Tales from the Raven

My words are all taken with writing projects, so you’re getting pics instead.  Consider it my 1,000 word gift of eye candy to tie you over til your Friday comes. The parrots who are the cause of all the trouble.  If in doubt, blame the parrots. The lucky blueberry surprise–I could’ve sworn this pot was taken [...]

Guess what I found in the incubator this morning?  Mind you, this was NOT the hatching bator.  This was in an incubator that is dedicated to incubating eggs for all but the last three days before they hatch.  For those days, the sweet little egg’uns are moved out of the crowded topsy-tipsy bator and into a [...]

The roses are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and we topped out at 90 degrees today.  Sounds like a good time to curl up for a nap, right? Well, you might want to hold on to your tail!  I think we’re officialy flown past spring and are hurtling toward summer at about, oh, 90 miles an hour!  And that seems [...]

Last week I was tagged by my writing friend, Pat Esden in the latest of the blog chasers going around.  If you get the chance, check out the snippet she posted from her gothic novel, Moonhill.  I’ve read snatches of it, and it’s a lovely blend of complex family tensions and lush setting. Here’s the 7-7-7 Challenge: Flip to page [...]

Friday the thirteenth is always one of my favorite days.  It just feels like anything should be possible, you know?  Kind of like a blue moon actually taking place.  But in order for such a wondrous day to occur, there has to be a bit of quirky in the week building up to it. I [...]

Gooey nutty pies, gorgeous peanut butter mousse, molten peanut butter cake, darling peanut butter pops, and of course, anything made with the classic peanut butter cookie. I’m sure it looks gorgeous to you, but it makes me want to gag.  Literally. There’s no getting away from peanuts, no matter how hard I try.  That was the [...]

Some people get wiser as they age, but all I’ve gotten is more superstitious.  When I comment on how nice it’s been that I haven’t got the flu this year, I fully expect to get the flu–just because I said something about it.  If I’m waiting for something good to happen, I try to distract myself [...]

Sometimes it feels as if we run through our days just one step ahead of a very hungry dragon.  He feeds on the stuff of life–time, love, laughter, tears–and if we ever slow down he will feed on us, too.  Once in awhile we turn and face the dragon.  With great daring, we fight him back and win ourselves a [...]

We were thrilled yesterday–seriously doing a happy dance–when we caught our guineas laying their eggs out in the woods behind our pasture.  They’d chosen a very nice spot, one we’d missed when doing egg search walkabouts. But, there they were.  Eleven eggs, tucked into a hollow between two trees and protected by brambles.  The brambles especially [...]

After our last trip to the St. Louis zoo, the kids were really begging for some flippery friends in tuxedos, but I held firm.  Or, I thought I did.  Then our Black Copper Marans chicks showed up today, and I wondered if they’d somehow slipped their penguin chicks past me! This guy is still deciding who he is.  [...]