Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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friday 5 at the farm: parrot life

Bobby Pacino, our blue and gold macaw, will be ten years old this spring. He was hatched somewhere in the United States and sold to us at a pet store in Oklahoma City when he was just a pup. Err, baby? Kitten? Chick. When he was just a chick. A small, quiet one.

The first few days he was home with us were a lot like having a newborn infant, especially with regard to feeding and bonding. It was actually a very sweet time.

Then the next solid, unrelenting decade was a lot like having a dysfunctional toddler, especially with regard to, well, pretty much everything. A loud, messy, screaming, demanding, attention seeking, affectionate and VERY smart, un-CANNILY smart, but also disruptive and destructive, toddler. It’s been a whirlwind. A loving whirlwind.

Surely I’ve acquainted you with him here and there on this blog, right?  I know I post photos of him to Instagram from time to time. Visitors to the dirt-and-hooves Lazy W cannot miss him. Pacino demands to not only meet but interact with everyone who enters the house or the yard, if it’s pretty weather and he’s outside in his big cage. Lots of our friends have become close with Pacino. Some are afraid of him. Others delight in ruffling his feathers. You know who you are. Pacino is a farm-ily member, and he is here to stay.

Yesterday I was reminded in myriad ways how different daily life can be when you live with a mature parrot. And friends, I use the word mature so loosely here I probably shouldn’t use it at all. But he is more or less of age; his personality is well formed; and he is vibrantly healthy and has full command of all his parrot faculties. He is a full time kinda guy. The thing is, he has spring fever or cabin fever or both, and this week he’s been telling me so.

pac 1

pac 2

pac 3

pac 4

“Hi, Mama. Gimme gimmee Kiiiiissss.”

 

So this installment of Friday 5 at the Farm is a cautionary tale for anyone who sees a parrot and thinks, “Oh how beautiful! He is magnificent! I wish IIIIIIII had a parrot!” Buyer beware, okay?

Five Things You Can’t Do When You Live With a Parrot

1. Talk on the phone. Pacino cannot stand to bear witness to what he perceives as a one-sided conversation. If he hears me talking, he naturally assumes I am talking to him. We are most of the time alone at the house together, after all. And if that phone conversation is filled with laughter, well, all the better. He joins in merrily and competes not quietly. The more I try to assert myself the worse it gets, and it seems I will never learn. So I rarely talk on the phone at all. I’ll chat with my best friend and my sister in law, like maybe once a month. Otherwise it’s just easier to text, seriously. The talking is just not worth the noise and drama on this end.

2. Watch yoga videos. Pacino especially likes female voices, and since most yoga videos are hosted by women I think that’s why he gets so riled up. But I literally have to sneak off to the furthest reaches of this house and close every door between us and play the video at low volume if I want any chance of watching and stretching in peace. Otherwise he screams and cries and attempts to opera sing at max volume the entire time. He wants to know this pretty yogi so much!! Not very Zen, you know? It really messes with my chakras and whatnot.

3. Eat anything all by yourself, especially things wrapped in cellophane. This is completely our fault, of course, because we have conditioned Pacino to accept all sorts of treats from us. But he now fully expects to share in any and all food that comes out of the kitchen, and it’s a problem.

4. Sweep the floor. This is ironic because Pacino’s indoor perch and his seed-scattering habits are the main reason we have to sweep the floor so many times per day. But he hates it. A lot. And he lets us know.

5. Kiss your husband. Birds are among the most territorial creatures I have ever encountered, and that is saying plenty. This glossy little blue Casanova is as jealous and needy as they come, so if Handsome and I feel like smooching, we have to do so at a safe distance or just accept the screaming and violent beak lunging that will inevitably follow.

********************

There. If you can cope with these five lifestyle changes then you are one half step closer to maybe considering you might possibly be ready for parrot ownership.

And let’s clear that up while we’re at it, too: You don’t own your parrot. Your parrot owns YOU. That’s the way it works, man. No getting out of that. But if you love each other it’s totally worth it.

Happy Friday!! I am signing off to go grab my first 18 mile run of this season. Very excited. See you soon for talk of translating literature and pregnancy metaphors and freezer cooking ideas. Have the best Friday ever, ok?

“Hi! Are ya Happy?”
~Bobby Pacino
xoxoxoxo

friday 5 at the farm: photos of soft sudden snow

I started chores early this morning then cleaned up the house and got dressed in “real clothes.” No running miles for me today, per the arctic temperatures, only running errands. After an hour or so in town doing miscellaneous things, I stopped at the grocery store for weekend essentials. When I parked my Jeep it was cold out, of course, but dry. Not so much as a sheen of moisture on anything. I really thought the weather forecasters, who all morning had been warning us of a blizzard, had done it to us again with the false alarms. So I gathered what we needed, then some more stuff, and maybe a few things too many for baking. When it’s bitter cold out, I really need to bake. You too, right?

There was basically a run on certain foods like ground beef and canned tomatoes. It was kind of hilarious. And exciting. So I joined the madness, wheeling my cart around at a nervous pace and collecting stuffs for one recipe after another. I didn’t give the weather another thought until I was standing in line to pay and heard an announcement about parking lot assistance.

Then suddenly the cashiers were all backed up and we fifty or sixty customers in line were all creening our necks up and out like meerkats to see through the pane glass store front. Yep, snow! It was snowing hard and fast, swirling past in angry swishes and hurrying the shivering, coat-less workers in and out of the automatic doors.

By the time I reached my Jeep and had the first half of our groceries loaded in the back, an open paper sack filled with kale was white! Snow had accumulated in tiny little drifts between the craggy dark green leaves, and it was beautiful! Unfortunately my fingers were too cold and slow to snap that photo, but I did get the Jeep windshield:

 

soft snow jeep

My drive back to the farm was slow but uneventful. Because, JEEP. xoxo

Once home, I was happy to see all the usual beautiful sights a snow day offers us.

soft snow bachelors

soft snow geese prints

soft snow turquoise chair

soft snow azalea milk can

So I am home now, warm and dry, safe and sound. Our pantry and refrigerator are both well supplied with our favorite edibles and then some. The animals are hunkered down. The heater is working, and for now so is the Internet. I’m wearing comfy jeans and fuzzy socks, and we have nowhere to go this weekend.

Now if my people could just get here already.

Every window a snow globe
XOXOXOXO

friday 5 at the farm: valentine preview

Hello, happy Friday! And Happy Valentine’s weekend to you too!

Handsome and I slept downstairs last night just for fun and both woke up around 4:30 this morning to some strange noises in the house. I’ll spare you the details in case you are easily frightened, but suffice it to say that we firmly believe this house to be haunted and this morning’s noises weren’t NOT footsteps. In our bedroom. Where neither of us were.

Anyway.

We couldn’t go back to sleep so we watched some reruns of Love Boat and snuggled. Then as we were stretching awake to tiptoe outside for Hot Tub Summit I realized I’d forgotten to fill my precious coffee machine with water last night. So the grounds were there, hot and fragrant, but dry. So no coffee yet. Womp womp.

Then the sky outside was so beautiful but also kind of thick and murky, like a werewolf sky, with the moon barely pressing through the darkness. Just an hour later, though, and it is hot pink and brilliant purple. Big, layered poofs of clouds and sunburst, another thrilling Oklahoma sunrise.

Anyway.

Happy Friday the 13th! Let’s hope the rest of the day’s weirdness is purely fun, like this. And let’s hope all of it morphs into beauty like the sky did, too. I have a 15 mile run scheduled then plenty of time to get ready for weekend #1 of our Valentine festivity. This year we agreed to split the holiday between two weekends: I arrange our meals and celebration this first go round and he does the same next weekend. I love this plan! It should keep up from overlapping or interfering with little surprise details, you know?

Fingers crossed that the ghost or whatever is upstairs gives us some privacy.

For Friday 5 this week, how about just a handful of photos of how I’m prepping for the weekend? Okay.

red tulips and a sparkly clean house (soon)
red tulips and a sparkly clean house (soon)
heart-shaped rib eye, cooked rare
heart-shaped rib eye, cooked rare
a carb-heavy New Orleans-inspired side dish involving this little treasure
A carb-heavy New Orleans-inspired side dish involving this little treasure. Oooh and apparently some fresh nail polish.
decadent dessert involving this, but not this alone
decadent dessert involving this, but not this alone
Our romantic plans this weekend do not include this feathery little guy. Can you babysit? Please? Pretty please?
Our romantic plans this weekend do not include this feathery little guy. Can you babysit? Please? Pretty please?

As I wrap this up and drink my last cup of Friday the 13th coffee, I can smell fresh sweet strawberries waiting to be slurped and enjoyed with my husband. I see a frilly three-dimensional card waiting to be sent to my youngest daughter, loaded with words that I pray (and trust) will soak into her heart. And I am thinking of the overwhelming power of Love, in all its manifestations, that keeps up moving and striving and then resting together day after day, no matter what happens to us or around us.

This snapshot was taken in the French Quarter at a very cool little artists' walk we both love. He was refusing to let me smooch him like I wanted to. Then he grabbed me and held me up in the air. xoxo
This snapshot was taken in the French Quarter at a very cool little artists’ walk we both love. He was refusing to let me smooch him like I wanted to. Then he grabbed me and held me up in the air. Then I got the smooch I wanted. xoxo

Come What May.

Happy Friday the 13th, sweet friends, And happy Valentine’s Day too. Much love to you always.

Love is a Many Splendored Thing
Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong
XOXOXO

friday 5 at the farm: 4 current faves & a redirect

It’s Friday again, we made it!! Cue all the cheering and cartwheel-turning and Pee-Wee Hermann dancing because, friends, as been. a. week. Handsome and I now have a great weekend on tap to celebrate some hard work and recharge each other’s batteries.

For this installment of Friday 5, I just want to mention four things that have been indispensable to me lately, things that make life easier or prettier or more meaningful. And then I would love to invite you to click over and see another Oklahoma-based blog where I am absolutely giddy to be guest posting today! Okay let’s get started.

#1. Mascara
As much as I love talking about books, philosophy and the importance of slow food and positive thinking, I am so not above asserting to you that a great mascara can greatly improve the quality of your life. So, here it my personal recommendation: Voluminous by L’Oreal. I recently made the switch from a plain-Jane pink and green tube back to this brand I used once upon a time in my twenties, and I am so glad. I had forgotten how lush and thick and I Can See Your Lashes from Kansas this mascara looks. And it’s only like $7 so give it a try!

#2. Parsley
Lately my mouth and my belly cannot get enough parsley. I’ve been keeping bunches of it in the fridge at all times, rinsed and ready to chop cold and raw onto a salad, a bowl of roasted veggies, an omelette, soup, you name it. I even put fresh parsley in my coffee these days. Not really, that’s a lie. But it might be delicious. Is parsley the new sage, which was once the new basil? I’m not saying it’s not. Since seed-starting is right around the corner, I may have to learn a few things about growing parsley. Yum.

#3. Feedly
Do you use this app? I have Feedly installed on my iPad and am in love. It cues up a ton of blogs I enjoy reading and keeps them categorized (fitness, cooking, lifestyle, decorating, spirituality, gardening, etc., these are categories I specified) so I can always plop down with a few spare minutes and read exactly what I’m in the mood to read. I love it! And you can save links for later, too, plus click through to the actual website to comment if you wish.

#4. Mantra
Okay I couldn’t write a list like this without including a mantra. And I am returning to an oldie but goodie, because my perspective has required some adjusting of late and this did the trick: Use Your Imagination for Good. Seriously. Resist the vicious cycle of “what if?” or those horrible rehearsed arguments in your head and just live in this moment. Fully. Slow down. Appreciate where you are, seek out the good, bright spots and the Love that surrounds you, the opportunities, blessings, and potential that your beautiful life has right now and max that stuff out! Okay, also I found this article last night (on Feedly, BAM) and thought you’d like to read it: 6 Things Bold People do to Live a Courageous Life

#5. Redirect
Last but not least, please allow me to introduce you to Cassie! She is a fellow blogger right here in our Great State of Oklahoma. She curates True Agape, where she and her husband Ryan pursue love and romance, fitness, family building, faith, all kinds of great stuff. They are a breath of fresh air!

Well, Cassie recently invited me to write for her audience about how fitness works into my marriage, or about how my marriage supports fitness, or maybe both. As you all know, Handsome does not share my love for running, but that does not mean he doesn’t love me. So he does all sorts of things to encourage me. Click over to Cassie’s website True Agape for a short piece on this topic: 5 Ways My Non Running Husband Supports Me as a Runner.

bamboo zoo

Okay, that’s it! Happy Friday to you, friends. I hope you work hard and play hard. I hope you soak up so much Love that you cannot help but exude it. Pray for miracles, dwell on the possibilities in your heart, expect them.

They’re coming.
XOXOXO

 

 

friday 5 at the farm: photos & captions

Whoa, is it really Friday? I’m not complaining, because Fridays are awesome. But I am surprised. Life lately has been lulling me with such pleasure, so many daily graces and perfect rhythms, that I forget to notice the passage of time. And I’m getting really good at Carpe Diem; it’s just that sometimes I forget which Diem it is.

How about a little Friday 5 at the Farm, just some photos and short stories? Okay.

Photo #1: Below you see an image of what holds my attention most of my waking hours: Books and sunlight. I am reading two very different from each other books right now, and each of them is fascinating in its own right. And I still haven’t told you more about Tasting Home! Sometimes I think about starting a blog just for book reviews. Because of all my spare time, you know.

  • Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
  • The Mapmaker’s Dream by James Cowan

And sunlight. Oklahoma has been so wrapped in fog that every ray of warmth we enjoy is a total pleasure. Winter is right around the corner, and it promises to be a cold, wet, snowy season. For all my Carpe Diem preaching, I am already craving springtime.

 

f5f books lace

Photo #2: This horse below is Dusty, you may know. He is our girls’ horse, a smallish mixed breed with a heart of gold. He and our girls basically grew up together. He is cut now but before that little procedure he managed to sneakily father the only two colts to spring from the equine loins of the Lazy W. Our oldest daughter has been spending a lot of time at the farm lately, riding bareback and training Dusty to learn some basic groundwork. He’s doing great, but she does mildly reprimand me for having him so conditioned for treats. Apparently horses are supposed to obey voice commands more than Oreo offerings? Who knew. Here you see Dusty sporting a cool pair of her sunglasses. He is very likely the most photographed animal on the farm right now, thanks to her visits and loving devotion.

 

f5f dusty shades

Photo #3: A decent trade for sunlight is the wintertime staple of homemade pie crust. Cold, dark months boast so many good reasons to enjoy this simple pleasure. Whatever recipe you use, may I gently suggest that you try this? Divide your fat between half butter and half shortening. It is perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Delicious, flaky, tender, flavorful. Whether for a sweet or a savory dish (here I was making homemade chicken pot pie), this combination is really truly amazing. As a side note, we tried chicken pot pie with finely diced potatoes in the mix, and it was really good. Maybe great. Possibly worth exploring again and sharing with you fine people.

f5f pie crust

Photo #4: Pacino, our blue and gold macaw, has been a lot of fun lately, too. Still perhaps not as photographed as Dusty, but he does get a lot of face time. He’s been keeping me company while I crochet scarves and fold laundry, and he is really good at never letting the house grow too quiet.

f5f pacino

Photo #5: Always take the scenic route, friends. Slow down. Neglect multi-tasking when you can. Taste the food you eat. Write down the details of your day, the things you see, hear, feel, smell, touch, think, and experience. Open your eyes wide and unclench your fists. Soak up the world with your heart. It is so beautiful, this world, and so are you.

f5f scenic route

Okay, that makes five photos and five short stories! Thank you so very much for visiting. I hope your weekend is shaping up to be restful, happy, loving, productive, and whatever else you need it to be.

Always take the scenic route.
Always.
XOXOXO