Sugarbunnie Loft

On July 31st I went back East to visit the fam. Decided to hire a bonafide bird sitter to care for the birds while I was away (instead of a dog sitter or bribing friends to do it). I went through everything with her, she seemed to get it. I mean, how hard is it really to go in and change the food and water every day? Her rates were good, $25 a day. It was worth it to know the birds would be well cared for... Except they weren't. Came home to bone dry water cups and empty food cups. Bone dry! She was supposed to come every day - maybe she did, but she didn't seem to do anything while she was here. I've never seen my birds act more starved and dehydrated. Poor things. Anyway, lesson learned - I'm only ever hiring somebody if someone I know personally has used and recommends them. I mean really, even if you check references, who knows who the people are that you're calling? It was a horrible experience. People, do not hire Squawk and Howl of Oakland, CA. 


That said, this past week I went to Oaxaca. Totally freaking out about the birds. Ended up bringing 4 of the 6 Oops! Babies down to Johnny Ajluni's in San Jose - he did a phenomenal job and I even learned a few things! The babies look great. The rest of the flock and the 2 West/Frill Mutts fell under the care of my lifesaver of a landlord. I left her a chart - and people, I think this is they key thing I learned here - leave a chart. Each day of the week across the top, and each task (no matter how obvious) down the side. Then little boxes to be checked off for each task on each day, heck I even tied a pencil to a string and taped it next to the list! "Empty & Refill NestBox Food Cups", "Empty & Refill NestBox Water Cups", "Lock Loft", etc. I felt annoying leaving such an overly simplified list, but you know what might be obvious to me can be easy to overlook for someone not used to doing it everyday. Needless to say I came home to happy, well fed, hydrated, healthy birds.