A lion or a lamb — how will March make room for April? The forecast shows a gentle departure, so perhaps more woolly than furry this year.
A tribute to sheep seems appropriate for today’s column. For those who have always wanted to have pet sheep, “The Backyard Sheep: An Introductory Guide to Keeping Productive Pet Sheep” offers advice and guidance for caretakers of Little Bo-Peep’s crew. If you don’t want to count sheep in your backyard, but counting sheep in your head isn’t curing your insomnia, check out “Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications.” Get ready to go baaa-ck to sleep.
I enjoy wearing wool scarves during the winter months, but I know next to nothing about the wool industry. “Raw Material: Working Wool in the West” tells one knitter’s search for local yarn, her side job as a sheep shearer, and her inside view into the textile industry. Related to the production of wool but from the perspective of a shepherd, “The Shepherd’s View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape” offers full color photographs of the English Lake District including sheep competitions, sheep dogs at work and a shepherd’s view of a way of life very different from the hustle and bustle of modern times.
Finally, when I think of sheep — all farm animals, really — I think of James Herriot. His “All Creatures Great and Small” is a classic memoir of Herriot’s adventures as a veterinary surgeon in England. Add “The Wonderful World of James Herriot” to your sheepish reading list.
