A couple of people have asked me how the Finsters are doing, so I thought I'd catch up a bit. Although everyone but Cinnamon is slowly losing feathers on their heads (that is, everyone but Szechwan (Pepper), who hasn't had any feathers on his head for a very long time), they're all doing fine. This picture (sorta) shows Oolong and Ginger, sitting together. Seconds before this photo was taken — and, of course, seconds after — Ginger was trying to pluck feathers out of preening Oolong's head. Ginger would preen, Oolong would grimace and pull back, Ginger would preen again. This is a common activity with all the Finsters, except that Cinnamon is never on the receiving end. Lucky Cinnamon!

Cinnamon, by the way, loves to be King Of The Seed Tower.

Thanks to a regular supply of Timothy hay, the Finsters also spend a lot of time building nests. This entails picking out the longest, most awkward piece of grass from the piles on the floor, flying it up to the nest box, getting it stolen from you a couple of times, and dropping it a couple more times, either because you're a little clumsy, or because you keep trying to fit it in sideways instead of end first. Once the grass is inside the box, it is immediately sucked through the giant black hole in the center of the galaxy, where it joins all the stray socks and pen caps you've been missing. No, really. For all the grass the Finsters bring into their nests, those boxes are EMPTY when we switch the poopy ones out for clean ones.

I fear that Oolong sleeps alone in the box she used to share with Earl Grey, while the three other Finsters sleep together in another nest box. I keep hoping they'll let her in at night, but realistically, I doubt that will happen after all this time. She spends time with the other Finsters during the day, though, so I figure she's pretty well socialized. The other day she sang her Hunka Hunka Burning Love song, and danced a little Hunka Hunka Burning Love dance to go with it. Yes, female Finsters do that sometimes. I remember Chocolate singing and dancing a few times, although I don't think I've ever seen Ginger try it.

Yesterday Cinnamon sang his Hunka Hunka Burning Love song, and danced his Hunka Hunka Burning Love dance, to Ginger. He did it very quietly, I think to keep Szechwan (Pepper) from finding out — but it didn't work. Szechwan (Pepper) heard it, and immediately flew over to break it up! I think all the finches are too old to reproduce, and as a hybrid, Ginger may not have ever been capable. But still, wouldn't it be nice to have new little Finster Peeps?!?

I still have the Fear of Quarantine in me, so I guess I won't be able to get new Finsters until I move, or manage to be really creative about separate air spaces. But four is hardly enough Finsters. They're awfully fun to have around.

On a related note, I went away last weekend, and Bruce says he and Harley spent most of the time sitting around in their underwear, eating cheese, and waiting for Halo 3 to come out. Although apparently there were also a few moments that Harley spent inside the Finsterium, sitting calmly on Bruce's fingers, looking around. Those boys! *

* Don't worry, Bruce promises me he didn't give Harley any cheese at all!