Owls
You may have guessed by now that Julie loves owls. In fact, they are everywhere around our home, in every room, nook and cranny. Not real owls, of course, but owl ornaments, pictures, books, cups, collectables and more plush toy owls than you can poke a stick at (but please don't ever do that). It seems that owls have now become an unavoidable part of our lives. Indeed, one way or another, you learn to live with them.
Every owl in our home has a name, an individual personnality and its own favourite spot, apparently. It is "true", of course, that if you can't find your car keys, your glasses or the TV remote control, then "The owls must have taken it!". If something is broken then it's, "The owls did it!". If you happen to do something wrong, then it's "What would the owls say?".
After a while, it is just easier to imagine that they are real, as they provide some sort of reference, commentary and even order to all the other weird things in our lives. Who can complain? They are cheaper than pets and they don't even mind if you sit on them. Visitors, of course, are too polite to comment and our family and friends don't even mention it, anymore. Look, it may very well turn out that this is some form of mental insanity, but in our case, who would even notice? Anyway, herein lies some of the ways that owls have infected affected us:
- Our first encounter with real owls: Morepork of the Whirinaki
- Julie's own Library promotion program: OWLs in the Library
- An owl story: Abbot and Costello's adventure
Doc
Doc will greet you at the door, but please don't ask him what he is reading or he will complain that you have made him loose his place, again!
Introducing our House Owls
I believe the the term "House Owls" is a conflation of J.K. Rowling's inventions of "House Elves" and "Postal Owls" in her "Harry Potter" series. In the movie, there is a scene at the "Dursleys" in "Privet Lane" where their house is inundated by hundreds of owls of every description. The similarity, here, cannot be understated.
Ru
Short for the Maori word for Morepork (Ruru) he was the first owl in our family. Over the years he has got a little bit shabby from too much love - just like the skin horse in the "The velveteen rabbit".
Snowy
She is a baby snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus). Loved by Julie's primary school kids when she visits the library.
Dopey
Dopey, who is wearing his new knitted beanie, sits on the top of the bookshelf. Whenever you gaze at Dopey, it is quite impossible not to feel like a snooze, yourself.
Sleepy
Unlike Dopey, Sleepy has nodded off completely. Owls are nocturnal creatures in real life. While people are diurnal. Sleepy, wearing her bed hat, that Julie made, has the best of both worlds!
Maisy, Hughy, Duey and Louey
Maisy has triplet boys. They are a handful. Julie has knitted them monogrammed beanies.
The Professor
Head of Operation World Literacy (OWL), the Professor is a Powerful Owl (Ninox Strenua) and our largest owl.
Lumpy
Lumpy is full of beans, literally, that's why we call her Lumpy.
Boo
Boo and Hemingway are both Bed Owls: They sit on the bedhead.
In the morning they will have fallen off their perch and you will probably find them in the bed.
Hemingway
He often falls off the bedhead down the back of the mattress. His worst nightmare is hearing the words: "Where are the long BBQ tongs?"
Barney
Barney is a Barn owl (Tyto Alba).
Marty (Feldman)
A very funny owl.
Paddington Bear (Not an Owl)
Came home with us after our trip to Paddington Station in the UK.
Tawny (Frogmouth - Not an owl)
Has survived the Eureka Skydeck Edge Ecperience.
Sparkles
Psychedelic owl - will hypnotise you if you look too closely.
Hedwig
Our tiniest owl. Named after Harry Potter's owl.
Swoop
Likes to plummet from the beadhead.
Ash
An extremely soft and cuddly owl. If you have ever held a real owl you would know how amazingly light and soft they really are.
Angry Bird (Not an owl)
Would have been even more angry if not included here!
Mr & Mrs Green-Eye Oviraptor
Prehistoric feathered creatures with luminescent eyes. Freighted the stuffing out of me, up close in the dark, when I went see where the glow was coming from!
Blah Blah
Goes on and on and on.
Yin and Yang
Like Abbot and Costello, always together.
Wagtail
A bit of a wag.
Twitch
A bit twichy.
Chocolate
Very sweet.
Fluff
Quite a fluffy owl.
Libby
She loves reading books.
Tweet
Loves to comment about everything.
Caramel
Always happy to see you.
Blinky
He's got his eye on you! He never blinks though.
Who?
Who is always very surprised. At anything.
Squishy
Squishy is quite squishy and sleeps in a fabric owl pencil case for some reason.
Peep
Makes a peeping sound, a bit like the microwave, which is distracting.
Sloppy (Not an owl)
Actually a sloth, but since the owls can't say "th" they call him Sloppy.
Nightingale
A caring owl who will comfort children when they are sick.
Izzy
Proudly wearing the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital logo, Izzy is a watch owl and sits on top of our security web camera.
Owlery
The owls who live on the top of the bookcase perfer to be called "Book Owls" and not "Book Ends".
The wombats live below, wrapped in their knitted blankets.