I'm sad to tell the members from Talk Parrots that our friend and moderator Kate - Cathy Cummings has passed away from a battle with cancer on January 20th 2018. Kate was 67 years young and lived in Binalong New South Wales.
Kate loved all animals and of course birds she loved to cook and garden growing her own fresh vegetables and fruits for her birds and herself. She loved to collect all sorts of colorful unique tea pots and bargains from thrift stores in her spare time to furnish her home where she lived with her dog and her birds.
Kate housed her birds in large outdoor kennels in the beautiful countryside of NSW, her birds had the latest automatic water systems and the very best of foods seeds and diets while she cared for them in every way possible.
Back in early December Kate and I spoke about the little town she lived in and the many friends she knew there who all shared birthdays the same week leading up to her birthday. It was their tradition to all get together for an entire week and have dinners and drinks and listen to music in a pub and share story's of their lives while celebrating each birthday day after day.
She told me the weather was beautiful and warm and at night she would be listening to her friends while relaxing outside and at the same time she could hear and identify a few different wild lorikeets and other wild parrots or cockatoos in nests in the trees surrounding the pub. She said the chicks would be calling their parent birds for food and it would make her smile as she knew all these sounds so well from her own birds.
I loved that she had such a gentle caring soul, she helped anyone and everyone and when she became ill all her friends and people she didn't know well in the small town where she lived were there to help her. They fed and cared for her birds and dog and took care of things for her at her home while she had treatment and hoped to recover from this terrible illness.
I know I will miss her, I know the people in her little town already miss her. I know many people here on Talk Parrots and Talk Budgies will miss her as she was also a mod and member at Talk Buds.
Rest in Peace dear Kate. My heart goes to your family and friends and I hope they all find comfort knowing that you shared so much about them and yourself here with me and others on this site. You were and are loved by many.
We will miss you very much.