Recent Purchases (Chainstore Chic)

1. asos swing knit dress
2. bonbons bow back heels
3. jolie woven flats
4. nine west quilted bag
5. forever new faux pearl/crystal trim gloves
6. bardot bow sweater
7. bardot tulle gather dress
8. necklace from ebay
9. dotti pants

things that make me smile #2

PA Heart Couture Slippers

A Modern Day Miracle

A miracle happened to our family over the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, driving home from a lunch/nails date with my amazing friend M (who was up from Melbourne for the weekend) I received a phone call from my distressed husband S (note to self: never give someone upsetting news while he or she is driving). My parents had phoned to tell us that our beloved rainbow lorikeet Hados had not been seen since around 9am that morning.

We rushed to the scene of the disappearance, and searched high and low for hours to no avail. Due to a road accident (prior to our adoption of him) Hados is unable to fly, which can be a double-edged sword - on the one hand, his mode of transport (walking) would limit the places he might be. On the other hand, if he had wandered outside, he would be unable to escape the clutches of any hungry C-A-T-S.

That evening, we didn't find him nor hear him call us.

Heartbroken, I returned home to a small group of friends who had gathered to celebrate my birthday a few days in advance. I was distracted on Saturday evening, but by Sunday morning the horror of losing Hados was back. If you have ever been close to a family pet animal member of the family, I don't have to explain how this must have felt. Each person in our family has a special bond with Hados, and everyone who has met him is amazed at how much personality a little bird can have. He whistles special individual sounds for Dad and his brothers, and he has learnt to call "Mum" and even my name (which is unpronounceable for some humans!). He is the most pampered bird I've ever met - he sleeps in a cushioned cage with his own teddy bears and must be sung to sleep every evening. He really does have the run of the household.

At breakfast on Sunday my parents called us with some hopeful news - on a hunch, Dad had opened a pipe outlet  in the backyard and they heard Hados calling from somewhere inside the pipe. Once again, we hurried over there and arrived just after the fire brigade*, who said we should try to lure Hados out of the pipe with food, water and his teddy bear. None of it worked. Finally, as a last resort, the fireys began flushing the pipes with water thinking he would come out that way, whether he wanted to or not.

Imagine the heartbreak when in fact, he didn't flow out with the water.

With the light fading and heavens threatening to burst, our hopes were almost dashed. We knew we would have to dig up the pipes if we had any chance of finding Hados at all. There was also a very real possibility that by flushing the pipes, he may have been carried down out of our system or into a storm water pit - in which case it would be next to impossible to find him, even if he had survived. Our only hope was to find someone who could help us dig up the horrible stony sedimented topsoil in the backyard with a mini digger. And this is where the wonderful Sean came in.

Having found his details on Google, S called him and explained the situation. By the time Sean arrived with his equipment, we had not heard any sounds from Hados for hours - but then! Mum called him, and he responded softly. For a second opinion, I hopped into the trench and called out to him as well. He answered, very weakly, which was hopeful - but we really couldn't tell where he was.

Sean used his digger and S and Dad shoveled, uncovering lengths of pipe (stormwater and sewer). Sean used a grinder to cut open the pipe, but Hados was nowhere to be found. Finally, they ripped out all the pipes until the backyard looked like this:

As darkness fell, there was still no sign of him. We began to doubt whether or not we had really heard him talking to us, or if in our distressed states we had imagined it. But S told me that if I said I heard him then they would keep trying. He crawled into the mud and sang into the opening of the pipes (where they ran under the house - in case Hados had scurried up under there) until my parents had to bring him inside. We left Hados's sleeping house and some blankets near the pipe opening just on the off chance he would or could find his way out.

By now he had been missing for around 33 hours and it just seemed like too much of a miracle to ask for. We spent the evening reminiscing about Hados and the joy he had brought to each of us and praying that he was out of his discomfort and worry. Across states and continents my family cried and wished we could change things. Another sleepless night followed, and every time I pulled my blanket around me I though of little Hados, wet, shivering, cold, in the dark and wondering why if he could hear us, and we could hear him, no one had come to rescue him. I think that was the worst part.

At 7.15am on Monday morning, as S & I shared happy memories of Hados, the phone rang. It was my mum - our prayers had been answered in the most magnificent way.

Hados was alive and well!

I spoke to him on the phone. He called my name. That's when I started to believe that it might actually be true. As we rushed to the family home to see him with our own eyes, I worried about whether he might have pneumonia or a some kind of sickness from being stuck in a sewer pipe for two days and two nights. A trip to the vet later in the day (unfortunately involving a large injection) alleviated my fears.

Truly a miracle.

Grooming after his bath yesterday

He appears to be in great condition, just as bright and bubbly as always, however he refuses to be left alone (which is fair enough). It's amazing that he's not more traumatised or unwell. After his finishes his course of antibiotics next week hopefully he will get a 100% clean bill of health.

It's my opinion that his extra padding helped sustain him and protect him from the cold and wet during his misadventure.

Getting flushed down the toilet, spending two nights in a sewer pipe, and emerging virtually without a scratch is something that could only happen to Hados. He has had many, many near misses in the past (see above for mention of car accident, among other incidents) but I think this was the closest call of all. He is a miraculous blessed bird with 9 lives (so to speak).

Moral of the story: Never take anything - people, pets, moments, life in general - for granted.

Many, many thanks to Sean and his digger, without whom it would not have been possible to find our little angel. I have been assured by my mother that this morning Hados personally thanked Sean when he came to inspect the damage to the backyard. 

*If you're wondering why the fireys didn't use an electric eel camera to look inside the pipe, apparently they did not have access to that equipment and the Search & Rescue team were deployed elsewhere. 

things that make me smile #1

love heart measuring cups and spoons

watching autumn unfold

rose petals in the bath