Cure? Is there a cure????? I think you are outa luck on that one Kathleen. LOL I keep telling myself to just not go to any of the stores that have the neat dishes and accessories--but I do love to browse and see all the pretty things. However, looking makes me want some of those and more of that! Even my little 4 year old GD told me she has the "I wants", I told her I have the same problem. I asked her if she was ready to go to work so we'd have more money to buy things. She said "Gramma, I don't know how to work, but we could ask my Daddy to give us some money so we could buy them!" Out of the mouths of babes! LOL Of course I told her I thought that was a wonderful idea! ;o) Luvs

Red_lover ... $80. That's more than I usually pay for thrift store art, but it reached out and grabbed me with the artistic merit and the subject matter. Being well-framed was a bonus, because as we have all discovered, having art matted and framed is usually the most expensive part of collecting. And this one has 2 liners (whatever you call a second contrasting mat that only shows a thin line), one the brown of the cows and the other the grey of the sky, in addition to the main mat. Ded-Tired : "I think the frame is part of the art, so I see no problem in spending more money on the frame than the print" You are so right. I'm one of those people who will check every mat color in the store against the artwork to get exactly the right color or colors for the artwork, then do it all over again with the frame material and width. I don't think much about what the mat and frame will do for my decor, I just want it to do the best it can for the art.

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

Hey, I've known people on both sides of this spectrum. You have to know how the person who is to receive your gift feels, and then examine how you really feel about them. Hubs' sisters were always insulted at the thought of a used item as a gift. But I think it's because they were raised so poor, they never got anything that wasn't used. Some of them, I like well enough to respect their wishes, so I try to buy them something new that I think they would like. Some of the other sisters are so "snotty" about everything that I kind of delight in giving them something I've gotten at a Thrift Shop. One time, I bought an old Christmas sweater, wrapped it up and gave it to Hubs' youngest snotty sister. Oh, the look on her face was hilarious. Then I followed it up with something really nice. She was pretty ugly to me immediately after the first gift, so much so that I almost didn't hand her "real" gift to her at all. But that was worth it, too, because she was embarrassed then about what she said to me. Hubs' sisters also didn't appreciate a home-made gift, either. I think the difference is this.... Some people measure everything by dollar value, and for them what was purchased speaks for you as to how much you think your relationship with that person is worth. If you go to a garage sale and get something for a dollar and give that to one person, but then, go to a department store and buy the same thing for another, that person who gets the one that only cost a dollar feels like you don't value them. On the other hand, buy a gold necklace for $10 at a garage sale and give it to one person. Take that same $10 to a department store and buy a little bitty bottle of perfume to give to your person who has to have "something new". (make sure you include the tag, they say they want it so they can exchange it if they want but actually they also want it as proof that you did buy it "new". Somebody's sure to get insulted because they only got a bottle of perfume while someone else got a gold necklace. I wonder who? I think gift-giving for specific holidays is just something cooked up by the marketing community, to force us to buy something we ordinarily wouldn't. I see things, still in their packages, at garage sales and this is testament to that fact. So I don't go in much for that at holidays, and everyone who knows me, knows that. I much prefer to give something to someone I care for because I know they want or need it, and WHEN they want or need it. Most of my friends are tickled pink with their presents. Recently, I gave a Squeeze-O to a gardening friend that, when new, costs a couple of hundred dollars. I was able to find it for much less at an estate sale. She was thrilled. I also gave a Marcato pasta maker to another friend. It sells for more than $50 when new. That friend didn't give a rip about what I paid for it. She had wanted one for a long time and couldn't justify spending the money. For my friends to whom it is so important to receive something "new", I just don't buy them gifts very often, because I can't afford to. Usually when I receive something from them, it's something I don't need, don't want. Usually some kind of fancy lotion that came from a shop at the Mall. This is, in a way, insulting to me, if you want to get right down to it, because here I've got something I won't use now, and I'm obligated by this gift to go out and buy something for full price that I think my "gift giver" will want, so that now I won't insult HER. (I guess I COULD take it to the same store where she bought it, and exchange it for something else, and then give that to HER. Except that usually you're expected to have a gift ready to hand over when they give you yours. *sigh.....* Sooo complicated.