BIRDS Yes on the cheap bird toys, and saving money on diet, too! :D TOYS: Get a 1 qt. stainless steel bucket (google for it) on the web for less than $5 and it will last forever and go in the dishwasher for cleaning. Hang it where he won't go potty in it, and cross your fingers. 1 qt. is a fine size for an Amazon. The big macaws and such can do a 2 qt. bucket. Just use the SS, no other metal, as other metals can contain zinc, which is toxic to birds. For a little bird like a 'tiel or 'keet, you can use a clean yogurt container, cut vertical slits in the side, and fasten it to the side of the cage with an electrical cable tie. Then fill the bucket with his "used" safe broken toy parts, new toy parts, smooth cleaned beach rocks he can pick up but not swallow (fun to drop on the cage floor for the noise), and SAFE branches, flowers, leaves, and pinecones from the yard. If you don't know which plants and trees are safe for birds, you can google for the info. If it's not nesting season, you can also put in balls of wadded up paper... but don't do that during nesting season. If your bird loves to undo screws with his feet (cockatoos love this), get some stainless steel washers, nuts and screws and thread them through a small block of wood, or some plastic disks. That'll keep 'em busy. They're expensive to buy, but they last forever. At night pick up the toys off the cage floor and wash them (I put the plastic stuff in the dishwasher, but not the wood or rope), then return them in the morning. My birds all LOVE their buckets. I love them because I don't have to string a bunch of stuff. Another toy my birds love: grab a few drinking straws, cinch them in at the "waist" with a cable tie to form a pompom. My 'zon also loves those plastic easter eggs, but watch hard plastic as it can be sharp if broken. You can hide goodies in those plastic eggs, too. I also buy plastic chain at the hardware store and run it through the dishwasher to sterilize. Then I cut fleece in 1/2" to 1" wide strips. Don't make the strips long enough to wrap around a little neck. Thread the fleece through the chain, knot it once, and tie beads, blocks, Mirabella beads and hoops, and bird toy parts on the ends of the strings. It's very colorful, very interesting, and the fleece and chain are indestructible (provided you use heavy enough chain for the bird in question). You can replace the toy parts when they're chewed off. I save a ton of money by going to the bird fairs and buying toy parts there. Never take your bird to those places, and carefully sterilize everything you get there before giving it to your bird. If you have any local parrot stores or breeders, they can probably tell you where and when the shows are, or watch your local newspaper in the classifieds in the Birds For Sale column. If there are no bird fairs in your area, watch eBay and you can pick up bargains there. Again, sterilize everything that might have come from where other birds are. To sterilize things, I use Avicine (google for it), since it's recommended by the top avian disease researcher in the country. There is also a great section called "The Toymaker" at birdsnways.com. But use your head, as there's no guarantee everything there is safe for every bird. I strictly avoid all cotton rope for my 'zon as he gets too into his toys, and he once got his foot caught in it. We were lucky he wasn't hurt. He snaps bird-tanned rawhide immediately in two, so that's no good for him either. But they can't bite the fleece in two, and the fleece doesn't unravel dangerous threads. You can also sometimes find cheap baby toys at the thrift shop, but be careful they're safe, and clean them well. My birds LOVE their buckets! I think it satisfies the need for them to forage as they rummage through the contents trying to get to the bottom. You can switch the toys out to keep it more interesting. One set is being washed, so you use a different set. I swap buckets between my 'zon and RFM, and also between my G2 and TAG. But I don't give the medium sized bird's toys to the big birds or they would destroy them in a heartbeat. I usually soak the dirty toys in the bucket in water for a while, then hand scrub them with a stiff brush. Then I soak them in Avicine water for a few minutes, then rinse thoroughly. I don't soak the toys in Avicine first, as I want them to absorb water, not chemicals. BTW, if you're handy with a saw, you can pick up chunks of 2x4 (pine or fir) free out of a burn heap at a new building site, but ask their permission before you take anything. With wood stuff, you can sterilize it by baking it in an oven at 200 degrees for 1/2 hour -- but double-check me on the temp and time, please, by googling for the info (that's just from my memory). Then cut it into suitable sized chunks and drill holes in it if you want to string it, or just toss it in the bucket. NEVER give them treated lumber, as it will poison them. Or, just buy a 2x4 at the lumber yard. You don't have to dye the wood. FOOD $ SAVINGS: Seeds are not good for birds; but if you sprout the seeds they're one of the most nutritious foods in the world. Invest in a decent sprouter (I love my EasySprouter). Learn safe sprouting methods. If you only feed organic, there are mixes you can buy on the web. If you can't afford organic, there are lots of safe things in a good health food market bulk department that will sprout -- ask the clerk. You can sprout lentils from the grocery store (very cheap). You can sprout pigeon mix from the feed store (my birds get these every night). That is very inexpensive! You can sprout parrot seed, but it's expensive and it often contains other junk you have to pick out like dried fruit, nuts, and pellets -- no good. Feed the sprouts when the tails are still just teensy nubbins, don't let them grow long. That's the optimal nutrition, and the longer the tails, the more bitter the sprout. The birds just snap the tails off and drop them anyway. Birds LOVE sprouts -- that's mostly the way they eat seeds in the wild, if they can. Of course, they need fruits and other veggies, too, so shop for bargains. Do feed organic if you can; otherwise wash very well and peel most stuff (they peel their own grapes). And your 'zon needs the equivalent (in size) of two peanuts (out of the shell) in nuts per day. More than that can give him fatty liver disease. I vary which kind of nut my birds get every day -- all UNsalted and preferably raw. You can sprout raw nuts, too. Just soak them over night and rinse well. They don't grow tails. Macaws need more nuts than other birds. My RFM (mid sized macaw at 1 lb and 2' long) gets about 6 nuts a night. Almonds, btw, are loaded with calcium, which Greys need. If you're nervous about sprouting, just soak your seeds overnight in hot (bath temp) tap water. Then drain them in the morning, rinse well and refrigerate. That is vastly better for your bird than seeds that aren't sprouted. The old farmers used to always soak their chicken feed in a bucket overnight. They knew! On diet, your bird also needs a wee bit of cooked egg or meat every other day or so. My 'zon gets 1/2 HB egg. I slice and dice fruits and veggies for my birds every morning. They get sprouts and frozen veggies at night... plus anything healthy and not salted that I'm eating. I thaw frozen mixed veggies in a strainer run under hot tap water for a few seconds. Don't nuke their food. Forget the dairy, as they're not mammals -- but a wee bit of yogurt every few days is okay. I also sprinkle just a wee bit of powdered health food store vitamins over their breakfast each day, just to make sure they're getting their nutrition -- you know, the kelp, barleygrass, powdered carrots, etc. type mixtures. Like lightly "salting" their food with the vitamins. Remember, variety is the ticket to good nutrition, and it's better to pay the grocery store than the vet (and cheaper). A good vet will tell you that about 90% of a bird's longevity is in good nutrition and in cleanliness. I hope this helps the bird owners out there. :D

Went out "rummaging" last Saturday. Spent a morning of pleasant talk time with DH while enroute. Got a little exercise getting in and out of the pick-up, walking up and down the street (there was a neighborhood sale on one block). Bought some nice t-shirts in several sizes (DH and I wear XL, DGS wears L, DS and DD wear 2X) for 25 cents each. They were all glad to get them, and I have stained up most of the t-shirts I currently have, painting and gardening. I always watch for things that might make good Christmas presents for my family. They like to get rummage sale stuff because they know I have a set amount that I spend for Christmas and they'd rather have more stuff than just a few. I found a Cuisinart food processor, clean, didn't look like it had even been used, with the book, both blades and also two stems and a julienne and grating blade, for $10. I tested it out before buying and it works perfectly. DD will be so happy to discover that under the tree! I found a large, brand new, still-in-the-box George Foreman grill for $10. (no book, though) Used it to grill hamburgers last night. The weekend before I found a nice Fossil watch, still in it's original box, for $10. One of the DGS' will be the recipient of that. The weekend before that, I found a brand new Eureka Hot Shot steam cleaner that I had been wanting, still in it's original box with all attachments and the book, for $5. Sometimes, I don't find a thing I want. But even then, I get out and meet people and I enjoy my morning. Out of the garden this week, I got cabbage, beets and beet greens (they were yummy), plenty of romaine and a few onions. Last month we had baby lettuce, watermelon radish and asparagus. The beans are beginning to form and I have some green tomatoes on my plants. No squash this year as I still have some in the freezer. Next year, though, I'm going to dehydrate some like Grainlady does. There are tiny cucumbers on the vine and the dill looks like it'll be making umbrels right on time. I'll be using MIL's old recipe for garlic dills this year, that you can make a jar at a time. The sunflowers are heading up. I garden without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Every fall I collect my neighbors' leaves that they bag up and put on the curb for garbage collection. I save the leaves by sticking the bags under my porch, where, as long as they are there, they insulate the foundation along the east side. They keep the wind from blowing things under there and they keep weeds from growing along the edges. Then, as I need them, I use them for mulch all over my garden. I happen to have come into several bales of hay for free and I find that if I put a little "slice" of hay on top of the leaves, it keeps them from blowing away. By the following spring, that mulch becomes healthy soil. I did get some cow manure from a local rancher this spring but I think I will not do that again. Lots of weed seeds, though not nearly as bad as the horse manure I had several years ago. Cows must be more selective in what they eat than horses are. I get heavy cardboard from a local furniture store. The boxes are large and some of them are sized perfectly for fitting down into the spaces between my raised beds. Bermuda grass is a problem here, it gets into everything and chokes things out, sending it's long, sinewey roots clear to China. The only way to control it is to shade it out. I have to admit, I did splurge on seed buying from Baker Creek, as they are offering free shipping till the end of June. but I got things that you just can't pick up anywhere, and even if the package of seed costs $2.50 and $3.00 (isn't that outrageous?), I use my seeds very carefully and so just one plant that produces well will more than pay for the seed and the rest is "just gravy". A package of seed, stored carefully, will be viable for years. We always batch our trips, so when we get done rummaging we go by the grocery store and buy whatever we need, usually on sale. I hear gas prices are going to be going up again, so even if you do happen to have a 'gas guzzler' vehicle, you will get more for your $$ if you learn to do as many of your errands at the same time as you can. DGS got a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt! The officer told him it would be only $20 but what he didn't tell him was that if he waits for the court date and appears then to pay it, he will have to pay court costs too. Luckily we discovered in time and informed DGS of that, so he went to the court house and paid his fine and avoided paying court costs. Let this be a lesson to him, wear that seat belt!

I guess I forgot the "processed part". Processed Potatoes usually consist of just dried potatoes. My brother lives in the Potato growing part of Washington where they Process potatoes...he works in one giant process plant. They are washed peeled, cut and dried. Period. Some producers take those 'fresh, processed and dried' potatoes and add spices or other flavorings to them, or dry them and make them re-hydratable so they become mashed before eaten. Imagine, they don't have to use a chemical spray on a fresh potato to keep it from sprouting or spoiling....just a freshly dug up potato, scrubbed, dried and made edible in its' freshest state. IF YOU add cheese (or a cheese product) YOU are adding a chemically altered product to a product. Do you know WHAT makes your cheese the product you like? Spices are made the same way. Dried onions, dried chives, peppers, salt.....do we know exactly what is in the 'additives' that make our 'scratch' cooking superior to others methods of cooking. Have you 'vetted' your cinnamon, nutmeg, milk (now that 's a great one, how YOUR cow gave you your milk) coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa....even the paper product it arrives in sometimes contains a preservative. That is the world we live in. There certainly are many hundreds of products out there that are nutritionally questionable...I'm thinking so many beverages, including juices. Cookies and pastries, as well as other sugary stuff. Convenience or pre-prepared items,IMO, should be deemed acceptable for many different reasons. The world we live in is the safest food-wise in centuries. Our country has the highest food to $$$ economy in the world.( I only think I have read this, can't prove it) In other words, we can feed more people with our $ than any where else. That says much about how our farms grow, store, preserve and ship to the whole world our farm grown products. t

Not able to do too much in my current situation but---this thread reminded me that we (mostly my husband) did many things that were huge savings, He was knowledgeable about almost everything to do with keeping up a house. For instance-he completely rewired our home. The inspector said it was the best job of wiring he had seen. He also re-did our kitchen from top to bottom, built me a pantry I thought I didn't want, but learned to love. I was spoiled because everything in our home "worked" the way it should. He learned these skills from his father who was a civil engineer whose specialty was building bridges. Their big family moved often, usually to an old house needing work. My husband was in the Physics department of the Air Force Institute of Technology where these skills also came in handy.