Because my digestion was still torn up a bit, James made me "sick soup" for supper.

"Sick soup" is Progresso Homestyle Chicken Soup, with the pearl pasta. There's something about most of the Progresso soups that don't suit my taste; this one, with the small round pasta, chicken chunks, celery and carrots in a light broth, does. Unlike Campbell's canned concoctions, this doesn't need to be diluted, so it was very easy to open up and serve when one wasn't feeling well, hence the appellation "sick soup."

Bandit, previously sitting on my hand, immediately perched himself on the side of the bowl and guzzled the broth. Now Bandit has been the most peculiar of my budgies; he's never liked table food like the others. Sylvester would attack crackers and turkey legs, Merlin's weakness was pork chops, and both of them would eat almost anything that didn't eat them first. But Bandit has never liked most people food, although I can persuade him to eat what I call "white seed" (rice) in soup occasionally. So I was surprised and a bit delighted at his soup sampling; budgies are supposed to eat a varied diet to keep healthy and he's always been such a seed snob.

Well, I was delighted until he started fluffing his feathers and bobbing toward the bowl. James and I burst out laughing as we both realized he was aiming to take a bath in it. I had to keep telling him "no," but when he kept up the "I'm gonna jump in" motions I put the soup down and hustled him into the bathroom. I let him take a flutter bath since he was evidently feeling uncomfortable, then sat him in his cage to dry while I finished my soup.

I don't know what I'm going to do when the current supply of "sick soup" runs out. The Homestyle used to be everywhere and then one by one the supermarkets quit carrying it. The last place we saw it was WalMart, and now that space on the shelf is taken as well. The only other place I've seen it since was at BJ's, three cans in a set of six, paired with a flavor I don't like. If they still carry it, since the food drives will be coming up soon, perhaps I'll buy the six pack and include the three other cans in a donation. It's good soup; no use for it to go to waste simply because I don't like it.

Does it ever bother anyone else that they only have food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas? Someone thought about this last spring and had a food drive then, too; I wonder how they did. People don't just get hungry in November and December...why don't they have The Can Bank in the supermarkets all year round? I wouldn't mind picking up some extras when we do the monthly shopping. I know that you can bring them to the Can Bank location yourself--in fact I think I read there was a permanent donation station at a Kroger in the area but I don't remember where--but something set up right in the supermarket would be easier for folks to remember and donate to. Face it, most of us are pretty lazy.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:43:00 AM

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