For the bird of refined tastes, a glorious afternoon’s cracker-tasting is one of life’s most sumptuous pleasures. The heady aroma of the wheat, the piquant delight of the perfectly roasted sesame seed — these infuse the soul with inspiration.
Having said this, it must be confessed that the standard concoction of flour and salt possesses a consistency as dry as one’s own Rabelaisian wit. So one must rejuvenate the palate between courses and ready it for the wonders yet to come.
While many of my colleagues are partial to a mild sorbet for this purpose, I prefer going straight to the source: Nature’s bounty, in this case, a succulent strawberry. The juice should not be too tart; we wish to cleanse the palate, not strip-mine it.
Also, an attendant with a napkin is usually advisable at this stage…
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Love eet!
Best palette clearing advice ever.
Beautiful pictures!
Happy boid!
Oh yes. . . a bird of discriminating tastes.
Also has an impeck-able wardrobe!
Bird looks berry happy. He must be having a beak experience.
oooh…. CO needs to stop tempting me with pictures of qte boids! I am fascinated by them, but I fear it would not be wise in a household with 11 kittehs….
Best commentary ever.
What EEES HEEEE???? (Besides MINE
)
Oh, and NTMTOM gets a big feather in his cap for this post. Bravo, sir.
Birds do have leeeeeeps! They’re red here.
I knew those high-falutin goumet were all bird brains!
I want a boidy so bad(y).
I love his coloring, and how it contrasts nicely with the strawberry!
Well. Such a cultured bird. Thank you Sir Shufflebottom for sharing. And thank you NTMTOM, I really needed a smile this morning!
“piquant”…sesame seed?….
Host = Sir Qunicy ( an actual typing oops? “Well, I nevah!!!”) — Phipps-Shufflebottom??
“vis-a-vis, ipso-facto, to wit”??????
2010 Nobel Prize, for Cleverness AND Cuteness is hereby
awarded to Sir NTMTOM.
Thank you, Sir. We ALL thank you.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Lof eet!
At my next dinner party I shall inform the guests that we will now have a little something between courses to strip-mine the palate.
And furthermore, OM NOM NOM
He must be one of the Shufflebottoms of lower Hampton Parva, his antecedents came over with the Normans, 1066 and all that don’tch know. Of course the name has been anglicised and was oringinally Shufe le Bottom. His Gourmonds Guide to Avian ettiket is a best seller amongst the feathered set.
Strawberries, Nature’s candy don’tchaknow! Beautiful boidy! S/HE can perch on my finger anytime!
“a consistency as dry as one’s own Rabelaisian wit” — freakin’ awesome!
I see three shades of blue? Q bonito! And I like the pic where he’s looking at the picture taker directleh.
But Rabelais was more of a butt/ poop/ fart joke type of guy. Save the dry humour for the Brits, with all due respect, hon glad.
Oh NTMTOM!! Love it and love you!!! I laughed so hard at this! (and I imagined the birdie with his tiny British accent while I was reading)
Beautiful little love bird!!!
@Paunchie,
Rabelais did make the fart jokes, but he was also a satirist who often used wit as social commentary. Dry wit is not the sole property of the Brits. … with all due respect.
Awwwww, a parrotlet. LUB. My big-boy parrot likes to eat fruit in bowls too. Last night I turned my back for an instant and he had dug a beak-shaped gouge into each fruit in a whole bowl of fresh apples that I just brought home from the store. Rascally of him! Also, I have found from experience that boids with berry-beaks usually shake themselves off rather forcefully after eating, sending red bits of berry EVERYWHERE in one’s home. Don’t feed them that which you are not prepared to scrape off the ceiling or carpets later!
This little dude seems to be a parrotlet, possibly a Mexican or Pacific parrotlet. I have two pair, and that was my first thought. My love birds are larger than a strawberry. The blue mutation is very popular, the normal color is green with some blue feathers in cute places. Excellent photos, happy bird.
What a beautiful birdy! Great shots! That strawberry looks tasty!
@I’m sick of hearing about the superior humor of the Brits (as much as I love them). I’ve known plenty of Brits whose idea of something hilarious was to say (in the car, natch) “What’s that on the road, a head?”
SIR QUINCY PHIPPS-SHUFFLEBOTTOM?!??
That had better be the actual name of the bird, because it’s only the best budgie name I’ve ever encountered!!
A very attractive birdeh indeed. What kind is it?
Strip-mine the palate? Does that require sandpaper?
- Ed.]
[Nope. JD Old #7.
Seriously though, should your food be bigger than you? I know that we ask that a lot around here but that’s a BIG berry.
BTW, love the color coordination of the red, red strawberry with those lovely vibrant blue feathers.
Never eat anything bigger than your head.
OTOH, things bigger than your ENTIRE BODEH are just fine.
@Pounce: According to sender-inner Emilie C., the bird’s name is Quincy, so that’s what I used for the first name, and made up the rest on my own.
Dirty birdie. Wet nap stat!
Either that is the world’s largest strawberry, or the tiniest perfect parrot ever.
@ Colonel Jenna: The submitter described it as a “parrotlet,” which is a species of very small parrot, according to Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrotlet
Indeed, the little fella is a parrotlet – blue mutation. Great little birds! I have a parrotlet myself. Prospective parrotlet owners should be aware that these birds do require attention – being smart and social little creatures – and that they can be messy (as the photo shoot exhibits). They are great pets, however, for someone with the time and a whisk broom.
No, no, NTM, he’s a (wait for it, pholks!!!)
A NORWEGIAN BLUE!!!!!
(Please xcuse the shouting….for any who aren’t already familiar, it’s a M. Python Classique, reference….)
Hon Glad — MWAH for dry Brit wit.
(and Paunchie– no disrespect intented ….? )
Peace, huge strawberries and blue feathers to all.
He’s pining for the fjords!
Years ago I had a green parakeet named Jim. He was great companion, and I miss him. I trained him to say “Pining for the fjords?” It was funny as heck.
NTMTOM — Now I know what happens to English majors after graduation. They go to work at CO.
@Brookie Baby: Or McDonald’s. Wouldst thou desire fries with thine repast?
@ skippymom: & it still IS funny (hearing you tell the story) in past tense!!!
@NTMTOM, remember the classic “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon that started off with this exchange?
Mother: “Whither goest thou, young rogue? Can there yet be some manner of villainy thou hast not committed?”
Calvin: “Thou dost mark me wrong, woman! Methinks the most capricious zephyr hath more design than I!”
Love this one!! Great writing. I liked, “We wish to cleanse the palate, not strip-mine it!” lol :>
My wife and I want a parrotlet like this one, but the local stores only carry the green ones. He’s gorgeous, though…
Very nice, everypeep!
@Theresa: Yes, I remember that one. I have several of the C&H paperback collections, and I know that strip is included in one of them.
NOMTOM and THERESA-as I was moving the dust around in my house I found a C&H book! That is how Abbey’s bigger and smaller bigger brothers learned to read so well- first they took Garfield cartoon books to bed with them and the C&H books, after they told me they were too old to be tucked in at night. I remember so fondly, we’d all fall asleep together in a single bed- and I’d do my best not to wake them up as I wiggled out. Yes, each had his own bed, but some nights it was just right to snuggle reading some books. Abbey’s Daddeleh would yell at us that we had better fall asleep soon, it was getting very late! All long before we got our Abbey-girl. How I miss those nights! I’ll go find the C&H book now, I need a snuggle.
BTW this snow is heavy!
That is a boy Pacific Parrotlet, and yes, they really are that tiny. Don’t tell them that however, they all have HUGE personalities.
Parrotlets are, indeed, wonderful little birds with huge personalities . . . not to mention ATTITUDE.
squirt bottles and then a napkin
Parrotlets are indeed very tiny (the tiniest of parrots, in fact – smaller than a budgie/parakeet), but in my experience they have the self-perception of being T-Rex size. My friend has one and made a hilariously short-lived attempt to name Amy. However, quickly realized the futility and started calling her Behemoth, which is a much more suitable name.
Birds who need bibs are very cute indeed.
LOL, On the last pic i was all like “OMG, Stawberry killer!”
@ Katrina -” As I was moving the dust around in my house” That sounds like my sort of cleaning.
What a gorgeous bird!
I dunno… it doesn’t look much like a parrotlet to me. True it’s small but parrotlets are more compact. This pretty little one looks more like the blue variety of love bird. And by the way, I have seen huge strawberries.
NOMTOM, you are, simply, the best. LOVE. IT.
could there be a better juxtaposition of heart-ressembling/heart-shaped dreamboats?
I dont think so.