be grateful

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!


~  Psalms 50:23


I am grateful to God* for many things:


Salvation. Sheep. Family. My few but completely amazing friends. Chickens that go bawk. Labrador retrievers. Hills. My iPod touch. My country. The ocean. Mashed rutabaga. Vanilla ice cream. Church.


Be thankful! And eat lots of turkey!

*Annoying footnote: as opposed to just being thankful to whatever vague and unknown deity is out there, I profess to be thankful to God, who has never given up on humanity. EVER.

join a blog party? yup...

Okay, so I am going to attempt to join this blog-party thing from Rear Window. (Thanks, Anna Gray of bella vita!)

Did that make sense? Well, just click on the button...

So, I shall start off this by saying that yes, I am indeed an authentic person (meaning a human), not a robot, droid, spammer, troll, schizophrenic, or sparkly vampire. 


About me? 


Just read my profile to the right over there, and you can spare me the trouble of introducing myself. *sarcastic smiley face* (Wow, I am in a vindictive mood! Not good)


I have always wanted to blog. I kept a crafty (knitting, sewing, etc.) blog when I was nine or ten years old, but soon abandoned it for other various pursuits. Then in the spring of 2010, I got 5 chicks, and started a blog titled 'Awesomefowl' with the honorable intention of filling it with photos, obsessions and chronicles about chickens. (you can read the early chicken posts under '2010' in my archives)


Fail. I hadn't updated it in a year when I decided to rename it and just blog about whatever I felt like....hence a new fancy* sounding name, and various rants, rambling, or dissertations.
This is not a craft blog, or a photography blog. It is mostly just whatever I feel like at the time: book reviews, classical music, poetry, complaining, opinions, and yes, photos of chickens! I have 25 chickens, one Muscovy duck, sheep, and one annoying goat.


*because it's French for 'left bank'; I'm assuming a river bank.


I try to update this blog reasonably often, while attempting to receive an education which of course comes first.


On the next question!


What's the nerdiest/geekiest/weirdest thing about you?


Um...everything? I'm not a geek, or a nerd, per say, but when it comes to all-out weirdness....
I guess I could say my irrational hatred of incorrect use of semi-colons, commas, and apostrophe's, as well as punctuation-less anything, mostly when it comes from those that are perfectly capable of correction. Nothing makes this walking thesaurus more irritated!


I really like mythology and history too, not sure if that makes one geeky or not.


My encyclopedic knowledge of domestic animal breeds could count too.

CREDITs!

 If you could live in a fictional universe from any book, movie, or television show, what would it be?
I honestly don't know....what's wrong with  Earth? Free air and free salvation, even if nothing else is. 


Do you like animated movies?

Not really. Only a select few, like Dumbo (from the 1930s) and violent Looney Tunes cartoons!

What is your favorite household chore?


Vacuuming!




Waffles or pancakes?


Either one, as long as they are fluffy and aren't drowned in syrup.




Do you like to play games?


Not really, except for Apples to Apples, which is the funniest post-modern game ever!
And dodgeball and air hockey.



Have you ever let anyone win a game?


Yes, but I can't remember who and when or why.




Have you ever dyed your hair?


Yes, a blue highlight, but it didn't work, unfortunately...




Do you make your bed every morning?


Who? Me?? Of course not!




Picasso or Norman Rockwell?


Norman Rockwell. I like his whimsical and nostalgic portraits of American life a long time ago.
 


I'm not really a big fan of Picasso's works, although they sure are interesting!




Do you like hardwood, tile or carpet floors?


Hardwood all the way--carpets get covered with dog hair, and tiles get too cold, although they are beautiful. I think I'll put a tile mosaic on the floor of my first house.




If you could put one thing in a safe under your bed, what would it be?


I don't know. Money? Important documents? A dirty sock? <---what really is underneath my bed right now. 




What's your favorite condiment?


Homemade ketchup, or horseradish. I usually eat foods plain though. 
CHOCOLATE SYRUP.




Have you ever thrown up on someone?


Yuck, of course not. 




What was the last thing that made you laugh?


C'mon, can't you guess by now that I have a poor memory for such things? 
Probably Yarael Poof though (an somewhat unimportant and short-lived Jedi Master; doesn't he look like a cross between E.T. and the aliens from War of the Worlds???)




Think fast...whats the first song that pops into your head?


"Think of Me" from the Phantom of the Opera, since I was singing it this morning. After that, either random Gilbert and Sullivan, or "Dust in the Wind". What can I say....




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
So, that is it..and this is a cool idea!


~ Diana 

broody hen + babies

Taken by my brother, of Adventures with David. 

Fluffy butts!

Our incredibly cute Lab pup. As always, click on the photo to enlarge.

Tanicha, if you're reading this you need to post some photos of your chicks on your blog! Please????

~ D

rive gauche gets a makeover!

After perusing this blog, and noticing the neat, spare layout, I decided to fix up my blog a bit. I haven't found a layout that I absolutely love yet, but I think this one is pretty nice. The thing is, a plain white not-too-distracting template like I have now can get boring quickly for a personal blog unless you keep adding tons of luscious photographs to keep it interesting, and I rarely find time to take pictures. But on the other hand, maybe plain and boring is better than too much busy-ness, smiley faces and cutesy fonts.  

I like the chicken in the header! I find chickens very fascinating; they have the funniest personalities, and may I remark that roosters add a lot of excitement to a flock? 

Ronald aka Big Red, a huge and beautiful Rhode Island Red

I also finally got the gumption to post a picture of myself in the profile picture. So, now, dear readers, you can see what I actually look like, rather than reveling in the sheer beauty of Sadie the lamb's face.  


"Misery, in cold truth, is a weight less upon those who undergo it than upon the minds of those who see it; for he who is cold and starving is so busy in his efforts to obtain warmth and food that he has little time for self-pity, and endures his unhappy condition better than those who take it upon themselves to suffer for him." 
— Kenneth Roberts

If you have any comments upon the new layout, please leave a lucid and intelligible comment. (Very important criterion; please observe)

I've been informed...

I spelled the title of my blog wrong. oops! What can I say, French makes no sense.....

So, in a rather desperate effort to make this blog slightly less boring, I will post some lists of favorite things.


*Current favorite sheep breeds....

Katahdin

Olde English Babydol Southdown

Herdwick

Zwartble

Shetland

You can see I like the cute breeds--however, myseff, I'd rather raise less attractive, more practical breeds!

(Sadie and Amelia over a month ago)











*Favorite music currently.....

Ravel's Bolero  A weird, Spanish sounding piece.
Mozart's Voi, Che Sapete from "The Marriage of Figaro" A lovely piece.
Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro is nice too for a classic opera aria (I think).
I can't think of any others now.....
Irritating yet funny lyrics:

This is the song that never ends,

It just goes on and on, my friends.

Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,

And now they just keep singing it forever just because...

[edit]

LOL. I got it off wikipedia!

*Favorite sandwich:

1 whole wheat tortilla

OR 

2 slices rye, white, or whole wheat bread

1 large brown egg

Pepper 

Salt

Lettuce or sprouts

Tomato optional.

Mayonnaise or cheddar cheese

Fry egg in butter to liking; assemble sandwich. Eat. Obviously.

I love tortillas!




To end this on a happy note, I am now getting up off the computer and going outside. Adios.

introducing the girls!

I have at present eight chickens: five pullets and three chicks. This blog is for all the photos I like to take of them, and for random ramblings on their various antics and personalities!

Here are all the girls when they were still chicks.

From left to right: Blackie, black sex-link, Rosie (r.i.p.) rhode island red, Annabel, barred rock, Desdemona and Ophelia, silver laced wyandottes.

At the bottom you can see Mary Lou's (another barred rock, Annabel's sister) head.

Blackie in the flowerbox!!!