Feathered friend

He nips my ear, grabs me with his zygodactyl feet and scream and shouts if I attempt a long lie in!! He drops his wings down and makes noises like a little puppy wanting attention when I am close then attempts to Regurgitation food on he when we play and acts as if this is a sign of affection (which it is) He can be a bit bossy with others, but tends to be clingy with me. He does not shut up but clams up when there is a stranger in the house making me look like a liar when I say he is a chatter box!!

Why do I keep an African Grey Parrot???????

Cause I am rewarded with unwavering love, humor, knowledge, beauty, dedication - and a sense of wonder and awe I haven't felt since I was a child.

Happy Halloween

Well its Halloween tonight, 31 October. In Scotland we go guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for sweets or coins  – its a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money. I am a bit too old to go out guising myself and its changed days since I was a kid so would not fancy my son going out either.

 

I have read a few blogs online about spooky goings on which I would like to share, I can’t take any credit for the following as it was written by Gary Hayden in Issue 31 of the Scotland Magazine…

Edinburgh is one of the world’s most haunted cities. During its 1,000-year history it has seen more than its share of horror: witch-burning, plague, body-snatching, torture and murder.

Tour-operators now capitalise on the city’s macabre past. Costumed guides lead thrill-seekers through dank labyrinths, eerie vaults and creepy graveyards. Many tourists hope for supernatural encounters en-route; others are content to hear ghostly tales in atmospheric locations.

 

If you stroll along the Royal Mile, you can see many of the city’s haunted sites for yourself – and pick up some history along the way.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse At the foot of the Royal Mile lies Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland.

King David I founded the palace as an Augustinian monastery in 1128. Since then it has been home to a number of monarchs, including Mary Queen of Scots, who lived there from 1561 to 1567. It is a fine old house, richly furnished, and commanding fine views of Holyrood Park.

 Like many old buildings, Holyroodhouse has its phantoms. Some say it is haunted by Mary Queen of Scots herself – though she was executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, and her remains now lie in Westminster Abbey.

 Holyroodhouse’s most notable spook is Mary’s private secretary, David Rizzio, who was murdered in the Queen’s apartments by Scottish nobles led by her jealous husband, Lord Darnley. Legend has it that after the deed, Rizzio’s bloodstains could not be removed from the floor – and that they can be seen to this day.

 Queensberry House Walk a short distance up the Royal Mile. On the left, incorporated into the strikingly-modern Scottish Parliament complex, is a red-roofed 17thcentury building, Queensberry House. This was home to James Douglas, the second Duke of Queensberry, who was influential in arranging the 1707 Treaty of the Union.

When the treaty was passed, Edinburgh’s disgruntled citizens flocked to Parliament Square, where the Duke – accompanied by his entire household – attempted to placate them.

 Meanwhile, the story goes, the Duke’s lunatic son escaped from his locked room and roamed through the deserted house. Before long he came across a solitary kitchen boy who had been left turning meat on a spit.

The servants returned to find the kitchen boy roasting above the fire, and the Duke’s son feasting on his flesh. The oven is still visible in the Parliament’s Allowances Offices.

 Museum of Childhood Further up the Royal Mile, just past St Mary’s Street, stands the Museum of Childhood. Town Councilor Patrick Murray founded it in 1955.

 ts deceptively large interior is crammed with dolls, teddy-bears, toys, games and other childhood memorabilia.

Children will be intrigued by the simple toys that kept earlier generations amused; adults will rush around exclaiming, “I had one of those!” But not all childhood memories are happy ones. In the 1600s, an outbreak of the plague occurred in a nearby nursery. According to local lore, the building was sealed-off with the children and their mothers inside. If you pass the museum late at night, you can still hear their cries.

 South Bridge Vaults Further up the hill, the Royal Mile passes between North Bridge and South Bridge.

 The South Bridge was constructed in the 1780s. Most of its arches were enclosed on both sides by shops and tenements, and the arches themselves used as storage-space by South Bridge merchants, or as makeshift workplaces by local tradesmen.

Unfortunately, the bridge had not been dampproofed.

 So the arches and vaults quickly became unusable. The merchants and tradesmen moved out… and the poor and destitute moved in.

Eventually, the squatters were evicted and the vaults filled with rubble. They were largely forgotten until excavations in the 1980s made the eerie chambers accessible again.
The South Bridge Vaults are now a tourist-attraction, and feature on many of Edinburgh’s ghost-tours. So much paranormal activity has been reported that the vaults are considered amongst the UK’s most haunted locations.

 The spooks of South Bridge are too numerous to mention. Two of the most celebrated spirits are a mischievous boy who pulls visitors’ legs, and ‘Mr Boots,’ (who I have actually seen I believe but thats a story for another day...Dearn) who whispers obscenities.

Fishmarket Close Continue up the Royal Mile. On the left, just before St Giles’ Cathedral, is Old Fishmarket Close where a fish-hawker named Maggie Dickson once worked.
in 1724 Maggie fell pregnant to her landlady’s son. Her attempts to conceal the pregnancy resulted in the premature birth and subsequent death of the child. She was tried under the Concealment of Pregnancy Act of 1690, and sentenced to death.

 Maggie was duly hanged, and pronounced dead by the attending doctor.

just as the coffin was borne to the graveyard, muffled moans emerged from inside. Maggie was found still alive, and within weeks was restored to full health.
Her astonishing recovery was seen as an Act of God, and ‘Half Hangit Maggie’ was left to live out her days.

 Mary King’s Close The City Chambers stand almost opposite Fishmarket Close. Beneath them lie a network of narrow closes, which were covered over when the Chambers building was constructed. In the 1600s, these streets were amongst the most denselypopulated in Edinburgh.

 

The subterranean streets have recently been opened as a tourist attraction, The Real Mary King’s Close. Costumed guides take visitors on an underground tour that features accurate reconstructions of how people used to live.

 The area has long been considered haunted. In 1685, Professor George Sinclair of Glasgow University wrote about Mary King’s Close in his work, Satan’s Invisible World Discovered. He recounted the terrifying tale of Mr Thomas Coltheart, who moved into the Close and encountered disembodied heads and arms, and ghostly cats and dogs.

 Supernatural sightings continue to this day. In the 1990s a Japanese psychic identified the spirit of a little girl named Annie, who had lost her favourite doll. Since then, numerous visitors have felt Annie’s presence. Many leave dolls in what has become known as the Shrine Room.

 Other visitors have reported scratching noises coming from a chimney where a young sweep is said to have died.

Deacon Brodie Further up the Royal Mile, just past Melbourne Place, is Brodie’s Close. This was once home to ‘Deacon’ William Brodie: respectable tradesman by day, and desperate villain by night.
Brodie’s gang committed a number of daring robberies before the gentlemanthief was finally apprehended. He was hanged at the Tolbooth on the Royal Mile.

 Brodie’s dual-life provided the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, named in the villain’s honour, stands opposite Brodie’s Close.

Edinburgh Castle It is a short walk from Brodie’s Close up to Castlehill.

 Perched atop its rocky crag, Edinburgh Castle looks for all the world like a haunted house, especially when viewed from Princes Street Gardens, below. With 1,000 years of bloody history, it is no surprise that the castle has acquired some spooks along the way. Two of the best-known have a military/musical connection.

 A ghostly (some say headless) drummer is reputed to haunt the ramparts. He was first sighted in 1650 before the castle fell to Oliver Cromwell, and has been seen or heard a number of times since then. His appearance is considered a warning that the castle is about to be attacked.

There is also a ghostly piper. Legend has it that a secret tunnel runs the length of the Royal Mile, connecting Edinburgh Castle with Holyroodhouse. Long ago, a piper was sent to investigate the tunnel, piping as he went so that those above ground could follow his progress.

Part-way down the Royal Mile the piping stopped. Some calamity must have befallen the piper, for he was never seen again. But they say his ghostly piping can still be heard.

Waterpiking

I have recently bought a Waterpik flosser  after much research and humming and hawing.

What is a Waterpik flosser you may ask, well  Water Pik, invented the water flosser (also knows as a dental water jet or oral irrigator) in 1962. Standard dental floss is generally considered the most effective tool for cleaning the tight spaces between the teeth. You can also use dental floss to scrape up and down the sides of each tooth. A water pick (oral irrigator) is a device that aims a stream of water at your teeth. A water pick can help remove food particles from your teeth, although it isn't considered a substitute for brushing and flossing, when used in conjunction with the traditional routine (brushing and flossing) it really makes your mouth feel super clean and fresh, I read somewhere that’s it’s the dental equivalent of jet washing your slabs and I would agree with this.

 

Personally I use it before brushing just before bed at night for a 90 second blast and it really makes a difference, especially hitting these big molars right at the back which are hard to reach with dental floss. ( I still use either floss or tape in the mornings so getting the best of both worlds)

You can read more about  http://www.waterpik.co.uk/  I went for the WP100 Ultra Water Flosser  with its  water pressure of 10 to 90 PSI with 1200 pulses per minuteand. I  mostly use the Classic jet tip which cleans deep between teeth and below the gumline and sometimes using the Pik Pocket tip for therapeutic rinses which makes my gums feel great afterwards. The Toothbrush Tip is also great to use after eating steak or lots of popcorn.

African Grey catching some rays

A couple of months ago I go a UV lamp for my African Grey (Rocky) and have it switched on from the morning until evening for around 8 to 12 hours daily.

Birds are similar to reptiles in regard to their natural sunlight requirements. Both animal groups use sunlight to produce vitamins and hormones in their bodies and both use unfiltered (not through a window pane) sunlight to view the world. By denying a captive bird access to unfiltered sunlight or a synthetic source of UVA and UVB we effectively deny the bird the right to see as nature intended and produce the vitamins and hormones that they require in the way that nature designed them to.

Tetrachromacy is the term used to describe the addition of the all important fourth cone cell in the eye of birds, reptiles and some fish. The inclusion of these four cone shaped cells and the oil droplets that they contain effectively opens up a whole new world to these remarkable animals. Humans using three rod cells (trichromacy) can only reportedly view the world with around one million colours. Tetrachromats are able to see around 100 million colours, that is a massive difference. Humans as usual don’t seem to be able to truly grasp just how important this maybe to birds, maybe it is because we cannot experience viewing the world in the way in which birds do. The inclusion of this fourth cone cell allows the bird to see wavelengths of light that humans simply cannot see i.e far into red and blue and also into the ultra violet wavelength. I have watched the fantastic BBC series on DVD “the life of birds”. Why did the bib of the budgerigar glow when exposed to a black light? These black lights emit a lot of UVA, this then allows a human to see UV reactive patches on birds and things like banknotes. Birds and reptiles both appear to wear badges! Special fluorescent patches appear on the feathers and scales when viewed under the correct wavelength of light and using the gift of tetrachromacy. Humans cannot see UV so we have to use a black light to view these patches. Birds can see them all of the time if the tetrachromatic ability is “activated” by providing exposure to UVA. These fluorescent patches seem to show the differences in the sexes especially in the monomorphic species, health, condition and breeding readiness. It has also been shown now that UVA effects how birds view potential food sources. Tetrachromacy in the wild helps birds find food. It seems that riper fruits are easier to spot in dense foliage with the benefit of Tetrachromacy. The waxy surface of these fruits seem to show up like a neon sign to birds. For softbill’s the theory is the same. Insects also display these patches, so a fast moving or hidden insect could actually to a bird be a shining beacon of a display sign that says “here is food”. I have also read studies showing that poisonous insects and plants seem to display warnings using these flouro patches that they are not good to eat. Yellow flowers reportedly show as bright red, humming birds use this gift to spot the right flowers with good amounts of nectar. Raptors use Tetrachromacy to see the urine trails left by rodents as they travel through their runs. Great eyesight is coupled with the ability to see these urine markers, this can then show the raptor a potential food source even in dense foliage. Rest assured the more you study Tetrachromacy the more interesting and addictive it becomes. So Rocky would have this unfiltered sunlight in the wild but being domesticated this is no longer the case, especially with our Scottish weather which is far removed from the Congo in Africa.

Bird lighting is one of those products that show’s results almost immediately. As soon as the lamp is switched on you will generally see the birds become more animated. In the case of song birds the cocks usually break out into spontaneous song.  Rocky perks up and actively basks. He opens his wings and ruffle his breast feathers to allow exposure to his skin.  I have the lamp shinning in one part of his cage so he can move out of the light if he so desires.