Endangered
Week 1 of 2 for birds is now finished
These were extirpated from Europe for 300+ years and likely are now from Syria as well because of the fighting. There are possibly 500 left, mostly in Morocco. Poaching in Italy seems to be the biggest threat, but also conflicts, predation, pesticides, electrocution, etc are all problems. Attempts have been made to reintroduce them to Europe, but I cannot find anything on the long term success (or even 3 years or so) of that project. Their iridescent feathers are really absolutely beautiful and I was very tempted to paint it instead of doing it on a charcoal day. The red bald head though makes many people think it is ugly. I thought maybe doing it in black and white would show off their endearing faces better.
Well, I did not manage to get to the farm store for the whole box sale on tomatoes yet. I think I will have to wait until Friday for them to have any now. I may contact the place I got my peaches and see if they have anything available. Art is lovely, but it does cut into my free time doing it daily lol. Really, another thing I would love to do is get a freeze dryer. Because of my celiac, and because of other dietary things in our extended family, I think it would be a really beneficial thing. I could make camp type meals that were gluten free, vegan, sugar free, soy free, or any combination of those options...whatever was needed. My sister-in-law does lots of hike in type camping, and I could make meals that I'm sure she'd enjoy. It would make for a really good way to keep from wasting food so that all leftovers got processed into future camp meals or survival food type stuff. I think it could be great, especially if we do have a huge earthquake. I would be able to give people a dinner they could make even though gas and electricity is out (assuming they know how to build a fire or have a camp stove), and I'd be able to make sure they wouldn't get sick by eating things. I have never had to depend on the Red Cross or FEMA for food at any point. I don't know how they could manage providing for different dietary necessities. Peanut butter sandwiches or incredibly cheap sandwich meat strike me as what is probably the norm. How much better having a nice hot soup or casserole that fits your dietary needs?!