Saturday, September 20, 2008

Myna's & Mulberries

Thanks to my son Jesse, I've made friends with the common Myna. He retrieved them from under the eves of his friends new house while helping him with the roofing. Although I hand fed them from babies, I'm sure we could of developed a tighter bond if there were just one and not three!


See, our Love Bird Peach generally gets to fly around the room for a spell -once in the morning and once in the evening. One reason the Myna's don't is because their poop is triple the size of his, ya. Makes sense huh?!


Well, a friend of mine happens to have three as well. So when she realized I move their cage outside like her in the morning, she suggested I might want to use a small cage for easy transport...this was after I pointed out a small scratch I made on the couch. Soo, I plunked a small dog kennel outside under the avocado tree (where they stay) instead and proceeded to cart them out one by one.
The last one managed to get loose then flew into the wild blue yonder...up up an away. That's just what it looked like- first on top of an Ohia- then up on over into the forest he went.

Truthfully, I didn't hold out much hope of seeing him again. Evidently he nevah had a plan...couldn't catch a worm even if his life depended on it. In the morning Jesse & Joe were trying to situate the cage where he could easily enter.
Well, he ended up on the lower limb of the avocado tree and appeared to be a bit hungry. I shook the food dish and gave him a few pieces...then he actually scooted on into the open kennel! Amazing!

OK, so the next two shots here are of the Mulberry tree. One is a view of the last of a few wonderful berries I'd been harvesting now for the past month or so. The other is supposed to be a half eaten one but Joe (my husband) was in a hurry to ride his motorcycle, so the photo he took is a bit of a blur but it looks more like it's undeveloped. I would try to get out there before any of the birds got a crack at them. I'd circle this tree and couldn't help turning my nose up at the half eaten fruit...but then I realized, this was God's way of providing for them. I mean, we took these birds in as a necessity but out there in nature our Heavenly Father promises to take care of the birds of the air.

I can't complain either, I made two Mulberry/Rhubarb pies and a bottle of syrup. I bet Claudia's made Mulberry wine? Anyway, I have one more bag in the freezer to boot.




Delicious Mulberry Rhubarb Pie w/Crust

2 1/2 cups mulberries
1 1/2 cups finely chopped rhubarb
1 1/4 cups raw sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

Mix together mulberries, rhubarb, sugar, and flour.
Pour into unbaked 9 inch pie shell. Dot filling with butter and add top crust.
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake until pie is done, about 30 minutes. Enjoy-

Crust:
1 & 1/4 Cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 Cup ice water

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

G.Marie,
I've had some time today to read many of your posts here. You are a beautiful writer.

The Myna chick's you've taken in are adorable. May you also enjoy eating the Mulberry Pies. When I grew up in WA state, our family would go Huckleberry picking in the Cascade Mtns. We'd come home with buckets. My parents would tranfer them into large zip-lock bags and freeze them. She'd often get some out to bake pies for holidays and every so-often. They were delicious.

I also thank you for sharing your 9/17 post on your Intro to Organized Religion. We have much in common with the Catholic upbringing. I can relate to having obtained some valuable things from it, and many, many negatives.

Blessings,
~Amy :)
http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com

Main Link For Your Photo Meme And Spiritual Haiku said...

Thanks Amy. There an Ohelo Berry plant that grows up in the mountains...on higher elevations. It makes a delicious jam too and I've been told it's similar to the huckleberry.
Cheers, Gmaire-