It's too quiet

The house isn't the same these days... missing are the happy chirps, chattering and whistles of Pebbles, the little blue and white friend who graced our home and made us laugh for the past five and a half years.

Pebbles feasting on chick weed

The life expectancy of strictly seed-fed budgies is between four and six years -- though Pebbles ate enough chunks of my umbrella plant that I might have expected him to live longer and the girls often picked chick weed from the garden for his enjoyment, his main fare was seed, some of which we recently realized was actually rancid. We replaced it with good seed, but the damage had already been done. For a while we thought he would recuperate, but it wasn't to be. The last weeks of Pebbles' life were bitter sweet -- we were saddened by the fact that he wasn't able to make a comeback, but we were also able to enjoy cuddling him, something he never allowed when he was his usual perky self.

Budgies have been a part of my life for all but eleven years, so it's always strange when a little feathered friend dies, leaving a bigger gap than a person would expect. We won't be getting another budgie while we have a dog -- I always felt a bit sad for Pebbles because he couldn't fly as freely once Shadow joined the family, but the girls would often take him to their rooms and let him socialize there.

Pebbles gave us plenty of laughs, and his life is better documented than any of our other birds, as he arrived after Simple Moodlings was well established. I posted several budgie updates with video in these Moodlings, and they're fun to watch and to remember what a little spaz our bird was. He loved Suzanna best, and every day when she came home, he'd listen for her voice and call out to her. I've gathered the budgie updates here for her to access whenever she feels like remembering, as one final Budgie Update:

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7

It's not hard to imagine Pebbles somewhere in the great beyond now, singing in chorus with Fritzy, Max, Houdini, Sunny, and Buddy, other cheeky little birds from our past. Such a bright little spirit doesn't end here, of that I'm sure.

The dog and budgie show

Clik clik clik clik clik.

The other night I was doing the dishes, and heard the sound of Shadow-pup walking toward me across the living room hardwood. I turned around to talk to him -- and he wasn't there.

Puzzled, I asked, "Who's got the dog?" and Julia called out from her room, "He's here, sleeping on my bed."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

That's when it dawned on me that Pebbles, the family budgie, has learned to imitate the sound of the dog's toenails on hardwood.

Now I'm waiting to hear the bird bark!

Budgie update #5

After a busy day in the garden, I thought I'd take a break from Simple Suggestions and moodle about Pebbles, our resident clown and comedian. Just recently he tried something new -- rock climbing on our brick feature wall -- and he had us all laughing as he zipped up and down, headfirst both directions. Of course, he wouldn't do it once we had camera in hand, but he jabbered like the camera was a long lost friend. When Suzanna was editing footage from today, Pebbles flew against the computer screen in an effort to make friends with himself. What a wacky little bird! See for yourself.

Budgie update #3

It's official. Pebbles is a male, and he's Suzanna's bird. He's only learning to say the words she teaches him (hello, heyyy birdie, pretty bird, I love you), and if she's in the room, the rest of us don't exist. She's been trying to teach him to play fetch with his cat toys, but so far, he doesn't get it. He's a funny character who loves to pester and be pestered, and not a day goes by without someone telling him he's sooo cute.

With a little time and patience, maybe we could teach Pebs to play basketball or soccer... though soccer woudn't be fair because he can grab the ball with his toes and fling it. At the moment he's in Suzanna's room, keeping her company.

What's a pet for but to show us the way to love and laughter?