I have been a little lazy with blogging this week because Garrett and I have been binge watching Little House on the Prairie. I already loved that show and now he's addicted also. We watched the pilot episode and then the first episode of season 1 but after I received season 3 and 5 in the mail we skipped ahead to season 3 to make sure the discs were working good. The last time I ordered them about 10 years ago or so, those two seasons had problems with the discs and I had to send them back....twice! So I got refunded and decided to wait. I'm glad I did because these newer ones have subtitle abilities where as the old ones don't. Garrett and Curtis watch everything with subtitles if they can because of their hearing so we have gotten used to it. We have also learned things about some shows that we didn't realize they said so it's actually nice to have when watching movies.
Anyway, this past Monday afternoon I was at home with the kids while Curtis and Nikki were both at work. Nikki had told Garrett that he could take Neptune (her budgie/parakeet) out of his cage sometimes to let him fly around and have some time out of his cage. Well, the other three kids (Jack, Charlotte and Alice) were playing in the back yard and I was hand washing dishes in the kitchen. Garrett decided to get Neptune out for a little bit but the other kids didn't know. The curtain was pulled aside to let sunshine in. All of a sudden the kids decided to come in through the sliding door and it was opened almost all the way. Neptune then seized his opportunity and flew out the door and up above the houses on the street behind our house. Garrett and I tried riding our bikes around to look for him in our neighborhood but with no luck. He was gone.
Later I decided to put his cage out on the picnic table by the door that he flew out, hoping that he might come back to the same door and see his cage as well. About a year ago our other bird Jupiter had flown out our front door but he came back within a half hour so we were hoping that Neptune would come back also. I also had Nikki send me some pictures of Neptune since I didn't have any and I made a post about it on Facebook and on a neighborhood website/app called Nextdoor about him being lost. We prayed that Heavenly Father would look after Neptune and bring him home.
We continually kept looking out the window to see if he was back in his cage but he never did come back. There was one night I had to bring the cage back inside because of strong winds and didn't get it back out until almost a day later. It wasn't until yesterday (Saturday) that a lady came to my door and told me that someone had found my bird on Nextdoor and had posted about it only 40 minutes ago or so. I think she had tried to send me a friend request on Facebook but I deleted it since I didn't know who she was. After talking to her I looked at my phone to find that post and saw that a friend of mine from church, Sarah Karl, texted me about the same thing! So now I really scrambled to see if I could find the post and I did! The lady who found the bird also sent me a message on messenger and we were able to get the info and get over to get him. Nikki, Garrett, Charlotte and Alice all came with me to go pick him up. He was found outside this person's home on the road about 2 miles away from our home.
We were able to get him onto Nikki's hand and feed him broccoli, one of his favorite things to eat, as we transferred him from the cat cage that the people were keeping him in to our travel size bird cage. It was so exciting to have him back and we just couldn't believe that he was still alive after 5 days of being gone! As soon as we got him into his cage at home he went straight for the bird seed dish and just ate non stop for about 10 min or so, barely lifting his head to look around. He was just concentrating on eating! Then we were able to get him to drink water as well. He even moved around his cage for a little while looking at all of his toys and things. He seemed like he was going to be alright.
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Later that night he did seem to be sleeping a lot more but I figured that was normal after what he had been through and we thought he just needed lots of rest now. Well, this morning he didn't seem to be moving around very much and just seemed tired still. We hadn't heard him chirp at all since we brought him home but I thought that would come after we got him feeling better. We all went to church at 9 am and by the time we got home almost an hour later, Nikki found Neptune at the bottom of the cage and hardly moving, but still alive. His feathers had started to fluff up last night and that was a sign of distress and his feathers still looked that way. He slowly moved less and less. I sat there with Nikki and Neptune at the kitchen table just watching him and trying to offer him food and water. We even put him on a towel with one end on top of his body to keep him warm. He could hardly move and we couldn't get him to eat or drink. Finally after awhile Nikki picked him up and I suggested trying to give him water with the medicine syringe she had got out and trying to get it into his beak so he could swallow. I think that may have back fired because water came out his two little holes on top and then shortly after he stopped breathing. I know he would have passed away even if we hadn't done that though. It was just a matter of time.
Many tears were shed this morning as we watched him slowly slip away. After he stopped breathing Curtis went out and dug a hole next to the spot where Jupiter was buried back behind our playhouse. Nikki had kept the box that we brought Neptune home in from Petco. We place him in a small ziplock bag so that no animals would try to dig him up by smelling him and then put him in the box. Then Curtis, the three older kids, and I went outside to bury him. Of course it affected Nikki the most because he was her bird but I could tell that the boys were sad too. It's so hard to go through things like this with your kids. At this point I don't know if she'll want to get another bird. We had to give one away last year and then bury two and it takes a toll on your emotions.
After lunch Nikki asked if her friend Angie could come over so they could draw together. Of course I said yes and I think that has helped to get her mind off of losing Neptune...again. We will miss all the different chirping sounds he made and how he chirped when the water was on. We will also miss how he would land on everyone's head (well, those who had hair) and how he loved to play with his bells on his toys. Jupiter and Neptune were both cute in their own ways and we will miss both of them.
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