Amelia's Menagerie

 Hi friends, folks, and family! I have not written here in years, and wanted to give a final goodbye to this space along with an update about my life.  Work: The Endless Toil I am currently working full time on a local farm, Den Hill Permaculture, growing gourmet mushrooms and organic vegetables. It is the most tiring, painful, and fulfilling job I have ever had. I never want to stop growing food. I have come to the conclusion that every human should work on a farm at some point, it's an important part of feeling like a real person and not so much of a cog in the system, and being outside is one of the nicest things about being alive. I love my job so much.  Mushrooms are a very important part of my life, a constant reminder of the life in the cycle of death, our interconnectedness, and on a purely taste level, a reminder to enjoy tasty food. This is the learning experience about working here which I am most thankful for, I am obtaining skills I will use for the rest of m...

Hello dear readers, It's been a minute, and I'm sorry. I can't promise or even expect to be better about this. Young me would be proud of where I am now, I'm growing avocado trees in my sun room, have a small menagerie I can give my full attention, I'm writing music, have found someone to sing love songs for, and I'm not failing calculus. However, I have certainly neglected my blog and I'm sorry. This is not me saying I won't be back, but it is me saying goodbye for now. Good things have an end, and I hope this was a good thing. Thanks for being part of my growing up. All the best, Amelia

Here are some songs from the recent gig we played at rising silo brewery :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIYKPGBmsx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AetwGI76qZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf1uI1Tzojc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDD5sIs6j7c

i got another pet. finally, my saltwater tank it stocked it has a shrimp, 5 hermit crabs, 5 snails, 5 corals, and one very special clownfish. his name is pasha. he's definitely a male, because all clownfish are until one become dominant and changes sexes to become a female. he will be getting a friend at some point, who will be named kashi. pasha and kashi, iconic duo. so yes, i did write a song for my newest pet. but you guys can't hear it right now (sorry) instead, i shall leave you with some glorious pictures and links to my newest videos. a quick clip of this dear soul my pet room tour

hello, it's me, writing yet another post (honestly, who am i? not just writing weekly but like daily?), this particular one is sure to get some people mad. a preface, i stand by what i say. however, i understand that other people have differing views and opinions, and i will treat them with my utmost respect, but i do ask that if you feel upset by this in any capacity, that you think about why that may be. i hope you understand that this is not me being mean to you, and that you can actually give this some serious thought. alright, enough with that. on to the post. hello dear friend! today we get to hop onto this lovely controversial subject that is: veganism. yes, it's me, your friendly neighborhood ethical vegan. apparently, some people feel threatened by the idea of eating plants only, so first i shall go into the diet aspect of veganism, and how it really is amazing and wonderful and doesn't suck, and then i will go into the ethics. first: you may think that you have ...

so, many people have been asking me how i write my own music (in case you didn't know, i write my own music), and i have decided to make a post on it. i'm gonna break it down into five steps. also, i'm adding some artsy pictures from my friends' music event last night as well as some other pics i've been taking. alright, on to the steps.  step 1:  get a pen you love along with some nice paper,  or use a typewriter. the point is, it needs to be  physical and unchangeable, even if you don't  like the lyrics you come up with at first, having them there for future reference or even another song is something that you won't regret, and is so easy to do. if i need to get some lyrics i have in my head down quickly, i tend to opt for my trusty electric typewriter, but if i'm making up lyrics as i go, i prefer paper and pen. most of  my songs are in my notebooks, scribbled by  night, and the next day i put them into docs so i can s...

new year, same me, new plans. get healthier (ditch those processed sugars and gluten) workout more hike weekly stop using plastic bags stop using plastic toothbrushes clear my acne go on as many roadtrips as possible go surfing as much as possible get to a surfboard half the size of the board i first rode (original was about 10 ft. 6 inches, board i want to ride will be 5 ft. 3 inches) go camping hike part of the appalachian trail go backpacking grow as many plants as possible make a few youtube videos swim with sharks swim with dolphins get a six pack do a one minute hand stand run a 5k participate in a triathalon host a party go to a party drop an album write a ton of music save as much of my money as possible stop neglecting this blog pray more journal more get closer to God read more books pray more journal more get closer to God read more books pray more journal more get closer to God read more books some goals for 2019. it's going ...

Hello dear friends! You have all been with me through so much, for many years, and even though i have neglected this blog, i hope you'll come back a few more times. Anyways, on to the subject at hand: a vegan cookbook, catered to vegans living with their omnivorous family. Since i went vegan over a year ago, i have come up with tons of recipes, omnivore approved or base recipes that are vegan and can be split into the fully vegan version and, if the other family members so choose, the omnivorous version.  I am focusing on classic foods hard to find affordable vegan options for, such as mac n cheese, biscuits and gravy, general tso's, "chicken" and dumpling soup, you get the idea. I'm very excited for this, and i think it is a fairly unique idea, so i'm very hopeful about how it will do :) Just wanted to let you guys know about that :) Have a fantastic day, and be kind!

oh hello, dear patient readers. i am incredibly sorry for being quite possibly the very worst blogger on the planet. i can't really even call my self a blogger anymore, to be completely honest, but the label i am known by matters not, for i am back! well, at least for this post. i cannot make any more promises, because i know i will break them if i do, but i will *attempt* to be better with regularly posting updates on the animals here. ah yes, the animals! so many incredible changes have been going on, some sad and some wonderful. first off, i no longer have ducks or  chickens. this was a hard decision to make, but i rehomed my flock of ducks and chickens to some of our friends who run a local farm. since i went vegan just over ten months ago, i kind of forgot about collecting eggs because, well, i no longer ate them. the ducks and chickens were pets that weren't being treated like pets, and weren't getting enough attention, so we gave them to our friends who have a creek ...

I always have goals. I try and reach them, but in all honesty, that's a rare occasion. It's not that I don't want to keep my cages clean, I just get distracted. It's not that I am not willing to put the work in to get fit, it's just, well, I get distracted, I am not consistent, or an event comes up that prevents me from doing my workout or eating well. I have never really had a real new year's resolution, but this year that is going to change. One 'resolution' or goal has been to get back to my vegan diet. I don't understand why people wait until new year to make resolutions; it makes sense to maybe come up with things to change for the new year, but if you want to change something about yourself, don't wait! Do it. That's what I did with going vegan. I didn't prepare days ahead, I just decided one day, hey, I have beans and rice and quinoa, that means I can get complete protein, I still have dairy free shakes, I can do this, and I did it...

hello there! hi, you, yes you, come on stop in for a minute! sorry for being absent for such a long time... i will try and be better about that, but no promises... see, i just started (just started meaning i started in august) community college, and while it is super  fun and awesome... it eats my time up. my priorities right now are as follows: 1. take care of myself on a day to day basis, as well as my animals 2. this is not less important per say, but just a bit less urgent, read my bible every day and go to  church every week. 3. turn schoolwork in on time with as good of a grade as i can muster. 4. keep cages clean 5. keep room clean that last one is getting a bit neglected... although  the other four are all doing pretty well, and all  have about equal priority. if you noticed,   keeping up with my blog and youtube channel  were not items on that list. that is on purpose. sorry for negl...

If someone ever says they know themselves, truly and wholly, I would not believe them. I learn new things about myself everyday. Some things I think I have known for a while, but I have never truly realized their depth. I have never realized that animals are a legitimate addiction, even though I have known it for years. My latest "these will be the last ones!" other than the fish, which tend to be okay since they don't add too much work. I never realized that whenever I ask for a new pet, I always, always, say, "After this, I will not ask for more. My collection will be complete." I realized that today when I asked Dad if I could get this little creature instead of a coldwater tank: "Please, Daddy! If I still want it by the time it is my birthday, can't I have it instead of my coldwater tank? I could empty all the water out, and it wouldn't take much care." What Dad said next went something like this: "It is not a...

I just got back from the beach last night, and it was fantastic. I made new friends, got a bit of a sunburnt face, and almost came home with a new rooster (which was living in the wild of the island), as I need a bantam one. We couldn't catch it, though, so...  no rooster. I discovered new twenty one pilots songs, one of which is right here, and you need to listen to it: Taxi Cab I have started playing the ukulele, and apparently I don't completely stink at it, because everyone always tells me to keep playing. I have a grand total of eight songs written, but most of them don't have actual music to go with them yet. I got to get back into fishing on this trip, and caught several needle fish, a yellow fin snapper, and some really pretty orange sea-bass looking fish. We didn't eat any because only one was barely big enough, and it was just too beautiful to kill. And I may just be a softie when it comes to killing animals... idk. My new friends are awesome, and may or m...

     Hi guys, I am so sorry for not writing in forever. I could apologize for paragraphs upon paragraphs, but that is boring ;). So, here are some things that have been going on lately! Bareback, of course :) I am going to ride Chessie with my friend, Anna, in a few days, and it will be a tackless (no bridle or saddle!) ride! \ Making rat hammock sets ( this one is for sale ) Making more rat hammocks. Making wreaths and garlands :) I also got a new rat cage, but don't really have any pictures of that yet... I will soon.                                                      Making youtube videos! So, I will be writing a proper post soon, but for now, I would say this is pretty good! Love you guys! -Amelia :)