- Jun 4, 2012
- 710
- 15
- 201
I named my red star, Stella, which is star in Italian. There's also Estelle. It hadn't occurred to me that many people named hens, Henrietta, but that was my great aunt's name, who passed recently, and she was such a fun woman, I've considered it. You could say you're naming her after my Aunt Hank!Thanks..I thought they looked all cute sitting together and the orange tree made a nice backdrop.
Speaking of names I don't know what to call my marans or my red star. I was calling the rs Aster but it sound to much like a body part and a bodily function. So I started looking at the actual names of stars and found Capella which is pretty but I keep forgetting it. Cassiopeia also came to mind then I could just call her Cass but I don't feel satisfied with that either. Maybe Galileo or Copernicus I did a search for female astronomers and came up with several. Hypatia is one but that sounds like a skin condition. A woman named Henrietta Swan Leavitt also came up but everyone has a hen named Henrietta. Nothing is popping out so if you all have any good star names, please share. The marans are wide open too. Something French that doesn't sound pompous coming out of a country girls mouth would be niceCosette? Fantine? Eponine?
How nice that you name your girls after former teachers. Do they know? I would bet they would be thrilled. I have wanted to ask you about Rousseau. How did you come up with that for a hen. It seems to fit and you should know that while teaching the Enlightenment, I thought about her frequently.
Do you sing opera too? You are quite an accomplished woman!
I gave up trying to give French Marans French names because they never sounded right to me. I was trying to think of French names for Rousseau's babies, and wasn't happy with them, though Mimi was close. Rousseau is definitely a weird name for a hen, so I'm glad you like it! She was named after my aunt's persian cat, whom we took care of when I was a kid, and he was one of my all-time favorite cats. Rousseau the hen bore a striking resemblance to Rousseau the cat, so that's how that happened. Are you a history teacher? I was too, once upon a time! Bettina is my only brahma (before these babies), so she's the only one I named after a teacher - Bettina Aptheker from UCSC. I told her assistant once, who said Bettina would get a kick out of it, but don't know if she was told.So, opera, has been an interesting development! I always loved to sing and I really loved opera - it was one of the reasons I studied in Italy in college, but I never thought I could sing opera. I played piano seriously and thought that was my most realistic option, given people's responses to my playing v. my singing. But recently, after retiring from my sport and having time for a new hobby (other than farming), I started singing in choirs again, and then found a great teacher, and now I'm singing opera! I'm blown away by how much I could improve with just practice and a great teacher - I'm starting to think anyone could be an opera singer if they were just motivated enough. I'm not trying to make a profession out of it - I'm just thrilled to be able to sing some of my favorite arias and not have people (or pets) running from the room. What I really want to do is musical improv - like improvised musical theater. I've done a few workshops and it seems to be where my skills most align. So, we shall see! Never give up on your dreams, I say, even if you've put them on hold for awhile!
