Online Learning for Free - a Comparison

In previous years, after school, all you had available for additional, continuing learning was either to go to evening school, university or sometimes learn all on your own in the library or via TV. I'm sure I missed a few other possibilities.

Now, with broadband internet and easy access over personal computers, laptops and mobile phones
learning has stepped up a notch for older learners (like me).

I have tried a few different websites by now. My courses were ranging from social sciences over some theoretical design to computer and website coding (aka programming).

The experience was very good a few years back; now it's more and more just a way to pass the time.
Why? Because when I did my first course on computer coding I really had to code myself to pass the course. Or in the social science one I had to write up some small essays that got peer reviewed and I had to do the same for my fellow students.
Now, all I had to do was answer some quizzes correctly in between the videos or just sit through them to get the certificate for completion / achievement of the course.
I have not tried the paid courses yet, as I don't want to "waste" money only to find out that you get a certificate too just for watching and clicking.

Anyway, the courses I did, in detail:

Udacity: Computer Science 101

This was my first online curse in 2012 to which I have made some blog entries here as well (links to those at bottom of the page):
I had to answer short quizzes during the video lectures, as well as right after them, to check how much attention I have paid to the presented material and do some external exercises.
After the lectures (spaced over some weeks) there was a final test. You had to pass 80% to get your certificate of accomplishment,
It was really learning and hard work to get there, not all of the students passed.
Here my certificate, of which I am a bit proud (but lots of what I have learned there I have not used later and thus basically forgotten how to use it).

Coursera: Social Psychology
Toward the end of 2013 I was getting bored at the computer so I signed up for some more online courses, this time with Coursera. Someone on G+ advertised a course in Irrational Behavior. Although the topic seemed interesting the presentation was more a sales show for the instructor's books, so I dropped out without even finishing the course. It is still available in my course portfolio though. So if I feel inclined I can still take that course.
A week later I signed up for Social Psychology. In this course we again had some small quizzes
during the videos and afterwards, but we also had to write some short essays, resumes or something similar, implementing what we had learned in that week. This then got peer reviewed and we had to do at least 5 reviews of our fellow students. The results of that was our % to move on.
While the course ran for the first time slight changes got made during the duration of it; the last essay was put into a contest as well. This way you could get 110%; but it was not compulsory to enter the contest.
Overall you had to reach 75%; which I think was quite fair to reach if you really learned and did your "homework" of writing and reviewing.
So this too is a certificate I can say I truly feel I have achieved.

Udacity: Tales of the Genome

Just as the Coursera course was done I signed up for this course with Udacity again. I got about half way through when life got it the way and I had to take a break. I still got my certificate though, as I had reached the required 50% of the course.
her we had very short video lectures with a advancing line on top that showed which parts you had seen and which were still not done - including where there were quizzes and test. I have reached the first exam part (of three and that was done half way - enough to pass it seems.
But maybe it was this way too as Udacity shortly after i had started the course changed from free to to free trail versions for most of their course.
To proof to myself that I do have earned his certificate i will finish this course as long as it is still available to me when I'm ready for that.

Cousera: Clinical Psychology
This Autumn I signed up for this course to continue from the social psychology. Mainly theory, this course had different lecturers in the videos that also were responsible for the quizzes at the end of the unit. Thus the difficulty of the quizzes were quite a wide range; from easy (with 3 attempts for solving it) over medium (with 20 attempts) to standard difficulty with a laughingly 99 attempts for 10 questions in 4 answers multiple choice questions. Anyone who failed that last one doesn't know about how to solve quizzes.
Nonetheless, if you paid attention and read the questions carefully 2 attempts would be enough to pass this course with 100% (only 70% were needed). The way the theories were presented was ok, sometimes filming outside did give sound problems and the transcript was not included but an extra download.
Overall, an easily achieved certificate.

Just as this course was done (and I had not yet received the certificate) I was asked to try out a similar course by a different provider for free online courses:

Open2Study: Early Childhood Education

My time for having little children up to school age is over, unless I get grandchildren. Still, this course interested me as it covered part of the previous course I had taken.
Here, the videos were short, with interactive transcription of what was being said. The given examples made it very easy to then answer the 10 questions following each weeks lessons. Lasting 4 weeks, I managed to do each week in a few hours including the quiz, which I always passed 100% on the first attempt.
Overall this was too easy for me; but I recommend this course to all parents-to-be. It does clearly show what it take to truly help a child to grow up.

Since learning seems easy for me, I wanted to learn more about web design and/or programming to maybe make a better website for myself with what I have learned.
So, I searched for free courses that teach that (and my first computer programming course showed me I can learn stuff like that too).

Udacity does not offer those for free anymore, only for a 14-day free trial (about half way through the course), so I did not choose any courses there.

Coursera does have free courses, but they are all already half way though the course. Maybe next time around, when they start again.

Open2Study offers only one starting on 20th October ("Writing for the Web"). I will see then how that one is like.

So I searched for other sites with free courses.

Found one on Alison. The videos though are embedded (if you want them for free) in lots of advertising. I found it hard to follow; and thus it only presented the rudimentary basics I already know in a very dry way. I did not finish this course so far; might look into it at some alter point as there is no time limit on when you finish. ;)

And then there is Udemy:
Some free courses for programming and related to website writing .
I took one for Introduction for Graphic Design, hoping it would tell me something about how to organize images on websites. It did, but only in theory. And, worst of all, to pass you only had to sit through the 45 minutes of videos to get the certificate:

I feel disappointed that there was no way to check if I had learned anything at all. 

I tried another course; this time about web development.

Again, only videos, no quizzes. But it had a "lab exercise" at the end of each unit to implement what you have learned. Solutions are given in the download section to each lecture (which I didn't find at first. That sure could use a little make-over.)

The last lab exercise is to write your own form through which you can get your certificate.  

Here it is; with the form to make it, for which we had to copy-paste the html into our editor adding a few missing things like CSS styles and JavaScript to make the output as it is. 

When I first tried it, it was missing was the signature image. I found it in the downloads to the lecture under solutions. So actually, all you had to do was copy-paste this whole thing to get your certificate. Well, as this course is online for already over a year, I guess that's the only way to help students that don't manage to fill in the few missing things by themselves. 

Additionally (and that's a minus point  for this course), they give you a certificate anyway after sitting through the videos:

This course has helped me understand some of the things, I had been doing, in a different way. New to me was the CSS and JavaScript inside the html code. Not a thing for having many similar pages, or? There must be a better way to style your pages (and I am using a external style sheet on my website).

Might look into some more of the more specific courses there about CSS, Javascript and PHP.

And finally the links to my earlier blog posts about the very first online course I took:

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/03/learning-computer-coding.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/03/learning-computer-coding-update.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/04/learning-computer-coding-final.html

http://michafire.blogspot.com/2012/04/learning-computer-coding-result.html

I bet there a lot other places for free online learning, but I'm not going through all of them. 

And then there are those sites were you can learn other languages online for free too................. got to go on with those that I started some time back. :P

I guess, I have enough places now to keep me occupied and learning (and not just playing silly online flash games to pass the time). 

=)) Have a great time learning...................

Bloodplum Jam

I have this bloodplum tree growing in my garden

This year it had lots of flowers

and now it has a vast abundance of fruit.

cherry-sized and the same color as the leaves = hard to see

So many fruits that I harvested about 6 kg of them;

That's about 2 kg in a pot in this photo.

but only those that were within reach without climbing into the tree
or using a unstable ladder on uneven ground to get them.

May the birds and ants have the fruits that are still on the tree. =))

So, all that fruit was simply too much to eat for me alone before it would get moldy.
I decided to make jam from it.
Cutting the tiny fruits open to get out the stones was tedious work for the first two batches
(without photos and one with cinnamon and ginger spices, the other pure fruit).

So for my third batch I decided to try out something "new" to me:
I boiled the fruits first, complete with stones, but without any sugar or pectin for jelling.

I have not added any  water, it's all from the fruits from heating. 

It worked well, and after pureeing it and mashing it,
I had the pure juice and fruit pulp in the pot

and the skins and stones in the mesh. =))

(the yellow color is a reflection of the mesh, the true color is similar to the juice)

Now just and the sugar /pectin mix

using a 2:1 ready mix  (2 parts fruit 1 part sugar)

and cinnamon again (goes so well with plum flavor)

make it all boil until it starts to stiffen,
fill in twist-off glasses,

place them upside down to cool.

Viola - finished jam without time consuming work to get the stones out.

It tastes simply yummy - and I think the amount of jam I made will last a whole year.
Yes, I'm the only one that eats jam around here............

The Raven

I love my day job, I really do!

I get asked from customers to do something hand-crafty special for them there. Not just cushions, table cloth or curtains.
This time I was asked to make a stuffed raven from a photo:

She bought the material, and gave me the photo. The rest was mine to figure out.
So, first I had to make a plan aka pattern to get the 2D image into a 3D thing.

Luckily the photo was, although small, in the right angles to see some details of how it was formed. Having made stuffed animals from patterns before it was just an easy step for me to get the pattern drawn out on paper in the right size.

Fit the pattern parts on the different colored felt material and cut out. On the photo above you can see that step and the materials used.

Next step was to sew those parts together.

I only then realized that the beak was too small so I had to make a second, larger one. Luckily the material for that was enough.

After that came the stuffing. And only now could I be sure that it was the size it was supposed to be.

Finally, time to sew it closed and add the feet and eyes and feathery fringes on top.

And here the finished raven: 

Yes, it was perfect: =))
If you want to make one too, ask me and I can send you the pattern. This raven is 20cm high.

Operating System (OS) Crash - Undone, Part 2

I was happy with new new set-up "clean" and nearly empty system on my fast computer.

Bookmarks were all saved by Chrome/Google browser. No need to hunt them down again (although I did in the first few days just to see how many of them I could find and /or recall). Attaching and booting the slow and small HDD to copy the needed files to a USB stick was easy too; just unplug and re-plug and back to the old "new" HDD.

Then I remembered that I had some unpublished photos on that other computer that I have not yet backuped (neither on USB stick nor the cloud). So, back to the old computer and switch it on. 

Too bad that I had forgotten to plug the monitor in after I had moved it back to it's resting place. Quickly, I made a shutdown, and turned all electricity off. You never know with Win XP what happens if you just plug the monitor in as it is running.

Only that this time the OS wasn't running yet, being an old slow system and me being used to that fast booting one. So, instead of a normal shut down, it was shut down half loaded. Which is not a good thing.

After I had the monitor attached I re-started the computer - only to end up in a black screen of options.

And no matter what option I chose I ended up in that same screen:

Windows can't boot correctly.

From my last experience with a non-booting computer, and not being able to describe in words to my helpful friends what actually went wrong, I took a video of that "loop" booting:

And then the batteries of the camera were empty.  Luckily I had a spare set, so I could just continue with the next boot "loop":

What to do now? I had this boot CD. So, after checking the CMOS/BIOS settings were correct for booting from CD: 

But nothing happened. 0.0 

I did have a floppy disk that said "boot" on it. I inserted that, only to find out that it had drivers for CD drives on it, but no other programs like chkdsk etc. And those drivers didn't work for my CD drive. 

Not because of the age difference or different system the boot floppy was made for. It also said windows 95/98 on the cover.

No, it was loose cables that stopped the CD drive from being read . headdesk

IT had taken me a week and a few talks with online friends to find that out. Now, with the cables reattached, I had no problem running that boot CD with all the checking programs. It had a min win XP on it - a nice visual for file checking. Albeit, very slow as it was using the Ram drive to run. 

This is what I found: 

Nothing on C:

Using a different program for file checking I saw this:

Something on C:

So, something was still on C: ; but it could not be read. I assumed it, as it kept wanting to boot with Win XP, thus it must have some files of that left on the HDD and in the "boot" sector. 

I was about to give up when I recalled my old computer times using DOS to run a computer. And I knew there was a DOS program on the boot CD. 

I found it and - wow- it had a nice mouse steered colored screen to navigate. No need to remember all those codes and orders to execute the programs. I chose the surface test.

Taken after the test just to show what I used as it stared too fast to take a before shot.

And it came up with 18 errors.

Those numbers don't tell me anything, but those are the errors. 

And when it found them, correct them automatically. More than deleting what was already "gone" could not happen anyway.

The repair in action. 

Doing one more test before "finished" - successfully. 

When it was finished I was surprised the file manager loaded so fast. It took me a while to realize that the old Win XP was all back, all files unharmed., nothing lost. I couldn't believe it, took the boot CD out and re-booted the system.

And yes, =))

It booted totally normal. I could get my few photos and now had a second system fixed and (after I delete some never used programs) will even have a rather fast computer again for backup should my "beloved" fast computer go crazy on me again. Or, I might even install a small LINUX system on that old computer. 

And if that all is not enough to feel happy about - I actually found the WLAN stick for that old computer again. and re-installed it too. Now, I do not have to go to that cold place with this computer just to get online with it over the router. 

Am I now a computer geek? Well, not an expert but also no beginner or "just user" too. 

For those interested in what boot CD I used:

Hiren Boot CD

A big THANK YOU to all the wonderful people on the internet out there that advised me and encouraged me over and over again this last month so I could "repair" this old computer without spending one cent; just a little time and patience.

Operating System (OS) Crash - Undone, Part 1

I haven't posted much in here for some time. I just didn't have anything to write about. It can happen; the world still keeps on turning.

Then last month I had two computers crashes. The operating systems (OS) just wouldn't load anymore.

One was the "new" (just three years old) Win 7 system (and will be described here in part 1):

On booting it again, it wouldn't even get to the "enter password" image.
The "winlogon.exe" is damaged was all the system could tell.

I asked my partner what he did last on this computer (we both use them): "It had been idle for some time and then I simply shut it down regularly."

There was no way for me to check what else was wrong, but let the Win 7 in-built checking programs run on boot. Like "chkdsk" (an old DOS program). That ran well - deleting files from bad sectors after copying them into some other places. Or so the screen kept telling. And then, more or less finally, the system told me:

System volume on data device is damaged. Error code 0x0 test successful, repair successful.

0.0

But I still could not boot the system.

I guessed all that equaled to this is nothing that the system can repair of it's own. But, we still have files on the computer (the HDD) that we had not backuped and that are important. A complete fresh install of any OS (or the WIN 7 again; if I had the original CD, which I don't as it came pre-installed) was out of question.

If I had made a recovery CD for that system I would have used that. But, alas, being me, I thought this would never happen and that the backup system files on the computer would be enough to restore it, should we accidentally delete an important file. In theory this would have worked.

At that time I was also enrolled in an online course that was time limited. So, I had no time to play around with this computer. I recalled a school friend that was into computers and he was still fixing them - now as a small business. With a big sigh I brought ours to him. He would look into it - and fix it, if possible.

I could use my older computer for the online lectures: over 10 years old, Win XP, and LAN connection to the router. It even still has a floppy drive. It worked fine, but it sure was cold where I had the router connection for this one. So, for email checking and surfing the basic pages in the internet I was allowed to use the laptop we own. But not install any new browser (that laptop was still using IE6 0.0 ) that would let me watch my online lectures. Sigh.

I did mange however to ask my friends online about what could have been wrong with my other computer. And thus was given the hint to use a Boot CD (or Live CD) to check and eventually repair the system; especially if the damage was only in the software.

Long talk short. After two weeks I had my fast computer back, but with new HDD and fresh installed OS (Win 7, but the 64bit version). The files though were on another HDD (slow and half the size) just copied over; it would boot but not connect to the internet wireless. That part was lost totally. (Still don't know exactly what is wrong with that system - but I might find out when I have enough time and then have a spare HDD).

Anyway, I could finish my online course in the set time and even pass the exam (different blog post maybe for that later on).

The only thing that still did not work as it should was the web camera. The new 64bit system kept telling me that it the camera needs a driver to run. I couldn't find the installation CD that came with it. So, again, I asked my friends online what to do and they found me a driver for the web camera type I had shown them in a link - searched for the image of the camera as I couldn't find a name imprinted onto it. (Was in the base that had ripped off ages ago.) All that didn't help though at all. Not even Google+ Hangouts would recognized the attached camera (it had the green "on" light running all the time). 

A week later I did find the original installation CD, and, after installing everything, the camera still had the same error. Incidentally I also noticed that my files and the ones from the friends were the same. 

Eventually, I had to realize that I would have to get a new camera. At the hardware store the sales persons went big eyed by all those questions I asked. One said that I seem to know more about computer hardware than he does - I should just go and search and find the one I think suits my system. Which I did:

a driver-less web camera. It even has additional LED lights to lighten up the spots it's aimed at (well, at web camera distance).

Went home, plugged it in and it worked fine. With no installation at all - only the short message that the newly attached device is now ready to use. =)

So far, I only used it once - the hangouts i had wanted it for were already over. There'll be new ones coming up. Or I might use it for web camera Wednesday - a photo theme on G+. Who knows, I'm prepared. 

During all this time I also downloaded and burnt a boot CD, so, should this computer fail again, I would have some other checking devices ready and not have to pay lots of money just for checking. Who know that I would need them so soon. 

to be continued in Part 2.......................

Older photo from my computer workplace.
Hasn't changed much, I guess, just the contents of the screen. 

Zucchini and Eggplant with Sage (Salvia Officinalis)

Today I was asked: What are you having for dinner?

Good question, next question. No, be serious.

I did just buy some fresh zucchini this morning ans still had half an eggplant at home, as well as tomatoes in abundance. That would be my dinner.

Can I have some too? - Sure, you can. But as you live elsewhere, how will you get it?

I decided on taking some photos to share the cooked food. And how I prepared it.

So here is my recipe:

1 medium sized Zucchini, 

1/2 Eggplant

1 Spring Onion

4 medium sized Tomatoes

salt, pepper, curry, red ground pepper, and sage 

(I used dried one)

Cut up the vegetable to bite sized chunks,

peel the tomatoes, 

add some vegetable oil into a flat deep frying pan,

toss in  the eggplant and zucchini first,

add the onions and 

don't forget to stir all the time.

Once the eggplant seems to be as well as cooked,

add in the tomatoes with all their juice 

(if necessary you can add some water here),

stir, and add the salt and spices.

Let simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes.

Done!! 

Preparation and cooking time all over is about 30 minutes.

Best served with rice. 

It has a nice Italian sauce taste to it. 

Good Appetite........... =)

The photos:

Zucchini and Eggplant ready for frying.

The Spice.

Simmering to the right consistence.

Enjoy your dinner!!!

Female and Male Cardinal - painting update

It has been some time that I'm now working on these two. Well, I did a lot in the start and then I was busy with other things, like writing.

If you want to check the process: April was the start
And not long after there was the update to the female.

I did post another update middle of May by simply posting an image to my G+.

So, this weekend I had a little time to work on them again.

Both of them side by side, a bit blurry.

It sure was fun to work out the twigs and how the bird feet should go around them for good hold. I took photos of them a bit later again, separate:

female

male

And yes, I nearly spoiled the male painting as I was adding the first leaves, too dark and with the wrong brush. I put some white over it (nearly spoiling the already done background) and hope to be able to re-do the leaves better and without the tiny mishap being noticeable.
The female bird as such is done (feet and some smaller details only left to do), the male is only basic color and face done. The twigs will still get some small leaves and flowers. depending on my mood these can be done by next weekend - or take another month or two to be finalized. I have no hurry.

=)) Will let you know for sure once they are done, maybe even an update in between again.

How do you write?

This was asked more than once on different communities on G+ about writing in general:

 I would love to have some thoughts on some aspect of your writing process: character development, story/plot mapping, etc.

Well, on first thought not as easy to answer for me as it seems. See, I don't plan my books and stories. I just write them. So, I questioned myself on these things about writing. 

"But you must have some idea about what you want to write?"

Yes, I do. I mainly get the ideas for my stories while I'm sleeping, dreaming. I don't dream the stories in words. It's the images, emotions that stick. To put that into words forms a story. Or two.

"So, the stories are always about you?"

NO, not at all. Sure, some traits of my character and personality do come through in the stories. Very often though it's how I am NOT. Maybe, how I want to be. Usually a completely different character than me. It's more like listening to some people telling you about their life and then you write that down in your own words.

"Ah, more like writing biography. Packed in a nice story."

Yes, I guess you could call it that. Not a full biography though. Only one event or experience that deemed important to be remembered and passed on. It can be the story of just one day, a few weeks - or a lifetime to tell this relevant topic.

"All drama then. With tension and action."

Hahaha, not all of life and life changing events are dramas. Some can be very subtle little things. Like waking up one morning and noticing the warmth of the sun on your face shining in through the window. A phrase overheard while riding the bus to work. A smell that makes you recall memories long forgotten. All these things can make lovely stories too.

"No drama at all; no action? You know, like in the movies?"

Some stories might have drama, action too. If it helps to get the point across I will write it that way. But most of my stories are on the happy side. The nice things that happen to you. Finding friends when you feel alone, being accepted for what you are and treated with full respect, tackling difficult situations and not being crushed by them. There is so much happiness and positive things in the world. Why neglect them and only write about the bad and ugly; the horror and drama and sad things. No needed to add to all that "negative" stuff around us. Sure it's there, but it won't go away when we focus on it so much. See it, change it (or do your best to change it) and be happy. Life is for living and loving, not mourning and being depressed.

?

I'm not saying my characters are happy all the time and don't feel sad or anxious. They do. But they don't get stuck in those feelings. They actively (there you have the action) do something about how they feel. And it can get them into tricky and dangerous situations too.

"OK, I think I get how your characters are. But what about the plot, the development of the story?"

Well, I start writing with the emotion of my character in mind. Of how they feel in the main situation I'm writing about. So far, I do start at the beginning of the book and write it through until the end; just as you would be reading it. Not a later episode first and then some earlier stuff. I tried that once and I got all muddled up, repeating things I already had written about but in the wrong order. While editing the story, I might add a paragraph or move it around a bit. But mainly the story develops as I write it. Not after a plan. Sometimes I'm surprised myself at how the story ends differently from what I had in mind when I started out. But the overall message it has doesn't change.

"And there is always a happy end?"

A happy end or more often an open end. Life doesn't stop just because you managed to go through a situation. The character surely will have more such events to go through in his or her life. But it's not important to that one story about him/her.

"Doesn't it get boring to write this same kind of plot of mastering a situation, successfully?"

No, not at all. As each person in the world is unique so are my stories about them. They are all written in different styles and genres. Not one label for all to place them under.

"All the stories are then based on live on Earth. In a kind of world you live in as well."

Those are the easiest to write. No need to "invent" words for things that don't exist. But I do write stories about other beings too. Like the one in "Forgotten". That was very hard to write as those beings actually don't have gender like humans have. Or don't use names. I had to come up with something to describe this and pack it into a story a reader can relate to. I'm not sure if I succeeded in that fully. From the feedback I received I know some people find it heard to think outside of human gender when reading about other beings.

"So you do world building in some of your stories. How?"

World building is such a big word. I don't built a world. I dive into the one I conceived. I paint a picture of the landscape and living situations with my words. Like an artist creates a landscape on canvas with paint and other materials. Just as every being is unique so is the world they live in. It may touch the one you live in. Or be completely different. So different that you don't understand it.

"No planned character development, no plot mapping, no world building. Don't you think about the readers?"

I, as author, don’t write for a certain audience. or readers. I write for everyone, knowing that many will not really understand what I'm writing about; and may, or may not, enjoy reading my stories. If the reader can dive into the story and have the same images in mind as I had when writing it, great. If not, well, there will always be other stories to read and write.

I think, this sum sit up quite nicely. And as I get dreams every night, sometimes even more than one, I guess, I won't run out of ideas for stories. Or ideas for creative paintings. ;-)

Relaxing and thinking about what to do next.

Another Garden Experiment - Update Spring 2013

Maybe you still remember the bush that has gotten replanted into ever smaller pots over the years?

This is what I wrote in the Autumn update.

I guess it's time for the Spring, nearly Summer update of this "Bonsai" bush experiment.

Although it was a very wet Winter and Spring, the bush did not drown fully or freeze to death outside.

A bit later than the other years it did get it's flowers too.

Only one twig, and a few leaves. The other branches do seem to be dried out and dead, before I had planted it into the white bucket.

Here some photos I took of it recently:

Lots of water covering the soil.
I remove it regularly, as I have not yet managed to make drainage holes into the bucket.

A closer shot of the flowering twig in the middle of the bush. 

And a close-up of some of the tiny leaves sprouting.

Hopefully, I can find a better place for this bush to grow at permanently very soon. The rest of the garden is in good shape; the palm trees, for which this bush had to move, survived the Winter too.

=) Happy gardening to you.

Female Cardinal - update

I started out with this a few weeks ago.
Female Cardinal and male Cardinal

In the meantime I have only worked very little and only on the female.

Here are the two shots I have made to document my progress. And notice eventual errors early enough. So that I can still correct them.

Just the brownish grays here.

Adding a little red already; and yellow and white.

It sure looks  cute already.
I hope, I can keep that look on the bird.

=))