About Me

My photo
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

Follow me on Twitter

Share a link on Twitter

My Blog List

Blog Archive

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

Search This Blog

Sunday 24 August 2008

Another animal post

This house-sit, as I mentioned before, involves chooks. There are five of them; all young and just coming into full lay. They are very tame and will even let me stroke them, which I've never before known chooks to do. Their "mum", (aka Ellen) tells me it's because they have been bred not just for their excellent laying (they turn out lovely brown eggs in profusion) but also for their docility.

They are Isa Browns; not a true breed but a cross between a Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island White and originating from France, where they were deliberately developed in the 1970s by the Institut de Sélection Animale, hence the ISA. I tried to photograph the five of them this week but in the end I had to take a video to get them all in. Even now they are not all in view at once so you'll have to believe me when I say there are five. Not that it matters; I suspect that if you've seen one Isa brown you've seen 'em all!

In other animal news, I just received a photo of my latest "grandchild". My son Kurt and his partner Erinn bought a cute little five-week-old puppy three months ago. They called
him Fenris. Now, Fenris was the hellhound in Norse mythology, and at five weeks the pup didn't look anything like a hell hound, did he? However, he is now four months old and just look at him! He is looking more and more like a real one as the weeks go by. Kurt thinks he'll be waist high by Christmas, and I wouldn't be surprised if his prediction comes true. How can one teensy weensy pup grow so much in such a short time? Well, he is of Irish Wolfhound stock, which just might account for it!:-)

Update 16 July 2011: Over the last month, this post has, for some reason I don't understand, become the most popular post on the blog! If you are reading this, will you please take time to leave a comment and tell me why you landed on this page? It's a mystery to me!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would seem you make a delicious mash!

hrugaar said...

Cute chooks. :)

I love Irish Wolfhounds. And Fenris is a cool name (he'll be chief of the household secret police in no time, heh).

Satima Flavell said...

Yes, the chooks do love their mash but it's not down to me - more like they are cold in the morning and just love getting their beaks around something hot! (Me too - porridge, mmm)

I wonder if you've read Joe Abercrombie's recent trilogy, Ru? Juliet and I both loved it and were quite delighted when Kurt called the puppy Fenris. In Abercrombie's books, Fenris the Feared is a psychopathic gladiator type with magic that makes him able to repair his injuries instantly. Not your average secret police chief - or I hope not, anyway!

Anonymous said...

We must have got our wires crossed somewhere Mum, Fenris is Great Dane/Bull Mastiff. Still cute though :)

Jo said...

I thought he didn't look like he had any Irish Wolfhound in him. Great name for a dog. Difficult to call though.

Satima Flavell said...

Oh, apologies to Fenris! Your mother, Kurt, is obviously losing it in her old age. Or perhaps she never had it in the first place...

But I do remember now that you told me he was a GD / BF cross. I somehow decided that this was just the same an Irish Wolfhound. Well, just as big, anyway!

hrugaar said...

So now you can call the adoptive grandson Fenris the Furred. :)

No, haven't read Abercrombie, though I had at least heard of the books, which makes a nice change!

Satima Flavell said...

ROTFL! I'll take that on board, Ru.

For anyone who likes darkish fantasy with realistic charcaters - give Abercrombie a go.

Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...

Satima --

I suppose puppies and kittens grow up as fast as babies.

Marilyn

Satima Flavell said...

They must grow faster, Marilyn. Even doing the one year for seven conversion, Fenris is only three and a half. I've never met a three and a half year old human who came up to my hip - thank heavens!

But, yeah, they all grow too fast, whether human bubs or kittens or puppies or whatever. They aren't babies for long - and then, lord help us, they suddenly turn into teenagers!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the refreshing and nice 'pou-poules' video (in french :poule = Hen)

Satima Flavell said...

Et les ISA sont vraiment poules francaises - et comme toutes les francaises, elles sont belles, n'est-ce pas?

I'm tempted to make an inter-lingual pun about how elles ont chic but as their eggs never become chicks it wouldn't be right!:-)

hrugaar said...

Then that'd be sans chic ... but at least they're not hors d'oeufs. :)

Um, what do you do with their eggs, Satima, as you've said you don't eat them yourself?

Satima Flavell said...

Or camp followers (hors de combat) Me, I prefer to follow straight guys anyway:-) (Gee, how punny can we get here?)

I am foisting lovely fresh eggs onto all my friends, and lemons and silver beet too. Pity you guys aren't here to share the spoils.

Anonymous said...

Hi Satima...I enjoyed meeting the sweet chookies and spending time with you last weekend. Enjoy your stay in Perth...stay warm....and when the sun starts to blare and burn, think of me on the other side of the world shivering my noogies off! xxx

Satima Flavell said...

Oh, great to hear from you, Cam! You must get a blog when you go back to the States as it's a really fun way to stay in touch and to disseminate info. Kinder than email, too, because friends don't feel obliged to reply when they have nothing to say! Just a word to say, "Yes, I'm still alive and thinking of you" is enough to keep the link alive.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...