OFF-TOPIC: What I have been doing lately again...

This has nothing to do with interior design and only very peripherally something with art (because they are my painting models) but I was a bit drowned again - too many sick pigeons to care for. But I love them dearly and cannot see them suffer if they need my help. And somehow they always find their way to our place...

This is Micky, who came to us 1rst of November last year with a bad PMV infection. She could not fly any more, not eat by herself. With her last energy reserve she managed to get to our balcony.  4 Months later she could be released after intensive care, such as hand and tube feeding, keeping her warm, doing training exercises with her when she became a bit better, etc.
During this time she has become an incredibly sweet pigeon, very affectionate and tame. I am so happy that she recovered fully and can now live the life of a pigeon again - flying free - but coming home still each day for sleeping during the night in her box, taking her meals here or just a little nap on the bookshelves:

Then we found Gino - or rather he found us - a squeaker, totally undernourished, hardly being able to fly, extremely thin but otherwise healthy with badly developed plumage - his tail feathers were nearly all broken or badly developed, no real downy feathers to keep him warm. It was a miracle that he had survived the big cold. He is with us since 4 weeks now and has developed into a very funny sweet little chap with a big big appetite. He managed to increase his body weight from 210 gr to more than 300 gr which is nearly 30 %.

He is growing new feathers like crazy, does his helicopter training in his den (within a mosquito net that I am mounting every day for his safety in my studio), has lost nearly all his bad feathers now but cannot really fly yet. He must train his flying skills first before we can release him. Oh my - what a shitty bunch of parents this poor little creature must have had whose responsibility would have been to nourish their little one and teach him everything he needs to know. But then they might have had big problems to find food for themselves not to speak of for a baby. Who knows. Now we have to do this instead and it is so much fun to watch him. He is incredibly sneeky and he makes good progress.

Now look at his nose - there were even feathers missing above his cere...

some of his bad feathers he lost in the meanwhile...

And then we had Hatty who had paralyzed legs due to a severe calcium deficiency probably after egg laying. Giving her calcium for 4 days made her able to walk again. It was a big relief. She still comes in to get her breakfast and/or lunch here.

Then we had another pigeon with a drooping wing but besides cleaning the wound she had on it several times probably from an old break I could do nothing else for her.

This is it for the moment and I hope very much that there will not be any more sick pigeons so that I have a bit more time for my regular work again...
If you want to know more about our pigeon family and see more photos please read the diary Pigeon Tales. I assure you that you will have fun!

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Sorry for not posting - but there was an Emergency...

When you think you have time again to write there is definitely something coming your way that needs your attention. This time it was a sick pigeon again (I sometimes wonder how they find me???).
I had observed her already a day before I could catch her and realized that there was something sticking to her chest or coming out of her chest and knew immediately that there was something wrong.

After I had caught her (we named her Lotti) we could do a close examination. I realized that she had a crop rupture, a hole the size of a 5 eurocent piece (2cm in diameter) in her crop and the food was coming out of it. Well - I rather spare you the details - fact is, that she healed completely in our care and was released again this morning.

Crop ruptures are nasty because when this is not treated (closed) the pigeon normally dies of infection which is a slow death. Imagine you have a hole in your stomac and your dinner is coming out of it. This time it went very well because Lotti found us on time before anything really bad could happen.

I am so happy...

and this was her play pen:

and this was finally her great day after a large breakfast (that's why her face is a bit wet):

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What is growing in your Balcony Garden?

This year I am really happy about my "balcony garden" because it is so lovely overgrown. In fact not very stylish as it could be and not even very tidy but greeeeeeeeeen and many blooms still to come.
I did not want to invest much money because you never know how the weather will be like and if the plants you lovingly potted will survive without mildew or other lovely pests. The question whether they will survive our harsh winters is also important because I have no possibility to put the more sensitive plants in a cool place inside.

So I decided to try something new this year:
I planted vegetable seeds and simple flowers. Vegetables can have some lovely blooms and depending on what it is, grow nicely in pots with climbing branches such as the small pumpkins. They have big yellow blooms - unfortunately they last only for one day. So this is something I am not going to repeat next year.

I also planted seeds of the Tropaeolum (Nasturtium) which is one of my favourites because it creates absolutely lovely blooms in various shades of glowing yellows, oranges and reds and their perfume is wonderful. They look very nice in small glass vases together with one of the leaves or two and can serve as lovely table decoration.

I also planted the seeds of sweet peas - which have started to bloom in the meanwhile. Their perfume is wonderful and the colours of their blooms are absolutely beautiful. They also look marvellous in small vases. I can only recommend these.

And then of course herbs in little pots or larger ones such as lavender and rosmarin may not be missing. I especially love to cook with rosmarin. There is nothing better than adding a branch of fresh rosmarin while roasting fish. Astonishingly these grow amazingly well in my balcony garden (the herbs not the fish) although we have the sun here only till about midday. Then it is wandering off around the corner of the building.

Here is what I am talking about:

So do YOU have a balcony garden and what is growing there?
Btw - something else is very valuable when you have a balcony with a green wall - it keeps the heat off considerably on really hot summer days and functions like a natural air conditioning.

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A bit off Topic...

You may be wondering where my new posts are? Well - I am bit short of time currently. See what I am busy with:



So far about interior design - LOL. These are Peppi and Pina (from Peppina), the babies of Willy and Winnie, who again are the kids of Emma and Pete, a pigeon couple that lives on our balcony since last year. Since this year Willy and Winnie are living on our balcony as well. And once a year they are allowed to have babies – all the eggs both couples are laying are replaced by plaster eggs – otherwise….

This is an adventure I would recommend to anyone who loves animals and especially birds. It is unbelievable how intelligent and adaptive these birds are. Their personalities and behaviour is amazing and I consider myself as a very lucky person to have been given this gift.

Since last year I write a diary and documentary about our pigeon family with lots of photos, slideshows and little videos. If you would like to check this out – here it is and you will love it.

Pigeon Tales

Why am I keeping these little buggers inside? Because a very evil bastard pigeon came a couple of days ago and nearly scalped little Pina and wounded Peppi. I found both babies bleeding like crazy, with deep puncture wounds in their little heads. That foreign pigeon wanted to steal the nest and tried to kill our babies. This I could not let happen so I took them inside…

You can read the whole horror story soon on my pigeon blog. It is scary.

So many amazing things I have learned about feral pigeons in the meanwhile, how extremely intelligent they are and how adaptive. If you want to know more about this all with many funny stories check out my blog Pigeon Tales. You won't be disappointed but surely surprised...

Additionally I am adding a video here so that you can see yourself what I am talking about...


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