

shannon returns to the menagerie

With her "tail" tucked between her legs and her pockets made lighter by the blackjack tables of Vegas, Shannon returned to the menagerie in Berkeley on Monday afternoon.

She and Tracy were greeted by a frantically chirping Kiwi. Their flight had been delayed, and so the bunny and bird were kept waiting for their morning meals. Both critters were very excited to have their humans home again. Cindy came hopping to the front of her pen for some pets (and pellets) and Kiwi clambered around in her cage, chirping madly. Shannon opened her cage, and Kiwi was very pleased. She no longer felt like nipping Shannon's fingers, and instead scurried back and forth her shoulders. Kiwi sat on Shannon's shoulder while Shannon pet Cindy through the bars of her pen.

Both Kiwi and Cindy were very pleased when Shannon filled their food and water bowls. Shannon learned by now that Kiwi greatly dislikes plastic bags, but luckily Dorothee had left some peppers in the fridge that were not bag-bound. After three days, Cindy's litter box was quite full and in dire need of cleaning. In the past, Kiwi had not liked the grey gloves Shannon wears to retrieve the bunny poops, but she was so anxious to be out in the apartment that Shannon thought she would give the process a second try.

At first Kiwi did not mind the ziploc bag for the bunny poops, and it was good. When Shannon pulled on the gloves, she also did not mind. But then Kiwi walked down Shannon's arm to her left glove and began to attack it, not realizing that there was a hand within the glove. Shannon yelped, and Kiwi hopped off - into the litter box! Luckily she landed in a clean patch of hay, and Shannon was able to scoop her up before any more mischief could be perpetrated. Back into the cage went Kiwi. While Kiwi chirped for attention, Shannon quickly cleaned Cindy's litter box.

Poor Kiwi was left inside her cage for a while longer, as Shannon had to boil some water for her spaghetti, and Shannon knew that little parrotlets can go to birdie heaven if they become too involved in the cooking process. Shannon and Tracy tried to determine if they were "Smarter than a 5th Grader," and it was determined that they were not. Poor Kiwi and Cindy.

When the meal was completed, Cindy was allowed out of her pen. She was very happy at this prospect, and stayed out in the apartment for three hours. For the majority of this, though, Cindy destroyed a cardboard box under Shannon's bed, which kept her quite occupied. During this time, Kiwi was allowed to sit on Tracy's shoulder, which tickled her neck very much.

Kiwi was a very good little bird, and only pooped once while out all of this time. Finally it was time for both Kiwi and Cindy to get ready for bed. Kiwi was tired after all of this excitement, and hopped back in her cage easily. Cindy, however, took more persuading. But finally both girls were in their homes and ready for sleep. It was good.

Last night :(

On the evening of the 20th of December, Dorothée visited the creatures again...
They recoginzed the sounds of the key in the lock and started talking (Dorothée could'nt hear Cindy but is sure she was talking too)! they were happy to have a visitor for the second time today.
Kiwi had eaten half the seeds from the biggest pepper, and didn't seem to like the tiny super Hot Habanero pepper... maybe she doesn't like things that hot afterall....
Both creatures were fed and their water changed (although , once again, only one of them had pooped in her water).

Then Kiwi and Dorothée hung out and watched TV. They didn't really know waht to watch, started with Ratatouille, but Kiwi had seen it already. Then Man vs Wild, but there was a big snake and Kiwi got scared. Then they decided to watch House (Kiwi has a crush on the blond Doctor I think, she seems to like his accent), for a bit.
While watching TV, Kiwi got bored, and decided to provide some entertainment for Dorothée. First, she thought that pooping inside Dorothée's sleeve would be funny, this way Dorothee wouldn't be able to take it out without spreading it all over her arm, and would have to take her hoodie off. They had a good laugh. Then, she found out that Dorothée's hair had to be the most comfortable place on Earth (because Anna wasn't around, and also because Anna cut her hair). She took her time to settle underneath it, it must have been very warm... she was chirping as if she was about to fall asleep. But then Dorothée stood up, and Kiwi woke up. She tried to resist going to bed, but she was just pretending to be difficult.
Once the green creature was going to bed, Dorothée and Cindy had a little chat, and the haye and the hairy water were changed, the pellets and the fresh whatever green that was, were fed to the soft creature.
And then Dorothée left the two new friends again, hoping she'd come and say Hi to them before Christmas.
Everybody can be happy, Mommies, bunny and Kiwi, everything was taken care of by Dorothy.

Sunday the 20th

Another day, another visit. In fact the first of two that day.
Dorothée felt like she wanted to treat Kiwi (sorry Cindy your mommy already treats you and has everything you like at home) so the night before she went and got not two, not three, but four different kinds of peppers! she bought the ones that looked the hottest! because that's what Kiwi likes...
So in the early afternoon, Dorothée visited the two little creatures, and changed their water (only one of the creatures had pooped in her water though :) , and cut open two peppers and hung them in Kiwi's cage.
Dorothée forgot to wash her hands after that, and when she was eating her lunch soon after and accidentally liked her finger, she realized that Kiwi really likes hot stuff.
Then Dorothée and Cindy and Kiwi hung out for a little bit, and chatted about the weather (it switched from sunny and warm to overcast and rainy in one hour) and then Dorothée left again.

Kiwi with her third mommy!

On december the 19th, Dorothee's task was to go visit and hang out with the two abandoned-for-a-week-end pets, Kiwi and Cindy.
Dorothee had taken care of both little things in the past, never of both at the same time.
Dorothee found them different, maybe because they were for the first time in the same room all together, she thought Kiwi was smaller, and Cindy bigger.
But it was probably not true.
Cindy was very happy to see me, or someone ;) and ran to the side of her cage. Kiwi was sleeping, it was dark already, and when she woke up for hanging out time, she was a little grumpy at first and it took her some time to calm down and get out of her cage, on Dorothee's shoulder.
Kiwi and Dorothee watched Top Chef, season finale, and had a good time. Cindy was watching too (I know it)

That was it, both little creatures were fed and their water was changed, and went back to enjoying their big empty apartment, and they probably started chatting as soon as the door was shut.
Until the next morning....

The second evening and third morning

Shannon returned after an evening of spinning to find that Kiwi had fallen asleep in the cave that is Shannon's bedroom. However, Kiwi soon awoke when she heard Shannon rummaging around for food.

Shannon discovered that Kiwi had pooped in both of her water bowls during the day - silly bird - so she cleaned them and gave Kiwi some fresh water. Kiwi was very excited at this development, and scurried up and down Shannon's arm.

Worried about having Kiwi out and about during the cooking process, Shannon left Kiwi in her cage. Shannon ate some chicken (sorry Kiwi, and all your extended relatives!) and then decided that she would like a bagel. Kiwi very much wanted to come out of her cage at this point, so Shannon let her sit on her shoulder while she prepared the bagel. Kiwi delighted in running down to Shannon's hand to nibble the buttery bagel crumbs off of her fingers and it was good. It was not easy, though, for Shannon to put jam on her bagel with Kiwi sitting on her left hand, so she convinced Kiwi to stay up on her shoulder.

Shannon and Kiwi watched two episodes of Gilmore Girls together, going over to Cindy's pen every few minutes to give her some pets. Cindy was much calmer than the previous day, and did not seem flustered by the green monster on Shannon's arm. It was very good.

Soon it was time for Shannon's day to end, so Kiwi was put back in her cage with a treat ball. Before going to bed, Shannon tried to take pictures of Kiwi, but Kiwi was very camera shy. She ran and hid behind the hanging wood blocks in her cage. Maybe she will be more cooperative tomorrow. Then all went to sleep. The second day.

During the night, Shannon decided that she was thirsty and got up to get a bottle of water. Kiwi must have heard these sounds, for she awoke and chirped a little, but promptly fell back asleep when Shannon came back to bed.

In the morning, Kiwi sat on Shannon's shoulder while pellets and water were dispensed to both cages. Shannon wisely put Kiwi back in her cage while preparing the veggies so that Kiwi would not attack the plastic bags. However, Kiwi did not seem as upset by ziploc bags, and so Shannon decided to let Kiwi sit on her shoulder while she cleaned Cindy's litter box.

While Kiwi did not mind the plastic bag, she hated the grey gloves Shannon wore, and began attacking them. Fearing for her fingers inside the gloves (and wanting to clean Cindy's litter box), Shannon returned Kiwi to her cage.

Shannon finally completed the animal chores, and set off for the gym. What will she find when she returns home this evening?

The second morning

Shannon awoke to the sound of her alarm, and not to a little birdie chirping, which was good. She got busy with her morning chores:

1. pellets and water for Cindy and Kiwi (luckily Cindy does not poop in her water)
2. clean Cindy's litterbox and fill with fresh litter and hay
3. veggies for Cindy (parsley today)
4. fresh newspaper for Kiwi's cage
5. veggies for Kiwi (broccolini - yum!)

During the food preparation, Kiwi rode along on Shannon's shoulder. Kiwi decided that she liked the low neck of Shannon's "kiwi" shirt, and climbed down until just her head was poking out. Shannon decided that this was cute, and that even if it was 7am, she would wake up her sister Tracy for a look-see. However, Tracy was too slow (and stubbed her toe in the dark) and Kiwi decided that she preferred the higher view from Shannon's shoulder.

Shannon had to extricate the broccolini from its plastic bag, and Kiwi did not like this at all. It was not good.

Once the bag was put away, Kiwi was settled again and it was good.

Kiwi was happy to have some breakfast, but did not like it when Shannon went to shower. When Shannon came back all clean, Kiwi was very pleased and fluffed her feathers. However, then Kiwi became sad again when Shannon had to go to work, and proceeded to chirp at Jacob, who was grading finals in the next room. Poor Jacob. The door to Shannon's room was then closed, and Kiwi became quiet. It was good.

The first day

In the beginning, Anna brought Kiwi and her cage to Shannon's apartment.

Now the apartment had been empty and void of a bird, but the spirit of Kiwi soon began to fill the room.

And Anna said, "Welcome to your new home, Kiwi!". And Kiwi was there.

Anna saw that it was good, and she set up the cage on the table.

Anna called Kiwi "Momma's little girl" and there was evening. The first day.

Now before Kiwi there was another creature. She was Cindy. Cindy did not know what to make of this new little green thing in her apartment. Cindy darted back and forth in her cage, until Shannon knelt down to give her some pets. And it was good.

Shannon saw that it was good, and let Kiwi out of her cage. Cindy was apprehensive, and Kiwi was anxious. After a few nips, Kiwi was settled, and met the others of the apartment: Tracy and Jacob. They liked her very much, and it was good.

Kiwi decided there was not enough poop in the apartment, and pooped on Shannon's shoulder. It was not good, but it was ok. Shannon cleaned her designated "Kiwi shirt" and then saw that it was good.

Kiwi watched Shannon and Tracy open the rest of their advent calendars so that Jacob could document the process. There were treasure chests, unicorns, kings, and queens! Kiwi saw that it was good.

Then it was Kiwi's time to go to sleep, and Cindy's time to come out and play. Cindy was very nervous about the little green thing in the apartment, and was very cautious in venturing out from her cage. After several attempts, she realized that the coast was clear. Cindy was glad that Shannon sat on the floor with her, and nudged Shannon's legs many times.

Then every one went to sleep, and it was good. The first day.