I have Dorper sheep and I love them ; -) I actually have Dorper/St. Coix crosses, but they are high% Dorper. Dorpers are as you probably know, a hair sheep. While they do have a little wool, its not of any real value, and they usually shed out in the summer. They are primarily a meat sheep (and they are quite tasty) I don't eat mine LOL but I have eaten some from a friend, and boy is it some good meat. As a breed they are pretty hardy, and low maint. They seem to stay fat on air LOL I only feed mine when there isn't much grass to graze. If I do feed them, they get the same thing as my horses, a little grain, maybe some coastal hay, or a flake of alfalfa. They don't need much. Although they are pretty parasite hardy, you do need to worm them periodlically, sheep seem to be particularly sensiitve to a parasite load (much more so than my horses I;ve noticed) Dorpers are very friendly and easy going sheep, even the rams seem to be very sensible (at least the ones I've been around. I have 9 head, 8 ewes (that I hope are bred) and a wether. I use my sheep for training for my dogs. I have Border Collies and we compete in sheepdog trials. We're in Texas, so the hair sheep work really well with the intense heat and drought conditions that we have (Dorpers are native to South Africa) Here is my lamb that was born around the first of May, she was HUGE and I think very pretty, typical Dorper, black head, white body. Another ewe, she's a cutie too My Liz, with mom and new baby My Stella, with what we call a 'dog broke' wether. His name is Curly ; -) and he's trained a lot of sheepdogs LOL Good luck with your new sheep! I'm sure you'll love them ; -) now you just need a dog LOL, then you'll be in BIG trouble, talk about addictive! WHoa!

I actually managed to take a picture, so here is the little I can say. I received it last fall as part of what should have been a four rose French import from Vintage. One rose died at Vintage (for which I got a replacement) and one at my yard. I ended up with two hybrid teas and this climbing tea (Beate de l'Europe). Here they are In case it is difficult to guess which one is the climber :), it is on the far right. The rose in the middle which actually is trying to climb (just kidding) is Dr. O'Donel Browne, the mildewy rose on the left is Renaissance des Flecheurs, a replacement for Marie Ducher. I have heard that Beaute is an inferior sport/seedling of Mme Berard (which I also grow), so I thought it would be interesting to compare them. So far I can only say that no vigor has been apparent. It is not just "first year sleep", it seems to be in a coma :) We will see what happens when the weather warms up... I don't seem to find any time to post anywhere anymore, so I thought I would add a few of my other roses that are blooming now. Sorry for hijacking. Zephirine Drouhin Mme Berard Elie Beauvilain "Hoag House Cream" Pat Austin which fell into an azalea because of our recent rain and winds Barcelona inside a bridal wreath spirea Gloire des Rosomanes/Ragged Robin "Lykke Dazla". My rose got crown gall. By the time I discovered it there were still some roots left, so I cut out the gall and potted it up. So far so good. Mme Edouard Herriot. A lovely rose, very elegant. Unfortunately, the color does not photograph well. Isabella Sprunt

I bought an OTT or 2 last winter. Too expensive for what is delivered. Better off with aPphilips cool and daylight combo (6$ for 3 pack). I had to call the OTT company for specs as they were not on the box. They were clueless. They don't last very long either. I get my cfl bulbs at the link below. I like these guys. They are cheap friendly. well packed. I had one fritz on me, the fedex'ed me another right away. I use the 5100K 42's and the 5000K 85's. My plants took off like rockets! Honestly, I cringe at tubes now. They are more expensive to run too but I grow more than 200 plants. Neccessary evil in z-5. I use the cfls & tubes together . (4 tubes and 2 cfls shot in from the ends or from the front) when I have to instead of overdriving. Even with 23 W cfl's, It delivers about double the "sun power" in that config. Clara Here is a link that might be useful: Lightbulbs Direct website

Sorry for my misspellings up there. I was in a hurry and didn't proofread well... Yes, if you wait in line and drive onto the Bolivar Ferry, it's horrible. And the only reason to do that is if you actually want to go to Bolivar. But there is nothing there. Private beach houses before Ike, most of which were destroyed and I don't know if they've been rebuilt. But even before Ike, there was no reason at all to go to Bolivar unless you owned a beach house or wanted to get from Galveston to Port Arthur (or Louisiana) without going through Houston. DO NOT wait in the car line. The boat trip is fun in and of itself. It's free and you can park and catch the next ferry with no wait. Remember: The point of the ferry is the boat ride itself, NOT the destination. Kemah can be fun if you do want to get off the island but keep in mind that it is very geared toward taking your $$$. Restaurants are $$$ and are all owned by Landry's (which also owns several spots in Galveston so nothing you can't already get). There are some "shoppe" shops but they don't sell anything terribly unique or exciting and the activities are geared toward kids. If you are really looking for something to get you off the island, go ahead and go there. Otherwise I'd skip it. As far as the condition of the beaches, it depends on the time of year. They aren't as bad in the summer as they are in early spring. The water is brown because Galveston is down from the Mississippi River and the sand/mud mixes in with the water. It's not really "dirty" although it looks that way. In any case, unless you go in late May or into the summer, it will probably be too cold to swim in anyway. For a slightly nicer setting drive away from the seawall (to the right as you face the Gulf) to where many of the private beach houses are. There are public beaches down that way which are less crowded and less commercial although not as easily accessible. Explore if it sounds good to you.