The new backgrounds and photos look so nice! I am on a Mac tablet now and can see the photos at the top of the page; on my phone, they're not visible.

Our only cockatiel now is Cookie, and he's 16 this year. He's doing very well and just had his check up and tests recently.

Some of Cookie's favorite things to do, besides eat, is get out with us in the living room. He sits behind us on the couch back, and gets really excited and vocal if we put our hands under the coverlet, or recently in a sock, like a sock puppet. He normally doesn't like hands, but he loves when they're under something or in a sock. He recently got some Sola Balls, (a very soft wood made from stems of an agave type plant), and loves tearing them apart behind us. He also loves to throw his toys on the floor, so when I get around to vacuuming behind the couch, I pick up several toys including sola balls, twig wreaths, pieces of paper, a beanie baby duck, etc.

Thinking of getting one of those pet strollers that would work for a cockatiel, and taking him on walks in the morning when we go walking. Soon, it'll be too hot, so unless I find one soon, it'll have to wait until fall. Even our morning low temps here are in the 90's in summer.

He's singing behind my head right now, (on the back of the couch). He loves to watch what's going on, on my tablet or phone, especially if I play back a video of himself chortling, clucking, whistling, etc. When he flies to his spot on the couch, he often scampers back and forth for a bit with his wings up, and yesterday even did a sassy little hiss, like Mae used to do. We sure miss Mae, our female cockatiel who died last summer from cancer. I think Cookie misses Chris, who died in 2022, because he is so interested in videos of Chris, and after watching them, he'll sing the songs only Chris usually did.

We had some human losses, too. Last fall, my mom died, and this winter, my husband's mom died. Both were in their 90's and in failing health, so it wasn't unexpected. So, we've been busy dealing with all the things you have to do when someone dies, to wrap up their bills, etc. Losing a loved one who was suffering is a mixture of grief and relief, but we still miss them all, bird or human.