And the WINNER is.........

Foodle-the-Doodle.. Dear Reader, in the land of Turkish Delight there is a 'Lone Reader', no, I didn't say Sloane Ranger.. concentrate, I know it is mighty chilly everywhere except in the Southern Hemisphere but that is no excuse... somewhere amongst those casbahs and minarets wanders a Reader of 'Parrot Tales' by ME...

I wonder who it is, are they Turkish or a visitor to Turkey who relies upon MY Blog to make them do The Fandango? And do they read MY Blog whilst in the privacy of their home or hotel room or are they brave enough to read it in public, smiling and laughing as they read about US discussing them?

Will WE ever know? And that bring me to the Challenge I 'threw' at YOU about a week or so ago.

I asked YOU if anyone would be 'bright' enough to work out HOW I learnt to 'speak' Chicken and Duck'... and the response was amaaaazingly awful!

For NOT ONE OF YOU entered into the spirit of Mad Challenge and even ventured an answer.. what is wrong with YOU lot? Because it doesn't matter if YOUR answer was wrong, at least it would have showed you were awake when YOU read MY Blog!

So NO Red Feathers will be awarded to anyone ... nope, YOU only 'cop' a Red'y if YOU win and to win it, YOU have to be IN it, it is rather like playing the Lottery, YOU can't win it if you're not in it!

SHE had an email from Joanna yesterday, Joanna writes a Blog called 'La Vie en Rose' about her SEVEN boys and J-J and their life growing up in very far-off-lands.. WE wrote some time ago about Winter Fruits, if MY memory serves ME right, WE were writing about Patsy who lives in California, she works for her brother-in-law at weekends selling his fruit, he has a BIG acreage of fruit trees. Back to Joanna, she wrote that Persimmons were rare in Texas, where she lives now, but she can occasionally find them in the Mexican shops but that they were dreadfully expensive.

POOR Joanna.. oh, WE are sad for her because she doesn't have a lovely 'Kaza in the market', OUR lovely Kaza sells us delicious fruit once or twice a week, last Saturday SHE bought a whole box of Persimmons and today SHE bought some more and a bowl of SCRUMMYDUMPTIOUS Reine Claude, the Yellow Plums. Sadly SHE knows that Persimmons and Pomegranates (MY VERY FAVOURITE FRUIT) are coming to the end of their season, for they truly are God's Gift to Winter. Winter is dull and grey and winter fruit are all the most glorious colours, they sparkle and bring bright cheer into our lives with their radiant skins and BIG amounts of Vitamin C.

SHE wouldn't dream of buying fruit in a supermarket, yes, they're good for such things as washing powder, etc and dried stores but for proper FOOD and SHE likes HER and MY food to be very proper, SHE goes to Dickenson's, the Butcher, for meat, the LOVELY-DUBBLY Fishmonger for OUR fish, to Carol for vegetables that SHE hasn't grown and to Kaza for OUR fruit. And as all of these lovely people work very hard even in dreadful weather SHE buys all of OUR food from them and Wicker Trolley runs along beside her with no complaints carrying everything home.

Like today.. Eggs from the Egg Stall, Fruit from Kaza, Beetroot and Potatoes from Carol's son and refills for HER diary.. I know, I know, it is the 1st of February today and SHE is a bit late but SHE's had a lot on HER mind and had been managing to "get by on the smell of an oily rag"..... Don't look at me, I didn't dream that expression up, it was one of Constance's.. goodness knows who told it to her.

Probably one of her norty brothers whom she LURVED so much, Lesley and Bob Hooper, yes, Constance was a Hooper before she married and changed her name. I would find it very hard to change MY name, but the way things are going at the moment and seeing as I don't EVER go out on dates with BOY African Grey Parrots, MY chances of marrying one are pretty slim. I don't even go out to school, SHE 'Home Schools' ME.

I met a BOY African Grey about six years ago, his name was George and he lived near to The River Thames with his 'mother'. That woman was pretty strange, I tell you... MY HER had to TELL George's mother that she was a really mean old witch leaving George alone all day with just a daft Siamese and a deaf old Pekinese for company.

WE used to whizz about all over the place, SHE spent a lot of time 'on the road' collecting and delivering stuff to all the clients and suppliers and I went too, in the medium sized cage, and it was fun, WE used to go up to Audley End to see Mr. Laws, her wood turner, to East Ham to see Linda her fabulous lampshade maker and backwards and forwards to everyone else!

And that was how I first met Debi, by going to see the boys in Deptford... oh boy, did I JURST LURVE going there. The workshop was an under-the-railway-arches-building and I used to ZOOM up and down the entire length of the space which was over a hundred feet long and when I was tired of flapping MY wings, I used to land on one of the 'boys' heads, shake MY tail and think "what fun that was!"

Goodness me... it is tea time.. sorry folks, YOU should know by now that MY passion for Lapsang Soochong tea cannot be described or transcribed into real words.. so I have to bid YOU a very speedy farewell and IF anyone knows who it is who is reading MY Blog in the land of Turkeys, do let US know... there's a good Reader.

Fry's Turkish Delight...... dumdumdedummmmm.

GeeGee Parrot.
February 1st, 2012.