Awesome question and I agree with you on the puppies. They definitely make me smile. One thing that always makes me smile is when the sun is shining bright. Something about sunshine just makes me smile…as does getting my favorite morning drink from this one cafe that I love.

I recommend owning a pet to anyone, because it is the most wonderful feeling to know that someone loves you no matter what, all of the time. That gives me a smile

xx

Sami, that photo really soaked the sponge of cuteness. CUTE!
What is one thing that makes me smile? I could pick the easy thing and say, “You,” but I won’t cop out. That’s too easy…

I guess one thing that always makes me smile is when my husband makes me breakfast on the weekends. He’s the best cook ever and he always adds a special presentation, making it look like a gourmet meal even when it’s just a fruit plate or sliced potatoes.

Can you tell I really like the guy???
Have a great weekend, chicka!

However, for me, the one thing that always makes me smile are two … Stars and Stripes, my European Starlings.

They were brought to me as nestlings last year on July 4th (U.S. Independence Day, thus the names). They’d fallen from their nest, and (as a wildlife rehabilitator) my goal was to raise them till they were old enough to fend for themselves and return them to the wild. However, they arrived right at the prime imprinting age, and by the time they were fledged, had completely “adopted” our human family as their flock.

They stayed, therefore, and are the coolest birds on the planet. They are totally tame, absolutely love our family … and they talk. Human-speak. Like a parrot, only better. They have these awesome little alien voices (Stripes’ is just a tad higher and more squeaky than Stars’) and a vocabulary that grows daily. They also recombine things — break down phrases and, often appropriately, mix the parts together.

This morning, as I was wandering about in my usual pre-coffee blur, Stars looked at me and said, “You’re such a birrrrrd.” Now, they’ve said, “Who’s the bird, who’s a pretty bird, who’s a baby bird, who’s a birdeeee” and various combinations of that for a while now. However, we often say to them, “You’re such a pretty bird”, and this morning was the first time either of them had picked up the “such a” part of the equation.

Seems like a small thing, but it’s had me grinning all day.

My favorite, though, is still “Here kitty kitty kitty”.

Sorry for the ramble … these guys always brighten my day and when I get on to the subject of my starlings, I tend to get carried away.