All About Animals discussion

Welcome to the group Pippa. Glad you can join us.

Hi, I am Jacob! But call me Cat Man or Jake! I LOVE CATS! I AM CRAZY ABOUT THEM. Soon I will adopt more cats someday don't worry. I love reading and writing. I mostly just read books about Cats or something with cats. I do karate and I am a purple belt going to be purple stripe. I have one cat named Bella and I have lots of Cat Pictures! I am nice! I volunteer at my local humane association.
Meows and Purrs!
Jacob (Cat Man) (Jake)
P.S. I will also get more Cats soon!

Welcome Jacob and glad you're here.

Barbara wrote: "Welcome Jacob and glad you're here."

I was already here but I didn't post yet...

Welcome Jacob!

I'm the author of "Enslaved by Ducks," "Fowl Weather," and "Kitty Cornered," which are all books about our pets. I'm working on a new book, tentatively titled "Love Birds," about birding, wild birds, and my wife, Linda.

Hi Bob, Welcome to the group. Someone has nominated your book to read for our upcoming read. The group votes on which book we read.

I will have to look into your books on birds. I already read the book, "A Supremely Bad Idea" by Luke Dempsey and really enjoyed it.

I didn't think I would like bird books even though I love watching birds. But, it turns out I do like bird books. I'm going to check yours out.

Bob wrote: "I'm the author of "Enslaved by Ducks," "Fowl Weather," and "Kitty Cornered," which are all books about our pets. I'm working on a new book, tentatively titled "Love Birds," about birding, wild bird..."

I have your book, "Fowl Weather", which I bought at the bookstore recently. What made me want to buy it, wasn't so much the subject because I am interested in reading about animals in general, or the reviews on the back of the book, I actually bought it because of line on the front cover: "How thirty-nine animals and one sock monkey took over my life", After that I did read the back of the book but I liked that line so much I had already decided that I was going to buy it that day.

Hi! My name is Connie Newcomb. I LOVE dogs. I am surrounded by them. I live with eight chihuahuas. I also have a bossy Japanese chin and slightly nutty little mutt named Penny Lane. I also have a very patient husband named Jim and two grown children. In 2008 I decided to learn to be a show dog handler. I wrote about my adventures in my book, DOG SHOW CONFIDENTIAL (Sneaking in the Back Door of Westminster) Check out my website http://dogshowconfidential.com

Thanks, Barbara. I've read "A Supremely Bad Idea" and enjoyed it. Another really great book about birding is "The Big Year." I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the book twice and highly recommend it. I wasn't really into birds when I first read it in 2003, but loved it anyway.

Jennifer, I hope you enjoy "Fowl Weather." The sock monkey appears in chapter one in an attempt to keep our parrot Stanley Sue off the countertop.

Connie wrote: "Hi! My name is Connie Newcomb. I LOVE dogs. I am surrounded by them. I live with eight chihuahuas. I also have a bossy Japanese chin and slightly nutty little mutt named Penny Lane. I also have a v..."

Welcome to the group Connie. I love the name Penny Lane. I will check out your site too.

Bob wrote: "Thanks, Barbara. I've read "A Supremely Bad Idea" and enjoyed it. Another really great book about birding is "The Big Year." I haven't seen the movie, but I've read the book twice and highly recomm..."

I saw the movie but haven't read the book.

Welcome Connie!

Hi, I took my name from my favourite wolf story: Alba, the Last Wolf by David Stephen.
I live alone in a cottage in a wood. My sole companion is a rabbit called Mr Laurie (Lil Loll). I used to have several rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, zebra finch, and, over my "long life", I've had eight dogs.
I am now a pensioner and no longer enjoy the best of health but I do still manage to read and reread my favourite books. I also do a spot of writing myself and dabble in drawing and painting. But I spend most of my spare time watching the wildlife around the cottage and making copious notes on their behaviour.
I have gathered quite a large library of animal/nature fiction and each book I treasure as if it were a child. The first books I ever bought were from a school book group when I was eleven (fifty years ago) and they are The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford and Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson. Both are paperbacks and I'm proud to say that after numerous readings the only signs of age they sport are yellowing pages.
Another passion of mine is music and I have a varied field of likes... Noah and the Whale, The Pogues, Massive Attack and Coldplay. I also like listening to Grieg and Mendelssohn and Beethoven. But I am first and foremost a Wholigan!
Being a bit of a technophobe I do as little as possible on line. I don't have a web site, I'm not on Facebook or Twitter and I run a mile at the suggestion I venture there!

Lastwolf, your life sounds like a storybook in itself to me - if I'm ever lost in the woods and losing sight of the trail of breadcrumbs I'm following, I hope its the light in the window of your cottage that I spot shining between the treetrunks.

Lastwolf, do you have a kindle? Your combined interest in music and animals makes me want you to read something I've written and if you have a kindle I'd like to gift it to you.

Tui...
Sorry, no I don't have a Kindle. I only just managed to scrape together enough cash to buy my lap top.

All the books I read are BOOKS, good old fashioned print on paper. I am good at sniffing out a good animal book in my local charity shops and second hand book stores.
I have over a thousand books and tomorrow I face the daunting task of moving them all (plus almost a thousand CDs) so I can decorate my sitting room.
I must confess to being pro book... I just love the feel, the smell and the sheer "cosiness" of a book.
I only bought a laptop to help with my writing. My old type writer packed up and the laptop was a must.

As for my life being a storybook... well, it's had its moments!
I've spent most of my life as a carer looking after, first, my mother then my father and two aunts. I never got to take up my place in college to study for a career in journalism. But I've compensated by reading... reading... READING. And, every so often penning my own tales.

Since you love print books, you might not want to buy a kindle, but what say there is an occasional book you can't get any other way, then you might not want to miss out. There is a way around that.
You go to this page below:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...

It allows you to download a free app very easily to suit your system. Then you could read kindle e-books on your computer without an actual kindle.

There are many books these days which are coming out in just e-book form alone, or they are e-book and print but in those cases the e-book is often far far cheaper than the print version. It could be something for you to consider. Then you can read with a nice big font which I find the greatest advantage of e-books for my older and very weak eyes.

Thanks Tui...
I might give it a try. But I warn you, I really am a technophobe. I am also a "cursor" reader.
I just cannot imagine reading a full length story on my laptop.... I find myself getting frustrated when writing on it.
I guess I've been so used to holding a book in my hands and turning those wonderful pages.
But I promise I will try it out.

I have found abe a great place to buy books (especially older out of print books)and a friend of mine usually gets them for me as I don't do any online financial dealing.... Did I mention I am a technophobe?

Don't believe you Lastwolf, or you wouldn't be coping so beautifully with Goodreads, which is beyond the capabilities of many folks out there.

hehehe!
Just been called to rescue my blokes out cycling - they've had a mecahnical failure and need to be picked up form a mountainside. back soon.

Lastwolf wrote: "Thanks Tui...
I might give it a try. But I warn you, I really am a technophobe. I am also a "cursor" reader.
I just cannot imagine reading a full length story on my laptop.... I find myself gettin..."

I wouldn't be able to read a book on my laptop either.

And, Welcome...Lastwolf.

Hi Barbara... Thanks for the Welcome. I seem to have found a nice little reading colony and already I feel quite at home.

I think I have reached my maximum in computer/internet skills. I can do all I WANT to do and I'm the type of person who, once they have attained their goal won't open their mind and go further. Some might say I'm lazy, some stubborn. But the truth is I'm JUST NOT INTERESTED, and this doesn't stop with computers, it's most things. I have a short interest spam (not attention, just interest).
But to read a book on my laptop is more a physical impossibility. I have arthritis in my lower spine and in my neck and it means I can't sit (or stand) for very long. Virtually all my reading is done lying in bed.

Lastwolf, I always think, "can't be bothered" is a great response because how can anyone argue with it? I use it for all sorts of things, and no-matter what they say to persuade me I just say, "Sorry, I can't be bothered." End of story. they soon give up and go away. :)

But I must still add that e-readers are lighter to hold than a paperback book, and can be held in one hand and a thumb movement of a few millimetres is all that is required to turn the page on some models (not the touchscreens.)
I also love the big fonts and the e-ink, which are so much easier on my tired old eyes.

You will never woo me away from my one true love. Books and me have a fifty+ year marriage and I will not. can not be unfaithful ... lol.

And really it's not that I can't be bothered... I can't be bothered to do the ironing! Seriously, I have reached my cut off point where computers are concerned. It happened with my MP3... I love it and my Walkman CD player but I have no inclination to get an iplayer (or whatever they are called).
I don't even use a mobile phone.
I may be more than a technophobe... I may be OLD FASHIONED!

In full agreement about the ironing. My bloke is looking our for a set of instructions on ironing for me just in case the spirit ever moves me to pick up the damn thing.

I thought of ironing because the only exercise mine gets is when I wash curtains.... and, guess what? I've washed my sitting room curtains today and will have to iron them before I hang them again tomorrow. It's one of the worst parts of decorating... the other is cleaning the brushes.

Hey... off subject, but have you any idea what's happened to my old/out of print thread in the Questions forum? I went to have a look to see if anyone had posted and it seems to have evaporated into the ether.

You wash curtains? What a novel idea!

Lastwolf wrote: "You will never woo me away from my one true love. Books and me have a fifty+ year marriage and I will not. can not be unfaithful ... lol.

And really it's not that I can't be bothered... I can't be..."

Most of the time I am still the same way with books, I prefer print over eBooks. I only recently bought an e-reader, a Kindle.
I usually only switch to new things, with the exception of video game systems, when something forces me to. I didn't give up my CD player for an MP3 player until about three or four years ago. The reason was that many of my CD's were getting scratched and becoming unplayable due to my managing to always do something to break the CD case, so when storing them they usually ended up getting scratched. A couple years later, I switched from an MP3 player to an iPod because I had a lot of trouble putting music from iTunes onto it, which I found is often cheaper for me to buy music from there based off the fact that I often only want one or two songs on an album. I am in the process now of getting money for a more advanced iPod now because some of the apps I found and like now require something that my current iPod doesn't have.
For eBooks, I bought my first ones when I found out about the iBook store and all the free books on it. Later on, I began buying eBooks after I had bookshelf collapse on my computer. I then started to buy any books I wanted to buy new from the iBook store for the ones that I could find there. I also now check out more books from the library than I used to because I return them when I am done, and don't have to keep them on a shelf. I do buy a lot of books from library book sales still, which is actually once a month, but I make sure that all heavy books are either on bottom shelves or the floor for storage until I read them. And now, after I read books, if they are print, I no longer put them on shelves to store. They either go in boxes and get put in the attic, are donated to the library for their book sales, or are sold either at garage sales or to the used book store, which I also occasionally shop at.
Later, there were some Kindle exclusive books that I wanted to get. I held off for a while and downloaded them onto my computer, even though I can't read on my computer, which is a desktop because I don't like laptops too much. Now, I am a book layout designer and I convert people's books to either print, eBook, or both. I thought it might be helpful if I used, not just the Kindle previewer on my computer, but a real Kindle as well to look at the books, so I bought the most advanced Kindle I could and I am now using it a lot more than I expected to. I now use my iPod and Kindle for most of the things I do everyday. My iPod is used to check my email on, play some games, music, read some books (although I am now getting most of my books on my Kindle, I have decided I like this better for books.), and do as much as I can on Goodreads with the iPod app. My Kindle is being used now for work, reading books, other things on Goodreads such as scanning books directly onto my to read and currently reading shelves on Goodreads as well as rate and review books since these things work better with the Kindle app, and do a few things on the web, and watch TV shows that aren't on TV anymore with the Hulu app. With these things I actually use my computer only for work purposes and anything my devices can't do. I am hoping this will extend the life of my computer since it is the device I actually need the most.
As far as other things go, I only have a basic cell phone to use if I need it. When I write books, I do all my writing on paper in notebooks first and eventually type the stories into the computer, artwork is done the same way. For DVD's I have my game system's or a cheap portable DVD player that I got for the DVD's that don't have captioning or subtitles since I have some hearing problems when it comes to what people say. I have a few Blu-ray DVD's, but buy more regular DVD's, because most of the time I can't see the difference, except for with animated movies and TV shows so I have only half switched over here. I have an HDTV that my mom very recently got for me, but only because my other TV was going bad, we don't actually have HD service. We did for a short time, but it wasn't worth it since no one in my family can see any difference between HD and standard.
So, for me, I am one of the last people I know to switch to new devices, with that video game system exception, which may actually change this year. This year I am actually only likely to get one out of the four new systems that are being released because there are too many things I don't like about the new ones.

I'm so last the things obsolete before I get it!

And yes, I do wash curtains... quaint, what?

Hi. I'm Elizabeth from PA. Unfortunately, I don't have any animals of my own. My apartment building doesn't allow pets. However, my favorite animal by far, is horses. I think they are one of the most gorgeous and majestic creatures that God put on the face of the earth.

I also enjoy reading Christian fiction, mysteries, biographies/memoirs.

Welcome Elizabeth. My sister has two horses. Maybe you could go riding in your area somewhere. I wish more rental places would allow pets. Right now, we have two dogs.

Barbara wrote: "Welcome Elizabeth. My sister has two horses. Maybe you could go riding in your area somewhere. I wish more rental places would allow pets. Right now, we have two dogs."

Some of the other apartment buildings in the area do allow cats and small dogs. Mine does not. Even growing up, I never had a lot of pets. I did have a couple of goldfish, lol, and a hamster! We lived near the city, my Dad was born & raised on a farm, and he was always of the firm belief that dogs should have a lot of room to run, a lot more room than we had.

I agree that there is no animal so majestic as a horse. Was it Winston Churchill who said "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."
But to me, the most majestic MARINE animal is the whale and the most beautiful is the dolphin. And this world has the wrong name after all. 70% of it is ocean so it should not be called Earth but Ocean.

Tui wrote: "I agree that there is no animal so majestic as a horse. Was it Winston Churchill who said "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."
But to me, the most..."

You are right about that quote. It was Winston Churchill. One if my favorite quotes, naturally!

I think dolphins are amazing! They are very beautiful as you say.

My apologies; I had a problem with my account and pretty much had to start over; hope it's OK I rejoined.

Thanks.

Lastwolf wrote: "Hey... off subject, but have you any idea what's happened to my old/out of print thread in the Questions forum? I went to have a look to see if anyone had posted and it seems to have evaporated into the ether. ..." What was it about? maybe I moved it? It could have just got pushed down as people post. Did you look on the next page?

Elizabeth wrote: "My apologies; I had a problem with my account and pretty much had to start over; hope it's OK I rejoined.

Thanks."

Yes, that's great.

Hi Everyone, I have been a member of goodreads for a while now but have only just stumbled across this group. I really wish I'd found it earlier!
I am a happily married aussie mother of a very active two year old boy. We share our home with a very spoilt beagle named Evie (my first born!), two cheeky cats named Cleo and Ceasar and a muscovy duck named Peking.
I'm an accountant by trade who also did a stint as a vet nurse for a few years when accounting wasn't making me happy anymore. Since having our son I've gone back to accounting purely for financial reasons but still have a very deep love of animals and am counting down to when we can sell our small home and buy a larger one on some land so we can increase our fur and feathered brood.
I can't wait to get to know everyone else on here!

Hi, Michelle.
You've found the best group for lovers of animals and anilit (is that a new name for animal stories?).

Michelle wrote: "Hi Everyone, I have been a member of goodreads for a while now but have only just stumbled across this group. I really wish I'd found it earlier!
I am a happily married aussie mother of a very acti..."
Hi Michelle, I'm glad you found the group too. Maybe you didn't earlier cause I just started this group last year. I wish I had lots of land too to rescue a lot of animals but I don't. Anyway, welcome, and join in.

Hi everyone my name is Sharon and I've just joined this group. So pleased to have found this group as I love animals. My husband and I have a very spoilt 12 year old Red Heeler x female dog. Although we have only had her for 5 years it feels like we've had her for 12. Really looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading.

Hi Sharon, welcome to the group!!! Is your dog a rescue dog?

Thanks Jami. Yes she was in a boarding kennel it was a marriage seperation and neither of her owners wanted her after having her for 7 years. But she is such a great dog very friendly and loveable.

Awww, that is so sweet. My shih-tzu was also the product of a broken marriage - nobody wanted her either. She was only 3 months old then and she just turned sweet 16!

Wow 16 years old that's a great age. I bet you spoil her just like I do with mine. Mine is named Gypsy what's the name of yours?

My girl is Penny. I also had a senior rescue, who we think was around 12 when he was rescued. He was a beagle basset mix names Winston, but unfortunately, he passed away due to old age. I also have a trip cat (Oscar) and an orange cat (Leo)! Is Gypsy an only "child"? Yep, my guys are definitely spoiled too!!!!

Penny is a lovely name. It's the hardest part when they get old you just want them to live forever. You also have cats I love cats as well but I'm afraid Gypsy doesn't. Yes Gypsy is an only child but she was with her other owners as well. We thought about getting another one but she gets anxiety. She will lick her paws when ever I am out of her sight. I was advised by my vet getting another one would most likely make her worse.

Sharon wrote: "Penny is a lovely name. It's the hardest part when they get old you just want them to live forever. You also have cats I love cats as well but I'm afraid Gypsy doesn't. Yes Gypsy is an only child b..."

Penny does the paw licking thing too which the vet said is also anxiety. She started doing it when she started losing vision a year ago. I got Penny from a small town on upstate NY called. "Penn Yan,NY". If you take the comma out, you get her full name of Penny Anny!! It has been hard watching her age but it also has been a blessing having the privilege of seeing her to this point! Plus she's still healthy and her tail wags constantly so I know she's still my happy girl!