Bloomin' Marvellous was a British BBC situation comedytelevision show written by John Godber and starring Clive Mantle and Sarah Lancashire, about a married couple in their thirties who decide to start a family. Bloomin' Marvellous was shown during 1997. Research Bloomin' Marvellous
Darby and Joan were an English loving, old-fashioned and virtuous couple who lived during the early 18th century, John Darby dying in 1730. They were immortalised in a ballad by Henry Woodfall. Research Darby and Joan
An epithalamium is a nuptial song or poem in praise of a bride and bridegroom. Among the Greeks and Romans it was sung by young men and maids at the door of the bridal chamber of a new-married couple. Research Epithalamium
Honeymoon is traditionally the thirty days following marriage. The term originates from the Teutonic tradition of drinking honey-wine (hydromel) for thirty days after marriage. In modern times the term refers to a short holiday taken by the couple following their marriage. Research Honeymoon
Mind reading, formerly called thought reading or the willing game, is a performance that was popularised in Britain in 1881 by the professional entertainers Stuart Cumberland and Bishop. In the original performance, the thought reader, often blindfolded, performed any simple action decided on in his absence by the spectators, provided that his hand after he entered the room was in contact with a person who knows what the performer is required to do. In London in 1907, a Danishcouple, the Zancigs, impressed audiences with their variation in which the couple were not in contact, thus eliminating the possibility of passing physical information. Later the performance developed into the performer guessing objects chosen in secret by the audience, often with the assistance of his assistant who would pass visual and verbal clues in secret to the performer, thus giving the impression that the performer can read the thoughts or minds of the audience. Research Mind Reading
Sex is a division of living organisms based upon their reproductive capabilities. This then leads to two main divisions: male and female. The term gender meaning sex is actually a colloquialism, sex is the correct term to use when referring to 'male' or 'female' organisms, gender being properly used when referring to classes of nouns and pronouns in grammar. In its widely understood slang form, sex refers to intimate physical contact between two animals. In most animals the purpose of sexual intimacy is for procreation, and to this end the male and females of the species are only attracted to one another at such time when the female is fertile. In the humananimal, however, sexual intimacy has a dual purpose. The primitive reproductive element still exists, but is very much secondary to the primary purpose of pair bonding, and this explains the elaborate and involved mechanisms of the human sexual intimacy which are not restricted to simple penetration, but encompass touching, kissing, licking and sucking. Because of the nature of the humananimal, in the natural state the female requires the services of her male partner long after the initial fertilisation. To retain the males attention, the couple embark on pair bonding and continue pair bonding throughout their relationship. Sexual intimacy in humans in essential in creating and strengthening this pair bond, hence the expression 'making love' and the belief in many cultures that if a woman swallows a man's semen that she will 'love him too much'. Far from being 'wrong' sexual intimacy and pleasure are essential to human pair bonding. Sex (whether solo - masturbation - or with others) also has major health benefits. It reduces stress, relaxes participants, aids sleep and stimulates and encourages the immune system. Research Sex
A sex game is a form of involved sexual intimacy peculiar to the humananimal. While other animals participate in kissing, grooming and other pair-bond strengthening acts of affection, only the humananimal uses sexual intimacy to strengthen and preserve the pair bond which is so essential to humans in the natural state. Sex games are often thought of as perverse or unnatural, since they have no direct requirement in the production of offspring. This view, though, fails to recognise the important emotional bonds which are strengthened between the partners, reducing the likelihood of the male partner deserting the female and the offspring. In reality sex games are one of nature's ways in ensuring that the couple will continue to cooperate, thereby increasing the chances of the offspring's survival in the natural, wild, state. Research Sex Game
In western cultures wedding anniversaries are traditionally associated with the giving of gifts made of materials which vary depending upon the number of years the couple has been married. Similarly, wedding anniversaries are also known by the material, so the 25th wedding anniversary is popularly known as the 'silver wedding anniversary' after the material associated with it. While there are variations to the list, a general one follows: 1st Paper 2nd Cotton 3rd Leather 4th Fruit 5th Wood 6th Sugar 7th Copper 8th Bronze 9th Pottery 10th Tin 11th Steel 12th Silk 13th Lace 14th Ivory 15th Crystal 20th China 25th Silver 30th Pearl 35th Coral 40th Ruby 45th Sapphire 50th Gold 55th Emerald 60th Diamond 70th Platinum Research Wedding Anniversaries
The Gute sheep is the most primitive breed in the collection of breeds that make up the Swedish Landrace breed group. These breeds belong to the North European Short Tailed Breeds and are related to such breeds as the Finnsheep, Romanov, Spelsau, Shetland, Faroe, Orkney and Icelandicsheep. Landrace sheep on the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea were little affected by the importation to Sweden of several long tailed foreign breeds during the 18th and 19th century. The native sheep had a coarse wool of several colours. The vast majority of the rams were horned while females could be either horned or hornless. Few sheep were truly polled, i.e. having depressions on the head at the horn sites. Before 1911 four-horned animals existed. Around 1920 selection among the pure Gotland landrace started, to produce sheep, that were polled in both sexes, with a curly coat and of a uniform grey colour of a decided shade. This selection eventually resulted in the modern Swedish Pelt (sometimes referred to as Gotland Pelt). The Swedish name of that breed
is Palsfar.
After a couple of decades only a few horned sheep with the original type of wool were left. Around 1930 Edward Graelert founded a flock of horned sheep, collected mainly from the north of Gotland. After some years four others, Nils Dahlbeck, Carl Fries, Konrad Hellsing and Arvid Ohlsson also became involved with preserving horned sheep. In 1940 probably less than 20 adult sheep existed in horned flocks on Gotland. In the beginning of the breed a few more horned animals were bought in from polled flocks.
The numbers of Gute sheep have steadily increased and numbers in 1996 were around 4500 ewes and 500 rams in 450 flocks in Sweden with some flocks in Denmark and Germany as well. The most common colour is grey. Dark grey animals have black legs and head while light grey ones also have white and tan hair on these parts of the body. Grey sheep have light hair around the eyes and muzzle. Black sheep occur but it is not certain if these are true black or just very dark grey.
White sheep are seldom pure white, but instead they often have tan patches on the neck and other parts of the body. A few individuals with less common colours have been seen. Almost all non-white sheep have white markings. This can vary from only a small white star on the forehead to a blaze and white tail and white legs. It seems that the light grey sheep have larger white areas than the dark grey ones. Some sheep are piebald.
The wool is coarse, and may be straight or wavy. It is a mixture of fine wool, long coarser hair and kemp fibres. On the neck and along the throat the sheep have long thick mane hair, much more in males than in females. The grey wool is a mixture of white and black fibres, the fine wool is then white and the coarser hair black. In light grey individuals many fibres are tan. In dark grey individuals some of the finer wool is black. The sheep never have wool in the face or on the tip of the tail. Most sheep shed their fleece partly or entirely in the beginning of the summer. Research Gute
Toadflax (Linaria) is a genus of herbs of the natural order Scrophulariaceae. Natives of Europe and western Asia, the flowers are tubular, with a hollow spur, and the mouth is closed by a couple of lips, which can only be opened by strong insects, like bees. The best known species are the yellow or common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) and the ivy-leaved toadflax (Linaria cymbalaria).
Yellow or common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) has a creeping rhizome and an erect, leafy, usually branched stem. The leaves are alternate, linear, entire and greyish-green in colour. The flowers are yellow and arranged in a dense elongated spike. The corolla is two-lipped and the tube is extended at the base into a long pointed spur. The fruit is an ovoid capsule with winged seeds.
Ivy-leaved toadflax (Linaria cymbalaria) trails down over old walls, and has slender branches, lobed, kidney-shaped leaves, and small blue-purple flowers. Research Toadflax
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Bloomin' Marvellous
