Wednesday 15 October 2014

Blah, paperwork for WOYWW

My desk is no fun this week.
I've left my tax until the last minute
and now all I have on my 
"art" desk is paperwork.
Blah, just like the old days
when I was a boring old bookkeeper.
(sigh).
Such a sad sight
and to make it worse,
the number one man in my life
is ill.
No, not my hubby
 he's way down the list.
It's my beautiful boy, Charlie the parrot.

He started picking at his feet and it wasn't mites.
Turns out he has extremely high
cholesterol, yes you heard right,
birds get high cholesterol
and no it wasn't all my fault,
well mostly, oh alright,
it was my fault.
I have had him for 24 years and fed him on 
the finest quality parrot seed and
what ever veggies we are having, 
in fact all the foods we eat
(he loves a good curry)
including his penchant for
Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
 But it was the seed that caused
most of the problems.
Who knew that you shouldn't feed a bird seed.

Once he's feeling better I have to put him 
on a strict diet of special pellets
and veggies
but he can still have the odd chocolate.

Trying to get his medication down his throat
is my biggest problem right now.
Who would have thought
this innocent looking little fellow
could be so strong and smart.
I've tried everything to get him to take his medicine.
It always ends the same,
I end up wearing the medicine.
If I put it on some food, he throws it at me.
If it gets put on some bread he throws it in his water bowl.
I tried holding him down but who knew he
could get that bottom beak around the top one
and bite a persons finger!
The vet assured me that all birds love this stuff
and it tastes like honey.
The only trouble is,
he isn't a bird, he's a flamin
 smart alec human wannabe!!

Just think how hard it's going to be to get
him off of seed and onto pellets.

Amidst the chaos of this week
I did do a little bit of painting
on my boat.
 
 I've started to add more light and shade
to the boat and
I added some oldness to the seats.
My teacher was explaining to us that there
should always be an element of death or age
Prior to shading.
to a painting to make it more real.
If you do a vase of flowers
there should always be a blemish or dead
leaf or petal.
So I decided to make the boat
a bit old and broken.

I'll do a bit to the hull as well
and then add some more contrast,
but it's looking good so far.

After a layer of shading, more to come.
Well that's me for this week,
now why don't you hop on over to
to see the other desks around the world
this workdesk wednesday.

Did you notice that apart from the tax stuff,
the room is still quite tidy!!!!
Surely that's worth a couple of brownie points??















22 comments:

  1. Poor you having to medicate Charlie, though I would almost pay money to come and watch... Sounds entertaining... Now get that paperwork done so you can get busy painting... Love seeing your work...xx

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  2. I'd give you loads of a brownie points, I'm very impressed! Poor you having to do tax returns though....bleuurggghhhh....
    You always learn something new on WOYWW, I didn't know that birds shouldn't have seeds!! What on earth do they eat out in the wild? Your attempts to get medicine down his neck really made me laugh. It takes three of us to do one cat in our house :-)
    Hugs, LLJ 23 xx

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  3. Poor Charlie! I hope he gets better soon! (and he will get used to the pellets if that's the only thing you feed him)
    Yeah, paperwork is always boring. Don't we know it! But it has to be done....
    Thank you for showing us your boat and the process of shading.
    Well, WOYWW neighbour, thank you for letting me peep over your shoulder.
    Lisca#26 (I was nr 25 when I posted. Now, half an hour later, I'm 26. How weird is that!)

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  4. Well who'd have though parrots could have high cholesterol, you learn something new every day but I had to laugh at him loving curry and Ferrero Roche, a parrot with good taste I'd say.
    Absolutely love your boat painting, I'd be very happy to have that on my wall.
    Good Luck with the tax return, never a bundle of laughs.
    hugs Lisax #31

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  5. I hope your sweet baby feels better very soon! Glad he can still have the choccies, lol! Your painting is very beautiful already.

    Happy Crafting!
    Jeannie #21

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  6. Aw, poor Charlie - hope he gets better soon. I am loving the painting - the water is beautiful and I really like the aging on the seats. Good luck with the tax return and hope you have a great week,
    Diana #29

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  7. Oh Charlie! I hope he starts taking the medication more easily. I know how much a budgie beak hurts and Charlie's must be 3 times the size!
    Happy WOYWW
    Laura
    47

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  8. That painting is amazing,Vonny. I love it. I so sympathise with your problems medicating Charlie. I have exactly the same problems whenever I have to give my cat, Ambrose, pills. Nightmare. Tried all the known tricks, none of them work. I can hold his mouth closed, stroke his throat till he swallows, then as soon as I let go, he spits it out! Tried hiding it in chicken- his absolute favourite, he just nibbles all round the bit with the pill in, then leaves it. Last week I had to give him worming syrup. Chocolate flavour. For a cat, really?Have a great week, Hugs, Shaz #38 xx

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  9. Poor Charlie! Hope he takes his medicine like a good parrot, and you don't get too many pecked fingers! The painting is fabulous!! Helen 5

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  10. You can have a kerjillion brownie points! Cor, coping with Charlie and doing taxes....mega stress! I have no good ideas, but am totally sure that he knows you want him to have the medicine which is why he won't take it!
    Love love love the boat...and the aged effects, how clever you are. The water is, well, amazing!

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  11. Oh heck, I don't envy you, either for the tax return or for having to medicate your sick parrot who clearly has a mind of his own ... rather like my cat who, I swear, can smell medication from the bottom of the garden! I absolutely love your boat ... stunning detail and the colours just sing :) I have a giveaway on offer so do check out the sticky post at the top of my blog. Have a great week, Elizabeth x #53

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  12. Oh, poor Charlie - and poor you, trying to nurse him. Why can't they understand you're only trying to help them?! I hope the tax papers are now safely complete and on their merry way, and you can get back to the painting. Congrats on the tidy up, BTW!! Hugs, Chris # 16

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  13. Oh boy! this brings back memories, parrots are so intelligent, they just know if you are up to something and they are so crafty and I don't mean papercrafting Lol!
    Good luck with the medication, Angela x 41

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  14. So sorry to hear about Charlie!! I hope he will give up and eat the pellets. They can be so stubborn...and bite hard enough to draw blood quite easily if they want to. ;)
    Love the old boat so far! Amazing water effects already!

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  15. Awww. Charlie. Wondering, can you put his meds in the chocolate? I know he shouldn't have too much but you never know. Or maybe in some honey on bread. They are smarter than we give them credit for sometimes. Your painting is looking lovely. I always enjoy popping by your sight. Creative Blessings! Kelly #56

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  16. I wondered how long it would be before the chaos appeared in your lovely clean studio! But it is a shame it's all boring accounts rather than splatters of paint! Never mind, what you have done is gorgeous! That boat is already fab and its nice to see some close up detail too :0)

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  17. He is a human in a birds body! That is the problem! Your boat is looking outstanding, I can't wait to see it finished. I am late to visit as I had a self inflicted deadline to achieve...#19

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  18. Argh... just lost a huge comment that I posted to you, but such is life!
    So once more with feeling....
    I think you certainly deserve brownie points for sure, having to handle Charlie's medication trauma's.
    When I have to give Muffty tablets, I hide them in a piece of chicken making sure I give the tablet piece first whilst having a second (no table) piece waving right in front of her. Her greed makes her gobble the first to get to the second! Works every time ;D
    Your painting is fantastic and I'm making a note of your teachers comment. It certainly adds something to the composition.
    I'm still trying to get over the shock of hearing you were a book keeper! I just wouldn't have guessed that one.
    Anyway good luck with Charlie... I hope you win!
    xoxo
    Neesie #60

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  19. So sorry to hear about poor old Charlie, Von. Your description of giving him his medication reminds me of our older cat, Beatrice. The vet always says how lovely she is, and how well behaved, never scratching or biting when they do things to her, but at home, if we have to give her a pill, it's a different story! Like parrots, cats are armed! We have to wrap her in a towel. Have you tried that?

    Your latest picture is an absolute dream. I love, love, love it and would hang it on my wall any day. It's totally fabulous (but then all your art is...) - makes my mouth water, all those gorgeous colours!

    Happy belated WOYWW,
    Shoshi #37

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  20. Sorry to hear about Charlie! My Grandbird broke his leg a couple months back and they can be a handful making them take their medication. Nyasa bird is 18 yo African Grey and would yell...help their killing me when the two of them would hold him done to medicate. They are so funny! Have a great week and hope you get to craft and create something fun this week. Vickie #76

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  21. Three gold stars for the room still being tidy, Vonny. But, goodness - what a mess with your poor bird. I'd have thought seed was the right stuff for him, as well... Hope he manages to get SOME of his medicine, between bouts of being determined to make you wear it as the fashion accessory of 2014!!!
    Love the way the boat picture is coming on.
    Take care. God bless.
    Margaret #6

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  22. Thanks for your return visit, Vonny. (I meant to say, you have my sympathy, doing all that beastly paper work! I struggle with mine and hate doing it, especially as I can see my ARTHaven through the open doorway!)

    So glad you like my various projects! Funny you should mention that spray bottle, because I've seen people on Youtube, using them to damp down the wool to make wet felt. I find a milk container with holes pierced in the lid works just as well - you just shake out the water! Not exactly very precise but adequate for felt!

    Shoshi

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I really love getting comments but due to a high amount of spam I had to take the anonymous user off of the comments. Sorry to those who can't leave a comment.
Thanks, Von.