Toby coming to meet me when I let myself in the house.
Toby is a bit of a character. When she was a kitten June and Pete thought she was a he, hence the butch name. It was only after the first visit to the vet they were told that no, he was definitely a she. They were so used to calling her Toby, the name stuck.
June's hens were a Christmas present from Pete a couple of years ago. (Once he gave her a wormery. Isn't he a lovely romantic man). There is always great competition in the village to feed the chickens when they go away, and not just because Pepper and Ginger are adorable, but the one who feeds them, gets to keep the eggs!
I was warned that Ginger is feeling broody at the moment and that she spends most of her time on her nest. I went into the nesting box and there she was sitting contentedly and gently clucking quietly away to herself.
Isn't she pretty?
After gently lifting her off her nest and retrieving the egg, I decided to let them out for a little scratch around the garden while I fed Toby.
Ginger's carefully guarded egg. I felt so mean taking it. It was really warm. She didn't seem to mind too much and was certainly up for a run around the garden with Pepper. Meanwhile I went to see to Toby.
I think Toby has been talking to Scaredy, afterall they only live a couple of hundred yards apart. She has got all the habits of Plumpy, Elbi, Mahou and Beeps. Although each morning she was left a plate of dry food, it would still be there untouched in the evening, so I always ended up giving her a sachet of wet food. These cats certainly stick together.
Meanwhile back in the garden I thought it was time I returned the chickens to their run. I was told that 'a handful of corn as a treat will bring them back at a run, but if desperate, use a tomato'. The corn didn't work as Pepper just jumped up and pecked it out of my hands, and when I threw it into the run she looked at me as if to say 'you must be joking'. After a lot of cajoling, pleading and and downright begging I resorted to the tomato. I cut it into chunks. She hung around outside the kitchen door watching me with her sharp little eyes.
Pepper loitering with intent. She was ready to pounce. As soon as I emerged from the kitchen she flew up at me and stole the pieces of tomato straight from my hand! Back I went to cut up more. This time I was prepared for her and I cupped my hands firmly together. She raced after me and shot into the run as soon as I threw the peices in. Got her. Phewww! One down, one to go.
Ginger however, was a different kettle of fish altogether. She was not easily lured by corn or tomato. I chased her round and round the garden and just as I thought I had got her, she slipped off again. I'm going to be here all day, I thought. In desperation I went back home for Peter and he came to help me round her up. I wondered whether Badger would do the trick for us but decided that she would scare her too much.
At last we had her cornered. No, she's off again. This time there was going to be no mucking about. I rugby tackled her, picked her up and stuffed her into the nesting box and shut the lid quick. There were feathers flying, squawks and a great flapping of wings.
The pair of them safely back in their run. A couple of hours later I crept back to have another look at her. I was worrying about her and the missing feathers. I even wondered whether I could stick them back somehow. She was fine. Back in her nesting box, sitting staring vacantly into space while she incubated her make-believe egg. I stroked her gently and she clucked contentedly back at me.
And look what we've got. An omlette for tea methinks.
173 comments:
I'm highly amused by the idea of you rugby tackling a hen.
Toby is very pretty, you can give her srtokes form me too, as long a Scaredy won't get jealous.
I see we're head-to-head today, but it looks like we'll both lose you to bee. You know, I spend ages thinking about and making up definitions and nothing happens and then I put on up there quickly, in a rush, and get nominated.
I just had to post another coment so I could tell you the word verification for this one is 'daifcow', wonderful!
(Except I entered it badly and now it's modubslm.)
ha! They are all such individual personalities, aren't they? Lucky you, to get the eggs freshly laid.
Me again. Re Labyrinth, I enjoyed reading it - got through it in two days and Matt complained about not being able to out it down. Although I felt it rather tailed off at the end - the writing slipped dangerously towards Dan Brown territory - and the whole Will /Alice realtionship was rather unbelievable even given their link with Alais/Guilhem. Still a good read - I've been devouring books since I finished the last Spanish one that took me ages, but I'm looking forward to Murakami (Norweigan Wood) now - something with a bit more substance. I've read the first chapter and am impressed already. I'll see where it goes from there.
I always feel guilty eating eggs (although it hasn't stopped me yet) as I know most of the hens are killed after their laying days even though they've got another good six-eight years left in them. I wonder how many chickens you'd end up with if you kept the old ones after they stopped laying and bought enough new ones to keep you stocked in eggs. After fifteen years or so the number would stabilise, I suppose, but you'd have to keep each group of chickens separate as I think they'd attack each other otherwise.
Wow four comments from Raelha! I don't feel too guilty about eating eggs as these are not fertilized, and they are so well looked after. They are treated like pets and have loads of attention and strokes, and treats like tomatoes!
Even Gandhi ate eggs!
Lorenzo.
Those chucks look like they lead a charmed life! My dad always had chickens. A new batch of chicks would arrive every spring from the local hatchery, and provide us with eggs when they were old enough, then they would eventually become Sunday dinner. I miss those days. I can't have any livestock in my back yard, Town Rules, even though it's plenty big enough. Maybe I should sneak a couple of hens in one dark night... yeah... that's what I'll do... nobody would notice... I could buy the neighbours silence with eggs.... hmmmm....
You're just after another comment from me aren't you?! Yes, I do read Mr de Bernieres. I have all his books, or did have until Matt read 'Senor Vivo and the Coco Lord' and then put it somewhere strange when he'd finished it. He didn't take it out of the house but it seems to have disappeared, and we've looked everywhere - I'm still looking two years later.
The conundrum of the chicken and the egg is one that has exercised the minds of philosophers for centuries. But you have to go back a lot further - about 4.6 BILLION years, in fact. Stanley Miller (look at here) has demonstrated that biochemicals which form the basis of life could have been created with the elements and energy sources (e.g. UV from the sun) that are known (from geological research) to have been available at the time.
You need two essential ingredients for life to exist (a) nucleic acids - DNA - for replication; and (b)proteins - especially enzymes - to catalyse the synthesis of the DNA. Hence the paradox, which came first, the enzymes or the DNA?
This can only be conjecture, and it doesn't actually matter because we know one of them MUST have come first because there IS life on earth!
My personal view is that short chain polypeptides and nucleic acids could have arisen concurrently, but the enzyme might have happened first. You only need a polypeptide of a very few amino acids in length to exhibit catalytic activity, and only a short sequence of nucleotides to instigate replication.
Then you have a primitive self-replicating mechanism which would be subject to the forces of natural selection. Favourable changes will survive and be enhanced; unfavourable changes fizzle out. And the rest, as they say, is history and evident for us all to see.
It's all so easy and obvious really. No need to invoke anything supernatural at all.
Wonderful post! *HUGS*
Awwww... chickens are so cute! I especially like their little fenced in area. I never saw one like that before. :D
Hi Jill Thank you so much for looking after the livestock. Toby is sitting on my lap as I type so there might be a few mistakes. For anyone thinking about getting chickens - just do it. We got Ginger and Pepper and their little house and run from Omlet.co.uk just look at the website it's lovely. The house is called an eglu..... they're quite happy for you to eat their eggs and there are no food miles. Lots of love June x
Personally, I would have used the Jedi mind trick to get the chickens back in the coop. "You will return now. You will not jump and bite me in the nose." Rugby tackling works too.
Raehla's comment made me think about something. She said something about how they kill egg-laying hens when they stop producing. My friend has an old dog who has been a loyal friend and protector to their family. Now, their once-proud German Shepherd has turned into a grumpy o'l geezer who's age-induced bladder control issues have caused him to become a rather high-maintenance pet. People have advised them to put the animal down, but he refuses to discard their loyal friend as if he were just a broken toy. The way he sees it, is that now is the time for the family to pay back the years of loyalty they got from the dog. I tend to agree.
Maalie, I have not neglected your comment.
I have heard the formula "time + matter + chance" used to explain things. 1) Time is not our friend. Things degenerate, wear out, break, run out of energy, etc. with time. 2) All matter is subject to the ravages of time. 3) When did "chance" become a causal agent?
Do you remember the move "Dumb and Dumber?" This goofy guy asked what his chances were with the pretty lady.
-Not good.
-Like one in a hundred?
-No; more like one in a million.
...His face beamed with a goofy smile, and he said, "So you're saying there's a chance!"
There are too many coincidental upgrades for me to believe that the watch did not have a watchmaker.
By the way, I blogged about bats today... Sort of. ;-)
Flippin heck.. the old creatinoist misunderstanding of how chance operates in evolution yet again. Such a shame to ruin a wonderful post about a clucky hen!
You enjoy yourself Lorenzo! Too cold to go enjoying feeding hens here at present. And I am heading south to Christchurch for the weekend where it is even colder. brrrrr. Taking all my winter woolies.
Craver vii: You appear to be arguing from a standpoint of personal incredulity, rather than from an understanding and critical appraisal of the evidence. And as the great Richard Dawkins said "personal incredulity is not an argument".
June, it was a pleasure looking after your delightful hens and Toby! Thank you Pete for getting my password back for me so I can now email again!
Craver: when my old dog was 17, one night she was in so much pain I knew I would have to take her to the vets in the morning, but before that I gave her two bowls of warm milk and a large shot of Peter's best malt whiskey so she went there sozzled. I stayed with her til the end, as she had been such a good dog to me, it was the last thing I could do for her. She died with her head resting in my hands. I could never have just had her destroyed just because she was getting on a bit.
Lorenzo.
Lively comment section you've got, LtL. As an editor, I have to admire the wonderful style you've created here. Part comic book, part essay. Totally readable!
And I can stick around for the fireworks Maalie and Craver shoot off in the comments.
(Speaking of, last week, I interviewed Francis Collins for one of the sites I edit. The interview won't be ready for a bit, but his book The Language of God is a really interesting read.)
Mostly, LtL, what I love here is the hilarious chicken story. And the way you use pictures as punchlines. Brilliant!
How was the omlette? I've heard farm fresh eggs are the best, but I always get mine from the grocer.
>How was the omlette? I've heard farm fresh eggs are the best
I understand that Lorenzo is putting a couple of eggs by to mature for 100 years, as they do in Japan (or is it China?).
Maalie: Not sure whether it is Japan or China. I'll ask Miki, I'm sure she will know.
Mark: Thanks for visiting my blog and your kind words. Actually no, we didn't have the omlette last night but had a very delicious dish of roast peppers, tomatoes and onions (I only hand two tomatoes left as Pepper had eaten the others) in a ginger and garlic sauce with brown rice. We are having the omlette tonight with gently sauted mushrooms and jacket potatoes!
Lorenzo.
Wonderful, what a treat to read your hen adventure! Thanks!!! I hope to go off to the beach for my own adventure...
As everyone will know, the domestic hen is a direct descendant of the Malayan Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus.
Re: the chickie's genealogy... no argument from me on that one.
100-yr-eggs... (yuck) China. Probably Cantonese. They're also called thousand-year eggs, even though the they usually preserve duck eggs in ash and salt for 100 days. I say again... yuck.
Hi Lorenzo,Your story line was brilliant and the way you used the photo's just as good, I'm not so sure about some of your commentors mind I couldnt decide why they had to get quite so deep!!.
I came here from Craver's and couldn't help but notice the resemblence between Toby and Jazzy.
well... a baked chicken would be good.
We had chickens for years.....
ps:- I agree with Mallie.
There is no such thing as a "watch maker"
There is such a thing as "clever" people who capture weak minded people and suck them into a "belief" or faith.
There can be a lot of money made from it.
"..."clever" people who capture weak minded people..."
Yes, they're almost as dangerous as people who operate bike shops - I can't remember the last time I walked into one and left without spending money.
W
>I'm not so sure about some of your commentors mind I couldn't decide why they had to get quite so deep!!
Although Lorenzo's blog might appear at first glance to be a fairly superficial account of domestic matters (family, garden, pets, etc.) some of us have recognised much deeper content here which calls for more thoughtful and penetrating comment that reflects the sophistication of her writing.
"some of us have recognised much deeper content here which calls for more thoughtful and penetrating comment that reflects the sophistication of her writing".
Shucks Maalie, you embarrass me with your extravagant praise! If you dig deep into a compost heap you always recognise deep content, which certainly gives rise to penetrating and sopisticated thought. I am terrified that one of these days I might dig up poor Eeka, our first cat. Wren and I burried her near the compost heap as at that time it has the easiest soil to dig a grave in.
Mm
Hummm .. Gallus Gallus hey. Glad I know that. I hope you noticed that I had added 'chicken' to my bird list.
Bikerbob: For me it is the commentators who make my blog so exciting! I love to get all the comments, but I do wish Mr Anon would just put a name at the bottom.
Jazzy: Yes you do look like Toby. We had a tortoiseshell cat once called Mushroom who looked like you and Toby. We called her Mushroom because she had HUGE eyes and she always looked as though she was hullucinating.
Simon: Keep well clear of Ginger and Pepper. There would be a small army of Poyntonians defending them from your knife and fork!
We had our omlette last night and it was delicious!
I have just deleted a comment from Anon. I was reluctant to do this, as I want everyone to be free to say what they think, but this particular comment was hurtful to one of my commentators.
Lorenzo.
Just a thought Anon. If you feel strongly about a particular commentator, go to their blogsite and leave the message there.
Lorenzo.
LtL, Nice to see your support for the religious, sexual, racial, and political intolerance peddled by your commentators at the cost of one anonymous comment.
I hope you are comfortable with the views of some of your contributors, I am not and shall not visit again
Anon: I have many different comentators, all of whom leave their name, except you. We all have views on various subjects and yes, some views I heartedly disagree with, but I defend their right to state them.
As it happens I tended to agree with the sentiment of the comment I deleted, but what I don't like, and will not have on my blog, is spitefulness.
Lorenzo.
I appreciate your tolerance for varied discussion, LtL. And your sense of humor.
"Mushroom." Too funny!
Lorenzo,
comment no. 106 contains tips for fast forward scrolling (I am a bit concerned what with your comments count already at 40 once again *grin*).
I got a picture of a dung hill, taken at a palace at that, need to come up with an idea to slip it in with one of my posts ("Everything you never expected to see in Vienna!", how does that sound? *g*).
Anonymous
Does this mean I wont be seeing you in Church on Sunday?
Bugger it. I had you down as a border line convert. My instinct is not as good as it used to be.
Just gotten up to date with your posts Mum, very funny, though I felt a bit homesick.
I know it was the previous post but could I add a word of warning re: shredders? Make sure you never wear a tie when you are shredding. That was in the instructions of ours which we brought for the business (and I fell under the shredding spell too) and I have taken this instruction seriously. It would be an awful way to go.
There are a lot of hens in Guatemala, they chicken-walk into and out of houses and shops like they own the place and are constantly crossing the roads, just like in the jokes. The people here are often under that, only too common, belief that chicken is a type of vegetable, when I tell them I am a vege. they frown, then smile and say, "we have chicken!"
From early o´clock the town is alive with cocks trying to compete with each other for loudest/most forlorn doodle-dos. And the Guatemalan beer is called Gallo which means cockeral in Spanish. I find it funny to ask Cody if he would like some more cock when we share a bottle, but he doesn´t find it funny. Nor do you (plural) probably. We often share a bottle of Gallo on an evening.
Eggs are plentiful, infact I eat an average of 3 a day I think, which I think Mummy would say is bad for my cholesteral levels. I have just been to buy some eggs, they are normally white and cost half a quetzal each. This is about 3p. Quetzal is the type of money in Guatemala, but a Quetzal is also a type of bird, Jimmy might know more about it than me. Apparently they are nearly extinct.
Sorry, this has turned into a long comment, infact I am abusing the system aren´t I? But seeing as I am being verbose can I also say thanks to Ann Onymouse for her email and tell her I will write back soon.
Lots of love
Jemima
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I hope you got to keep the eggs.
I am glad that I can help you relive your childhood at Leigh.
Fairtrader: you write as much as you want darling! I thought a Quetzel was an Inca god that enjoyed ripping peoples' hearts out while they were still alive.
Or maybe that might have been in one of Michener's books come to think of it.
I don't wear a tie and nor does Peter but I will be very careful of one of my bra straps that instists on coming undone.
When you come back to England, would you try to bring me some cock?
Love Mummy. xx
The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno is a spectacular bird of the trogon family.
Father Ann. I tried to go to the deli yesterday but there was a queue down the road to get in. Rumour had it you were holding a confessional in the corner by the espresso machine.
Lorenzo.
L.T.L - This is true my child. 'Cleansing' Poynton is proving to be quite a long job. Not to mention the rates Berky is charging for his mock-up confessional - which is wedged, in an undignified manner, between the salami and the ice cream.
Still, business is business. Dont forget my 3 for 2 'absolution deal' next time you are passing.
Fair Traider
It's lovely to read your comment- especially your description of the cocky chikens! We are missing you hear in Poynton. Loads of love.
P.S. Ignore your Mother's request and just bring her some beer.
Father Ann - if you fancy a challenge after Poynton you can always try Macclesfield.
Once upon a time, in a chicken run, a young rooster confronted an old rooster saying- "Move over pop and let me at 'em hens. You're just gettin' too old."
The old rooster replied- "Listen, I know I am gettin' on in years but can't you just spare me one of the hens?"
" No way!" the young rooster replied. I need 'em all and your days are done old man."
"Tell you what" said the old rooster, "If I beat you in a race around the verandah, will you let me have a hen?"
The young rooster thought about it and agreed with glee, saying " I'll even give you head start old man.....your done!!"
The old rooster took off....he rounded the first corner and the young rooster started to gain... He rounded the second corner, and was puffing like mad...... the young rooster was almost on Him....
he rounded the third... he was just about done......
Suddenly BANG! a shot rang out.....and the young rooster lay dead...
"Darn it!" the farmer said, "That's the third gay rooster I've had this week!"
Proving that you do not need to be young... just smart.....
Raelha : Thanks for the tip. Although I think I will be here for a while - my 3 for 2 seems to be going quite well.
Actually, whlst you are here, can I inerest you in my new 'FAVORS' (Father-Ann's-Virtual-Overseas-Redemption-Scheme) store card. You pile up sins on your card, and once a month I will debit a punative amount from your account- and you're clean!!
Father Ann, as an aethiest I have no problems with sin. I behave myself most of the time anyway! However, I do live next to a 16th century Catholic Chapel and you'd be able to do a roaring trade here with your FAVORS particularly as the priest can rarely be bothered to come up the mountain from the town.
Raelha
An Aethist! You should have said so before. I can feel your pain.
Speaking of which,there is absoloutely no reason why you should exclude yourself from my confessional. I would just ask that you walk through the disinfectant tray (usually found on the right) before entering.
Oh yes, and just pop your head in the vat of boiling oil, pay the 'Atheist' surcharge - and we're on!
Thanks for flagging up the chapel, I may need to leave Poynton at short notice.
Bless you.
Well, Father Ann was doing a roaring trade at the deli this morning. There she sat in her black cloak, her biretta at a jaunty angle, doling out punishments as if there were no tomorrow.
Why is it that it is always the men who come out of her confessional smirking?
LtL
LtL You say 'smirk' - I would call it the beatitude of the refreshed soul.
Maalie, it is not all so simple and obvious. One has to do a great deal of convincing oneself that God does not exist.
Lorenzo, the thought of you running after a chicken trying to catch it puts a smile on my face this morning!
Yeah Maalie, so there, Mr Scientist Smarty Pants. Stick that in your sinful, evolutionist, heretic pipe and smoke it.
Oh very eloquent Father Ann. Very well put indeed. Just you watch it Maalie. Punishments come swiftly and without mercy. I saw a lot of grown men sobbing bitterly today whilst weeping and gnashing their teeth.
L.
Thank you I am glad to know I am considered your friend. Likewise I count you as one of mine. I was surprised to see that you got to know Merisi through blogging, I had thought you were friends that were just keeping in touch through blogging.
We don't get to see that colour on eggs any more, now they are white, like mass produced.
been traveling a lot Lorenzo, going again for a week
hope you are doing fine
hi to Badger and Scaredy
My hubby is dying for chickens. We've had them before, at another farm. But we need to get it settled who will watch them if/when we travel, and we feel it would be presumptious to get some without confirming chickensitting with our neighbors. Anyway, one of these days. And we would let them roam too, because they take such good care of the yard! Too, too cute.
Father Ann, I'm afraid if I ever make it to the deli I'll be heading straight for the food! Although you're welcome to join me for an ice-cream if you leave the boiling oil behind.
Father Ann, I've just seen that you've been visiting Word Imperfect, and that you and Lorenzo have been doing your very best to bring the tone down with your wonderful definitions for 'bittock' - I'm stuck on who to vote for now.
Lorenzo, I've just put you and Raelha on my RSS feed (sounds painful!) so I should make more of a habit of stopping by than of late.
P.S. Excellent moderation of the anonymous comments when it threatened to turn nasty. You dispatched him / her with aplom (and a plumb?)- nice one!
Merisi has been very runcible and has made me book a winter flight to Bari (in Italy) in January even though Italian food is awful and they shoot all the birds there. Wah!
Thank-you for being a kind host.
Wow! Look at all these comments, and we didn't talk much about which came first.
Well alphabetically, C is before E. And otherwise, you can probably guess what I would say, so I'll save that discussion for my own blog at another time.
@ Maalie:
*rofl*
(You must admit, you booked without consulting me - now it's too late, anyway. *grin*)
@ Lorenzo:
Are today's chicken potty trained?
I grew up with a flock of chickens and if we would have let them onto the terrace in front of the house, we'd have had it covered by a layer of chicken guano in no time. Even today my mom keeps the chicken fenced in (they do have a large meadow all for themselves).
Maalie: Oh you poor thing, fancy having to go to Italy in January. My heart bleeds for you.
Actually Craver, I'm not sure what you think about chickens and eggs in relation to the order of their appearance on earth! Does it really matter, I ask myself.
Merisi: Glad to hear you have been runcible with Maalie!
I have never heard of house trained chickens, but as I mentioned once before, you can get cows to crap on demand! I believe the above mentioned Maalie once had a house trained rabbit!
Lorenzo.
Merisi was suggestive beyond runcibility. She emailed me a photo of a noticeboard at a nature reserve near Bari. Had pictures of wading birds. I didn't know they had nature reserves in Italy, I thought they shot everything there.
Italian and Spanish are much the same, aren't they? I should be able to get by with pigeon-Spanish? At least I already know Latte, Cappachino, Americano, Jalotti. I will have to get some useful phrases from Bergunt.
'Ciao' will get you a long way in Italy... that and 'grazie'. You'll sound like a native in no time!
BTW.. .I am heading off to bed for the last time as someone in my 40s. Too scary to contemplate!
Well done on another wordimperfect win!
Have you seen Plumpy´s been posting again?
Maalie??? "Pigeon-Spanish"? I don't know, you'll have to ask the Italian pidgeons.
Lorenzo,
I pleed non-guilty.
How could I have known that dead birds make Maalie book flights (in the middle of winter!).
Happy 75 comments!
cjdmkxu :-)
"I plead not guilty!"
(Bad spelling day!)
This is a terrific post! I had to smile at the image of chasing a hen around the garden! Have you thought of keeping hens yourself?
Marie x
I never would have thought that chicken-sitting would be so humorous! Thanks for the cackle!
Ai Ai AI!!!!!
I had so many things I wanted to say all the way through your posts, and my head is so full of chickens I can't remember anything! I had to skip the comments in favour of the stories - LtL I think you beat Maalie with over 100 comments and without trying!
As to the eggs etc, Craver I think your comment on time was a little premature (pardon the pun). Time to us as a single organism is - yes - destructive, however to a species time can be the opposite. (I hate to agree with Maaile, BUT):
To mammals, time passed and they developed ascendancy over the reptiles as more successful group, and humans alone have evolved over time from being a small player in the world scene to being somewhat hmmm - over populated. Among other things, we needed time to accomplish that. The DNA doesn't care about you personally, only its own continuation. Time may destroy a tree but time also creats coal and eventually diamonds.
Someone asked about farm-fresh eggs and how they taste. The principle is 'what the hens have been eating. ' Battery hens - aside from being abused - are fed grain etc which doesn't give a great deal of flavour to the egg. Farm-fresh, or more specifically FREE RANGE chickens eat lots of stuff, grain, grass, worms, insects, gravel (for digestion) and as a result their eggs will taste delicious. Same principle with grain-fed beef and delicious New Zealand grown beef. Mmm mmm.
Well I guess I'm back in force - I'll have to tell Plumps to come look at the photo's of Scaredy.
clnrebb
wghcegs (What Good Hens Create EGS)
Did anyone hear the news this morning? A fossilized gorilla tooth has been dated 10 million years old!! That's two million years before the previous known fossil. Again, this was found in the Ethopian Rift Valley, famous most of all for 'Lucy'.
Of course free range eggs taste the best. I agree with JLS and Plumpy here. It's totally up to what the chicks eat how their eggs taste. I had a boyfriend once whose mother kept chickens and she always gave them ground up shell too, so that their shells would be strong. Seemed to work.
LtL.
jls is correct about the eggs. We get ours from a neighbour who lets his chickens roam free. He's built a big henhouse for them and they go back in the evening of their own accord (Lorenzo - would you like us to ask him how he managed this for next time? I don't think any tomatoes are involved). His chickens are superb layers and the eggs are the tastiest we've ever had.
Scaredy, Plumpy, I left a message for you on Maalie's blog. It was a rather terrifying sneaking into the Lion's den. I don't know how you managed it, I'm still shaking!
Ooh, Scaredy, that's twice now in one moring. I refuse to go back again until I get hugs and strokes to calm me down. Beeps can leave her own message next time, the little coward.
RAELHA:
I wonder how chicks learn if they don't have any adults around. My parents always kept older hens and young ones together. The hens went to roost as soon as the sun went down (flying up to sleep sitting on dowels high above ground) and there was a sort of ladder for the young ones (sitting up there makes for clean feathers, with the p..p dropping below).
I hope we are soon at a 100 comments, so LTL will have to write a new post, otherwise I risk buying some hens to roost on my balcony. *iii*
I know that hens will go back to roost in their hen houses at night, but it is getting the buggers back in the day that foxed me. Talking of foxes, that's why I just didn't leave them out in the garden. We have quite a few around here. June leaves them out all day, but only if someone is around.
Off to Maalies now. Scaredy isn't scared of him any more since he let him sit on his shoulder. Elbi, courage my dear! Still, being afraid of Maalie is a good excuse for hugs and strokes!
Merisi, Well you won't get any foxes up there, maybe you should get some!
Lorenzo, Elbi is a cheeky little madam and I'm sure she made a big deal about visiting to Maalie's blog just so she could get loves and strokes from me afterwards. It wasn't necessary as I'm always a willing stroker - unless it's the middle of the night and she's just woken me up for a cuddle, although she's sometimes able to persuade me even then.
How inconvenient that I have to scroll all the way to the top to leave my comment.
Girls, Scaredy and I have discovered the truth about Maalie. As long as you don't mention birds as dinner he is a big softie. As you saw on LtL's blog, Scaredy even got photographic evidence. (With the help of his Llama of course).
How would a chick learn to roost at night without their parents to teach them? Mum is nattering some codswallop about natural instinct, but the truth is WE teach them. Any chick who doesn't learn to roost at night doesn't get the chance to learn much else either. Just one of the services provided by your friendly neighbourhood cat. ;-)
Did you know that turkey's are so stupid some farmers put marbles in their food tray when they are baby's. They think "oohh, shiny!" and start pecking. The side affect being - they ingest grain as well and learn to eat. This is, of course, only when they are not being raised by their parents, who they would mimic in the wild.
See I know more about birds than how they taste!
(I see you are online Llama, as I've been trying to get my V.Word accepted another comment has appeared! - Have you read Mum's new post?)
Which are the best eggs to use for cakes?
I have to make a swiss roll for the Hambledon Horticultural Society Annual Aummer Show's Gentleman's Baking Competition.
The ingredients and recipe are heavily restricted but there is no prohibitions with respect to sourcing said ingredients.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Novice Baker
ickensHello LtL from Sunny Cancun - well, it's sunny for the moment. I'm finally safe and hopefully headed home over the weekend. It has been quite interesting these last 11 days but certainly not what I would call a holiday!
whoops - sorry, don't know where the first few letters in my comment came from - maybe a freudian slip I typed after reading ALL the comments - funny indeed - made me quite feel like I was about to finally be home!
Wow, Lorenzo. you sure know how to get the most out of a posting. Though this is rather like twelve postings in one. I can smell the chickens right now.
J'sLS is quite right about the effect of time and evolution. Most of us can imagine, say 100 years. Maybe even a thousand year. But what about a million years? The dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago. Life on earth commenced BILLIONS of years ago. Time is on the side of chance.
I have always been sceptical about the business of organic/free range stuff tasting better or being somehow more "tasty". In double-blind taste-tests it invariably comes out 50:50, that is by guessing. People think that free range stuff ought to taste better and so they think it does. This is something you could try out for yourselves. Get your partner to do you a boiled egg every day, randomly mixing up free-range and factory-farmed eggs for 10 days. Keep a record of your preference and see how it matches up at the end. You may get a surprise.
Maalie, the point of free range eggs isn't necessary that they taste better, although I must say Ginger and Pepper's eggs tasted really very nice, but maybe that's because I knew where they came from and it was in my mind. They certainly had very dark yellowy-orange yolks.
The point of free range eggs is that it is not cruel to the chickens. I will never knowingly buy factory produced eggs because of the despicable way the hens are treated.
I once went round I. Rayner's dad's farm and was horrified. So as far as eggs go, I vote with my feet.
Maalie, you also didn't say anything about my ten million year old teeth. I thought that might spur you into a controversial comment or three.
Off to Poynton Show today with Wren and my camera.
Does anyone know how to restore my llama picture?
Lorenzo.
You have a good point about the cruelty of factory-farmed eggs. However many people also claim that free-range eggs taste better. But don't confuse freshness with free-range. Freshness always tastes better.
To say that what something eats affects its taste is rubbish. Beef doesn't taste of grass; pork doesn't taste of slugs or acorns; ducks don't taste of worms or fish.
I'm going fishing today. I enjoy fresh fish, so fresh it still flaps in the frying pan. I don't expect my fish to taste of lug-worms.
Well actually you are wrong about the taste Maalie! Everyone who eats factory chickens say they taste vaguely of fish, and that is because they are fed on fish.
Beef doesn't taste of grass because that is it's natural food. I think when animals are fed with unnatural food it can affect it's taste.
Do you think young children taste of burgers? Being vegetarian I don't know, but thought you might.
You still haven't answered my comment on my ten million year old teeth.
On Friday I will cook you two omlettes, one with a free-range egg and one with a battery egg. I bet you a whole case of McEwan's Export you won't know the difference.
The phenomenon is well understood in the scientific community and is referred to a an OWT.
The next comment will be 100.
Well, as nobody has commented in the last couple of hours, allow me to make the 100th comment.
I have been to the farm shop and got some dew-fresh free-range gnu-laid eggs. I've also got some old battery eggs somewhere in the back of my fridge. I'll let you assess the difference at the weekend. Mind you, I have also got a box of lugworms in the fridge and some escaped so the eggs might be tainted.
Congratulations on being 100th!
You still haven't mentioned the teeth.
Been to Poynton Show with Wren.
Look forward to the omlettes!
Lorenzo.
You seem to be having a good time with the chickens and cat. I am suprised the cat doesn't chase the chickens. However the eggs do look like it is omlet time. I hope you enjoyed it.
I just want to thank you for your comment on my blog about war. As you know I don't think anyone win a war wins. Yes I think your suggestion about the United Kingdom and the USA maybe shouldn't be there. The one thing about the wars that the US has been lately the people on the opposing side seem to make out much better after the "war" is suppose to be over. These countries seem to be built up and doing better since the conflit. Look at Japan for instance after WW II, Today they are one of the leading industrial countries in the world with their electronics, cars, cameras, and etc. Maybe if our countries should be so lucky to have the other countries pour so much into them to make them more of an industrial power in the world today.
Lorenzo,
it's Sunday morning and I am thinking of you and not only because I need to go the the hospital with my youngest to check the fractured metacarpal bone (Friday night I was "out" in the hospital into the wee hours *g*) and would rather check out the omeletts at Maalie's (well, maybe rather not). Had been thinking about a double blind-test. ;-)))
I'm just about to have a boiled egg for my Sunday lunch. Errrm, I'm sure its provenance...
Lorenzo, this is in response to your request (on Word Imperfect) for help on the trouble with your profile picture.
In most of the places that your picture appears, it links to your profile page. However, on your profile page, the picture links to the source of the picture. The web address below is the one I obtained by right-clicking the profile page picture and then choosing "Copy Shortcut" from the resulting menu. This copied the web address to the clipboard, from which it may then be pasted.
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:jn5eexhtVMWfrM:http://the-llama-song.freeonlinegames.com/images/1068.jpg
Some of the reasons the picture may not be appearing are as follows:
1. The picture has been moved, and is no longer at the same web address. This may mean that the address at Google has changed or the address at freeonlinegames.com has changed.
2. The filename may have changed.
3. The picture may have been deleted. If so, it may still be available somewhere else and image searches may be able to locate it.
4. The server where the picture is located may be out of service, perhaps temporarily.
5. freeonlinegames.com may be out of service, perhaps temporarily.
6. The address that I posted above has been corrupted in some way and a correct one needs to placed in the profile.
You might try placing just the portion directly relating to the image in your address bar and going directly to the site and see if that works:
http://the-llama-song.freeonlinegames.com/images/1068.jpg
If that doesn't work, you might try doing an image search on Google to see if the picture shows up somewhere else.
If you can find the picture anywhere, you should copy it to your computer C: drive (probably to two different folders, to have a backup copy). Usually, if you right click on a picture, a menu should appear that has a "Save Picture As" option. Choosing that would allow you to save it to your computer under whatever name you wanted the picture to have. (I am using Internet Explorer. If you are using something else, you may have a different menu.)
Once you have a copy of the picture, you should be able to repost it to your profile. If for some reason the system doesn't allow you to upload the picture, but instead tries to maintain a link to your computer's C: drive, post the picture in a blog post like one of your other blog post pictures. The blog post pictures have links similar to this one (of the eggs):
http://bp3.blogger.com/_ckhIQftmGX8/RsMLWZ7F7OI/AAAAAAAAAkI/3ghTB_0DjDs/s1600-h/chick+023.jpg
The blog post pictures are thus definitely stored on the blogger website, whereas the profile picture appears not to be. Once the picture is on the blogger website, you can then put a link in your profile to the picture in the blog post. This would only be necessary, though, if blogger does not allow you to upload the picture directly from your computer to your profile.
By the way, if the webpage itself has the focus (as opposed to the comment text entry box or some other browser object), you can move directly to the top of the page by pressing the "Home" button and directly to the bottom of the page by pressing the "End" button. If the webpage itself does not have the focus, it will be necessary to click on the page somewhere first (avoid clicking on links or pictures that contain links or upon any object, such as the comment box, that may take focus away from the page itself).
Stephen from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
http://stephen-has-spoken.blogspot.com/
maalie.... I am surprised at you. You are using OLD battery eggs.... and FRESH free range eggs. Hardly a fair test from a scientist, when you are just trying to test the free vs battery thingie!!!! You will have to cook another lot of omelets!
I am simply offering Lorenzo the maximum opportunity to discern a taste difference between the extremes of the gradient. If that can't be done, there is little hope for those in between :-)
The test will be later this week, as I pass through on my way to Lapland.
P.S. Lorenzo, any progress in getting that camel-thing picture back?
Thank you Maalie for putting that llama back on my blog! Pity we couldn't find my original as I thought I looked pretty fantastic in that, though I say it myself. Still, this new one shows me as a more gentle, tolerent llama!
Lorenzo, I like your new picture very much. BUt why is there a gorilla on your blog?
Love the new Llama - but why my Mother in Law on your home page thingy?
Love the new Llama - but why has my comment come out twice?
I now have a gorilla on my page because that sodding Maalie has swapped my llama for the monkey!
Wonder what I'll have on it tomorrow. A short toed lark no doubt!
Lorenzo the Gorilla
Me? ME? Would I do a thing like that??
Maalie, stop posing as a warthog!
I'm getting an identity crises here.
Lorenzo the warthog.
LORENZO:
Brothers! :-)
Word verif:
"cafia kbv"
sound like a Russian SUV
A warthog?! I'll bet right now you're WISHING he'd make it a short-toed lark.
Maalie, since you're causing dramatic changes, leaping from one kind of animal to another, it reminds me of our recent conversations. I have not said much about this since our last talk, but I'm reading. Very slowly, and with a dictionary, but I'm reading. There's no shortage of books about evolution (macro). And since you mentioned him, maybe I'll see if the Dawkins bestseller is at my local library.
LtW,
I like your spikey black hair, it's very now.
But I'm glad you're feeding Maalie Tofu and Lentils, because you make a much better Llama.
Love, Plumpy
I really must put a new posting up now the comments are in the 120s, but at the moment I am having fun on Martin Stricklands blog!
Maalien - behave yourself!
Yours in identity crises,
Lorenzo the Llama/Gorilla/Warthog
Cramer vii: I wish you pleasure in your research. May I suggest just two things:
(i) Remember that science has no axe to grind - its only objective is to interpret EVIDENCE - evidence which science now regards as incontrovertible. Please read accredited textbooks and avoid the plethora of denial misinformation put about by the fundamentalists.
(ii) Remember that Intelligent Design is intellectually the least demanding explanation and is spawned by personal incredulity: "I simply can't believe that such a complicated world could exist without a master plan". If you are genuinely impartial in your quest for truth you will recognise the irrationality of personal incredulity.
I wish you peace.
I realise I am now a hippo. Thanks Maalie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You must´ve been an inspiration, because Ive juse done a post about eggs too.
Maalie obviously has too much free time on his hands, maybe he should get himself a couple of chickens.
I have something to confess. Where's Father Ann?
I do not expect to pursue knowledge in any field with genuine impartiality. Call it a human flaw, if you will. The best I can hope for is humility as I carefully consider the evidence before my eyes.
But by the same token, every scientist (being human) will have his or her interpretation filtered through their unique perspective and personal experiences. Some may even have an axe to grind against fundamentalists.
As I embark on my little exploration, I will consider your counsel regarding personal incredulity.
...how is "Maalie" pronounced?
Gosh I'm Lorenzo the anteater now.
craver vii >every scientist (being human) will have his or her interpretation filtered through their unique perspective and personal experiences.
Ah, but you see that is where the peer-reviewed publication process comes in. Hypotheses are proposed in order to be rejected. If there is no evidence to reject them, they become accepted for the time being. That is the beauty of science, all the evidence is placed in the public domain for inspection, scrutiny and repetition.
On the other hand, people believe the bible because they are told that they should. It is a tautology: "It's true because it's in the bible; it's in the bible so it must be true". It is not evidence-based; it is not modified as understanding advances, as does science. As per "the bat is a bird" paradox.
Hi Craver,
Maalie is pronounced 'marley'. I should ask Mr Maalie himself what it means. I am in dread of telling you not quite the right thing. He's already turned me from llama to gorilla to warthog to hippo to anteater.
Father Ann has made an ecumenical pilgrimage to London today but will be back later this evening. Please feel free to confess in public on my blog, but I must warn you, pennance is swift and terrible.
LtA
You still banging on about the bat and the bird Maalie?
I know what you mean about believing the Bible because we are told to. It's the same as some 'art' being called 'art' because the artist says it is.
But faith isn't logical, it's not something that is reasonable. It has continued for thousands of years in spite of it's lack of logic. As you well know, I am no scientist (maths and chemistry grade 9 at 'o' level although I did pass my biology) and I am no theologian either. Faith is something you feel, and I long ago stopped trying to analyse it as it was making my brain feel funny.
You are all right in your own way. I just like to sit on the side lines and think, 'actually, does it really matter'.
>Faith is something you feel
But if you place your faith in something that isn't true, then you are deluded. If you have faith that the world's biodiversity has sprung from what Noah crammed into his boat, then you are deluded. If you have faith that the dinosaurs died out in Noah's flood (aged about only 4000 years ago) and they didn't actually die out about 60 MILLION years ago, then you are deluded.
By the way, the bat and the bird paradox, whilst simple, is extremely important in principle. There are probably few Christians who these days teach their children that a bat is a bird "because the bible says so".
What staggers me is the countless other "facts" in the bible that improved knowledge and understanding over the centuries have shown to be fallacies that ARE taught to children as being true. This, in my opinion (and that of Richard Dawkins) is tantamount to abuse.
Hmm, has Maalie gone a little too far this time? Who's the other llama? And which one is Lorenzo? Or should I not ask?
There are lots of lies in the public school textbooks Maalie. One very great one is that a human embryo has gill slits. Those are folds in the skin that never have anything to do with breathing and it was disproved in the 1800's. Ernst Haeckel (not sure I spelled that right) was the perpetrator of that lie. He was caught for it, but guess what? That is STILL in the public school textbooks AND Sam Harris'( great friend of Richard Dawkins) book. I could go on, but time would prohibit me.
" If you have faith that the world's biodiversity has sprung from what Noah crammed into his boat, then you are deluded. If you have faith that the dinosaurs died out in Noah's flood (aged about only 4000 years ago) and they didn't actually die out about 60 MILLION years ago, then you are deluded".
When have I ever said I believe that, you lying hound. I actually don't think it matters. It is just a story. Anyway, what's wrong with feelings. Just because you can't SEE them. You can't SEE electricity either, but it's there if you touch it.
Will you please get those promiscious llamas off my blogsite, and Raelha, I'm not either of them! I give you full permission to set your cats on any bird they see until Maalie removes the picture. How can I go visiting my holy friends in the States with those two at it?
If I remember correctly, the maalie is a type of bird of which our Maalie is the king. And yes, his majesty is having way too much fun with the power he wields over your pictures. What is the saying? Absolute power corrupts absolutely. ;-)
Lorenzo, no I never claimed that you had faith in those things. If everyone were like you the world would be a more harmonious place.
The gill slits thing is a load of hogwash - the notion that "ontogeny recapitulates philogeny" has long since been refuted. It may still be in old text books, as indeed is the Piltdown Man hoax if you go back far enough. This is of course a consequence of the peer-review process.
Why would it matter what we believe about science, but not about religion? Maalie's statement makes perfect sense to me when he says that "if you place your faith in something that isn't true, then you are deluded." I believe the Bible, including the young earth creation account, Noah's flood, Jesus' resurrection etc, because I think they are really true.
There may be things I find in the Bible that I do not yet understand, and accept by faith, but that is only because I am launching from other things that I find to be reasonable. Faith is not always disconnected from reason.
But Craver vii, it seems to me that you are saying something like "I do not want to believe in evolution because it conflicts with what I want to believe in even though I have no evidence that it is true other than I am told it is true".
The fundamentalist deniers seek to discredit existing evidence with spurious straw man arguments that do not stand up to scrutiny. They use terms like "micro (or macro) evolution" in attempt to give their arguments some pseudo-scientific verisimilitude.
It is also strange that advances in medical science are widely embraced by fundamentalists, but biological and geological sciences are rejected! It's all the same stuff - genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, geochemistry, biology, physiology, ecology: the boundaries between these disciplines are now diffuse and overlap. You can't have it both ways - accept the medical research but reject the biological - they share the same rules.
Craver: I've just had a phone call from Father Ann. She is waiting on Euston Station for her train home. She says, would you please write all your sins down on my blog site and she will look into the matter of your pennance when she gets home. She also says you are her first bloggy customer, excluding Maalie, but he doesn't count, as he was drunk at the time.
She had a very nice visit to Brompton Oratory and upset some of the regular clerics with her outlandish views on punishment. She then went for a visit to the Natural History Museum and saw some 4000 year old dinasaur bones.
I told her about disgraceful picture Maalie had put on my blog and what would my holy friends think. She said it would be ok as long as they aren't gay llamas.
Homosexuality in the animal world is by no means uncommon. Bats are notorious for it. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it in terms of Darwinian natural selection, as indeed there is for altruism.
But Cramer vii, Lorenzo et al. I must take up this fascinating discussion another time. I am setting off on a camping trip to Arctic Lapland very soon and I need to prepare. It will be stewed reindeer meet in the snow, a free red nose given with every kilo of meat bought. Also fish caught through holes in the ice. I must oil my crampons.
Maalie, if what what you are saying is, "What's true is true." That truth is not subject to man's interpretation. I wholeheartedly agree.
Micro evolution is observable, macro is not. The distinction is important, because in micro evolution, one kind of dog evolves into another kind of dog, then into another dog, etc, but a dog does not micro evolve into anything other than a dog. Macro turns a fish into an ape. It is not a false impersonation of the truth at all. I think these are legitimately two separate issues.
Enjoy the arctic trek. Be safe.
Maalie, will you please alter my blog photo before you go?
Lorenzo,
Maalie's mega-runcible! Change the passwort before he does (quick, before HRH reads this *g*).
Fortunately the handbag hails from one of those boutiques where it would be impolite to ask for the price. Just have it wrapped nicely and charged to your Platinum card. ;-)
Password:
Preramut
(Guess that's the condition one's in after the credit card bill arrives - no matter, go out immediately and get a pair of high heels Manolo Blahnik sandals or the like: once your are in debt, a few thousand more really don't make that much of a difference.)
Craver ii: Thank you for your good wishes. If i can find an internet café in the Arctic I will post a message here!
Science does not recognise them as separate issues, they are merely pseudo-scientific expressions intended to give impression of science. Of course a fish does not "turn into" an ape. A population of fish my diverge by slow progression to, say, a population of lung-fish, which may progress to become terrestrial rather than aquatic. And so on. The biggest stumbling block for many students is an appreciation of the sheer time available for life to develop - there are BILLIONS of years - an incomprehensible amount of time. If your faith does not allow you to accept such time scales then the concept of evolution is beyond grasp. It becomes impossible to believe, and then we are back to personal incredulity. You are confronting the whole of established and enlightened science here - not just Maalie :-)
Faith is faith, but science is evidence, corroborated, tested and re-tested and available for peer review in the public domain.
But if you have decided from the outset that you do not want to accept the evidence, and seek only to discredit it, then there seems to be nothing I can say that can influence you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for restoring my llama!
No tofu afterall!
Don't insects evolve, mutate or whatever it's called, quite quickly?
Maalie, I would be interested to see some evidence for speciation. Do you have anywhere you can point me?
And oh yes, the gill sacs thing is in CURRENT ps textbooks, not old outdated ones. Sam Harris also said we have gill sacs in his recent book Letter to a Christian Nation.
Welcome back, LtL! We can observe changes in insects, but always to the same type of insect. That is to say, a fruitfly can change, but only to another kind of fruitfly.
What can I say? I suppose I can be stubborn at times.
Do you not think that the scientist exercises a certain amount of faith? Sure, he does. It would not be possible for each scientist to test and prove every single theory out there, and the scientific establishment has had to occasionally make corrections and change positions throughout history. The scientist must sometimes trust that his predecessors or peers have done their homework.
Dear Craver.
Hold that confession. I will have to go to my bed, as I am exhausted from all the heretic scientists at the 'Natural History Museum'. Goodness me they needed alot of convincing, surounded as they are by all those ridiculous plastic skeletons.
Plastic had not been invented in 76 million B.C. So they wern't fooling me!!
But do not despair - I can feel your pain, and will be taking confession at the crack of lunchtime tomorrow. Bless you my child.
L.t.L. Thank you for putting our private phonecall on the web. Appreciate it. You're next up for divine retrebution!!
YOU ARE BLOOM'IN MADDER THAN ME!!!!
Love the comments, SO SO funny, thanks for giving us a laff!!
Must go to bed now, Very tired!
Ta chuck!!
GREAT fun to read Yours, Cravers, Ex Shammys and TEDs posts!
I just like to sit on the side lines and think, 'actually, does it really matter'.
I like to sit on the side line too but could not let this comment go by. YES, in my opinion it does matter - while deluded world leaders and corporate champions inform their decision on the basis of 'faith' it matters.
Worzel
Yes Worzel, you are absolutely right. I only meant that personally, in my own life, it doesn't matter.
What can we do anyway about these mad world leaders who insist on bombing third world countries to pieces? Whoever I vote for, the Tory guy gets in. I once voted for the Monster Raving Loony Party because it makes absolutely no difference to the outcome of the election. I sent my card back to Labour Party and cancelled my membership when we went to war, but it doesn't mean anything except that they won't get their tenner each year.
That's what I mean about 'does it matter'. And in any case, I think we were talking about bones, Arks, apples and snakes.
Love Lorenzo.
I see that idiot Bush is talking about confronting Iran. How many Americans know where Iran is and understand the issues involved?
I'm surprised he has any support left at all after that crazy speech recently comparing Iraq with Vietnam.
God Bless the Democrats.
Lee Roy
O.K. Craver. I am refreshed, clear-thinking and vengeful.
Let's dance.
Thank you Lee Roy for your comments.
Father Ann,
Please don't use all your energy chastizing Craver as I need to come to confession too for my wishy washy, flippy floppy attitude of sitting on the wall.
See you in the corner near the espresso machine.
Lorenzo.
LtL - I will be there my child.
Maalie - I have a new rock-solid, water-tight, ground-breaking theory that proves that there are no such things as 'homosexual' animals:
All the animals on the Arc must have loved each other very much and had babies. Otherwise some of the species would not have carried on, would they?
In your face.
Father Ann, I make so bold as to chip in on this conversation. London Zoo (36 acres / 15 hectares) holds about 600 species. There are some 1.5 MILLION species known in the world, and many undoubtedly yet to be discovered. By crude proportionation, you would need an area of NINETY THOUSAND acres to house them all. And that assumes they were in twos (or was it sevens? - it depends which book of the bible you read!!!).
I believe the bible puts the Great Flood at three to four thousand years ago. How could Noah and his wife have the technology to construct a boat of ninety thousand acres? Not to mention there being absolutely no geological evidence whatsoever of such a catastrophic flood of global dimensions so recently in geological history.
I accept that some museum specimens are plastic. This is because the original material is so precious that casts are made for public display.
Creationists are nutters. Now in YOUR face!
Lee Roy
Lee Roy
I am an Aethiest you silly bugger. This is what us evolved species call irony.
In your face
L.R. Sorry, this is what WE evolved species call irony. My grammar is worse than your sense of humour.
Father Ann: Ooops! I thought you were a Person of the Cloth!
But take care:
An aetheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What
beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the
river he heard a rustling in the
bushes behind him. He turned to
look. He saw a 7 foot grizzly
charge towards him. He ran as
fast as he could up the path. He
looked over his shoulder and saw
that the bear was closing in on
him. He looked over his shoulder
again, and the bear was even closer.
He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up
but saw the bear right on top of
him, reaching for him with his left
paw and raising his right paw to
strike him.
At that instant the Aetheist cried
out: "Oh my God!..."
Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky:
"You deny my existence for all of
these years, teach others I don't
exist, and even credit creation to
a cosmic accident. Do you expect
me to help you out of this
predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
The aetheist looked directly into
the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps could you make the BEAR a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice.
The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together and bowed his head and spoke:
"Lord, bless this food, which I am
about to receive from thy bounty
through Christ our Lord Amen.
(Just trying to redeem my sense of humor!)
Lee Roy
Oh look, I have just realised I can put my name at the top in black letters like everyone else!
Now, now no bickering in the ranks.
I'm feeling righteous since my purging at the deli. Actually, Berky's coffee is enough to purge the strongest of bowels.
What do you say Mr Lee Roy about the fact that every civilisation in the world has a flood myth? What d'ya say about bits of boat washed up on Mount Ararat that have been carbon dated pre 4000 years old? What d'ya say about the bits of dinasaur bones, polar bear bones, short toed lark bones and penguin bones found in amongst the remains of the said boat? Hey? That's wot I want to know.
I go along with Father Ann, but ONLY if they loved each other VERY much.
Ah, myths! Yes every culture has its own creation myth. There are 10 of them listed here.
My favourite is No. 10. Which is yours?
Now where have I heard that grizzly bear story before, and who was it who told me?
Hmmm .....
They are all quite interesting. I like the idea of spitting out a son and vomiting up a daughter, but DO NOT LIKE the idea of giving birth to an adult holding a sword. Ooo, ouch.
Good Lord! I go out shopping for the morning and return to find you are up to 167 comments! Are you after a blog award or something?
I have obtained the materials for the Great Taste Test on Saturday morning!
Talking about taste tests, can you tell the difference between wild salmon and farmed salmon?
L.
I'm also torn between writing a new blog and seeing if I can get a double ton.
L.
You are amazing! If anybody can generate 200 comments, it's you!
Thanks for the blogjacking madness at Martin's blog. I wonder what his regular readers (the silent ones) thought.
Lee Roy, are you really Lee Roy? Or are you the same person who pretends to be May, Clara and Estelle de Chevalier?
Keep aiming for the double ton I reckon!!!
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