Parrots and Pastries

If you sell cannoli at an Italian bakery, then your name should be Milan, just like the Italian city. His is!

Parrots and pastries go together like, well, parrots and pasties. Turns out parrots love pastries as much as people do. And just like people, parrots should enjoy pastries in moderation. But an occasional treat is not a problem for our Hyacinth macaw parrot Princess Tara.

One of our favorite stops at Seattle's year around Sunday Ballard Farmers Market, in historic downtown Old Ballard, is West Seattle's Little Prague European Bakery. We stopped to watch Milan dishing out the delectable pastries to a steady stream of customers.

Of course, we couldn't resist. We had to grab a box of cannoli to die for. And did you know, the singular form of cannoli is cannolo? Yes it is. But rest assured, you can't eat just one!

Bon Appétit

The Great Ballard Cookie Caper

Our Blue and Gold macaw parrot Aboo can't visit Seattle's Sunday Ballard Farmers Market without scoring his favorite cookie from the ladies at his favorite Seattle bakery, Ballard's Tall Grass Bakery.

Aboo wide-eyed and ecstatic getting an oatmeal raisin cookie from his friend Jessica

Keeping your parrot on a short leash helps. Especially when your parrot is one of the biggest moochers at the farmers market!

Birds of a Feather

A matched set. Our male Blue and Gold macaw parrot Aboo, and his friend Ally at Seattle's Sunday Ballard Farmers Market.

About a Bird, Aboo

An Ode to Aboo, by the Poem Lady, Marlene Bremner, at Seattle's Sunday Ballard Farmers Market:

About a bird,

Aboo, brightly

cerulean blue,

only speaks

when he wants to,

squacking loudly

or a quiet coo,

hooked bill

and a lengthy tail

an emerald crown

and a feathery

veil, parrot

of the city streets,

sqaucks

at everyone

he meets!

Parrots, People, Food, and Music at Seattle's Ballard Farmers Market

Seattle's Ballard Sunday Farmers Market is one of the premiere farmers markets in the United States, and probably has the most European feel of any American farmers market. The atmosphere of the market along Seattle's historic Ballard Avenue brings back memories of our college days when for a short time we had the good fortune to live at the Hotel Victoria on Paris' Rue Mouffetard, the City of Light's oldest farmers market. Click here to see images of this historic street.

However, one of the things we frequently see at the Ballard Farmers Market that we never saw in Paris is parrots!

Our parrots love visiting the Ballard Farmers Market. Especially our two Blue and Gold macaws, Aboo and Miss Bubba Boy. Every Sunday when Bubba sees us putting the avian flyer harness on Aboo, she goes nuts, and climbs off of her stand and scurries across the kitchen floor heading for the door even before we can get to it! We're not sure what she loves most about the market, but hopefully this video will give you an idea of how much the parrots enjoy their outings to the market. The video also features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, as well as the Camelot macaw Maiya. Presented in High Definition:

For your viewing pleasure, we append our first two Parrots Days Out at the Ballard Farmers Market YouTube videos. The original video features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, as well as our two Blue and Gold macaws, Aboo and Miss Bubba Boy:

The second Another Parrots Day Out at the Ballard Farmers Market YouTube video, one of our first videos presented in High Definition, features our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne, and our Hyacinth macaw parrot, Princess Tara:

If you have any photos or video of your parrots at farmers markets, or encounters with others' parrots while visiting a farmers market, please send them to us. We'd love to see and share them!