Celebrating E.A. Poe's 206 Birthday on January 19th with artwork

Print by Robotic Ewe available here

Penny Printable's E.A. Poe--The Raven print available through Society6

Abigail Larson's "Edgar Allan Poe" print available at Society 6

Deck the hens with crocheted sweaters

It has been unseasonably warm here in North Alabama, with early January temperatures reaching the mid-sixties. That has changed this week, however, and temps are dropping to the single digits, so I decided to crochet our 4 hens sweaters to keep them extra warm over the next couple of days. I found the free crochet pattern here, and they've turned out wonderful (except my hens required less length than the pattern called for). Check out the pic below!

Happy OWLidays! Some great owl art prints

The Girl and the Owl 

Owl print

"Parakeets": A poem by Grace Nichols

Parakeets

by Grace Nichols

Parakeets wheel

                 screech

                     scream

in a flash of green

among the forest trees

sunlight smooth their feathers

cool leaves soothe their foreheads

creeks are there for beaks

lucky little parakeets

Crows and Ravens in Mythology

John James Audubon

Read more about the Raven and Crow in various mythologies around the globe.

BBC News: Crows know familiar human voices

Birds in Art: Valentine Cameron Prinsep's "Il Barbagianni"

Valentine Cameron Princep's "Il Barbagianni" features the beautiful barn owl, or  Tyto Alba. 

Princep painted this piece one year after the death of the female model in the painting, Lizzie Siddal. Read more about this painting on the blog, The Beautiful Necessity.

Birds in Shakespeare: "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

The ouzel cock, so black of hue

with orange-tawney bill,

the throstle with his note so true,

The wren with little quill---

The finch, the sparrow, and the lark,

the plainsong cuckoo gray,

whose note full many a man doth mark

And dares not answer "Nay"---

(A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 110-113, 115-118)

Resource:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, edited by Mario Digangi

Other articles/sites concerning Shakespeare and birds:

BBC NEWS: The birds of Shakespeare cause US trouble

Shakespeare's Ornithology