Oh boy, they are anatomicly (sp.?) correct, aren't they? Those are really cool! It's always nice to have something in the garden that's extra-special, and I you found it! Not to mention, it could be fun when you're giving someone a tour of your garden to ask them if they notice a difference!

Hi, earthnut. How funny that this a.m. I happened upon this question and you mentioned my name. Actually, since my sweet little black ewe BaaBaa died last February at age 10, I'm down to just Ewenice and Peeper, both white but I'm honored that you remembered that I had sheep. Different breeds of sheep produce different amounts of wool from just a couple of pounds a year from Shetlands to as much as 18# from a Corriedale or other larger animal. (I cite 18 because I bought a fleece from a 2 y/o Corrie ram that did weigh that in the grease). When you skirt (remove all the really dirty, matted fiber from the edges of the fleece as it was shorn) and scour (wash) a fleece, you can lose easily 50% of the weight. My Peeper has a very greasy fleece that attracts mineral soil readily and her clean weights have been as little as 40% of grease weight. She's a big sheep with a dense fleece so there's still plenty of wool for spinning. When you card wool, you incorporate all the fiber into the preparation for spinning so there is less waste. I prefer to comb my wool for spinning which removes the shorter fibers but gives me a smoother more durable yarn for my projects. I get maybe 3-5% loss there (you can save these bits for felting or carding and spinning too so it's not actually throw away waste). Even my heaviest sweaters don't weigh much more than a pound so figure from there. Adult socks and mittens weigh 3-4 ounces, children's even less, maybe an ounce or two. My thick dubbelmossa cap weighs 7 oz but it's equivalent to two stocking caps folded together Also, you can weigh pants, coats, etc., deduct a bit for linings, zippers, buttons, and go from there. With woven items, you will have to figure loom waste--the ends of the warp that were not incorporated into the fabric. I don't weave so can't help with those amounts. With linen, I read an estimate that it took a little less than an acre of flax to provide all the textiles a person needed for a year. That included sheets, towels, undergarments, handkerchiefs, coarser fabrics for sacks to hold grain, flour, money, as well as shirts, dresses, trousers and such. I don't know how accurate it is but since I've processed flax from growing the plant to spinning, let me assure you that it's more physical work than wool ever thought about being. If you can find a copy of "The Fields" by Conrad Richter, there is an excellent passage about the main character's shearing a sheep and with the help of her daughters, spinning, weaving, dyeing and sewing a suit in a day for her son to wear when he graduated from an apprenticeship at reading the law to being able to practice with his father. This book is one of three that chronicles the settlement of Ohio through the life of a woman named Sayward Lucket. The first of the trilogy is "The Trees" and the last is "The Town." There was a made for tv movie about 20 years ago that was good but didn't live up to the books, as usual. "Land" would depend on the carrying capacity of a given parcel. It's usually expressed as units, meaning the amount of land needed for a cow/calf pair. I think 5-6 ewes represent a unit. In Missouri, we can support a unit on 2 acres when there is adequate moisture. There are a lot of other variables too, such as rotational grazing where you can keep more animals on less land if they graze a spot intensely for a short time with long resting intervals for regrowth of the grass. If this didn't answer your question or raised more, email me. Right now, I need to go feed Ewenice, Peeper and the rest of the crew.

Kath, I wasn't familiar with Mackellar's poem, thanks for posting it. UK book titles are the same as the Australian ones. Downunder is still a a recognised term for Australia here though I don't suppose they call England 'Upover' anymore than they used to refer to us as home. BTW I felt that Downunder was rather thin on substance. I don't think BB had spent long enough there. I never realised that A Town Like Alice had an American title. I remember when I first heard the book mentioned, as a child, it sounded 'unusual' but can't see why US readers seem not to be expected (by editors/movie folk) to be capable of dealing with the occasional oddity. Whatever the title I think it is still a cracking read. On the Beach is another one with a most unusual 'plot' that works surprisingly well . . . for a story dealing with nuclear fall-out. re Fuller's book. I think the title is Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight which has been well-recommended over here. I haven't read it but usually the expression 'going to the dogs' or if you are from London 'going down the dogs' means spending the evening at the local 'dog track' ie greyhound racing. I think the book is set in Rhodesia and I have no idea if there were any 'dog tracks' or if white people would have been seen there. 'Going to the Dogs' also means a deterioration in ones circumstances/business/way of life. Mary does any of the above appear in the book?

Vas did not send to me for thIs month of March....so Shirley (sjc) sent a wonderful nursery rhyme package to me. First of all, Shirley, you did not have to this. But I thank you very much. I just opened my package from Shirley (sjc).............and here is the fun she sent my way. Shirley, included several baggies, labeled 1-7.............very, very clever!!! *a beautiful hand made card......I LOVE your cards and no tweaking is necessary. #1 "Sing a song of six pence.".........Six colored pens....and do I need these big time....YES! #2 "A Pocketfull of Rye".....I bag of rye flakes to be used for cookies or cooked like old fashioned oatmeal.......I have never used rye flakes. #3 "4 and 20 Blackbirds Baked in a Pie"....LOL....lots of stickers...roosters, birds and flowers. I LOVE, LOVE stickers! #4 "When the pie was opened the birds began to sing. Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the King?".................a very generous bag of M &M's #5 "The King was in his counting house, counting out his money!".........lots of coin wrappers....for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. My husband loves these. Lots of memories wrapping coins..............LOL! #6 "The Queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey.".................several honey sticks........I love honey!! #7 ""The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes. Along came a blackbird and snipped on her nose."................clothes pins with birds on them....to cute! And seeds................ Beets Red Ace Tomato Amish Paste German Chamomile....I have never grown this!! Watermelon Shiny Boy Thank you so much Shirley. You are a JOY!! Annie